Who doesn’t know about face ID on their iPhone, this next-gen device comes with the exciting features from which Face ID is one. Face ID lets you securely unlock your iPhone or iPad, authenticate purchases, sign in to apps, and more — in short, it works as an all-in-one authenticator. Apple’s face ID was launched in September 2017, Since then, Apple has continued to expand the number and type of devices with Face ID, including the iPhone models of the last two years and the current-generation iPad Pro. Also, by transferring the authentication to Face ID, Apple killed off its home button and fingerprint reader.
What is Apple Face ID?
Apple’s Face ID is a facial-recognition technology that launched back in September 2017. Face ID uses a “TrueDepth camera system”, which consists of sensors, cameras, and a dot projector at the top of the iPhone display in the notch to create a detailed 3D map of your face. Every time you look at your phone, the system conducts a secure authentication check, enabling your device to be unlocked or your payment to be authorized quickly and intuitively if it recognizes you. Face ID lets you securely unlock your iPhone or iPad, authenticate purchases, sign in to apps, and more. If Face ID has a match, your device unlocks. If not, you’re asked to try again or enter a passcode. And all of that happens in milliseconds.
Face ID also adapts to changes in your appearance, such as wearing cosmetic make up or growing facial hair.
How does Apple Face ID works?
Face ID uses a combination of light projectors and sensors to take several images of your facial features. Collectively called the ‘TrueDepth camera system’, Apple says these technologies work together to build a ‘detailed depth map of your face to recognize you in an instant. If the face ID matches then you get to authenticate your iPhone, if not so then you’re asked to try again or enter a passcode. And all of that happens in milliseconds.
How To Set Up Face ID on iPhone?
When setting up an Apple device with Face ID for the first time, you’ll be asked if you want to use Face ID. If you chose not to, you can enable it through the Settings app later. Regardless of when you set up the feature, the process will remain the same.
So how do you set up your face ID? First, you’ll be asked to set a passcode for use as a fallback authentication method if Face ID has trouble recognizing you. You will also need a passcode at the time of unlocking your device when it has rebooted, or your passcode is necessary at the time of unlocking when you haven’t unlocked it within 48 hours.
Before you set up Face ID, make sure that there isn’t anything covering the TrueDepth camera or your face. Face ID is designed to work with glasses and contacts. You can’t set up Face ID if anything is obstructing your nose and mouth, like a face mask.
To set up Face ID
- Go to Settings > Face ID & Passcode. If asked, enter your passcode.
- Tap Set Up Face ID.
- Make sure that you’re holding your device in portrait orientation, position your face in front of your device, and tap Get Started.
- Position your face inside the frame and gently move your head to complete the circle. If you’re unable to move your head, tap Accessibility Options.
- When you finish the first Face ID scan, tap Continue.
- Gently move your head to complete the circle for a second time. Tap Done.
Can I set up a face ID for iPhone 8?
The iPhone 8 and the 8 Plus are powered by the same brains as the iPhone X. … The only difference is how the phones use these features: The iPhone X uses the A11 chip and neural engine for its new face-detection system, Face ID, which the iPhone 8 does not have. So, one cannot set up a face ID for iPhone 8 models.
Unable to activate Face ID on this iPhone?
If you are getting any error while activating face ID on iPhone, apply the solutions listed below.
Make sure your iPhone is up to date i.e, updated.
- Plug your device into power and connect to the Internet with Wi-Fi.
- Go to Settings > General, then tap Software Update.
- If the software update is available then,
- Tap Download and Install.
- To update now, tap Install.
- If asked, enter your passcode.
- Done, now you can try again to set up Face ID.
Check your Face ID settings
- To check your Face ID settings,
- go to Settings > Face ID & Passcode.
- Make sure that Face ID is set up and that the features you’re trying to use Face ID with are turned on.
RESET Face ID
If above-given steps are not working then you can go for this, RESET Face ID
- Go to Settings > Face ID & Passcode.
- Then tap Set up Face ID to set it up again.
- If you still can’t enroll your face, take your device to an Apple Retail Store or Apple Authorized Service Provider
Simply just Restart your iPhone
If the above-given solution is not working you can simply force Restart your iPhone to get rid of the issue.
Press and hold both the side button and either volume button until the slider appears on the screen, Drag the slider. And after the Restart process finishes, Go to the Settings and click on Face ID & Passcode, then setup face ID again.
Reset your iOS device
If the problem still exists, then one should go for advanced troubleshooting solutions i.e, you can restore or UPDATE your iOS device in Recovery Mode!
Recovery mode helps you to solve minor to major problems, so it can easily solve Unable to activate Face ID on this iPhone issue.
Firstly, download and install the latest version of iTunes on your computer(PC).
Then run iTunes and plug in your iPhone or iPad to your computer.
- If a window pops up and says that you’re required to restore or update your iPhone, just follow the onscreen instructions to make it.
- Or you can force restart your device to put it in Recovery Mode and a pop up window will appear.
- Once connected, press and hold both the Sleep/Wake and the Home button, in order to force restart. You must keep holding until you see the iPhone Recovery Mode screen. Please don’t release the buttons when you see the Apple logo. It will probably take about 10 seconds for the iPhone Recovery Mode screen to appear.
- You will see the option to Restore or Update. Choose Update. iTunes will reinstall iOS without erasing your data.
- If your iPhone is stuck in Recovery Mode for more than 15 minutes and your device exits iPhone Recovery Mode, then, there may be a problem. Retry the process, but this time choose Restore instead. You will be in iPhone Restore Mode.
- Reset your device. If you had a backup either with iTunes or iCloud, you may be able to restore your old data from your backup.
After the restore iPhone automatically startup itself. Now you can easily set up Face ID on your iPhone or iPad.
When is Face ID Used?
Apple Face ID is commonly used for unlocking your iPhone while it has many other features too. Face ID is used to ;
- Authorize Apple Pay
- Approve purchases in the App Store, iTunes, iBooks
- Auto-fill passwords in Safari
- Sign in to third-party apps, such as banking or password manager apps, etc.
Which Apple devices have Face ID support?
The current iPhone and iPad models that have Face ID are; Starting from,
- iPhone X, iPhone XR, iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max
- iPhone 11, iPhone 11 Pro / Pro Max
- iPhone 12, iPhone 12 Pro / Pro Max
- iPad Pro – 11inch, iPad Pro – 2018 model and later.