Apple today released the iOS 14.5 and iPadOS 14.5 beta updates for developers and a new feature is included in the new software designed to make it easier to unlock an iPhone while wearing a mask, using the Apple Watch.
A signup setting allows you to enable a feature that allows you to unlock an “iPhone” with both Face ID and a combined authenticated Apple Watch. You can find this setting by opening the Settings app, accessing the Face ID and passcode section, entering your passcode, and then activating “Unlock with Apple Watch.”
Both iOS 14.5 and watchOS 7.4 are required to enable this feature, and once turned on, you can begin unlocking your iPhone with an unlocked and authenticated Apple Watch while wearing a mask. The first time you access the iPhone lock with the Apple Watch after activating the function, you will need to enter a password, but after that, unlocking the Apple Watch is easy, hassle-free and fast.
When you wear a mask and use Face ID, you will feel a haptic vibration on your wrist and it will let you know that PiPhone has been unlocked with your watch through a notification that appears on your wrist.
Face ID will work normally on the “iPhone”, so you will feel a difference only through the Apple Watch, although sometimes there is a slight delay that says “unlocking the iPhone with the Apple Watch”. This seems to depend on the distance between the iPhone and the watch, and if your authenticated watch is too far away, you will be told to move it closer.
Every time you unlock, you’ll feel the vibration and see the pop-up, and it’s generally an interface that looks like the interface that appears when you unlock your Mac with the Apple Watch. Unlocking a Mac with an authenticated Apple Watch has long been a feature.
You can’t make Apple Pay or App Store purchases with your Apple Watch, and you can’t use them to sign in to apps that use Face ID. In these situations, however, you must remove your mask and use standard Face ID authentication or enter a password.
For those concerned about security or possible bypass authentication with this method, the feature is fully enabled and is not enabled by default. You need an unlocked Apple Watch for this to work, so there’s no way to use it with an Apple Watch that hasn’t been unlocked via “iPhone” or Apple Watch access code.
All in all, unlocking a PiPhone with an associated Apple Watch is as simple as unlocking with standard Face ID and is just as quick, so this will be a welcome change for people who are frustrated with using an poiPhone while wearing a the mask. Future iPhones may include Touch ID-display along with Face ID, but for now this is a useful solution for iPhone au owners who also have an Apple Watch.