How to unlock your iPhone while wearing a mask, Apple Watch owners only

• Apple’s iOS 14.5 update lets you use Face ID to unlock your phone if you’re wearing a face mask.
• But there is a trick – it only works if you’re using an Apple Watch.
• The update lets you unlock your phone hands-free, but it won’t work for App Store purchases.
• For more stories, visit Insider’s Business section.

Apple offers software that allows iPhone owners to unlock their device with Face ID if they’re wearing a face mask – but only if they’re wearing an Apple Watch.

Apple currently offers three ways to unlock iPhones: passwords, with your face via Face ID, and with your fingertips via Touch ID.

Touch ID is only available on older phones and Apple’s biometric facial recognition feature does not work if you wear a face maskThis means that typing their passwords is the only option for many iPhone users.

However, the beta version of the new iOS 14.5 update that Apple dropped on Monday contains an alternative. The update allows iPhone owners to use Face ID even if their faces are hidden by a face mask.

Just make sure your Apple Watch is already unlocked and then glance at your phone screen. Your watch then buzzes and the phone is unlocked.

First you will need to enable the function, you can do this on your iPhone by selecting “Settings” and then “Face ID & Password”

Read more: How Amazon, Google, Verily and Apple are tackling the $ 29 billion industry to monitor your health data from home.

Besides unlocking your phone, you can also use the Watch-based unlocking feature for Apple Pay, but it will not work for all functions. For example, a password is still required for iTunes and App Store purchases.

The news was first reported by Pocket-Lint.

The beta shows that Apple is realizing that it needs to adapt its products in light of an increasing number of wearers. Face masks that are now mandatory in public transport. Before the beta version, the tech giant is already a iPhone update This made it easy for users to quickly type their passwords while wearing a face mask.

Other face recognition developers are also responding to this problem. New facial recognition technology can accurately identify mask-wearing passengers 96% of the time, according to a test conducted by the Ministry of Homeland Security in early January.