Soh, you heard of a new feature that lets you unlock your iPhone while wearing a mask, and you want it. (Who can blame you ?!) The good news is that you can access it with a public beta now available. The bad news is that you have to jump through a few hoops before you can use them. You also need an Apple Watch, and your smartwatch should be on your wrist, unlocked and password protected. Oh, and charged.
Do you have it all? Well.
The first thing you need to do is download the latest public beta updates for your watch as well as your iPhone, so iOS 14.5 and watchOS 7.4. (Make sure that your device is backed up in case something strange happens during the process.) You will also be asked to enter your Apple ID password, so you need to use it conveniently. Then go to beta.apple.com in Safari on your iPhone and select Start. From this page you can choose which public beta programs you want to download. Choose the iOS tab and scroll down to where it says sign in to your iOS device and select this option. Then scroll down and click on the blue Download profile button. You will then see a series of instructions for installing the public beta profile.
After completing this process, go to Institutions, choose General, and click on Software update. This is where you should see an option now Download and install the public beta of iOS 14.5. Follow the instructions to install the update, take a sip of water, and then prepare to install your watch update. Keep in mind that your watch needs its charger and has a battery life of at least 50 percent.
Click on the same beta landing page in Safari Start and then select the watchOS option from the top menu. From this page you should see a blue Download profile button—Click on it. Follow the instructions to download the public beta profile and then go to your View app. Once your watch is connected to the charger and has been charged at least halfway, in the Watch app navigate to General, dan Software update, and select Install under the watchOS 7.4 public beta description.
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After installing the public beta profiles on your watch as well as on your iPhone, you should be able to enable the feature that allows your phone to be unlocked while wearing a mask. Go to your phone Institutions, scroll down to Face ID and password, and you should now see an option to Unlock with Apple Watch. Link this function on. Your Apple Watch should now buzz because it unlocks your phone when you wear a mask, and the watch will also show the option to lock your phone again. Unlocking is almost instantaneous and definitely much easier than entering your password.
And that’s it, you’re done! It may have taken a minute to set up, but hopefully you will no longer have to snatch your mask or enter your password manually every time you need to unlock your phone going forward.