iPhone X Face ID is crap....

[Tom G.]

The OP is having some minor problems that a few posters have noted in various threads. And that is what this forum and others like it are for. Like too many others he falls into the trap of hyperbole, because my iPhone has a problem then all iPhones are cr*p, when simple numbers prove them wrong. For the vast majority, approaching 99.999% it works fine. If it did not media headlines would be screaming it from the house tops.

It is a bit tiring to see this hyperbolic condemnation done over and over again. Just come on the forum, state your problem, ask for advice without acting like a spoiled millennial.

Like many others I like Face ID. I especially like, not only how it unlocks my phone initially, but also how it opens app without having to shift hands to use Touch ID. Example, just the other day I was walking my dog Molly and it started to rain. We turned and hurried home and as we approached I took out my iPhone tapped the screen with my thumb — Face ID opened the phone — I opened the Garage Door app and just had to look at the screen for the app to open so one more tap and we walked into the garage. All the while having Molly on her leash, therefore only having one hand free.

Before with Touch ID I would have take the chance of dropping the phone as I shifted it in my hand to place my thumb on the Home Button at the bottom of the phone. A dangerous operation when hurrying along a sidewalk. It is situations like this that make me really appreciate how handy Face ID is.

 

[shooter45acp]

I just got the X about 1 week ago and so far working great no problems. Face ID has worked everytime phone is awesome really liking it..

 

[anitak1982]

I was struggling but redid my facial recognition making sure I dropped my head really far before rolling upward. This has helped alot. Sometimes I doesn't work but I just drop it down and lift it and 9 times out of 10 it works the second time.

 

[Raist3001]

Check it out: "is" vs. "I think." You're right, I have an opinion - you're still dropping facts.

I said his complaint is justified. Why? Because he is experiencing the issue. As are many others, including myself. There was no 'facts dropping', since that is my opinion, and it is just as valid as yours. Again, next time, you should think twice before referring to the opinions of others as lame.

At some point the UI just becomes too complex for easy daily use. Or at least it does for me (can I state that as a fact?).

Not without being guilty of your own 'facts dropping'

 

[Archer1440]

The only time mine doesn't work is when I'm lying in bed on my side in the dark.

Mine seems to have trained itself for all my morning wake-up face scenarios, even my Bill the Cat look.



(*ack*)

 

[mcarthon]

had anyone tried Face ID with their pet?! Ima try to use my dog hahah

 

[kingestkong]

I wouldn’t call Face ID crap but it does seem to fail a lot for me. It’s kind of annoying having to hold it at just the right angle or it fails. I’m considering disabling it but I like it for the banking apps. They need to make major improvements to it.

This is exactly how I feel. I absolutely love love love the phone. I just find Face ID too hit or miss for me. The ideal solution I would’ve liked was to put Touch ID in the power button as a secondary option but have Face ID as the primary unlock solution

 

[Raist3001]

This is exactly how I feel. I absolutely love love love the phone. I just find Face ID too hit or miss for me. The ideal solution I would’ve liked was to put Touch ID in the power button as a secondary option but have Face ID as the primary unlock solution

Well as others have pointed out, this is only Gen1 of FaceID. Gen1 of TouchID also had its fair share of fails. TouchID on my 7+ is rock solid and never fails unless my finger is wet. FaceID can only get better. And that thought alone is very exciting.

 

[newellj]

This is exactly how I feel. I absolutely love love love the phone. I just find Face ID too hit or miss for me. The ideal solution I would’ve liked was to put Touch ID in the power button as a secondary option but have Face ID as the primary unlock solution

This is where I'm at, mostly. I seem to be having better luck than you, but FaceID feels like a very Gen1 technology at this point. It makes me work for the phone, rather than having the phone (specifically, FaceID) work for me.

Since my iPhone 7 works beautifully for me and is still here, I am leaning toward waiting out this year's cycle and returning the X. But there's no question that there's a lot about the X that I will miss and look forward to, hopefully next year. It took Apple three cycles (5S, 6, 6S) to really get TouchID humming. It could take as long with FaceID. Hopefully, just one more cycle, but who knows...

 

[falainber]

You don’t know how to use Face ID and you don’t know how it works.

I use it with my hand over my face. At odd angles. And it works every time. Why? Because I input the passcode when it fails.

Hmm... Any Android phone owner could have said the same.

 

[DynaFXD]

..
Hyperbole. Your privacy is unaffected any differently than using Face ID over touch ID, which Apple has none of your information stored or accounted for regardless of the security method. And the home button/touch ID is at its end with the iPhone 8 in all likeliness.

Indeed. The idea of "privacy" in this day and age is almost naive. At least in the US. From banks sharing your essentials, to filling out questionnaires for shopping cards, to having your image data mined ->from just being in the background of SOMEONE else's photo posted on FB<- kind of makes the idea of your phone being able to identify you laughable in comparison. I heard this interview with Cathy O'Neil on Le Show that really brought into light just how far past the looking glass we are in that regard. If anyone wants to hear it, it is posted on Harry Shearer's web site or they can read the book "Weapons of Math Destruction" for themselves. Fascinating and scary stuff.

 

[CTHarrryH]

Haven't noticed any issues with distance or angle to unlock phone or do other things - matter of fact I find it works fine at different angles. Up here in the north Touch-ID was a pain in cold weather - chapped fingers or having to take off gloves for it to work. I was very worried but works better than expected.

 

[Knowimagination]

Hmm... Any Android phone owner could have said the same.

I don't think you understood what he was saying, by putting in his password when it fails it trains Face ID to work better in the future. No android owner could say anything remotely like that.

 

[dsakurai]

You need to train your iPhone to recognise your face.

 

[maflynn]

You need to train your iPhone to recognise your face.

I've been using my phone since it was released and I still find myself needing to type in the passcode instead of having FaceID lock on.

Sure it works 80% of the time, but there are situations, like last night where I was at my daughters play, and before it started I wanted to quickly check on something. The phone wouldn't quickly unlock, sure I bet I could move the phone forward backward, tilt it up/down in an effort to unlock or just bit the bullet and type in the code, which I did.

Comparing that with TouchID, TouchID wins every time. I'm hoping being on the bleeding edge, that we'll see some software tweaks to improve FaceID, but so far its not been a 100% success rate for me.

 

[mlody]

I am also finding that I am typing my passcode more often than I would like. Before I had my 6S, I would type the passcode like 3-4 times a week, now, it seems like I have to type the passcode 3-4 times a day and that is on a good day.

If I carry my phone in my hand (which I usually do at work) and I am around the people, the phone will lock itself out before I get to use it. This is probably the most annoying part because it tries to pickup other faces to unlock itself.

I know that my attention features are off, so I will have to play with this to see if there is an improvement to this.

Overall I am happy with the phone. I like the size (coming from 4.7") and change (thank god) cause as much as I would like to have bigger screen I cant deal with 5.5" iPhone.

 

[Glideslope]

Time for Dan Riccio to go. Nothing but half baked
Hardware these days.

 

[newellj]

I bet I could move the phone forward backward, tilt it up/down in an effort to unlock or just bit the bullet and type in the code, which I did.

Comparing that with TouchID, TouchID wins every time.

This is where I find myself way too often.

I don't think it's an accuracy question, I think it's a question of FaceID's need for a relatively narrow angle and distance. When I put the phone in just the right place at just the right distance, it unlocks every time. If not - not. And the phone is often not at just the right angle and distance.

The question I'm asking myself is: who's working for whom here? I don't feel that I should need to rearrange my use to let the phone do its job. My success rate with TouchID was essentially 100%. I get it that other people had less success, but comparing 100% success for TouchID to what may be 60% for FaceID, I'm really on the verge of deciding to return it.

That's disappointing because there's a lot I love about the X. In many ways, this phone is simply brilliant. But waiting it out until next year or even 2019 is looking like the better choice for me. YMMV, of course.

 

[dsakurai]

I've been using my phone since it was released and I still find myself needing to type in the passcode instead of having FaceID lock on.

Sure it works 80% of the time, but there are situations, like last night where I was at my daughters play, and before it started I wanted to quickly check on something. The phone wouldn't quickly unlock, sure I bet I could move the phone forward backward, tilt it up/down in an effort to unlock or just bit the bullet and type in the code, which I did.

Comparing that with TouchID, TouchID wins every time. I'm hoping being on the bleeding edge, that we'll see some software tweaks to improve FaceID, but so far its not been a 100% success rate for me.

While I agree that Touch ID is faster and more convenient in some cases(I own a 7 Plus and SE), I still find it refreshing to have Face ID as a new way to unlock my device. My case might be different because my iPhone X is not a replacement but and add-on to the phones I already have.

My biggest letdown with Face ID is when using it in bed. I can’t quickly unlock the device without adjusting my position first and I do wish that Apple include a Touch ID option somewhere, maybe at the back, on the Apple logo or something.

There are, of course workarounds that you can take like turning off the “Require attention for Face ID” option or keying in your passcode immediately after a failed unlock(this will train Face ID to recognise you) or develop a habit of swiping up immediately as you take out your phone to give the illusion that unlocking is faster.

I’m sure a lot of articles on “How to make Face ID work faster” will come out soon and why would I make this compromise after paying over 1000$ for a phone that unlocks slower than an iPhone that uses 2nd gen Touch ID? The answer is, OLED. For me, the display alone is worth the trade-offs, which personally is not a trade-off for me because I find it to be a cool feature.

I used to have problems with Touch ID(not always) recognising my prints because my fingers are wrinkly and sometimes I’ll get dyshidrotic eczema on the tip of my fingers which renders Touch ID useless. Dyshidrotic eczema takes a long while to recover from and I had to re-register my finger every time it heals. So in my case, Face ID wins.

 

[shooter45acp]

I guess I am one of the lucky ones so far. Face ID has been working great for me much better then Touch ID IMHO hopefully it will keep working flawlessly

 

[macMD]

FaceID works for me about 90% plus of the time. It typically has an issue if I am looking at an angle while lying on the couch or not looking at the screen, if I get the code I just hit cancel and look again and it opens up without issue. So really its more of an issue of me needing to look at it. I do prefer it over TouchID which my iPad Pro has and if they implement FaceiID next year into the iPad Pro I will upgrade.

 

[Kiimora]

My X knows me too well, it catches a glimpse of my face & voila, I don’t have to stare down the phone before it unlocks

 

[aevan]

Comparing that with TouchID, TouchID wins every time. I'm hoping being on the bleeding edge, that we'll see some software tweaks to improve FaceID, but so far its not been a 100% success rate for me.

As I mentioned several times before, this kind of information never ceases to amaze me. Have we been using the same Touch ID? Because mine fails 5 out of 10 times. It's so unreliable, I was considering turning it off.

If my fingers are even slightly sweaty or wet - it doesn't work. If the home button is even just slightly dirty - it doesn't work. If the weather drastically changes outside (very cold, for example) - it doesn't work. If I take a bath, even after I thoroughly dry my hands - it doesn't work. And not just me, most of my friends have similar issues - I know, because we often discuss our gadgets.

Mostly it's my thumbs, I guess, because on my MBP, I use my index finger and it works a lot better. Still, it's almost comical how often it fails on my previous iPhone and on my iPad (both 2nd gen sensors) - I even tried using multiple scans of the same finger.


On the other hand (pun not intended ), Face ID works almost every time. It doesn't work when I look at it from a really weird angle, and when I'm lying sideways. That's it. When I look at it normally - it always works. It has at least twice the success rate compared to Touch ID. And no, I don't have to move it around and stuff to make it work.

So, in my opinion, the reasons why some people are claiming Face ID doesn't work well are this:

1. People are either holding their phones in some drastically different ways than me. For example, some pople hold it really, really close to their face, some hold it really far - or at a really weird angle. I hold it like I always did, and it works every time.
2. People confuse failure with scenarios where it's designed not to work. For example, they don't move it towards their face quickly enough, it tries to unlock, doesn't see a face and stops. Instead of just swiping up (which will cause it to try again), people think it failed so they lock and unlock their phone. It does get confusing sometimes, but you just have to continue the unlock swipe and it will work.
3. Confirmation bias - people have a tendency to prefer what they are used to, so they notice every time when the new thing fails, while they do not notice half the time the old thing failed. For example, having to readjust their thumb several times for Touch ID to work.
4. Their phones are faulty.
5. They are not honest.
6. Parallel universes intersecting. In mine - Face ID works great and Touch ID does not. In theirs - it's the other way around.

Take your pick.

As for me, this is the first time I'm using a six-digit passcode on my iOS device. Why? Because I almost never have to type it in. With Touch ID, I used a four-digit one, because I had to enter it ten times a day.

Edit: I guess it's 2 for most people. Example, I just picked up my iPhone from the desk. The screen turned on and I had a haptic feedback indicating that Face ID has failed (which is normal, since my face wasn't anywhere near). I could've interpreted this as a fail, turned the screen off, tried again - instead I just started holding it in a normal using position and swiped up. It tried again and I was in. This is how it's supposed to work.

 

[D.T.]

I've been using my phone since it was released and I still find myself needing to type in the passcode instead of having FaceID lock on.

Sure it works 80% of the time, but there are situations, like last night where I was at my daughters play, and before it started I wanted to quickly check on something. The phone wouldn't quickly unlock, sure I bet I could move the phone forward backward, tilt it up/down in an effort to unlock or just bit the bullet and type in the code, which I did.

Comparing that with TouchID, TouchID wins every time. I'm hoping being on the bleeding edge, that we'll see some software tweaks to improve FaceID, but so far its not been a 100% success rate for me.

Interesting. I was at my daughter's Christmas dance event (the previous weekend), weird lighting, mostly dark, she came out for her first number, I glanced down, boom, unlocked, shot multiple live photos. I unlocked it with 100% accuracy during all of her numbers (with several minutes in between). I'm set for "No Attention", and using my original FID setup (technically my second, I did a complete reset after using the device for a few hours when I originally got it). I also don't do anything that's all that specific in terms of positioning - when it's over my charging shelf here in my office, I just walk over, it's connected to a lighting cable, lift it a slightly off angle, auto-wakes, look down, quickly unlocked.

Honestly, if I was getting less than 95%, I'd re-scan my face, or return for another one, or just bail on it totally.

 

[Applejuiced]

As I mentioned several times before, this kind of information never ceases to amaze me. Have we been using the same Touch ID? Because mine fails 5 out of 10 times. It's so unreliable, I was considering turning it off.

If my fingers are even slightly sweaty or wet - it doesn't work. If the home button is even just slightly dirty - it doesn't work. If the weather drastically changes outside (very cold, for example) - it doesn't work. If I take a bath, even after I thoroughly dry my hands - it doesn't work. And not just me, most of my friends have similar issues - I know, because we often discuss our gadgets.

Mostly it's my thumbs, I guess, because on my MBP, I use my index finger and it works a lot better. Still, it's almost comical how often it fails on my previous iPhone and on my iPad (both 2nd gen sensors) - I even tried using multiple scans of the same finger.


On the other hand (pun not intended ), Face ID works almost every time. It doesn't work when I look at it from a really weird angle, and when I'm lying sideways. That's it. When I look at it normally - it always works. It has at least twice the success rate compared to Touch ID. And no, I don't have to move it around and stuff to make it work.

So, in my opinion, the reasons why some people are claiming Face ID doesn't work well are this:

1. People are either holding their phones in some drastically different ways than me. For example, some pople hold it really, really close to their face, some hold it really far - or at a really weird angle. I hold it like I always did, and it works every time.
2. People confuse failure with scenarios where it's designed not to work. For example, they don't move it towards their face quickly enough, it tries to unlock, doesn't see a face and stops. Instead of just swiping up (which will cause it to try again), people think it failed so they lock and unlock their phone. It does get confusing sometimes, but you just have to continue the unlock swipe and it will work.
3. Confirmation bias - people have a tendency to prefer what they are used to, so they notice every time when the new thing fails, while they do not notice half the time the old thing failed. For example, having to readjust their thumb several times for Touch ID to work.
4. Their phones are faulty.
5. They are not honest.
6. Parallel universes intersecting. In mine - Face ID works great and Touch ID does not. In theirs - it's the other way around.

Take your pick.

As for me, this is the first time I'm using a six-digit passcode on my iOS device. Why? Because I almost never have to type it in. With Touch ID, I used a four-digit one, because I had to enter it ten times a day.

What model iPhone you used with Touch ID?
My 7 plus unlocks instantly when I press my home button 99% of the time.
It's so fast by the time the screen even lights up I'm in the home screen.
Maybe you had a defective sensor or you needed to redo your finger scan.
As it stands right now Touch ID is more reliable and way faster than face id.
After multiple hardware and software updates face id will get there eventually.
This is the first generation of face detection for the iPhone and Touch ID has been out for over 5+ years.