iPhone X iPhone X: The five worst features in Apple's best phone

[newellj]

First and foremost, access to Control center needs to be added to a swipe up from the right side IMHO, and the need to long press on an app in app switcher needs to be removed in favor of simply swiping up on the app.

This! (These!) Especially the swipe up from the lower RH corner for CC. And, I'd add, let us swipe UP from the lower LH corner for notifications.
[doublepost=1517518269][/doublepost]

I've always preferred to have my iPhone on a stand when it is sitting on my desk. The only thing is that I had to switch from landscape (the way I usually put it on at stand) to portrait orientation so FaceID would work. That isn't a problem for me, but I guess it might be for those who like to watch videos while they work.

I do hope they can figure out how to get FaceID to work in either landscape or portrait orientation, especially before they release an iPad with FaceID. It'd be nice if a future update to the iPhone X would allow FaceID to work in landscape as well, but I suppose it is possible that this is partly an issue with how the dot projector is oriented. It's not a very significant pain point for me though. I have found that keeping my iPhone X in the stand in portrait orientation makes it easier for me to read incoming notifications and text messages. I usually keep it to the right of my primary desktop computer display, so if I see a notification arrive out of the corner of my eye all I need to do is look at the phone. It unlocks immediately and I can read the text without taking my fingers off the keyboard of my desktop computer. If I want to respond or act on the notification, the phone is already unlocked.

Me, I'm just lazy, with too much desk clutter.

Landscape will be tough, I think. Probably either means additional hardware because of the dot projector, either increasing the size of the notch or possibly taking out a whole corner of the display area. I can hear the howling already.

 

[AttilaTheHun]

Unfortunately, this is what happens with Steve Jobs is out of the picture. His vision was one of simplicity and ease of use. As the article basically says, in 10 years we've gone from something anyone could just pick up and intuitively use to needing a tutorial on complex gesture controls.

I will never use the face ID I don't use any of the open iPhone no code no finger ID I want to open it as fast as I can

 

[44267547]

Not a very good way to promote Face ID. “When It works. 80% success.” Sounds like it wasn’t ready.

Face ID WAS ready, it just doesn't have to be perfect for everybody else's experience. Which we all know will vary. What about touch ID? Was that considered "Ready" over Face ID when it first launched? If I recall, there were many that we're having unlocking issues when Touch ID when it first launched and by no means was perfect.

And you have to remember, Face ID use the machine learning process to become more accustomed to the user face over the course of time. So that also improves the experience.

 

[Phonephreak]

Face ID WAS ready, it just doesn't have to be perfect for everybody else's experience. Which we all know will vary. What about touch ID? Was that considered "Ready" over Face ID when it first launched? If I recall, there were many that we're having unlocking issues when Touch ID when it first launched and by no means was perfect.

And you have to remember, Face ID use the machine learning process to become more accustomed to the user face over the course of time. So that also improves the experience.

Face ID WAS ready, it just doesn't have to be perfect for everybody else's experience. Which we all know will vary. What about touch ID? Was that considered "Ready" over Face ID when it first launched? If I recall, there were many that we're having unlocking issues when Touch ID when it first launched and by no means was perfect.

And you have to remember, Face ID use the machine learning process to become more accustomed to the user face over the course of time. So that also improves the experience.

80% success questionable imo. Touch ID worked great for me from the beginning. 2gen was even better.

 

[Ryan1524]

The narrowed screen and the still-terrible iOS notification layout.

 

[newellj]

The narrowed screen and the still-terrible iOS notification layout.

The narrow screen doesn't get a lot of comments itself, although some people complain about the aspect ratio. (They need to check out where "flagship" Android phones are going, which is the same 2:1ish ratio). The thing about the narrow screen is that it returns - in my opinion and as I use the phone - minimal useful display area but makes one-handed use a lot harder. I'm not a fan. (I thought the longer display on the 5 was a useless change from the 4/4S.)

 

[macsrcool1234]

Face ID, battery, gestures, etc. just haven't been the issue with me as apparently it is with others
Then again, I'm not a blogger who needs a story either

It's not a problem for MacDawg, therefore it works for everyone else. Pack it all up, folks.

 

[adamhenry]

It's not a problem for MacDawg, therefore it works for everyone else. Pack it all up, folks.

No problems here either. FID works great and I really like the gestures.

 

[macsrcool1234]

No problems here either. FID works great and I really like the gestures.

It's not a problem for adamhenry, therefore it works for everyone else. Pack it all up, folks.

 

[sean000]

It's not a problem for adamhenry, therefore it works for everyone else. Pack it all up, folks.

You know that’s not what he is saying. If only there was a poll that showed how well it works for most people... oh wait, there is! https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/let’s-be-honest-faceid.2089537/

Somewhere around 275 votes and the vast majority report that FaceID works well for them. Not a huge sample size, but enough to suggest those who have major problems with FaceID fall into a couple of groups: those who have defective units, and those who are more inconvenienced than most when it comes to the situations where FaceID won’t work (e.g., iPhone is flat on a table, your face is half obscured by a pillow, iPhone is in landscape orientation, etc.). I would take the 98 votes for “all the time” with a grain of salt since neither FaceID nor TouchID work all the time. A few of those 98 commented that they do not count situations where it is obvious that it won’t work as failures. I did count those as failures, so I voted that FaceID works for me 80-90% of the time. TouchID probably works for about the same amount (although drops to 20% when I use my left thumb). When both work, I prefer the convenience of FaceID hands down.

1. 
   All the time!
   98 vote(s)
   37.3%
2. *
   80-90%
   127 vote(s)
   48.3%
3. 
   69-79%
   24 vote(s)
   9.1%
4. 
   Half the time it doesn’t work
   7 vote(s)
   2.7%
5. 
   25% or less
   1 vote(s)
   0.4%
6. 
   Nope, it doesn’t work at all
   2 vote(s)
   0.8%
7. 
   I’ve turned it off
   4 vote(s)
   1.5%
   

 

[macsrcool1234]

You know that’s not what he is saying. If only there was a poll that showed how well it works for most people... oh wait, there is! https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/let’s-be-honest-faceid.2089537/

Somewhere around 275 votes and the vast majority report that FaceID works well for them. Not a huge sample size, but enough to suggest those who have major problems with FaceID fall into a couple of groups: those who have defective units, and those who are more inconvenienced than most when it comes to the situations where FaceID won’t work (e.g., iPhone is flat on a table, your face is half obscured by a pillow, iPhone is in landscape orientation, etc.). I would take the 98 votes for “all the time” with a grain of salt since neither FaceID nor TouchID work all the time. A few of those 98 commented that they do not count situations where it is obvious that it won’t work as failures. I did count those as failures, so I voted that FaceID works for me 80-90% of the time. TouchID probably works for about the same amount (although drops to 20% when I use my left thumb). When both work, I prefer the convenience of FaceID hands down.

1. 
   All the time!
   98 vote(s)
   37.3%
2. *
   80-90%
   127 vote(s)
   48.3%
3. 
   69-79%
   24 vote(s)
   9.1%
4. 
   Half the time it doesn’t work
   7 vote(s)
   2.7%
5. 
   25% or less
   1 vote(s)
   0.4%
6. 
   Nope, it doesn’t work at all
   2 vote(s)
   0.8%
7. 
   I’ve turned it off
   4 vote(s)
   1.5%

On a site called macrumors? SHOCKING.

 

[sean000]

On a site called macrumors? SHOCKING.

And yet here you are as well. Anyway, if you’ve got any evidence at all to back up your idea that FaceID doesn’t work for most people then by all means show us your numbers.

 

[anitak1982]

I have decided there is one aspect that I wish was changed. I wish the side button was back on the top. I hit this so often just picking up the phone. That's all! I still love my iphone X and don't regret buying it.

 

[macsrcool1234]

And yet here you are as well. Anyway, if you’ve got any evidence at all to back up your idea that FaceID doesn’t work for most people then by all means show us your numbers.

every single review i've seen mentions that 'while great, i found myself inputting my pincode in more..

even GRUBER said that in his review. your own poll that you linked shows the majority of respondents saying it works less than 100 percent of the time.

that was easy. who's next?

 

[sean000]

every single review i've seen mentions that 'while great, i found myself inputting my pincode in more..

even GRUBER said that in his review. your own poll that you linked shows the majority of respondents saying it works less than 100 percent of the time.

that was easy. who's next?

Because we all know that TouchID is perfect and works 100% of the time.

A few cherry picked reviews do not make for a reasonable sample size. Gruber is still just an individual and does not speak for all. So I’m guessing you have no survey or field research that demonstrates that FaceID is as much of a failure as you seem to think it is?

I use both TouchID and FaceID countless times per day. Both fail sometimes, but both work the vast majority of the time. I happen to think FaceID is the better of the two and wish my iPad had it. In the end both offer convenience. You seem to have an peculiar obsession with TouchID and an unhealthy dislike of FaceID that the vast majority of iPhone X users do not experience.

 

[44267547]

I have decided there is one aspect that I wish was changed. I wish the side button was back on the top. I hit this so often just picking up the phone. That's all! I still love my iphone X and don't regret buying it.

If You're referring to the relocating the power button being on top, I think that would be much more difficult to operate one-handed because of the size of the iPhone X. Take the iPhone SE for example, it's much easier to reach the power button one-handed because it's a much smaller form factor, but with the iPhone X being longer, it's actually difficult to manipulate to reach the power button on top of the iPhone one handed.

Having it on the side of the iPhone is much more manageable and you can use your thumb, which is likely what most do anyways.

 

[macsrcool1234]

Because we all know that TouchID is perfect and works 100% of the time.

A few cherry picked reviews do not make for a reasonable sample size. Gruber is still just an individual and does not speak for all. So I’m guessing you have no survey or field research that demonstrates that FaceID is as much of a failure as you seem to think it is?

I use both TouchID and FaceID countless times per day. Both fail sometimes, but both work the vast majority of the time. I happen to think FaceID is the better of the two and wish my iPad had it. In the end both offer convenience. You seem to have an peculiar obsession with TouchID and an unhealthy dislike of FaceID that the vast majority of iPhone X users do not experience.

My problem with FaceID is that it stores a single face and fails a lot should you deviate from that. I don't think i've seen a single review that doesn't point this out. This was really not a problem with TouchID because you could just input the same finger multiple times.

 

[adamhenry]

My problem with FaceID is that it stores a single face and fails a lot should you deviate from that. I don't think i've seen a single review that doesn't point this out. This was really not a problem with TouchID because you could just input the same finger multiple times.

Inputting multiple copies of the fingerprint does not prevent TID from failing if my finger is too damp, too dry or whatever on my 6S or IPA 2 . I put in my passcode a lot more for my 6S and IPA 2 than I do for my X. It is anecdotal but FID on my X works much better for me than TID does on my IPA 2 or did on my 6S.

 

[macsrcool1234]

Inputting multiple copies of the fingerprint does not prevent TID from failing if my finger is too damp, too dry or whatever on my 6S or IPA 2 . I put in my passcode a lot more for my 6S and IPA 2 than I do for my X. It is anecdotal but FID on my X works much better for me than TID does on my IPA 2 or did on my 6S.

But at least you have 10 fingers to program into it. If FaceID fails, it takes way too long to try again.

 

[sean000]

My problem with FaceID is that it stores a single face and fails a lot should you deviate from that. I don't think i've seen a single review that doesn't point this out. This was really not a problem with TouchID because you could just input the same finger multiple times.

FaceID actually stores many versions of your face. When it fails and you enter your passcode, it adds your current look to its library. I usually wear glasses, so I set up FaceID while wearing them. The first few times I tried FaceID without my glasses on it failed. After that it learned my non-glasses look and now it works as well without glasses as with. I haven’t had any issues with hats or hoods, or razor stubble. If you make a dramatic change from beard to beardless that might be an issue. When it comes to TouchID I had to scan multiple digits because it doesn’t seem to like my left thumb. It works great with my right thumb though.

 

[44267547]

But at least you have 10 fingers to program into it. If FaceID fails, it takes way too long to try again.

My strongest appreciation for touch ID is that it doesn't require you to have the phone at a specific angle to unlock it. And touch ID has become very consistent over the years, but I really do like Face ID and I think it will be useful in many situations where touch ID was not. But I still think it's early to disparage against Face ID's future and what changes Apple makes from this point forward to optimize it more.

 

[russelljg]

But I still think it's early to disparage against Face ID's future and what changes Apple makes from this point forward to optimize it more.

Agreed. This is Gen 1, improvements will happen. I do wish though that they were able (or willing) to implement under screen TouchId. Whilst we need a good biometric solution I'm not sure people were shouting "give me FaceID".

 

[Ffosse]

Face ID works perfectly for me, even when I'm wearing a hat and headphones.

 

[newellj]

FaceID actually stores many versions of your face. When it fails and you enter your passcode, it adds your current look to its library. I usually wear glasses, so I set up FaceID while wearing them. The first few times I tried FaceID without my glasses on it failed. After that it learned my non-glasses look and now it works as well without glasses as with. I haven’t had any issues with hats or hoods, or razor stubble. If you make a dramatic change from beard to beardless that might be an issue. When it comes to TouchID I had to scan multiple digits because it doesn’t seem to like my left thumb. It works great with my right thumb though.

At the risk of being mistaken for one who has been asleep (maybe I was), I did not realize that the FaceID failures with passcode entered added another image. If it were explained that way, people would probably "cooperate" with "educating" the phone and results would improve...

 

[Newtons Apple]

My friend bought an X and has loved it up till yesterday.

He said when he gets a call, he can not answer it. It is like his screen is locked up. I know this is happen to others and am guessing that Apple is working on a fix.