Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

pendragon1984

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Oct 24, 2013
450
272
Yes, I am.
Two different phones made in different factories both broken in the same way and they both just happen to go to me! Lol

I suspect this is how all these phones work now. Maybe they changed them.

I really don’t want to try a third and fourth. I’m positive they’ll be the same.
 

BugeyeSTI

macrumors 604
Aug 19, 2017
7,217
9,068
Arizona/Illinois
Everyone on this thread said their phone doesn't do what your phone is doing. There is no news articles or threads on this forum or online supporting this being a problem outside of your particular situation. If it was wide spread, every tech site and news organization would have it plastered all over their sites as it would be a major bug or flaw in Apple's premier biometric security feature.. Are you saying everyone who has tested and responded to your thread is lying about their phone not being affected or just doesn't understand how FaceID works?
 
  • Like
Reactions: Barbareren

pendragon1984

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Oct 24, 2013
450
272
Everyone on this thread said their phone doesn't do what your phone is doing. There is no news articles or threads on this forum or online supporting this being a problem outside of your particular situation. If it was wide spread, every tech site and news organization would have it plastered all over their sites as it would be a major bug or flaw in Apple's premier biometric security feature.. Are you saying everyone who has tested and responded to your thread is lying about their phone not being affected or just doesn't understand how FaceID works?
I’m saying that despite what people said I suspected the 2nd phone would be the same. It was. Two different phones made in two different factories both work the same way. I can’t pretend to know what’s going on. I know I’m in a bad position of having to either accept this is how these phones work and you all are wrong or spend many hours going through more phones and testing to figure out what’s wrong. If I order a third phone do you think it’ll be different? I doubt it.

My best guess is that Apple has recently changed how this feature works for some reason or another maybe due to COVID and masks or something.
 

bobmans

macrumors 6502a
Feb 7, 2020
598
1,751
I just now reset the second phone. I didn’t put any of my stuff on it. Same result.
With “on your end” he actually means “with your face”.

Probably the combination of the shape of your eyes and glasses refracting the IR or w/e in such a way that it appears to the algorithm that your eyes are open.
 

pendragon1984

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Oct 24, 2013
450
272
With “on your end” he actually means “with your face”.

Probably the combination of the shape of your eyes and glasses refracting the IR or w/e in such a way that it appears to the algorithm that your eyes are open.
Well he may have been partially correct. I decided to test it by resetting faceID and having my wife program her face in. We then tried to get it to open with my glasses on her face and her eyes closed. It wouldn’t. I then reset it and put my face back in. It’s now refusing to unlock with my eyes closed and glasses on—that is it’s working correctly. If this is the case and this continues then I guess it’s a combo of a software bug and my face maybe.

if you recently got a 12 though and care about security you should test your faceID. I got two phones in a row from different factories that were bugged out. There must be others.

I’m not at all certain it won’t start misbehaving again. But I’m pretty sure it’s a software problem.
 
  • Like
Reactions: BugeyeSTI

bobmans

macrumors 6502a
Feb 7, 2020
598
1,751
Well he may have been partially correct. I decided to test it by resetting faceID and having my wife program her face in. We then tried to get it to open with my glasses on her face and her eyes closed. It wouldn’t. I then reset it and put my face back in. It’s now refusing to unlock with my eyes closed and glasses on—that is it’s working correctly. If this is the case and this continues then I guess it’s a combo of a software bug and my face maybe.

if you recently got a 12 though and care about security you should test your faceID. I got two phones in a row from different factories that were bugged out. There must be others.

I’m not at all certain it won’t start misbehaving again. But I’m pretty sure it’s a software problem.
It’s not necessary a software problem, it’s just that algorithms aren’t perfect.


There’s a bigger chance that someone that’s going around unlocking sleeping people their phones is carrying one of these glasses with him (because this bypass for attention aware works on everyone) rather than someone somehow figuring out that your face + your glasses somehow bypass attention aware.
There’s easier ways to bypass attention aware (these glasses for example) rather than figuring out the rare cases where the algorithm thinks glasses+face = attention. The custom glasses work on everyone, the imperfection in the algorithm that’s happening to you will maybe work on 1/100 people (or less, who knows).


If I were you I wouldn’t worry at all tbh, this sounds like such a big non-issue, especially since attention aware is so easily bypassed anyway...
 
  • Like
Reactions: pendragon1984

DiCaprioAngel

macrumors 6502a
Jul 12, 2013
589
422
New York
I have a 12 Pro Max and wear glasses when I’m home. It does not unlock if my eyes are closed, with or without glasses. Mine is working as it should. Nothing wrong with Face ID
 

pendragon1984

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Oct 24, 2013
450
272
I tested the phone. 60 attempts with eyes closed and glasses on. 4 unlocks. So, attention feature is working better than before. But it’s not perfect.

I’m pretty sure it’s a software thing.
 

svenmany

macrumors demi-god
Jun 19, 2011
2,275
1,518
Maybe your unique experience is related to the strength or peculiarity of your eye glass prescription. That could be exposing a subtle bug in Face ID that others are not seeing.
 

pendragon1984

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Oct 24, 2013
450
272
Maybe your unique experience is related to the strength or peculiarity of your eye glass prescription. That could be exposing a subtle bug in Face ID that others are not seeing.
I don’t have that strong of a prescription. Tried two pairs of glasses bought at a normal eye glass shop.

I’m certainly having odd experiences. Returning the 2nd phone. If they refund me fast enough I might try a third. Lol
 

pendragon1984

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Oct 24, 2013
450
272
Tried my wife’s face again with my glasses on her. Wouldn’t unlock.

Put my face back in. Will unlock with eyes closed glasses on.

I am leaning towards the view that my face defeats attention awareness. Thing is there ain’t nothing that strange about my face. Like I don’t have any deformities or an eye patch or a glass eye or whatever. Just a normal looking face.

So it’s very odd!
 

pendragon1984

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Oct 24, 2013
450
272
Oh and my current phone unlocked with my wife’s eyes closed and glasses on one time. With my face it’s totally unreliable.
 

pendragon1984

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Oct 24, 2013
450
272
Got the third phone this morning. It’s the same. With glasses on it will regularly unlock with my eyes closed. After going through 3 phones I am now done. It’s effectively proven that faceID is not as secure as people think. My face is nothing special or weird. I’ve tried two different pairs of standard glasses bought at an eye glass store. I can’t believe more people aren’t talking about this.
 

BugeyeSTI

macrumors 604
Aug 19, 2017
7,217
9,068
Arizona/Illinois
Got the third phone this morning. It’s the same. With glasses on it will regularly unlock with my eyes closed. After going through 3 phones I am now done. It’s effectively proven that faceID is not as secure as people think. My face is nothing special or weird. I’ve tried two different pairs of standard glasses bought at an eye glass store. I can’t believe more people aren’t talking about this.
That's because nobody else has this problem. If it was happening on all iPhones you can be sure it would be plastered all over the internet and media.. FaceID works as designed on everyone's phone who's replied to this thread except yours. Do you think everyone's lying to you for absolutely no reason? That we don't know how to use FaceID and if we'd use it properly we'd be able to reproduce your "security flaw"? I don't know what's going on with your devices but my suggestion to you is actually take the phone to an Apple store and reproduce the bug for them. Nobody on this forum can help you support your claim and honestly your not saving any of us from certain security breaches because our phones aren't exhibiting the flaw you're describing..
 

pendragon1984

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Oct 24, 2013
450
272
That's because nobody else has this problem. If it was happening on all iPhones you can be sure it would be plastered all over the internet and media.. FaceID works as designed on everyone's phone who's replied to this thread except yours. Do you think everyone's lying to you for absolutely no reason? That we don't know how to use FaceID and if we'd use it properly we'd be able to reproduce your "security flaw"? I don't know what's going on with your devices but my suggestion to you is actually take the phone to an Apple store and reproduce the bug for them. Nobody on this forum can help you support your claim and honestly your not saving any of us from certain security breaches because our phones aren't exhibiting the flaw you're describing..
Three phones. They all work the same. The case is effectively closed. At least on certain faces, and mine really can’t be that special, attention awareness does not work. It sometimes works and sometimes doesn’t and is inconsistent to be more precise. I even got it to unlock with my wife’s face once with glasses on. Anyway, now that I know the feature is kind of BS I can at least give up. I don’t care about the feature that much. I just find it annoying that Apple says it works one way when it clearly doesn’t, at least not for everyone all the time.
 

Givmeabrek

macrumors 68040
Apr 20, 2009
3,468
1,169
NY
We all know it's not perfect. But to go through three phones to prove it?? Good grief. I've heard it all....
 

pendragon1984

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Oct 24, 2013
450
272
We all know it's not perfect. But to go through three phones to prove it?? Good grief. I've heard it all....
I wanted to make sure my phone wasn’t broken. People were telling me it was broken cause they couldn’t believe FaceID isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.