iOS 15.4 Will Let You Use Face ID With a Mask

Apple’s Face ID is finally going to get easier to use when you’re wearing a mask. 

On Thursday, the company began rolling out 15.4 beta 1 for iOS, which includes a new feature called “Use Face ID With a Mask.” YouTuber Brandon Butch noticed the change and tweeted out a picture of the Apple software explaining how the new system works. 

The feature operates by only analyzing the area around your eyes, instead of your entire face, to unlock an iPhone. Users also won’t need to wear a mask when setting it up, but they will need to rescan their face, according to MacRumors. 

The feature finally addresses a complaint about using Face ID during the pandemic: The technology will fail to recognize your face when wearing a mask, which can make Apple’s authentication system for the iPhone inconvenient. 

With COVID-19 still raging after two years, the company is now making iOS more friendly to mask-wearers. However, the new setting is bound to come with a security compromise. The iOS notice about the feature points out Face ID is “most accurate when it’s set up for full-face recognition only.”

If you’re a glasses wearer, there’s more good news. The iOS 15.4 beta also contains a new option to make Face ID better at recognizing your face while wearing spectacles. 

It’ll probably take Apple at least a few more weeks before it releases iOS 15.4 to the public. In the meantime, the company created a way you can unlock an iPhone while wearing a mask, but it requires that you to own an Apple Watch.