Apple today released the iOS 14.5 and iPadOS 14.5 beta updates for developers, and in the new software is a feature designed to make it easier to unlock an iPhone while wearing a mask through the Apple Watch to use.
With an opt-in setting, you can enable a feature that can unlock a iPhone with both Face ID and a verified Apple Watch along. You can find this setting by opening the Settings app, going to the Face ID and password section, entering your password and then turning on “Unlock with Apple Watch”.
Both iOS 14.5 and watchOS 7.4 are required to enable this feature, and once turned on, you can start unlocking your iPhone with an unlocked and verified Apple Watch while wearing a mask. The first time you unlock iPhone with Apple Watch after turning on the feature, you need to enter a passcode, but after that, unlocking Apple Watch is smooth, seamless and fast.
If you wear a mask and are going to use Face ID, you will feel a haptic vibration on your wrist, and it will let you know that your ‘iPhone’ with your watch is unlocked via a notification that appears on your wrist.
Face ID will work on the iPhone as usual, so you only feel a difference through the Apple Watch, although sometimes there is a slight delay that says ‘unlocking iPhone with Apple Watch’. It seems to depend on the distance between your iPhone and your watch, and if your verified watch is too far away, you are told to move it closer.
Every time you unlock, you feel the vibration and you see the pop-up appear. This is usually an interface that looks like the interface that appears when you unlock your Mac with your Apple Watch. Unlocking a Mac through a verified Apple Watch has long been a feature.
You can not make any Apple Pay or App Store purchases with the Apple Watch, nor for authentication in apps that use Face ID. In these situations, you still need to remove your mask and use the standard Face ID authentication or enter a passcode.
For those who are concerned about security or possible authentication with this method, the feature is completely subscribable and is not enabled by default. You do need an unlocked Apple Watch to make it work, so there is no way to use it with an Apple Watch that is not unlocked via the iPhone or your Apple Watch password.
All in all, unlocking a iPhone with a paired Apple Watch is just as seamless as unlocking with standard Face ID, and it’s just as fast, so it’s going to be a welcome change for people who’m frustrated with using of iPhone while wearing a mask. Future iPhones may include Touch ID along with Face ID, but for now, it’s a useful solution for iPhone owners who also have an Apple Watch.