MACFORMAT INVESTIGATES
iPhone X diary: our longer term thoughts
We reset Face ID to start over and found maybe our original scan was suboptimal
Having used iPhone X since launch day, we wanted to relay longer term experiences of what it’s like to use, and dispel some myths around how apps and media look on its unusual screen ratio.
Much of what’s explained here comes from use over the days, weeks and months that follow a device launch, as developers update apps to better use the hardware and take into account features unique to iPhone X, in particular the notch and rounded corners.
The adjustment period for getting used to accessing the Home screen and the app switcher with on-screen gestures passed quickly for us. Swiping up to reach the Home screen or app switcher so soon feels natural that after just a couple of days we found ourselves attempting the gestures on iPad.
Despite that, there’s one control that stands out as particularly awkward: invoking the Reachability feature, which pulls down the screen’s contents to make things near the top easier to reach in one-handed operation. Previously this used a double-tap on the Home button, but on iPhone X it’s done by swiping down very near to the screen’s bottom edge. That feels precarious, especially when walking, and as we’re cautious about the impact a tumble might have on the phone’s glass body. Given repair costs detailed in last issue’s MacFormat Investigates, we prefer to use iPhone X with two hands in that situation.
Face ID
Industrious people didn’t waste time in trying to crack Face ID, going so far as to use 3D masks to break through it. For now at least, doing that is an involved process that’s unlikely to be used against the average iPhone owner, and our greater concern was whether Face ID is reliable and fast enough to be a comfortable replacement for Touch ID.
For the most part we say yes, though in our first few weeks of using iPhone X we were frustrated by it rejecting our face more often than expected. Face ID would prompt for our password – long and complex, not just a six-digit code, and so not always convenient. This request wasn’t the security measure whereby iPhone X reverts to only accepting a password or passcode due to multiple failed facial unlocks, though; turning the iPhone away for a moment and then back at our face usually corrected the failure and unlocked the device. Whatever the underlying reason, rejections settled down in time.
After about six weeks of use, we reset Face ID to start over and found that maybe the original scan of our face was suboptimal; with a fresh start based on more exaggerated movement to scan the periphery of our face, we didn’t encounter rejections with anything like the same regularity. So, if iPhone X thinks you’re not you too often, try using the reset option in its settings and starting over. Failing that, Face ID is designed to update its
model of your face when you correctly enter your passcode after a failed identification, which would help explain why our rejections went down over time.
Video presentation
The unusual screen format on iPhone X raises questions about media presentation, so clarification is in order in case you haven’t seen first-hand how things work. Video does not fill the entire screen by default; instead, there are narrow black borders down the left and right of the screen (in landscape), serving as a place for your thumbs to rest without obscuring the video, just like the large bezel on previous iPhone designs, and rendering the notch essentially invisible.
You can double-tap to have video fill the screen, which reframes it by a small amount, losing some at one side and to the rounded corners (though the latter is by far easier to ignore). What looks really odd is that some of the video runs just above and below the notch, emphasising its presence and leaving some of the picture hidden. You’re better off sticking to the default, non-zoomed presentation.
Adaptable
Apple has applied sensible defaults to the way videos and older apps are presented on the new screen ratio. Many developers have taken swift action in making good use of the display, helped by groundwork Apple already laid to adapt interfaces to different screens.
Face ID quickly proves to be a strong alternative to Touch ID. Combined with iOS’s ability to hide the contents of notifications on the Lock screen until a device is unlocked, the result is a phone that feels less bogged down by old-fashioned mechanical processes.
We’ve seen suggestions that iPhone X is to be skipped because of it’s first-gen tech, but Apple’s years of research and development, and its prior experience in smoothing transitions to new device sizes, have made any such concerns fade quickly for us.