Ever since the iPhone X, XS and XS Max came out, when your phone is locked and you look at it, it recognizes you. This seamless way to unlock your phone is called Face ID. At the top of the iPhone display, there is a small area with something called a TrueDepth camera system, this is what makes Face ID possible.
With earlier versions of iPhones specifically 5s, 6, 6 Plus, SE, 6s, 6s Plus, 7, 7 Plus, 8 and 8 Plus, comes with a fingerprint scanner at the bottom which is used to unlock your iPhone. A fingerprint scammer is a device that is used to identify a person by scanning their fingerprint. Every person has a unique pattern of fingerprint, hence, a fingerprint scanner is used to uniquely identify us. On these iPhones, the Touch ID sensor is embedded at the bottom to make it easier and fun to unlock your iPhone compared to the previous methods of using passcodes.
It’s super thin with very high resolution and scans through the upper layer of the skin to get a better image of your fingerprint. It started running on iOS 7 and also where the Home button is located. To unlock your phone all you need to do is simply touch the Home button. Fast-forward to a couple of years later, Apple has now introduced the Face ID feature to replace the Touch ID.
It is made up of state of the art technology such as an infrared camera, a flood illuminator, a front camera, a dot projector, a proximity sensor, an ambient light sensor and more.
It works anytime you glance at your iPhone by detecting your face with the flood illuminator, even in the dark. The infrared camera takes an image then the dot projector projects at over thirty thousand invisible IR dots. The image and the dots are pushed through neural networks to create a mathematical model of your face. Incredible right?
Face ID works by storing that mathematical model so that the next time you try to unlock your iPhone it checks that the stored mathematical model matches with your face. If it does then the iPhone unlocks, if not, its attempts to try again until it asks for your passcode to check if you are indeed the owner of the iPhone, which in this case it’s probably not.
All of this happens in real-time and invisibly. Now, If you’re wondering how to set up Face ID on your iPhone, to set up Face ID follow these instructions, but first make sure your iPhone is running on at least iOS 13 or earlier.
- Open the Settings app.
- Scroll down to find Face ID and Passcode.
- Tap Set Up Face ID.
- A dark screen opens up with a circle of white lines. Below the circle are instructions for you to follow to set up Face ID.
- You have to position your face into the camera, then move your head around in a circle to cover all the angles of your face.
- As you do this, you’ll notice the lines moves according to how you move.
- Once you have done enough practice, Click Get Started.
- Position your head into the camera in the circle and then gently move your head to complete the circle.
- As you do this, you’ll notice the white lines along the circle turns green once it has captured an angle of your face.
- Do this until all the lines turn green. It will ask you to repeat the process for a second (more comprehensive) scan.
- Now you are all set to use Face ID. When you hold up your iPhone, it quickly recognizes you, and then you’ll notice the padlock at the top unlocks.
Face ID learns your face, even when you change your hairstyle or grow a moustache or put on coloured contacts or glasses (Including sunglasses), put on a hat or colour your hair, it is still capable of recognizing you. It also adapts to you as your face changes over time both day and night, it works.
You might want to know how to add another Face ID. It is possible to add more than one Face ID. There have been some complaints about restrictions on how to add another Face ID. With the later versions of the iPhone, you could add more than one fingerprint on Touch ID, up to five fingerprints. But with the newer versions of the iPhone people often wonder how to add a second Face ID. We will now discuss how to add more than one face ID.
To do this we need a second person who will have access to your iPhone. First, we will unlock the iPhone with the initial face set up on the device and then follow these instructions on how to add a second Face ID:
- Go to settings and scroll down to Face ID and Passcode.
- Put in your passcode.
- Select Set up an Alternate Appearance.
The idea of setting up an alternate appearance is so that in case you might be putting on something that could make you unrecognizable by Face IDs like a hat or sunglasses, you can still be able to unlock your iPhone with a Face ID. You can use this as a caveat to add a second Face ID.
- After tapping on Set Up an Alternate Appearance, you can now add your second identity.
- It is similar to the steps described above so just follow the same step for setting up the initial Face ID.
- After you have completed the second scan you are all set and now have two faces set up on your Face ID.
- Lock your iPhone and test it to see if it works.