First time it happened I thought I imagined things, recently it became obvious though.
Unlock with Apple Watch is, at least for me, broken in the worst of ways.
I sometimes thought that it unlocked my iPhone either very slowly or way faster than expected, sometimes I was astonished it unlocked despite the phone, an iPhone 11 Pro, which doesn't support vertical Face ID unlock, being in an odd angle to recognise even part of my face.
Sometimes when I receive a notification that turns on the screen the phone is being unlocked without me even looking at it directly, no eye-to-sensor contact or even presenting my face to it. I just feel the vibration from my watch and see its unlocked. That by itself wouldn't be too concerning.
However, to cut forward to the event that changed my perception of this feature entirely, I once had my watch unlock my phone in my pocket. This didn't just happen once, though. It happened a few times but often I figured I moved the phone in a way for it to wake and get a glimpse of my face before putting it in my pocket, giving it enough for my watch to unlock it a second or two after I put it away. It felt weird but I didn't want to think much of it.
Then, recently, I used my phone, put it away, didn't use it for some 10-15 seconds and then felt the vibration on my watch. I figured it must have been something else but surely enough, it said my phone was unlocked and indeed it was when I got it out my pocket.
I also had my watch tell me it unlocked my phone which was in a different room simply because the screen turned on because I got a notification... how????
I often notice that, when my phone is laying somewhere and it tries to unlock, it keeps on trying and vibrates the entire time without a face or anything present, it just tries until the screen is off again. Turn it on and it continues.
I don't know why this works, but that's a serious concern in my eyes. Have any of you experienced something similar, where you thought it shouldn't have unlocked the device but it did?
Edit: I recently had someone pick up my phone to give themselves hotspot, which was fine and all. I left that person with my phone (we were, for a lag of a better word, minders in a summer camp and he made music and other stuff for which he needed data) and later, sitting some meters apart, my Watch notifies me that it unlocked my phone. I didn't touch my phone in minutes and the dude is looking anything but like me.
My watch unlocked my phone for someone else sitting not even close to me.
I know this thread is dead, but I'll still update it with things like these because it is important to share security concerns and talk about issues others think don't exist. They do.
If you've experienced something like this, you're not trippin.
Unlock with Apple Watch is, at least for me, broken in the worst of ways.
I sometimes thought that it unlocked my iPhone either very slowly or way faster than expected, sometimes I was astonished it unlocked despite the phone, an iPhone 11 Pro, which doesn't support vertical Face ID unlock, being in an odd angle to recognise even part of my face.
Sometimes when I receive a notification that turns on the screen the phone is being unlocked without me even looking at it directly, no eye-to-sensor contact or even presenting my face to it. I just feel the vibration from my watch and see its unlocked. That by itself wouldn't be too concerning.
However, to cut forward to the event that changed my perception of this feature entirely, I once had my watch unlock my phone in my pocket. This didn't just happen once, though. It happened a few times but often I figured I moved the phone in a way for it to wake and get a glimpse of my face before putting it in my pocket, giving it enough for my watch to unlock it a second or two after I put it away. It felt weird but I didn't want to think much of it.
Then, recently, I used my phone, put it away, didn't use it for some 10-15 seconds and then felt the vibration on my watch. I figured it must have been something else but surely enough, it said my phone was unlocked and indeed it was when I got it out my pocket.
I also had my watch tell me it unlocked my phone which was in a different room simply because the screen turned on because I got a notification... how????
I often notice that, when my phone is laying somewhere and it tries to unlock, it keeps on trying and vibrates the entire time without a face or anything present, it just tries until the screen is off again. Turn it on and it continues.
I don't know why this works, but that's a serious concern in my eyes. Have any of you experienced something similar, where you thought it shouldn't have unlocked the device but it did?
Edit: I recently had someone pick up my phone to give themselves hotspot, which was fine and all. I left that person with my phone (we were, for a lag of a better word, minders in a summer camp and he made music and other stuff for which he needed data) and later, sitting some meters apart, my Watch notifies me that it unlocked my phone. I didn't touch my phone in minutes and the dude is looking anything but like me.
My watch unlocked my phone for someone else sitting not even close to me.
I know this thread is dead, but I'll still update it with things like these because it is important to share security concerns and talk about issues others think don't exist. They do.
If you've experienced something like this, you're not trippin.
Last edited:
