You can stymie the iPhone X Face ID but it takes some work
NEW YORK: Apple is offering a nifty way to unlock its new iPhone X - just stare at it. Face ID, Apple’s name for its facial-recognition technology, replaces the fingerprint sensor found on other models. How well does it work - not just technically, but in everyday use? After all, it’s much easier to align your finger with the sensor than to align your face with the phone. The iPhone X costs about $1,000 - $300 more than the iPhone 8. Advance orders began this past Friday, and Apple is now giving delivery times of five to six weeks. Apple says it will have limited supplies at stores for same-day pickup on Friday, but you’ll have to get there early.
Better face detection Many rival Android phones already use facial-recognition technology. Samsung also has an unlock feature that scans your iris. But the systems can be tripped with something as simple as eyeglasses. While Android largely bases its match on a two-dimensional camera shot of
you, the iPhone X goes 3-D. During setup, the iPhone guides you to rotate your head, so it gets a more complete picture of you - analyzing some 30,000 points on your face, to be specific.
So, if you’re wearing glasses, the iPhone can still recognize you using other parts of your face. Same goes for wearing a hat. And Apple’s system continually learns. Each time you use your face to unlock the phone, it automatically keeps tabs on small changes, such as growing a mustache or simply getting older. With Android, you have to go into the settings to teach the phone’s face recognition to get better. There are limits. If you shave your beard, it’s too big of a change for the iPhone X to be sure it’s you. You’ll need a passcode, but the phone should remember you the next time.
Recognizing you
I tested the iPhone X against Samsung’s iris scanner on the Galaxy Note 8 and face systems on Google’s Pixel 2 and LG’s V30 phones. V30 improves upon the standard Android technology in asking you to turn your head slightly during the setup, though in practice the Pixel was far better at recognition.
Only the iPhone and the Pixel recognized me with standard eyeglasses - important, as I expect the same performance with or without spectacles. That said, Face ID unlocked with just one of the two sunglasses I tried; the other was too big. Costumes and disguises also challenged Face ID. A Santa hat was OK, but a Santa beard wasn’t. Nor did it like funny glasses and a fake nose. —AP