iPhone 16e Face ID kinda sucks for me

[DougiePhresh]

I completely agree with you, OP.

Apple should ditch FaceID on the iPhones and adopt the TouchID from the iPads where the sensor is in the lock button.

 

[NonAppleHater]

Touch ID isn’t perfect either, especially if you’re wearing gloves or have damp fingers. Or if you have dry, rough hands due to the type of work you do.

But yeah, there are definitely some downsides to Face ID. You get used to how to angle the phone over time. I prefer Face ID personally since I’ve always found it to be more reliable and faster than Touch ID was.

It’d be cool to have a phone with both, since they each work better in different situations. Maybe they’ll get the under screen Touch ID sensor working and can add it back.

 

[eyoungren]

It's so inspiring to know that people are avoiding "newer" Apple technology. Keep up the good work, as you're an inspiration to us all. Me? I'll probably be wearing an Apple Watch when I die, unless I'm lucky enough to die in my sleep at home in my bed with my Watch on the nightstand.

I'm not avoiding 'newer' Apple technology. I like technology, and if I had the money I'd have a lot more of 'newer' tech.

What I am avoiding is the 'buy this other piece of tech to get a feature we could have included in previous tech!' Ie., Apple could have added a notification LED to the iPhone. They could have even made it multicolored to indicate whether you had missed a text, an email or a phone call. My HTC Touch Pro, a Windows Mobile phone, had this feature in 2008.

But they didn't do that. Instead, they created a brand new device. The Apple watch. You can get all your notifications on this 'newer' piece of tech. Why? Because they'd rather sell you another device for $$$ than put tech on an existing device that would only cost them ¢. That's how Apple works. Sell you another product rather than add something to an existing product. They make more money that way and customers are usually willing to give it to them.

Now the AW has other features and has improved since the original. But when first introduced, Apple sold it as a convenience for notifications, basic texting, etc. So you wouldn't have to carry your iPhone. It's only later that they started pushing the other features more heavily.

I don't need an Apple watch. I have an iPhone. And my choice of career, lifestyle and the activities I engage in do not make having an Apple Watch more convenient over just using my iPhone.

 

[subjonas]

Recently upgraded from an SE to a 16e. All my friends with newer iPhones assured me that I would love Face ID.

Me: What if I want to unlock my phone and my face isn't in front of it?
Friends: When are you trying to use your phone without looking at it? That obviously never happens.

Turns out, it happens several times per day for me.

There are multiple times per day when I have my phone set on my desk, or on a restaurant table, or on my bed, and the phone is pointed up and I'm using it from an angle. So my face isn't directly in front of the phone, but the phone is still perfectly usable.

Touch ID worked fine in those scenarios (obviously) and Face ID doesn't (obviously).

So I have to lean over the phone like an idiot so the camera can see me and the phone unlocks. Alternatively, I could pick up the phone for a second and point it at my face, but now that the sides of the phone are squared off instead of rounded, the phone is fairly difficult to pick up. It's easier to lean over like an idiot.

Remind me, why is this better?

I run into this a lot too. Both Face ID and Touch ID have their trade offs in different situations. Overall I find Touch ID a little more convenient, but it will vary from person to person.

 

[aries81]

Never had a problem with Face ID, it always recognises my ugly mug whenever I need it too.

Same here, even with a mask on during Covid times.

 

[1rottenapple]

It makes no sense to you. But you're thinking like a customer. Whomever makes these decisions is thinking like a profit minded business. You can argue that making the customer happy would benefit business. But unless making customers happy benefits the shareholder more than it does the customer, we aren't the priority.

Apple does things that makes sense to their bottom line - not because it makes sense to its customers.

Agree. With the power of apple marketing they make you think one technology is better than the other but the bottom line and profitability is likely what drives the final product.

google pixel security schemes to use the camera for security. It even meets banking security standards allowing their camera unlock to unlock using banking apps and it’s supposed to be secure. But they have the Touch ID technology as a backup. Of course this method is cheaper than the Apple Face ID tech

 

[erkanasu]

Benefits outweigh the cons. G.a.l.

 

[Coltaine]

I absolutely understand the OP‘s problem, but I think apart from tricking it somehow by setting up an alternate appeaerance, there is not much that can be done.
I‘ve owned many iPhones with Touch ID and then switched over to Face ID on the iPhone 11.
This thread made me think about which one I prefer and I think it is Face ID. Even though I loved Touch ID, when it first came out. But I think my overall experience with Face ID is a little bit better, I don‘t have the OP‘s use case, though.
Only time, I ever hated it was during the early days of the pandemic, I am a physician and we were wearing masks all day long. Unlock with the AW worked OK at most, then Face ID with masks came along.
Only time, I wish, I had Touch ID, is when I am wearing sunglasses. I have the attention aware feature enabled, which is blocked by my sunglasses (Ray Ban, New Wayfarer).
Of course, both methods in the same phone would be great. But apart from cost cutting measures and Apple‘s philosophy of doing away with what they consider „older tech“, would it be even possible to re-add Touch ID with the internal space being absolutely crammed already?

 

[jollino]

I had a similar issue and found that the easiest solution (for me) was to 3D print a tiny phone holder so it would stay up, slightly tilted upwards. It takes less space on the desk and it makes it see my face for unlocking just fine.

 

[marklcfc]

I'm probably one of very few that don't use face id. I have my phone lock and require passcode after no use after an hour, but other than that I just swipe up. May be more of a risk but I'm happy to have less faffing around than always having to look directly at it

 

[TechRunner]

I much prefer Face ID over Touch ID, and wish my iPad Mini had Face ID. I sometimes catch myself looking at my iPM waiting for it to unlock

 

[Lounge vibes 05]

So I have to lean over the phone like an idiot

It's easier to lean over like an idiot.

Where is this “leaning=idiots” insecurity coming from?
I promise absolutely no one is thinking about you picking up your phone, you don’t look like an “idiot” (whatever that means in this case) and you are putting way too much thought into this.

 

[Khojmdn]

Recently upgraded from an SE to a 16e. All my friends with newer iPhones assured me that I would love Face ID.

Me: What if I want to unlock my phone and my face isn't in front of it?
Friends: When are you trying to use your phone without looking at it? That obviously never happens.

Turns out, it happens several times per day for me.

There are multiple times per day when I have my phone set on my desk, or on a restaurant table, or on my bed, and the phone is pointed up and I'm using it from an angle. So my face isn't directly in front of the phone, but the phone is still perfectly usable.

Touch ID worked fine in those scenarios (obviously) and Face ID doesn't (obviously).

So I have to lean over the phone like an idiot so the camera can see me and the phone unlocks. Alternatively, I could pick up the phone for a second and point it at my face, but now that the sides of the phone are squared off instead of rounded, the phone is fairly difficult to pick up. It's easier to lean over like an idiot.

Remind me, why is this better?

Agree. Still miss touch id.

 

[1rottenapple]

I'm probably one of very few that don't use face id. I have my phone lock and require passcode after no use after an hour, but other than that I just swipe up. May be more of a risk but I'm happy to have less faffing around than always having to look directly at it

This sounds like a horrible idea. Unless you have nothing important on your phone.

 

[Unami]

For me, when it doesn't work, it's often more inconvenient than touch-ID not working. E.g., when I have my head sideways on a pillow it unsurprisingly doesn't work. But in this situation, it's especially cumbersome to lift one's head or enter the passcode. On those occasions I wish it had touch-ID too.

OTOH, on average, touchID failed much more often. FaceID is not perfect but a net-positive trade-off for me.

 

[Parowdy]

You're absolutely right, Touch ID is much better!

Except for when wearing gloves, having dirty or wet fingers. Which happens a lot when being in the kitchen, using the phone in the tub or when it rains, during gardening, cycling, or any other activity where you might wear gloves or don’t want to take a second to tap on a very specific area on your big ass screen bezel.
Or when previews are off and it’s enough for you to just look at your phone to automatically be able to see it, except of course when you look at it from an off angle, like OP.
I concede that Face ID isn’t perfect, but it’s much better than Touch ID. I’ve used the 5s, SE and 6s, and I haven’t looked back at Touch ID once I got the iPhone X. I do have my SE around as a backup, so I get confronted with its drawbacks every now and then, it’s far worse.

 

[ThomasJL]

It makes no sense to you. But you're thinking like a customer. Whomever makes these decisions is thinking like a profit minded business. You can argue that making the customer happy would benefit business. But unless making customers happy benefits the shareholder more than it does the customer, we aren't the priority.

Apple does things that makes sense to their bottom line - not because it makes sense to its customers.

That's precisely the thinking of Tim Cook. Steve Jobs was different. Jobs prioritized customers over shareholders. Shareholders still made profits under Jobs, but shareholders made much larger profits under Cook.

I understand that Cook has corporate greed and thus prioritizes shareholders over customers. But I don't understand why so many people on this forum, who I'm guessing are customers, support Cook's prioritizing shareholders over customers.

 

[Parowdy]

Never got one, don't want one. If I ever have one, it will be because someone strapped it on to my wrist without my consent.

Hmm, not even when Apple finally manages to incorporate more useful sensors it the watch/their bands?

 

[Joniz]

If it wont unlock because your face is too far from the phone, as you say, then the answer is a simple one.

Ruin your eyesight so you have to hold it closer to read.

Or let it come on naturally with age.

 

[Paddle1]

You will learn to slide or lift the phone closer to you. Each has their pros and cons and positioning is one where Touch ID is more lenient.