Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
iPhone X Is it me, or does Face ID suck? [MERGED]
- Thread starter saxman211
- Start date
-
- Tags
- face id
- Sort by reaction score
For me it works 100% of the time. There was never failure. Not even with my glasses. Try to re-register your face again.
These posts are so difficult to believe. FaceID never failed once where you had to enter your passcode?
No, never. As incredible as it may seem. Inside movies, bars, nightclubs, I've never had a problem in not recognizing except when it's not in his range. Sometimes it surprises me to recognize my face even with the device tilted.
One extreme is saying it never fails while the other extreme would be it fails all the time. Impossible for me to believe that FaceID works 100 percent of the times. Saying FaceID works X percent of the times is totally more believable than saying it never fails.
That's great. Point being is that is has failed. And should. Nothing is perfect.
Saying it fails half the times is not more believable. If it fails half the time for somebody, they’re doing something wrong.
Face ID is hit or miss for me. Sometimes it works great and sometimes it infuriates me that it didn't pick up my face and it's asking me to put my passcode in again... I'm sure future versions will work way better. I remember how many issues people had with Touch ID at the beginning and it got MUCH better lol.
Actually it is. Nothing is perfect. If that's your argument its doomed to failure.
Nah, what doesn't work is claiming its always user error as if tech does not fail.
I am in the same boat. I love what FaceID offers, and what it could bring in the future. Until then, it's a love/hate relationship for me
Yes, surrounding ambient light can be a distraction for Face ID when it is trying to scan your face, however; it actually works more so well in the dark because it doesn’t have any light that’s distract the sensors and can focus solely on your face.
Touch ID didn't work half the time for me. Face ID works 99% of the time, with less effort. Apparently, this is the case for a majority of users, so I wish people here would stop saying Touch ID is objectively better. Subjectively, of course, it may be different, but for most users, Face ID *is* better.
I have no doubt that the OP is having a bad experience with Face ID. We're all different, there are many factors, preferences, etc. As long as they realize they are the exception.
[doublepost=1524173245][/doublepost]
I do have 50% failure for Touch ID, for example, but I don't think for one second this is "standard". I probably have specific skin type or fingerprints or whatever, but that's my case. Biometrics are tricky, people are so vastly different, some people will just have a bad time with a certain tech. With that said, I do believe Face ID is more "tolerant" and works with more different types of people.
As for Face ID, it works *every* time I hold it normally. If I hold it really close to my face (which is almost never) or at a weird angle - it may fail. But I realize that it also depends how you hold a device - if you're used to holding it really close, or at a non-conventional position - you may have a substantial failure rate.
For me: Touch ID fails whenever my hands are even slightly wet or sweaty or oily, which is - apparently - most of the time. And before you ask - I keep my hands clean, it's just how my body seems to work. On the other hand, Face ID is so reliable, that I switched to a 6-digit passcode and I'm even considering an alphanumerical one, because I type it in so rarely.
Last edited:
If Touch ID didn't work half the time for you then your phone was defective. Period.
I don't know a single person in real life who owns an iPhone X who has had such a high level of success with Face ID as some of you in this thread claim. And I've asked a lot of people.
No. This was the case with my 6, 6S, a replacement 6S and two generations of iPad Pro. Dude, this is just how my skin is. It has to be really, really dry for it to work consistently, which is very rare for me.
As for your knowledge of a single person in real life, what can I say.... it's anecdotal evidence. I can tell you that all my colleagues that own the X and a couple of friends are super happy with Face ID. I can tell you that it works every time for me, with it failing once or twice a week (and a simple second attempt goes through).
My only guess is that you are holding your phones in a very specific way, like at an angle. Or maybe it's some sort of negative bias. Or maybe all your real life people have the same defective batch of iPhones? Anything is possible. I can only tell you my, admittedly also anecdotal experience: The thing works. Every. Time.
But I guess it's hard to accept that someone has a different experience. Sure, my phone was defective. Period.
You know what.... this type of talk on this forum is really starting to tire me. I think I will try it myself: if Face ID fails for you, you have defective devices or are holding them wrong. PERIOD.
Ah. Feels good.
Listen man. Go read just about any major tech review online and take a look at this forum or any other tech one. I think I can say without a doubt that Touch ID worked more reliably for just about everybody. Maybe you have sweaty hands? (Shrugs)
Congrats it 'works' every time for you. I honestly find that hard to believe given how no one I've talked to has had this experience. I'm talking at least over 50 iPhone X owners who purchased their phones at different times. I would say most (including myself) like the idea of Face ID over Touch ID however it very much feels like a beta at this point and does not unlock as successfully or smoothly for anyone I've discussed this with versus Touch ID.
The angle is not the issue. If anything I have to slightly tilt the X towards me to have it unlock at times, which is another flaw with Face ID. I wish I could just take it out of my pocket and look at it and have it unlock. Nope. Often I need to tilt it ever so slightly towards me at an awkward angle. I've also had others tell me the exact same thing.
Lastly your attitude towards me is completely and utterly unnecessary. If you hated Touch ID and love Face ID, congrats. I think you'll see the majority of forum members are not having the same level of success with FID vs TID.
I don’t know how you’re reading into it, but the way I see it, almost every major review out there is favorable towards Face ID. Ars Technica praised the technology and said the success rate is high. Nilay Patel from the Verge said that Face ID worked great for the most part, with a few exceptions. Marques Brownlee said that it works pretty good and fast. Actually, I don’t remember a single review saying anything remotely close to what people are saying here (beta product, sucks, hate it, etc). Could it be even better? Sure. What can’t?
This matches my experience, as well as those of people around me that have it. Literally no one is having the failure rate mentioned by some people here.
Quote the contrary, there are a lot (if not most) people here that have great experience with it that you are somehow ignoring. Face ID is viewed favorably on all polls here too, so if anything, I’d say the majority of users do prefer Face ID. Of course, there is a group here that pours hatred towards almost anything Apple does lately, and most of them admittedly don’t even own an X, so I take their experiences with some scepticism.
I’m guessing one of the two of us is so biased that they can’t see the other side at all. I’ll let you believe that someone is me, and leave it at that.
You implied he (along with many others in this thread) is lying. His attitude seems completely justified to me.
I didn't say unfavorably. I'm saying that many reviews state that Face ID does not work as well as Touch ID in general.
I also never said anything about failure rates. I'm simply stating that in my experience and with everyone I've spoken with, Face ID does not unlock as successfully as Touch ID. I honestly don't think this forum is a few members having bad experiences and overwhelming the threads. I believe it's simply a reflection of many people in general that are not having as smooth of an experience with Face ID versus Touch ID.
Face ID, simply put, is buggy for me and countless others. It feels 100% like a beta for me. If it also works perfectly for a large group of people, congrats to them. That is simply not my personal experience nor of anyone I have spoken with in real life. I believe in Face ID. I believe it will get better in future hardware updates. I do not believe Face ID is good in it's current state given my personal experience and feedback from others in real life and online. If it works for you and others, so be it.
[doublepost=1524178051][/doublepost]
I will say this. The % of people who have Touch ID failing 50% of time is probably less than 1%. Period.
Depends on what you mean by "suck."
If used within it's limitations, I found it 99-100% reliable. But that meant having it at the distance that it needs (not to close, not too far away) and at the correct angle. If you don't work within its needs, yeah, it will fail a lot.
I also found that it was highly inconvenient for me, which is why I returned the thing after a month and a half (extended holiday return period).
I will tell you that after I followed a suggestion posted here last year accuracy went way up. Basically the advice was to scan at the furthest distance from your face that the system will accept, in moderate light without a lot of shadows. The other suggestion that I never had a chance to try was to enter the passcode if FaceID had a recognition failure because this actually "teaches" the system that the image that it just rejected is actually a correct image.
If used within it's limitations, I found it 99-100% reliable. But that meant having it at the distance that it needs (not to close, not too far away) and at the correct angle. If you don't work within its needs, yeah, it will fail a lot.
I also found that it was highly inconvenient for me, which is why I returned the thing after a month and a half (extended holiday return period).
I will tell you that after I followed a suggestion posted here last year accuracy went way up. Basically the advice was to scan at the furthest distance from your face that the system will accept, in moderate light without a lot of shadows. The other suggestion that I never had a chance to try was to enter the passcode if FaceID had a recognition failure because this actually "teaches" the system that the image that it just rejected is actually a correct image.
I don't think it sucks. For me it's situationally better and situationally worse as well.
Unsure why you can't store more than one face. Or use in landscape. That's annoying. Also doesn't work flat on the table, which is an easy remedy. When paying using Apple Pay I find it faster. Unlocking in the car dock to switch albums or something is a royal pain.
Again, doesn't translate to it sucking, for me, but I think there's room for improvement. In terms of security, it's certainly superior.
Unsure why you can't store more than one face. Or use in landscape. That's annoying. Also doesn't work flat on the table, which is an easy remedy. When paying using Apple Pay I find it faster. Unlocking in the car dock to switch albums or something is a royal pain.
Again, doesn't translate to it sucking, for me, but I think there's room for improvement. In terms of security, it's certainly superior.