Apple today released beta updates for iOS 14.5 and iPadOS 14.5 for developers, and the new software includes a feature designed to make it easier to unlock an iPhone with a mask taking advantage of the Apple Watch.
Activation option settings allow you to activate a feature that allows you to unlock an iPhone with Face ID and an authenticated Apple Watch combined. You can find this setting by opening the Settings app, going to the Face ID and Password section, entering your password, and then switching to “Unlock with Apple Watch.”
Both iOS 14.5 and watchOS 7.4 are required to enable this feature, and once activated, you can start unlocking your iPhone with an unlocked and authenticated Apple Watch while wearing a mask. The first time you go to unlock your iPhone with Apple Watch after activating the feature, you will need to enter a password, but after that, unlocking your Apple Watch is smooth, perfect, and fast.
When you wear a mask and use Face ID, you will feel a haptic vibration in your wrist and it will let you know that your iPhone was unlocked with the watch through a notification that appears on your wrist.
Face ID will work as normal on the “iPhone”, so you can only feel a difference through the Apple Watch, although sometimes there is a small delay that says “unlock” the iPhone with Apple Watch ” This seems to depend on the distance between your iPhone and the clock, and if the authenticated clock is too far away, you will be prompted to bring it closer.
Every time you unlock, you’ll hear the vibration and see the pop-up, and it’s generally an interface that resembles the interface that appears when you unlock your Mac with the Apple Watch. Unlocking a Mac using an authenticated Apple Watch has long been a feature.
You cannot make any purchases from Apple Pay or the App Store with the Apple Watch, nor can you use it to authenticate yourself to applications that use Face ID. In these situations, you still need to remove the mask and use standard facial identification authentication or enter a password.
For those who are concerned about security or possible authentication overrides with this method, the feature is fully enabled and not enabled by default. You need an unlocked Apple Watch to work, so there’s no way to use it with an Apple Watch that hasn’t been unlocked through your “iPhone” or your Apple Watch passcode.
All in all, unlocking an iPhone with a paired Apple Watch is as simple as unlocking it with standard Face ID and is almost as fast, so it will be a welcome change for people frustrated with using an iPhone with a mask . Future iPhones may include Touch ID on the screen along with Face ID, but for now, this is a useful solution for iPhone owners who also have an Apple Watch.