[HN Gopher] iOS 14.5 delivers Unlock iPhone with Apple Watch, ne...
       ___________________________________________________________________
        
       iOS 14.5 delivers Unlock iPhone with Apple Watch, new privacy
       controls, and more
        
       Author : jmsflknr
       Score  : 260 points
       Date   : 2021-04-26 17:05 UTC (5 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (www.apple.com)
 (TXT) w3m dump (www.apple.com)
        
       | mrgreenfur wrote:
       | Lots of comments here on the watch unlock, while the new privacy
       | controls are requiring apps to ask for IDFA before it's given
       | (and before you'retracked across apps with any identifiers). The
       | MarTech industry is panicking to adapt and become compliant and
       | there are estimates that it will drop ad targeting by ~75%. I see
       | this as a huge win for privacy, if Apple actually enforces it
       | (They have given no guidance on how this will happen).
        
         | clairity wrote:
         | also, a little poke in the eye of google: apple is proxying
         | google's safe browsing lookups through its own servers so
         | google gets less direct info about ios users.
        
           | justapassenger wrote:
           | Protect yourself against one giant tech corporation, by
           | sending all your data through other giant tech corporation.
           | 
           | Apple is really great at marketing.
        
             | lethologica wrote:
             | Better the devil you know. For now, I know that this devil
             | doesn't sell my information to hundreds of other devils.
        
               | justapassenger wrote:
               | It's because they couldn't figure out how to get better
               | ROI from data processing than they get from positioning
               | themselves as tron, fighting for the user.
               | 
               | Once they figure it out, their story will change very
               | quickly. It's naive to think that sending data to other
               | huge company is proper solution.
        
             | [deleted]
        
         | RangerScience wrote:
         | Yuuuup. It's unclear to me if this is collateral damage, but
         | it's also wreaking havoc in directly measuring the impact of
         | your own ads (ex: see and ad for an app, install the app, make
         | a purchase in the app - folks want to be able to tell if that
         | purchase is attributable to that ad).
        
           | Closi wrote:
           | > Folks want to be able to tell if that purchase is
           | attributable to that ad
           | 
           | Well, marketers and advertisers want to be able to tell if
           | the purchase is attributable.
           | 
           | Everyday folks typically either don't care or would actively
           | prefer not to be tracked in this way.
        
         | tomjen3 wrote:
         | I don't know if I should be happy that Apple fixed that, or mad
         | that they introduced the IDFA in the first place.
        
           | drak0n1c wrote:
           | IDFA was initially introduced to discourage tracking via
           | hardware such as serial numbers. Everything is an evolution.
        
       | drewg123 wrote:
       | That's a step in the right direction, but I sorely miss the
       | Android "trusted bluetooth device" that would keep your phone
       | unlocked.
       | 
       | I have really poor timing, and upgraded from a Google Pixel 2 to
       | an iPhone with face id (and no touch id)just before the pandemic.
       | Now I have to type my passcode to unlock whenever I'm wearing a
       | mask because I have a Garmin watch and won't consider downgrading
       | to an Apple watch. The Garmin watch kept my Pixel unlocked for me
       | since it was a trusted bluetooth device.
        
         | pcl wrote:
         | Anecdotally, in the last few weeks, FaceID just started working
         | for me with a couple of the types of masks I've been wearing. I
         | wonder if they have made some tweaks to their recognition
         | algorithms / are doing any sort of additional training on the
         | fly.
         | 
         | I don't have an Apple Watch, and am running 14.4.2.
        
           | Operyl wrote:
           | Every time you attempt authentication, and it doesn't
           | recognize you're wearing a mask in particular, it'll
           | "retrain" the model when you authenticate with your passcode.
           | If it was only a little bit off, eventually you'd retrain
           | enough to get there with a mask. They mention this in their
           | Security doc if I recall correctly.
        
           | dannyphantom wrote:
           | I thought that AI could identify someone even if they were
           | wearing a mask and our iPhone's were being silly. I've seen a
           | few videos of Chinese grocery shoppers paying with their face
           | with a mask on.
        
           | kitsunesoba wrote:
           | I don't have any links to back it up or anything, but my
           | impression is that Face ID continually trains itself as you
           | use it to help keep up with facial changes over time. At the
           | very least I know it takes the data from failed attempts
           | immediately followed by passcode unlock and uses it for
           | training.
           | 
           | Depending on how either is implemented I could see it getting
           | "used" to a masked face with enough samples. The question for
           | me is if this makes it more susceptible to false positives,
           | e.g. unlocking for people other than the owner wearing a
           | mask.
        
             | kiwijamo wrote:
             | Interesting I wonder how it deals with the case of e.g.
             | someone giving their phone to another person (e.g. spouse)
             | who then uses the passcode. I guess they could try and work
             | out if it is a variation of the same person or if it is
             | someone else entirely.
        
         | krrrh wrote:
         | I know a lot of people love their Garmin watches. Even though I
         | have an Apple Watch I considered also getting a Garmin just for
         | tracking outdoor workouts.
         | 
         | Other than battery life, the excellent app WorkoutOutDoors
         | roughly replicates the workout functionality of Garmin watches
         | for $10, but with arguably better maps. A feel like I need to
         | mention it when there's an opportunity because the solo
         | developer behind it is doing such great work.
         | 
         | http://www.workoutdoors.net/
        
           | fuzzy2 wrote:
           | Very nice app indeed, its offline maps allow me to just leave
           | the phone at home when riding my bike.
           | 
           | Also some very useful features like backing up the on-watch
           | settings, allowing you to restore them if you ever have to
           | reset your Watch.
        
           | drewg123 wrote:
           | The battery life is the key issue for me. My watch goes over
           | a week between charges, and Apple watches seem to generally
           | last a day or less. I went through a series of watches before
           | the Garmin, and they either died quickly (MS Band and LG) or
           | their battery life dropped to Apple Watch levels (Polar M600)
           | and I know from experience that they will die at just the
           | wrong time for me.
           | 
           | The Garmin I have is 3 years old and still going strong.
        
             | shurikdima wrote:
             | This. The battery in the Apple watch is abysmal. I
             | understand that as a watch its "smarter" than the Garmin
             | watches, but charging a watch everyday is a hard no for me.
             | The Fenix 6x lasts for 2-3 weeks while training every day.
             | I wish the Apple watch would prioritize its battery life.
        
         | GordonS wrote:
         | I have my Android phone linked to my Bluetooth headset, so my
         | phone remains unlocked while I'm at my desk - I really like
         | this feature.
         | 
         | Another neat feature was/is "trusted location", where your
         | phone would remain unlocked while at home, for example. I used
         | to have this enabled, but unfortunately the option disappeared
         | after an update on my Xiaomi phone a whole back :(
        
           | kiwijamo wrote:
           | Aha that explains why I can't find it on my Xiaomi. Was this
           | an stock Android feature or something Xiaomi added in then
           | took out?
        
       | Tsiklon wrote:
       | 5G on Dual Sim is a useful update, prior to this it was only
       | possible to have 5G on one of the accounts (The hardware SIM, I
       | think was the default not the eSIM)
        
         | TechBro8615 wrote:
         | Nice. When I bought my iPhone 12 Mini this was a feature I
         | specifically wanted. I saw them mentioning it was a software
         | issue only, so it's great to see they solved it and followed
         | through.
        
         | vmception wrote:
         | They finally did it!?
         | 
         | I had resigned to thinking they got screwed with bad hardware
         | from qualcomm
        
           | enos_feedler wrote:
           | Apple has communicated this limitation since the beginning
           | and said when it was coming.
        
             | vmception wrote:
             | > said when it was coming
             | 
             | ehhhh there was a lot of uncertainty around that. they just
             | said a future update and it wasn't on time.
             | 
             | I had my doubts and other people had their doubts, dual sim
             | modes have been neglected for some time and there are still
             | several limitations in iOS that make it seem like its not
             | much of a priority.
             | 
             | until the last few incremental updates you can tell from
             | Apple's own communications on their forums that they
             | thought of Dual Sim as more of a temporary traveller's use
             | case, with them popping in a local sim card in different
             | countries here and there. As opposed to someone that
             | doesn't want to bother with two phones (or a handicapped
             | VoIP number that also wouldn't have an iCloud account) and
             | just always has two numbers in the same country. They are
             | catching on, but the skepticism is there and they are
             | incrementally fixing it successfully.
        
         | Hamuko wrote:
         | Are people actually on 5G?
        
           | janandonly wrote:
           | Sure. Here in Holland 5G from t-mobile is super fast too. We
           | get 300Mbit down and 60Mbit up, easily.... I should remark
           | though, that I used to get 200Mbit down anyways on 4G, only
           | the upload was a lot slower..
        
           | martin_ wrote:
           | Yes - I live in Austin on Verizon and it often shows 5G but
           | is usually slower than my AT&T LTE was in San Francisco --
           | however -- occasionally I get 5G Ultra Wideband and got
           | 1915mbps down this weekend https://i.imgur.com/BuQF13Y.jpg
        
             | ascagnel_ wrote:
             | The phone will show 5G when you're a carrier w/ a 5G
             | network in the area, even if the phone itself is on a 4G
             | network. The phone will choose to stay on the 4G network if
             | it's trying to stay in a lower-power mode (eg: fetching
             | notifications & emails in the background), and will
             | dynamically jump to 5G on an as-needed basis.
        
               | jaywalk wrote:
               | Can you point to any official documentation on this? From
               | all of my testing, I have not found this to be the case.
        
           | BBC-vs-neolibs wrote:
           | I am, not sure how common that is. But only when downtown.
        
           | Tsiklon wrote:
           | In the part of London I live in there's 5G available when I
           | walk to the local shops - my network is Three UK. My
           | secondary sim is EE, they also have a 5G network too, but i'm
           | not completely certain where it's present
        
         | samrolken wrote:
         | 5G on eSIM with Verizon worked great for me when it was all I
         | had or it's the only one enabled. 5G wouldn't work at all on
         | either line if both SIMs were in use.
        
       | freeslave wrote:
       | I'm pretty happy that I will finally be able to cast fitness plus
       | workouts to a bigger screen.
        
       | alfiedotwtf wrote:
       | Anyone else sometimes put in their Apple Watch from the charger,
       | and notice it's already unlocked? I.e they never needed to unlock
       | it?
        
       | danpalmer wrote:
       | Sadly it also breaks a fairly common navigation flow in SwiftUI -
       | having 2 navigation buttons on the same screen causes nav pushes
       | to immediately pop back.
       | 
       | This does however show an interesting trade-off of SwiftUI: by
       | being a more abstract definition of a view hierarchy, they can
       | change out implementations more easily than before to further
       | optimise in each OS release.
       | 
       | I'm hoping that they're essentially going down the route of
       | rendering SwiftUI directly to Metal, their graphics API, as I'd
       | expect that to be much faster and less energy intensive.
        
       | lwansbrough wrote:
       | Touch ID is an entirely superior technology and Apple is
       | profoundly stupid for removing it. It doesn't have to be in the
       | screen, just put it on the back. The lengths they'll go to offset
       | the removal of Touch ID are astounding, from IR face tracking, to
       | degraded biometric security, and now to requiring an Apple Watch
       | to unlock the phone with your mask on. Talk about a Rube Goldberg
       | machine.
        
         | Dort wrote:
         | Putting TouchID on the back would render it unusable for me due
         | to my phone case.
        
           | drngdds wrote:
           | Cases can (and do, for other devices) have a hole in the back
           | for the fingerprint scanner
        
         | hkh28 wrote:
         | Completely agree. The new iPad Air even got it integrated in
         | the sleep button, so Apple has the ability to continue offering
         | Touch ID on all devices and keep the full screen display.
        
         | conception wrote:
         | Both is fine with me. FaceID is great for any time you've got
         | gloves on.
         | 
         | I wish they had an external version of it, e.g. an apple
         | keyboard with touchID or support for generic webcams for FaceID
         | so it'd work when docked, etc.
        
           | robertoandred wrote:
           | Plain webcams don't have the 3d/infrared tech that FaceID
           | uses.
        
           | crazygringo wrote:
           | The new iMac has it on its external wireless keyboard.
           | 
           | So it's coming, just slowly.
           | 
           | FaceID surely won't ever work with webcams however -- it uses
           | a custom-built depth sensor separate from the camera.
        
             | masklinn wrote:
             | > FaceID surely won't ever work with webcams however -- it
             | uses a custom-built depth sensor separate from the camera.
             | 
             | iMacs could absolutely have the entire camera module, depth
             | sensor included. Things would be rather more complicated
             | for the laptops, the cover is thinner than an iPhone.
             | Though obviously not as bad as the protruding back cameras,
             | the front cameras module is still rather deep and would
             | likely require increasing the depth of the cover to fit
             | flush.
        
         | TetOn wrote:
         | Apple Watch is not required; it is a convenience option that
         | can be used to unlock the phone if you are masked.
        
         | esolyt wrote:
         | Another reason to buy an Apple Watch. It works out perfectly
         | for Apple.
        
         | r00fus wrote:
         | I used to think that way, then I was forced (through damaged
         | previous device) to consider a FaceID phone and I'm sold now.
         | 
         | Cooking with TouchID is an exercise in frustration.
         | 
         | Ideally I'd like them to be able to combine auth mechanisms but
         | we can't have everything.
        
         | mirthflat83 wrote:
         | Sorry, it's not. Face ID: Just pick up your phone and your
         | phone automatically unlocks with your face. This experience is
         | way superior than having to position your finger at a specific
         | place every time you want to unlock it. Putting it on the back
         | is even worse, you need to actually pick up your phone from the
         | desk just to unlock it. I swear HN readers would create devices
         | with the worst UX possible.
        
           | microtherion wrote:
           | I like Face ID with phones. For iPad, getting the angle right
           | for the face to be recognized seems trickier, so overall the
           | Touch ID experience was superior.
        
             | neilalexander wrote:
             | I've actually found the opposite to be true - my iPad Pro
             | will Face ID happily in any orientation and quite far off
             | centre, whereas my face has to be very much centred for my
             | iPhone to do the same.
        
               | cpuguy83 wrote:
               | Probably you have the "requires attention" mode activated
               | on your phone.
        
               | neilalexander wrote:
               | I have "Require Attention" enabled on both devices.
        
         | apetrovic wrote:
         | I have a dry skin and Touch ID works for me 50% if I'm lucky.
        
           | [deleted]
        
           | kiwijamo wrote:
           | I have sweaty skin and my success rate is at least as bad as
           | yours. I confess to be very surprised at the love for TouchID
           | here. I've used both TouchID and FaceID and I find the
           | success rate of the latter to be much better. Perhaps we, dry
           | and sweaty skins, are edge cases and most people apparently
           | have 'normal' skin?
        
             | askonomm wrote:
             | Also a sweaty skin person here and can confirm, never liked
             | TouchID because of how little it worked for me and was very
             | happy when FaceID came out.
        
             | Grustaf wrote:
             | After skateboarding my success rate is close to zero...
        
       | xyst wrote:
       | They integrated the "Waze-esque" feature into Apple Maps. Even
       | Apple is getting their users to snitch on the PD. Siri is about
       | to be the #1 public enemy of the traffic cops lol
        
         | daemoens wrote:
         | That feature is so helpful on google maps. I have to drive
         | through a bunch of small counties every week and they all have
         | so many cops on side of the road.
        
         | heavyset_go wrote:
         | Good. If municipalities want to raise revenue from my driving,
         | then they should either raise taxes or implement tolls, not
         | implement speed traps designed to trick people from out of
         | town.
        
           | elil17 wrote:
           | Unpopular opinion: people should just not speed. Even
           | speeding just a little bit at high speeds drastically
           | increases your car's emissions and is also dangerous (~40%
           | increase in chance of death in a head on collision at 60 mph
           | vs 55 mph). I don't think giving people a tool that helps
           | them break what is in my mind a good/just/important law is
           | the right move on Apple's part
        
             | alliao wrote:
             | So I live in New Zealand, and there was a period where cops
             | were going all out with their new gadgets, and pulling
             | people over whenever people speed above 4km/hr above speed
             | limit that's like under 2.5MPH for you yanks.
             | 
             | I don't know how good you're at knowing how fast you're
             | going. When the margin's that tight, you're going to either
             | be very rich with a Tesla that's going below the speed. Or
             | quite rich with a car like BMW that lets you set top speed.
             | Or you're just going to go slow. like 10km/hr slower
             | especially if you can't afford it.
             | 
             | The knock on effect was ridiculous. The trip took longer,
             | and the amount of road rage witnessed on a daily basis was
             | quite visible, wasn't a happy period for sure.
        
           | nojito wrote:
           | Or you can just stop speeding
        
             | heavyset_go wrote:
             | I don't speed. Look up what a speed trap is. As an example,
             | one that got me was a 50 MPH speed limit going down a
             | mountain that twists and turns. The last dozen or so yards
             | of the mountain, and around a turn, it suddenly becomes 40
             | MPH with no warning or time to slow down. Cops camp out at
             | the sign and pull over people with out of state plates who
             | are slowing down from 50 MPH to 40 MPH all while going
             | downhill.
        
       | mcbutterbunz wrote:
       | I really wish there was the option to disable the lock screen at
       | home or on my home wifi.
       | 
       | Or even disable the lock screen altogether but require it for
       | certain apps.
        
         | r0fl wrote:
         | Someone who knows you could steal your phone, go near the front
         | door of your house/apartment to be within wifi reach, login to
         | your phone, unlock it and then wreck havoc on your life.
        
           | robotnixon wrote:
           | Android has had this feature for years and it still requires
           | an initial unlock of the device to remain unlocked at the
           | location you've picked. So when I get home I still have to
           | manually unlock my phone once to keep it unlocked. As an
           | extra safety measure the phone locks itself again after 4
           | hours.
        
       | oseph wrote:
       | I _really_ hope Apple fixed the issue of wifi dropping out in iOS
       | 14.5. It 's been randomly dropping ever since iOS 13 (only device
       | in the house that does), and I've been dinged by my provider in
       | overage fees a few times because of it...
        
         | stackedinserter wrote:
         | I had the same problem, it turned out that "Wi-Fi Assist" was
         | enabled for some reason. After I disabled it it started working
         | okay, at least I don't see "LTE" every time I pick the phone at
         | home.
        
       | rabuse wrote:
       | When the hell is Apple going to finally allow push notifications
       | for the web?
        
         | tomjen3 wrote:
         | Hopefully never. I website should not be able to do anything to
         | my browser when i don't have it opened.
        
           | rabuse wrote:
           | Do you have apps installed with notifications?
        
         | halostatue wrote:
         | Hopefully never.
         | 
         | I hard disable the permission to ask me for push notification
         | permissions on every browser I can, because under no
         | circumstances do I want a website to send me a push
         | notification. Ever.
        
         | kiwijamo wrote:
         | Consider that users don't want notifications. I turn this off
         | on other devices and I'm sure many others also do so.
        
           | rabuse wrote:
           | That's why there's two buttons labeled "Allow" and "Don't
           | Allow".
        
           | turblety wrote:
           | You don't get notifications when you get a new Email or
           | Social Message? You don't have Facebook/WhatsApp/Email?
           | 
           | If not, then I applaud you. If you do, but keep notifications
           | off, that's kinda respectable too.
           | 
           | But I'm guessing you do get a notification when you get a new
           | text message, chat message or email.
           | 
           | Why should only native apps, that go through a dictatorship
           | approval process from Apple, be allowed to send you
           | notifications.
           | 
           | Of course, you should always be able to say "No" to a site or
           | app sending you notifications. This is the case on Android,
           | as could be the case on Apple.
           | 
           | Progress Web Apps are opening up the potential for developers
           | to spend less time on the *worst* development platforms
           | (xcode and android studio), and more time on their product.
           | 
           | That being said, it would be cool if an app could not "force"
           | notifications to be allowed. Like, you could choose "Allow",
           | "Deny" or "Hide" which would trick the app into thinking you
           | had allowed notifications, but then just not show them.
           | 
           | It would stop bad advert behaviour. Although, on Android, I
           | have never seen this be abused (yet).
        
         | ta9999 wrote:
         | Never, they make way to much money and have an incredible
         | amount of power over developers by keeping it disabled.
         | 
         | People just leave you out of group chats if you don't have an
         | iPhone now because building a decent chat application for iOS
         | is too fucking hard.
        
         | adrr wrote:
         | Never. They make too much money off the App Store.
        
       | nindalf wrote:
       | Happy about being able to unlock the phone with my watch. Arrived
       | after a year of mask wearing, but better late than never.
       | Impossible to say right now when we'll put our masks away, if
       | ever.
        
         | ASalazarMX wrote:
         | I already have an Apple watch, and still resent that their
         | solution for removing the fingerprint scanner is buying a new
         | expensive accessory. Under-display fingerprint readers have
         | existed for years, so it's not an aesthetics issue.
        
           | fastball wrote:
           | No it's a usability issue. Have you tried the under-display
           | fingerprint readers?
        
             | ASalazarMX wrote:
             | I've only tried the Huawei P30 Pro years ago, and it worked
             | fine. the only drawback is learning to find the spot where
             | the sensor is, as you don't have the tactile feedback
             | external readers provide.
             | 
             | Fingerprint reader in the back of the phone is one of the
             | most ergonomic designs IMO, there's no need for it to be
             | under-screen, I suggested it because Apple favors
             | minimalist design.
        
           | turtlebits wrote:
           | Under display fingerprint scanners suck. I have a Galaxy S20
           | for work and it rarely works. I also have a A71 5G which is
           | even worse.
           | 
           | With winter dry skin (and/or light abrasion from woodworking
           | projects), I can't even unlock the phones at all.
        
             | tomjen3 wrote:
             | My hands have turned into lizard skin from hand sanitizer
             | (seriously, my knuckles have started to bleed from forming
             | a fist) and I have no issues on my Oneplus pro 7.
        
             | Andrew_nenakhov wrote:
             | My Moto Z4 works just fine. Unde4 tge screen is by far the
             | best and most comfortable fingerprint scanner position.
        
         | da_big_ghey wrote:
         | In obvious mask will have gone before this year is completed. I
         | am not wearing in most place now that we are not having mandate
         | and i am having had my shots. It is in similar for persons
         | around me. "if ever" is silly.
        
         | namdnay wrote:
         | sad that i still can't unlock my macbook with my iphone
         | (without resorting to dodgy third party hacks). That would be
         | really useful when the macbook is docked
        
         | hyperbovine wrote:
         | I have an iPhone SE (which came with a fingerprint reader, as I
         | assumed did all recent phones made by anyone), and I had no
         | idea what all the hubbub was about until reading this comment
         | thread. Another ridiculous own-goal by Apple. First MagSafe,
         | now this.
        
       | Exuma wrote:
       | "woman with beard" emoji? This is just getting stupid.
        
         | randomopining wrote:
         | Please, it's womyn.
        
           | howinteresting wrote:
           | It is very definitely not that. "Womyn" was specifically
           | created by trans-exclusionary feminists and using that term
           | is a signal of affiliation with that crowd.
        
             | [deleted]
        
         | howinteresting wrote:
         | How so? Please be as specific as you can.
         | 
         | I know both cis [0] and trans women who have beards, and while
         | it's definitely nonconforming to Western standards, it is
         | merely part of the incredible diversity and variation in human
         | biology.
         | 
         | [0] Yes, cis women with beards exist. Many cis women feel
         | dysphoric about any facial hair they may have, of course, but
         | (just like with trans people) exceptions exist and not everyone
         | is dysphoric about their endogenous sex characteristics.
        
           | Exuma wrote:
           | Because literally not _every single group on earth_ needs to
           | be represented.
           | 
           | It's an emoji pack... I don't need it for it to be
           | exponentially more difficult to find ones I'm looking for
           | because now we need every single permutation of race x facial
           | hair x gender x skin color x marriage pair x favorite cereal.
        
             | dagmx wrote:
             | The iOS keyboard shows your recently used emojis and has a
             | search bar. So it's easy to find what you want.
             | 
             | Additionally many of the gender and skin tone ones are
             | behind a selector so don't eat into the number of emojis on
             | screen.
             | 
             | The point of emoji is to represent real world culture and
             | communication.
             | 
             | I don't use a ton of the Emojis. I'm not complaining
             | because exists.
        
               | da_big_ghey wrote:
               | we had a better idea when all emoji were existing as
               | yellows only. we are having no need for to reference skin
               | color in small pictogram. is seeming very like american
               | thing, pushing race obsession on rest of this earth.
        
               | quenix wrote:
               | I'm not American--never lived there--and have no issue
               | with skin color in emojis. Perhaps this isn't as big of a
               | deal as you make it out to be.
        
               | dagmx wrote:
               | The yellow emoji remain. Skin tones are an option. They
               | literally do not affect you if you do not want to use
               | them, but provide people who do want to use them or have
               | representation, the ability to do so.
        
             | elil17 wrote:
             | If you type a word related to the emoji you're looking for
             | then it will be automatically suggested to you. You don't
             | need to scroll through the whole menu.
        
             | jodrellblank wrote:
             | You're wealthy, tall, young, male, English-speaking
             | programmer who posts about how they are "constantly called
             | the smartest person people know", whining that other people
             | being represented by emojis is inconvenient to you so it
             | shouldn't be allowed.
             | 
             | That should cause some embarassment and self-reflection.
        
               | Exuma wrote:
               | Lol @ your attempt to shame me. It doesn't work because I
               | regret nothing, and apologize for nothing. It's not
               | illegal to seek feedback about self from others. It's not
               | illegal to be tall, young, male, english speaking. And
               | most of all, it's not illegal to think a woman with a
               | beard emoji is ridiculous.
        
               | halostatue wrote:
               | Certainly not illegal to think that, but nothing stops
               | people from thinking that your privilege, ignorance, and
               | biases are showing.
        
               | howinteresting wrote:
               | It's not illegal to think it's ridiculous, but it's also
               | not illegal to think _you 're_ ridiculous.
        
             | howinteresting wrote:
             | I think a simple search box is a much better solution than
             | restricting emoji?
             | 
             | Where we disagree is that I _do_ think we should aspire
             | towards every single kind of human diversity on earth being
             | represented in emoji.
        
               | Exuma wrote:
               | Ok well then we are missing a metric shit ton of emojis
               | related to me, and now I am HYPER offended that they're
               | not included.
               | 
               | For one, I'm tall. I see now emoji which emphasizes my
               | tallness. I lie awake each night in excruciating agony at
               | being under represented.
               | 
               | I also have a large amount of cowlicks that make my hair
               | unlike any haircut currently available in emojis, as I
               | need to cut my hair a weird way. I find this egregious
               | that no one has ever thought to include it and now I feel
               | grossly under represented. I would go so far as to call
               | it inhumane.
               | 
               | Furthermore, they have no 5-oclock shadow emoji. As a
               | programmer, other 5-oclock shadow humans will understand
               | my SEARING discomfort that this group has not been
               | properly represented. Thankfully I can grow a beard, but
               | I suspect people who can only grow half-beards are also
               | EXTREMELY offended at this fact that there are no "patchy
               | beard" emojis.
               | 
               | Apple better get to work...
        
               | jodrellblank wrote:
               | There actually are people who actually are
               | underrepresented in things. They aren't lying awake in
               | excruciating agony, they're just being unfairly treated
               | as inferiors. Even mocking this as if it's about "being
               | EXTREMELY OFFENDED" is in poor (clueless) taste. People
               | don't deserve equal treatment _because they are offended_
               | , people deserve equal treatment because of a
               | _fundamental presumption that people are created equal_.
               | 
               | In the context, "Apple added emojis that benefit other
               | people and not me, so now I'm ranting on the internet
               | about it" is meta-poor-taste, the idea that someone else
               | doing something that benefits someone who isn't you is
               | bad.
        
               | mcphage wrote:
               | > and now I am HYPER offended that they're not included
               | 
               | Are you actually offended? Or are you just claiming to be
               | offended in order to get your way, while simultaneously
               | complaining that other people claim to be offended to get
               | their way?
        
               | Exuma wrote:
               | If you can't detect that this is sarcasm you might need
               | to get your radar defragmented
        
               | da_big_ghey wrote:
               | he is making point that such request are silly, like
               | other thing such as beard lady. maybe some chick is
               | wearing a lot of make up, but we are not needing to make
               | "make up" emoji for to represent.
        
               | howinteresting wrote:
               | This is Hacker News. Are you looking for
               | https://home.unicode.org/now-accepting-unicode-emoji-
               | proposa... instead?
        
         | geodel wrote:
         | "woman with neck beard" emoji would go long way in promoting
         | gender equality in computer and related fields.
        
         | mcbutterbunz wrote:
         | How so?
        
         | dagmx wrote:
         | Why? Some women, especially in certain cultures, do indeed have
         | beards. It takes nothing away from people who won't use that
         | emoji, but it lets them be represented while giving others
         | another optional emoji to use.
        
           | da_big_ghey wrote:
           | are you in seriousness? woman with beard are exist only as
           | freak circus sideshow. we are not needing any more than
           | midget emoji. i guess it is maybe good way to quietly point
           | out that some "she" is in actually a "he", so having some use
           | in there?
        
           | oh_sigh wrote:
           | Culture isn't going to lead to women magically sprouting
           | beards. It may make the small percentage of women with facial
           | hair not shave it off, but most women of whatever culture
           | you're talking about(Sikh I presume) aren't going to have a
           | beard because they can't grow one in the first place.
           | 
           | Somewhat related, but this thread made me look into it - and
           | it seems a huge oversight that there isn't a "pregnant man"
           | emoji - only pregnant woman. Probably all unicode emojis
           | accepted with a certain gender variant should just include
           | the other major gender variant as well. I can't really think
           | of something that one gender can do that another gender can't
           | do, if you allow that people can change their gender at will.
           | 
           | https://emojipedia.org/pregnant-woman/
           | 
           | https://emojipedia.org/pregnant-man/ (404 error)
        
             | elil17 wrote:
             | 7% of women naturally grow facial hair. It's not really a
             | "small percentage."
             | 
             | https://www.fatherly.com/health-science/why-women-grow-
             | facia...
        
             | dagmx wrote:
             | Culture won't lead to them actively growing beards, but it
             | will lead to them passively allowing it to grow.
             | 
             | This applies to men and women equally. Many men struggle to
             | grow a beard or shave it off, so we have beardless male
             | emojis. So men have the option.
             | 
             | Women too can physically grow beards, even if it's only a
             | few. There's nothing wrong with giving them the option of a
             | bearded emoji.
        
           | tasogare wrote:
           | In which cultures does women have beards? Without any example
           | it seems something you just pretend exist. Women in general
           | (ie without special medical conditions) don't grow enough
           | facial hair to produce a beard in a lifetime.
        
             | howinteresting wrote:
             | The boundary between "special medical conditions" and
             | "natural human diversity" is _incredibly_ socially
             | constructed.
        
             | dagmx wrote:
             | Certain Sikh women grow beards as part of their culture.
             | There are quite a few women outside of that who do get
             | beards, for a variety of reasons.
             | 
             | Regardless, even if it was hypothetically only people with
             | medical conditions, then why is bad for them to be
             | represented?
        
               | dash2 wrote:
               | I'm not sure it's true that they grow beards as part of
               | their culture. They don't cut their hair as part of their
               | culture (or religion). Then, some women have a lot of
               | facial hair for a variety of biological reasons. If
               | they're very committed Sikhs, then they don't cut it off
               | - but it's not that they are deliberately trying to have
               | more facial hair. At least, that's my reading from about
               | 2 minutes of research....
        
               | dagmx wrote:
               | I guess I didn't disambiguate between actively growing
               | and passively growing. I meant passive.
               | 
               | Most Sikh women will only follow the part about not
               | cutting the hair on the tops of their head, and will
               | remove facial hair.
               | 
               | However some, more religious ones, will apply this to all
               | hair, including their beard and keep it growing.
        
       | Someone1234 wrote:
       | In regard to unlock w/Apple Watch:
       | 
       | - This is an issue of Apple's own artificial creation.
       | 
       | - This doesn't even solve the issue.
       | 
       | So this all started because Face Unlock didn't work with masks,
       | that's not Apple's fault. But what is entirely Apple's fault is
       | that they break an option which resolves this only when Face
       | Unlock is enabled: "Require Passcode."
       | 
       | When you disable Face Unlock you can set Require Passcode to e.g.
       | 15 minutes/1 hr, and it largely mitigates the aggressiveness by
       | which your iPhone re-locks itself while you're e.g. out grocery
       | shopping in a mask and trying to use a shopping list. But when
       | you enable Face Unlock this option is removed (forced to "Require
       | Immediately").
       | 
       | So Apple enforces "Require Immediately" in Require Passcode, it
       | blows up in their face, and then instead of backing down when
       | masks broke Face Unlock, they instead over-engineer a solution
       | where you have to buy an Apple Watch to work around it.
       | 
       | Their new work-around solution doubles down on exactly the same
       | anti-choice problems discussed above because they forget to
       | mention in this press release that you MUST enable a passcode on
       | your Apple Watch to use this feature at all (and they're relying
       | on the Apple Watch being less aggressive to re-lock than the
       | iPhone).
       | 
       | If you jailbreak your iPhone you can just switch it from "Require
       | Immediately" to e.g. 30 minutes and this mask issue is almost
       | completely gone in one fell swoop. This Apple Watch fix only
       | kinda works (e.g. lost connection to the watch = relock, Watch
       | thinks it is off your wrist = relock, etc).
        
         | gshakir wrote:
         | I have a Samsung Galaxy as work phone and it has a fingerprint
         | sensor unlock in addition to FaceID. Would love that in Apple
         | iPhone due to masks becoming so prevalent.
        
         | milansm wrote:
         | Well now that I'm so used to a level of privacy that locked
         | iPhone provides (notification details are hidden), I just don't
         | mind having the phone relocked each time. It's a trade-off that
         | works for me.
         | 
         | Also, it wouldn't surprise me if significant percent of users
         | actually checks their phone at least one in 15 minutes. This
         | would mean that their phones would be at unlocked almost all
         | the time.
        
           | Someone1234 wrote:
           | - This is about choice. Namely, expanding choice. So if that
           | is your comfort level, keep doing what you're doing.
           | 
           | - When Face Unlock is enabled the iPhone doesn't take 15
           | minutes to re-lock. That's what is being requested, not what
           | we have. 15 minutes would be much longer than the status quo.
        
         | fuzzy2 wrote:
         | > - This doesn't even solve the issue.
         | 
         | Right you are, but for a different reason: Face masks entirely
         | break Apple Pay. If you have an Apple Watch, lucky you, you can
         | use the watch to pay instead. If you don't? Well, tough luck.
         | 
         | Unlock with Watch apparently does not work with Apple Pay.
         | 
         | /e: Wasn't aware of activating Pay using the code. Oops. :D
        
           | bobbylarrybobby wrote:
           | Yep, I had to disable Face ID for Apple Pay because it was
           | too frustrating to use in stores with a mask on.
        
           | tinus_hn wrote:
           | If you want this, why not pay with the watch itself?
        
           | rustyminnow wrote:
           | You can't just enter your passcode for Apple Pay?
        
             | aiisjustanif wrote:
             | You definitely can, it says "Pay with Passcode" [1]
             | 
             | 1. https://www.imore.com/sites/imore.com/files/styles/large
             | /pub...
        
             | [deleted]
        
             | ssully wrote:
             | You can, but the above poster and original poster seem to
             | be saying that fallback to passcode is a failure in it
             | self.
        
             | gandhi00 wrote:
             | You can
        
             | DrBenCarson wrote:
             | You can. I do it multiple times per week. It adds an extra
             | 10s to "being ready for the register" but it's hardly worth
             | complaining about in a pandemic.
        
               | Spivak wrote:
               | I just wish Apple Pay had a longer timeout because I want
               | to have it open before I reach the register but by the
               | time they're ready to scan it reauths.
        
             | [deleted]
        
           | imwally wrote:
           | You can still use Apple Pay with a passcode.
        
           | tomduncalf wrote:
           | > Face masks entirely break Apple Pay
           | 
           | I might be misunderstanding you, and it's far from ideal, but
           | you can still use your passcode - I do it all the time.
        
             | fuzzy2 wrote:
             | Ah, indeed. I always thought this was not possible due to
             | silly security requirements. Could've sworn this wasn't
             | possible back on my old iPhone 7.
        
               | kiwijamo wrote:
               | I'm sure passcode has always been a fallback option. I
               | used to see it all the time when I had an iPhone with a
               | Apple Pay compatible card some years ago.
        
           | macintux wrote:
           | > Unlock with Watch apparently does not work with Apple Pay.
           | 
           | I find Apple Pay so much easier to use with the Watch that I
           | never can remember how to use it on the phone.
        
             | fuzzy2 wrote:
             | It's useful for some situations where there are obstacles,
             | for example drive-thru checkouts at fast food restaurants
             | or gas stations.
        
             | karmelapple wrote:
             | Something I just found out on Friday when my iPhone battery
             | ran out while at the store: my Apple Watch could still make
             | a purchase even though it didn't have a cell connection.
             | Pretty great!
        
               | macintux wrote:
               | Yep, I realized the same once when I didn't have my phone
               | with me. It's just representing card data to the scanner,
               | so it doesn't need a network connection.
        
         | kevindong wrote:
         | One of the core parts of Apple is having fewer choices, but
         | striving to have the available options be good options.
         | 
         | Apple doesn't always succeed with picking the ideal middle
         | point between too few and too many choices (most frequently,
         | it's skewed towards the 'too few' side) however.
        
         | dkdbejwi383 wrote:
         | An even better solution would be to just show the "unlock with
         | passcode" button at all times, and not just after Face ID has
         | spent 15 seconds not recognising you because you have a mask
         | on.
        
           | drdaeman wrote:
           | It's order of magnitude less than 15 seconds for me. And they
           | have specifically implemented mask detection so if FaceID
           | spots a face with a mask on it immediately shows the passcode
           | keyboard.
           | 
           | Personally, I'm getting the passcode prompt in less than 1
           | second.
        
             | fireattack wrote:
             | Just curious, why not just show numpad/pattern input all
             | the time then?
        
               | giovannibajo1 wrote:
               | Because in the standard lock screen you see
               | notifications. iOS switches from the lock screen to the
               | numpad when it detects a facemask, or after a timeout
               | from the unlock gesture (swipe up).
        
           | boardwaalk wrote:
           | I've never seen it take 15 seconds... it takes 2 seconds with
           | a mask and 3 seconds with no face visible at all, for me.
           | Versus 1 second when Face ID works.
        
           | fiddlerwoaroof wrote:
           | If you tap the "Face ID" text, it pops up the passcode entry
           | form. I discovered this by accident a couple years ago.
        
           | aikinai wrote:
           | They fixed this a few versions ago. Now if it sees a mask, it
           | shows the passcode input immediately.
        
             | fireattack wrote:
             | Still sounds weird to me. I use an Android phone, I can
             | unlock my phone at anytime using either face, fingerprint,
             | or passcode.
             | 
             | What exactly is the reason/rationale that it has to fail on
             | facial recognition first before proceeding to use passcode?
        
               | ssully wrote:
               | I am guessing the rationale is that Face ID is supposed
               | to be so good that you won't need to use your passcode.
               | In regular use, Face ID unlocks my phone the moment I
               | lift it; showing an "enter passcode" option button would
               | be redundant because it's already unlocked. Obviously
               | this falls apart with masks.
        
               | patrickmcnamara wrote:
               | I think it's slightly weird UI/UX to show the password
               | prompt if FaceID will just instantly unlock the phone
               | anyway (at least when not wearing a mask).
        
               | [deleted]
        
               | kschwab wrote:
               | Androids also have the option where you tell them not to
               | lock if you're in your home (or other named places). Does
               | iPhone support that?
        
               | kiwijamo wrote:
               | I have an Android and don't have this option. Seems to be
               | a manufacturer-specific feature.
        
               | kschwab wrote:
               | It's supposed to be part of base Android 5.0+. There is a
               | problem and workaround:
               | https://www.computerworld.com/article/3199592/android-
               | smart-...
        
               | kiwijamo wrote:
               | Yep definitely not on my Xiaomi Android 10 phone. I can
               | do the steps in Google Maps but that doesn't trigger the
               | Smart Lock. Also nothing in my settings for Smart Lock.
               | Oh well.
        
               | jensvdh wrote:
               | Yes, although home is probably the place where one tends
               | to wear a mask the least.
        
               | diebeforei485 wrote:
               | > What exactly is the reason/rationale that it has to
               | fail on facial recognition first before proceeding to use
               | passcode?
               | 
               | To better train the facial recognition system, perhaps.
        
               | skavi wrote:
               | The only Android phone with secure face unlock was the
               | Pixel 4, which didn't have a fingerprint sensor. Some
               | Samsung devices had iris unlock, which was also fairly
               | secure, but even more finicky than face unlock.
        
               | skavi wrote:
               | Correction: the Huawei Mate series also includes 3D face
               | unlock. However, at least the initial version on the Mate
               | 20 was not as secure as Face ID.
        
               | ASalazarMX wrote:
               | > What exactly is the reason/rationale that it has to
               | fail on facial recognition first before proceeding to use
               | passcode?
               | 
               | C O U R A G E
               | 
               | Joke aside, it seems that Face ID was a tremendous
               | technical effort so you could have instant access to your
               | phone. Besides unlocking, there's no other serious
               | application (memojis aside). The fingerprint reader was
               | probably removed just to prop acceptance of Face ID.
               | Also, Face ID is less secure. If you're detained or
               | mugged, just looking at your phone will unlock it before
               | you can react and look away.
               | 
               | IMO, the 3D scanner should be on the other side,
               | enhancing your pictures with 3D depth.
        
               | behnamoh wrote:
               | I always preferred the fingerprint sensor over Face ID.
               | You can unlock the phone before even taking it out of the
               | pocket. At my desk, I can unlock the phone without
               | leaning forward so it sees me. The only time that Face ID
               | works (better) is when it's freezing cold and you don't
               | want to take your gloves off to unlock the phone.
        
               | kemayo wrote:
               | > IMO, the 3D scanner should be on the other side,
               | enhancing your pictures with 3D depth.
               | 
               | That's what the LIDAR sensor on the latest phones is for.
               | It only gets used in photos for the portrait-mode stuff,
               | admittedly.
        
               | ghostpepper wrote:
               | Off topic, and I know we're in the middle of an Apple-
               | bashing thread, but the portrait mode on iPhone 12 is
               | amazing.
               | 
               | Portrait mode is Apple-speak for pseudo-depth-of-field,
               | which is the effect that real cameras do that make the
               | subject in focus but the background blurry.
               | 
               | It makes photos look way more professional.
        
               | jensvdh wrote:
               | If you're detained or mugged you have other problems to
               | worry about. They can also threaten you with a knife to
               | get your pin code or put your fingerprints on the phone.
               | If anything face ID requires your eyes to be open, they
               | can knock you out and use your fingerprints more easily.
        
               | idownvoted wrote:
               | > * If you're detained or mugged you have other problems
               | to worry about.*
               | 
               | Did it ever cross your mind, that being detained for
               | nothing is exactly the reason why don't want the
               | detainers to also get your digital identity?!
               | 
               | Unlocking your phone against your will is exactly what
               | the Communist ruled HK police thugs did to Hong Kong
               | protesters before COVID made us all forget about their
               | struggle.
        
               | dharmab wrote:
               | Law enforcement in most developed countries won't resort
               | to violence to get your credentials but are happy to
               | point your phone at your face.
               | 
               | By the "they can just use violence" logic, no computer is
               | secure and we should throw them all into the ocean.
               | Security can improve the intermediate cases- focusing
               | solely on the worst case is unproductive.
        
               | Fnoord wrote:
               | They can also enforce you to use your fingerprint or face
               | (in The Netherlands) but not PIN or password (in The
               | Netherlands), both with proper (minimal) force. In UK,
               | there's a law to force a user to give away their
               | password. Which, IMO, is the same as being enforced to
               | help your own conviction.
        
               | [deleted]
        
               | ryanlol wrote:
               | > Also, Face ID is less secure. If you're detained or
               | mugged, just looking at your phone will unlock it before
               | you can react and look away
               | 
               | Much easier to force someone to unlock the phone with
               | their fingerprint than to force them to unlock with
               | faceid if you have "Require attention" on.
               | 
               | You can't physically force someone to look in a certain
               | direction, but you definitely can force them to tap their
               | finger on a surface.
        
               | ASalazarMX wrote:
               | > You can't physically force someone to look in a certain
               | direction
               | 
               | Excuse me, but this is ridiculously easier than forcing
               | someone to use their fingerprint; just wait until they
               | are distracted, show them the phone and ask them "what is
               | this?". It unlocks in less than a second with "Require
               | Attention" activated. We prank each other this way when
               | we forget our phones around the house.
        
               | djhn wrote:
               | Long passcodes are still better.
        
               | acdha wrote:
               | You can't make a general assertion like that because
               | "better" depends on different factors:
               | 
               | * If you're concerned about someone who can see you
               | typing, a biometric is better because they have far fewer
               | chances to watch you -- especially if you don't reboot
               | outside of your home.
               | 
               | * If you're concerned about actual adoption, a biometric
               | is better because you remove the constant frictional
               | password entry cost which causes a large fraction of
               | users to use short, easily-entered passwords.
               | 
               | * If you're concerned about someone who has enough access
               | to construct a usable fingerprint / face facsimile but
               | can't coerce you into providing a password or shoulder-
               | surf it with a drone, a long password is better.
        
               | asutekku wrote:
               | FaceID used 3D depth in perception, it's not camera what
               | it uses.
        
               | twobitshifter wrote:
               | If you're detained or mugged hold both the power and a
               | volume button for 3 seconds.
        
               | thebruce87m wrote:
               | Press the power button 5 times quickly. Warning: LOUD.
        
               | behnamoh wrote:
               | Hard to do when you're busy getting mugged.
        
             | FredPret wrote:
             | Only problem is, mine takes fifteen seconds to notice the
             | mask
        
               | gizmo385 wrote:
               | I've never had FaceID take fifteen seconds to respond
               | either positively or negatively (mask or not). Just an
               | anecdote to counter your's
        
             | thebean11 wrote:
             | For me it totally depends on the type of mask. Extremely
             | annoying.
        
             | tomc1985 wrote:
             | Interesting, mine seems to have like a 50% chance of
             | unlocking anyways with my mask on, I thought they did some
             | sort of improved face-with-mask detection or something
        
             | willis936 wrote:
             | That was their claim, however my observation is that it
             | just takes longer to fail before offering "swipe up to get
             | the passcode interface". I have to waste many seconds of
             | staring at my phone just to have the privilege of swiping
             | up to spin the passcode interface display slot machine. You
             | know what would work? Just showing the passcode interface
             | as soon as the screen turns on.
        
               | bayindirh wrote:
               | > That was their claim, however my observation is that it
               | just takes longer to fail before offering "swipe up to
               | get the passcode interface"
               | 
               | If I have a mask on, swiping up _immediately_ brings up
               | the pass code screen. In this case immediately is  <0.5
               | secs.
        
               | crooked-v wrote:
               | And for me, it regularly doesn't, taking the full timeout
               | period.
        
               | [deleted]
        
             | hackmiester wrote:
             | I have about a 60% success rate on their "fix" to this,
             | varying wildly depending on which mask I am wearing. The
             | better a mask fits, the less likely the solution is to
             | work, because the phone seems to think it's an unmasked
             | face, just not _my_ unmasked face.
        
             | dkdbejwi383 wrote:
             | Strange, I'm up to date yet it still spends ages searching
             | for my face when I have a mask on. Perhaps my mask isn't
             | masklike enough?
        
               | melq wrote:
               | Happens to me all the time too, super annoying. If I'm
               | outside and the suns out its even worse.
        
             | mgkimsal wrote:
             | doesn't do that for me. just got a new 12 mini running iOS
             | 14.4 and... I still always have to do multiple gyrations to
             | get to 'passcode'. Still regretting moving away from the SE
             | with the touch button in that regard.
        
               | mgkimsal wrote:
               | ack. can't edit any more. So... I noticed that iOS unlock
               | itself _does_ behave that way (per the parent) BUT...
               | individual apps that use face unlock still don 't deal
               | with masks. There's probably some varying levels of
               | security with face unlock?
        
           | zuppy wrote:
           | they actually do this, but it doesn't look like a button. the
           | "face id" text that is shown when it tries to recognize your
           | face is clickable and it brings the password form. awesome
           | ux...
        
             | thebean11 wrote:
             | ..thank you so much
        
             | dkdbejwi383 wrote:
             | Wow, thanks for the tip. I would never in a million years
             | have discovered this otherwise. I don't know if Apple's UX
             | design has gone downhill lately or if I'm just getting
             | older and stupider.
        
               | macintux wrote:
               | One of the least-discoverable features in the phone. One
               | of many such features, sadly.
        
         | vineyardmike wrote:
         | While it might just be theater, not requiring a password
         | immediately seems like a pretty big security regression.
        
           | mirthflat83 wrote:
           | Yeah what a hilarious suggestion. Might as well just not lock
           | your phone at all.
        
         | ghaff wrote:
         | >MUST enable a passcode on your Apple Watch to use this feature
         | at all
         | 
         | In all fairness, I believe they require you to set a passcode
         | on your watch if you use it for Apple Pay. And, honestly,
         | especially right now--while I don't _always_ use my watch to
         | pay mostly because the Magsafe wallet makes pulling out a card
         | very easy--it 's pretty convenient.
        
         | [deleted]
        
         | _jal wrote:
         | I just fixed it by turning off FaceID.
         | 
         | Apple reached phone perfection with the iPhone 4; they reached
         | access perfection with touchID. Things have gotten worse since
         | then.
        
           | WrtCdEvrydy wrote:
           | > Apple reached phone perfection with the iPhone 4;
           | 
           | Thank you, I tell people that I liked developing on that
           | platform and the only reason I still don't is because XCode
           | no longer supports it and I get critized like I'm a luddite.
           | 
           | It's a phone, you can't do a lot more on device other than
           | add new sensors and new networking technology... it's like
           | buying a new car because it has a 2021 instead of a 2020, it
           | hasn't changed that much....
        
             | microtherion wrote:
             | Cameras, to name just one feature, have improved to a
             | ridiculous extent since the iPhone 4.
        
           | jeffbee wrote:
           | The iPhone SE is physically the same shape and size as the 4
           | but with much better internals. To me, that is "peak iPhone".
           | 
           | I still use an SE to control a few things around the house.
           | Without a SIM, with the mobile radios and bluetooth disabled
           | but wifi enabled, and with Apple's idiotic News app that
           | nobody wants disabled, the battery lasts for 20 days. Peak
           | iPhone.
        
             | kennywinker wrote:
             | The original SE (not the 2020 SE) is the same form factor
             | as the iPhone 5 and 5S, not the 4 or 4S
        
               | jeffbee wrote:
               | Whoops, you are right. I forgot there was a size
               | difference between the 4 and 5. I had decided to think of
               | them all collectively as the sharp-edged iPhones.
        
             | meristohm wrote:
             | Isn't the 2016 SE still useful as a phone?
        
               | jeffbee wrote:
               | Probably, I just happen to have owned the 16GB model that
               | is now impractical for me, since iOS itself takes half of
               | it. Replaced it for my daily carrying, but kept it around
               | since it's so nice.
        
               | meristohm wrote:
               | Yeah, 16GB goes fast. I've heard from a few others how
               | much they like the older SE.
        
           | dylan604 wrote:
           | One of the last reasons that I still use a 6s+ is the
           | TouchID. I still like my headphone jack too, but the TouchID
           | is the biggest feature I don't want to lose
        
           | jensvdh wrote:
           | I hate TouchID, never works when my fingers are sweaty or I'm
           | cooking or anything like that.
           | 
           | FaceID is perfect.
        
             | ASalazarMX wrote:
             | Why not have both? This whole topic would be a non-issue if
             | we still had Touch ID as an option.
        
               | jen20 wrote:
               | How about anywhere cold enough to require gloves, and
               | reasonable enough to require face masks?
        
               | ASalazarMX wrote:
               | In those dire situations I would opt for passcode
               | unlocking with smartphone gloves. Face ID, Touch ID and
               | passcode, only the most extreme scenarios would need
               | more.
        
               | jen20 wrote:
               | That's great. I'd prefer to use watch unlocking.
               | 
               | Also, these are not "extreme" or "dire" or even uncommon
               | conditions - most of Northern Europe, Canada, and the
               | north-eastern USA experience several months of such
               | conditions every year.
        
               | ghaff wrote:
               | Now you're taking up a fair bit of front of the phone
               | real estate (and adding some cost) for a feature that I'm
               | guessing most people don't care about. [ADDED: As others
               | note there are potentially other options though that
               | don't involve putting the home button back.]
        
             | yreg wrote:
             | +1, FaceID is perfect for me and so is Watch unlock (on the
             | Mac)
        
             | r00fus wrote:
             | Let me add to that several more anecdata: my parents could
             | never get TouchID to work; it required them to re-register
             | on a weekly basis. I don't know if it's because of their
             | advanced age or physiology, but in winter, my fingers were
             | also not reliable due to dryness.
             | 
             | FaceID has been quite good other than the masks issue. I
             | just wish Apple would allow a grace period for rechecking
             | auth.
        
             | masklinn wrote:
             | FaceID is perfect in no sense of the term.
             | 
             | FaceID works better when your hands are dirty or
             | unavailable (e.g. you're wearing gloves), TouchID works
             | better when your face is covered or your look changed
             | slightly[0].
             | 
             | FaceID has been a strict downgrade for me, there are very
             | few situations where FaceID works and TouchID wouldn't
             | have, the reverse is a daily occurrence. And things would
             | be even worse if I couldn't work from home, as TouchID
             | works just fine with a mask.
             | 
             | [0] in bed without my glasses FaceID works 0% of the time,
             | even resetting the entire thing and re-registering my face
             | with and without glasses, it works all of 2 days before it
             | stops recognising me without glasses.
        
               | philsnow wrote:
               | my vision is poor enough that without contacts/glasses I
               | can't simultaneously both                 1. hold the
               | phone far enough away from my face for faceid to work,
               | and        2. focus my eyes on the screen
               | 
               | so if I wake up in the middle of the night, I always have
               | to use my passcode to unlock my phone.
        
               | heavyset_go wrote:
               | Sounds like an ADA violation to me.
        
               | mirthflat83 wrote:
               | You're holding your iPhone too close to your face when
               | you're in bed.
        
           | kennywinker wrote:
           | I'm sorry to be pedantic but there is no way anyone would
           | pick an iPhone 4 over a 4S, and neither of those had touchID.
        
           | drexlspivey wrote:
           | Touch ID had to go because the home button was removed. They
           | are now developing on screen fingerprint detection to bring
           | back touch ID as a secondaryunlock mechanism.
        
             | QuotedForTruth wrote:
             | The newest ipad Air has touch id in the power/lock button
             | on the side. I know production timelines probably made it
             | impossible to do in reaction to COVID, but can you imagine
             | if they had put this on iphone 12 late last year? So many
             | iphone users would have bought one just to fix face ID with
             | masks.
        
               | bombcar wrote:
               | I hope they do - I've been holding onto my 8+ as FaceID
               | is annoying.
        
             | amluto wrote:
             | I think the sensor-on-the-back mechanism on some Android
             | phones is better than Touch ID ever was.
        
           | walterbell wrote:
           | Latest iPhone SE and iPad Air are both TouchID only - and
           | wonderful.
        
             | _jal wrote:
             | I agree, it looks like it ticks all the boxes.
             | 
             | I usually only replace phones when the battery starts
             | going. But I'm thinking of getting the SE anyway, just in
             | case it isn't available when this one (X) finally goes.
        
             | kiwijamo wrote:
             | Oh thank you. I've been making up my mind over which phone
             | to get next. You've just helped me rule out the SE. The
             | TouchID is one feature I've never had reliable experience
             | with. I have sweaty hands, and it seems TouchID has trouble
             | with fingers with sweat on them. But even when I dry my
             | hands before attempting it it wouldn't always work. I
             | thought FaceID would be worse until $WORK gave my team an
             | Apple with FaceID. I got to see first hand how much better
             | FaceID is. It's doesn't have a 100% success rate but it is
             | much closer to 100% than TouchID in my experience. I just
             | pick up my phone and it's unlocked almost instantly. A much
             | better UX than I had with my previous iPhone 8 and 5s which
             | had TouchID. I was disappointed they didn't improve it for
             | the 8, it was just as bad as the 5s.
        
               | walterbell wrote:
               | Mask-independent TouchID on the $399 iPhone SE has been
               | 100% reliable. Even works in the dark, including close
               | distances where FaceID forces you to move the phone back
               | so it can focus. Allows the phone to be unlocked with one
               | hand without looking, when multitasking.
        
         | cglong wrote:
         | The "Require Passcode" feature actually saved my data (and
         | possibly my life) when I got robbed at gunpoint. The robber
         | turned on my iPhone and was able to unlock it, so he assumed
         | there was no PIN. He then turned off the phone to disable
         | tracking (and inadvertently locked the phone, protecting my
         | data and rendering the phone useless to pawn shops).
        
       | dmitriid wrote:
       | I wish they added "unlock Mac/use id on Mac with iPhone". But no,
       | they only introduce TouchId on a keyboard that only works with M1
       | chips.
        
         | ascagnel_ wrote:
         | For what it's worth, if you have a system with the T1 chip
         | (Apple's been using the watch chip rebadged as a T1 for a few
         | years as a SSD controller+security module), you can both unlock
         | your laptop with your watch (built-in to the OS) and as a
         | biometric sudo auth[0].
         | 
         | [0] https://github.com/insidegui/pam-watchid
        
           | dmitriid wrote:
           | I don't have a watch and I don't want someone else's code
           | accessing my TouchID :)
        
         | rrebelo wrote:
         | > I wish they added "unlock Mac/use id on Mac with iPhone".
         | 
         | Me too. So I made a program that does exactly that:
         | https://www.gadgetish.com/osx.html
         | 
         | It also works with Android phones, Android Wear watches, Tizen
         | (Samsung) watches, ... even some earbuds or smart tags.
        
           | quenix wrote:
           | This sounds insecure. Do you store the user's password on
           | disk?
        
             | rrebelo wrote:
             | No, I store on OS-X's keychain.
             | 
             | You made a fair and necessary question but I'd be
             | embarrassed to even think about storing the password on
             | disk, even if encrypted.
        
       | dannyphantom wrote:
       | https://www.cnet.com/how-to/ios-14-5-makes-using-the-iphones...
       | 
       | > ...and the ability to unlock your iPhone using Face ID while
       | wearing a face mask.
       | 
       | Unlocking the iPhone with Face ID during the pandemic has been an
       | exercise in frustration...
       | 
       | !
        
         | verst wrote:
         | I go to the same coffee shop a few times a week and they always
         | think I'm struggling with Apple Pay. Of course I am not - I am
         | just waiting for Face ID to fail so I can use the PIN. Finally
         | changed the setting to skip Face ID for Apple Pay directly.
        
           | eddyg wrote:
           | Just tap the Face ID icon to immediately switch to the
           | keypad.
        
             | verst wrote:
             | I never noticed that. Thanks! I guess I'm saving myself one
             | tap now :D
        
         | ASalazarMX wrote:
         | The new iPhone will include a revolutionary feature where just
         | touching your phone will unlock it, and it will not unlock if
         | someone unknown touches it. It will be called "dactylogram
         | scourer".
         | 
         | /s
         | 
         | Edit: 5 minutes and already got the first downvote
        
       | smiley1437 wrote:
       | Feels a bit of a Rube-Goldberg workaround when TouchID exists.
       | Love my TouchID to the point I'm dreading when Apple makes no
       | more TouchID phones
        
         | gambiting wrote:
         | Apple's insistence on only having face ID when competitors have
         | fantastic and very fast in-screen fingerprint readers is just
         | idiotic. I was kind of onboard when they first introduced
         | FaceID, the argument that they don't want the sensor on the
         | back and there is no room on the front was fair enough, but
         | right now the technology has caught up. It's crazy that you can
         | unlock a Samsung with your face OR an in-screen fingerprint
         | reader, but you can't an iPhone.
        
           | joshstrange wrote:
           | > Apple's insistence on only having face ID
           | 
           | For now. I'd wager in the next year or two we will see
           | TouchID in the power button or under the screen. Are there
           | Android phones with this tech already? Yes, you can almost
           | always count on Android phones to have new types of tech
           | before Apple but in my experience Apple's version is much
           | more polished/solid/secure as whole. Android had "Face
           | unlock" for at least a year or two before Apple but it was
           | total crap. I had a coworker who had it and he ended up
           | turning it off because it was so buggy/unreliable. FaceID for
           | me had been pretty rock solid and I'm very happy with it.
           | I'll be happier with a TouchID backup but I'm more than
           | willing to wait for a secure and seamless version and not
           | something rushed to market.
        
             | fastball wrote:
             | > you can almost always count on Android phones to have new
             | types of tech before Apple but in my experience
             | 
             | Not really true in the case of TouchID though. Sure other
             | things had fingerprint scanners before iPhone but they
             | sucked _hard_.
        
               | gambiting wrote:
               | I don't think OP says they were better, just that they
               | existed on Android phones before apple had them.
        
               | joshstrange wrote:
               | Correct. My wording could have been better probably. I
               | would never put Android phone's face unlock in the same
               | category as FaceID (nor their fingerprint vs TouchID).
               | It's been a while since I've seen tech on an Android
               | phone that Apple later implemented where the Apple's was
               | just equivalent to the existing Android version, it's
               | always a bigger stop forward.
        
           | 3grdlurker wrote:
           | Or they could put it on the lock button like they did with
           | one of their iPads.
        
             | barbazoo wrote:
             | I've always found that unlocking your device with your
             | fingerprint scanner on the front of the device only works
             | nicely if you're holding it with the other hand.
        
             | Andrew_nenakhov wrote:
             | I have used phones with all types of fingerprint sensor.
             | Below the screen (Moto Z, iPhone 6S), at the back, in the
             | power button (Moto Z3), and built into screen (Moto Z4).
             | 
             | Built into the screen is by far superior of all. The worst
             | is at the back, with power button at the side not far from
             | it.
        
               | barbazoo wrote:
               | I think having it in the back is genius as that's where I
               | always have a finger as opposed to the front. It's so
               | awkward to try to hold the phone in my hand securely AND
               | holding my thumb on the scanner at the same time.
        
               | Andrew_nenakhov wrote:
               | About half of the times i unlock my phone is when it is
               | resting on the table. Fingerprint scanner on the back
               | requires picking it up first, which is extremely
               | uncomfortable to do every time. No. Just no.
        
               | barbazoo wrote:
               | I'm glad we have choice then.
        
               | passivate wrote:
               | I agree, but for a different reason. Today's phones are
               | stupidly fragile and pretty much everyone puts some sort
               | of case on them. I don't get this obsession from phone
               | makers to make increasingly thinner devices, when a large
               | number of end users just put an ugly case on it. Why not
               | make them rugged to begin with?
        
               | ubercow13 wrote:
               | Would you really rather that rubber/plastic of the case
               | was fused to the phone instead of just separate and
               | replacable?
        
             | duhi88 wrote:
             | For me, the most common scenario in which I'd want TouchID
             | is when I have my phone resting flat on my desk. Depending
             | on which phone case you may or may not have on your phone,
             | the power button might be conveniently accessible. I'd
             | prefer a version that didn't require me to lift my phone up
             | off the desk in order to unlock it.
        
           | tinus_hn wrote:
           | These competitors aren't held to the same standards Apple is.
           | If it turns out you can unlock these phones with a printed
           | fingerprint copy, nobody cares. But if it happens on iPhone
           | it's fingerprintgate.
        
             | passivate wrote:
             | I don't think its different standards, its because click-
             | bait on Apple products works quite well.
        
           | jdhawk wrote:
           | The S10's in screen reader drove me away from the platform
           | and back to an SE2 w/ TouchID....it was that unreliable.
           | 
           | Have they fixed it?
        
             | gambiting wrote:
             | Got an S21 and the sensor works as well as any Apple ever
             | made. But yes, it seems like the technology has matured
             | only very recently, the first in-screen readers were pretty
             | crap.
        
               | fastball wrote:
               | Wow you've tried every Apple ever made?
        
               | gambiting wrote:
               | I mean, I own the iPhone 12, 2020 iPad Air, and the
               | iPhone SE2, so I'd assume those are state of the art when
               | it comes to both FaceID and TouchID, no? Should be a
               | pretty good comparison? Is there any other apple product
               | you think I should try? I'll be very happy to give it a
               | go.
        
             | mynameisvlad wrote:
             | Not in the S20, at least. I was about to leave the exact
             | same message but I went to a 12 Pro with Face ID because I
             | couldn't stand Samsung's implementation.
             | 
             | If people think that Face ID is inaccurate, then they
             | _clearly_ haven 't used under-screen readers. They're slow,
             | unreliable, and imprecise.
        
               | gambiting wrote:
               | S20 was particularly bad, give S21 a try though if you
               | get the chance - they improved the scanning speed and the
               | scanning area is now 2x the size so it's a lot easier to
               | unlock the phone.
        
               | mynameisvlad wrote:
               | That does sound like it addresses my two bigger issues.
               | The one that annoyed me the most was a direct result of
               | those issues -- I didn't know if I was even pressing in
               | the right place about 75% of the time.
               | 
               | It's especially draining when every first interaction
               | with the phone is essentially "Are my fingers too sweaty?
               | oily? Did I tap long enough? Did I press hard enough? Too
               | hard? Did I even tap the right place? Screw it I'll just
               | enter my PIN".
        
               | gambiting wrote:
               | Yeah basically the S20 used their new ultrasonic sensor
               | for the first time and it was meant to be the greatest
               | thing ever, except that it was pretty small and slow so
               | it wasn't great. S21 uses the same technology for
               | recognition accuracy, but makes it bigger and faster.
        
           | adrr wrote:
           | Face unlock for Samsung phones provides no security unlike
           | FaceId. So really Samsung just has a fingerprint scanner.
           | 
           | https://www.samsung.com/ph/support/mobile-devices/can-you-
           | un...
        
             | bobbyi_settv wrote:
             | The fact that it can be unlocked with a picture doesn't
             | mean it has no security.
             | 
             | The main use case for phone locking is that you leave your
             | phone in a cab, a bar or wherever else in public and
             | someone picks it up later. That person isn't going to know
             | who you are and have a picture of you. They're still
             | prevented from being able to take the phone they just saw
             | laying around and go through your emails, etc.
        
               | Spivak wrote:
               | The parent isn't saying that Samsung's face unlock isn't
               | still useful. Just that "a picture of your face is the
               | password" does pass the bar for security by any
               | reasonable definition. It's a convenience feature.
               | Apple's FaceID comes with real, and strong, guarantees
               | about its effectiveness. Just the same as Samsung's
               | fingerprint scanner.
        
               | adrr wrote:
               | Never used a Samsung phone but touchId and faceid gates
               | access to payments, passwords and banking apps. Typing a
               | complex password on touch screen isn't very fun.
        
               | gambiting wrote:
               | Same on Android.
        
               | mirthflat83 wrote:
               | What a terribly not secure phone then.
        
               | gambiting wrote:
               | Which one? Android is an operating system, not a phone.
               | There are ones which are just as secure as an
               | iPhone(Samsung with its Samsung Knox vault) and cheap
               | phones which have only basic fingerprint readers(and even
               | then I don't see what the problem is, the biometric data
               | is stored in the storage managed by the reader chip,
               | inaccessible to the rest of the device for every
               | commercial fingerprint reader out there). I thought HN
               | was all about having consumer choice?
        
             | gambiting wrote:
             | On my S21 you can tick a "fast unlock" option for face
             | unlock which comes with a warning that it can be fooled by
             | a picture then. So I'm assuming that by default it can't?
        
           | milkytron wrote:
           | > the argument that they don't want the sensor on the back
           | and there is no room on the front was fair enough
           | 
           | No room on the front - fine, but under the screen readers
           | have been improving a ton and I'm sure Apple could figure out
           | something.
           | 
           | Don't want the sensor on the back - I don't understand this.
           | Why not? It works for other devices, and they could even make
           | the Apple logo into a reader to be discreet.
        
           | Lammy wrote:
           | I wonder if it was really on _Apple's_ insistence lol https:/
           | /en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FBI%E2%80%93Apple_encryption_d...
        
         | dannyphantom wrote:
         | With the frustration of the past year in iPhone not unlocking
         | due to your face mask it seems like a proof of concept that
         | iPhone should bring back TouchID.
        
           | mxcrossb wrote:
           | Weirdly enough, facial recognition works for me with a mask
           | already, but only if I take off my glasses.
        
             | fastball wrote:
             | I feel like mine did too towards the beginning of the
             | pandemic, but not anymore.
        
         | gbrown_ wrote:
         | Lack of TouchID on newer models is one of the main reasons I've
         | yet to upgrade from my iPhone 8.
        
           | scintill76 wrote:
           | The iPhone SE (2020) has it.
        
           | hkh28 wrote:
           | Stayed with my iPhone 7 until iPhone 12 for the same (main)
           | reason. Being able to have the phone unlocked on the way from
           | my pocket was fantastic. Unlocking with Face ID takes at
           | least two seconds extra, every time.
        
             | ryan93 wrote:
             | On the iphone 12 faceid takes less than a second
        
               | masklinn wrote:
               | "Less than a second" (when it works) is more than
               | "negative time".
        
       | ape4 wrote:
       | Siri can have different voices but she(?) is still called "Siri".
        
         | da_big_ghey wrote:
         | Yes, it is saying in announcement. She was given differing
         | voice before in past, but it was needing configuration option
         | for to enable some other. It is bad change though, now each
         | person must make choice rather than having normal default.
        
         | elil17 wrote:
         | There have been male and female Siri voices for a long time.
         | According to the Apple style guide: "When referring to Siri,
         | simply use the name "Siri". Do not refer to Siri with pronouns
         | such as "she," "him," or "her." Depending on language support,
         | Siri may offer a male or female voice, or both."
        
       | tosh wrote:
       | Not mentioned in the press release but this update also brings a
       | new version of Safari (and WebView).
       | 
       | Anyone knows if Safari in 14.5 is equivalent to a specific
       | Technology Preview release?
       | 
       | https://developer.apple.com/safari/technology-preview/releas...
        
         | HugoDaniel wrote:
         | it would be cool if Safari finally got WebGL 2 enabled by
         | default
        
           | ghughes wrote:
           | Cool for the web, not so cool for the growth of Apple Arcade.
        
             | aroman wrote:
             | It's not like WebGL 2 is the crucial lynch pin blocking the
             | viability of mobile web gaming... WebGL2 will have zero
             | impact on Apple Arcade.
        
         | turblety wrote:
         | If only it included Web Push API capabilities. But of course,
         | Apple won't do that, as then developers wouldn't have to beg to
         | be in their app store, and pay a 30% commission on any
         | payments.
         | 
         | I would have more respect for Apple if they just came out and
         | said it, but the fact they haven't mentioned it at all, is just
         | cowardly.
        
       | minimaxir wrote:
       | macOS/tvOS/watchOS are also updated with analogous features.
        
         | jetpackjoe wrote:
         | tvOS should include the new color balancing feature, correct?
        
           | minimaxir wrote:
           | Yep, including for the older A8 Apple TV.
        
             | josteink wrote:
             | Just tested using my Apple TV 4K and an iPhone XR.
             | 
             | Worked just fine!
        
       | teekert wrote:
       | Hmm, I'm pretty sure I turned off "Personalized ads" under
       | Privacy -> Apple ads, and now it's back on. Or did I simply never
       | turn this off before?
       | 
       | Anyway, where is that famous new setting? Nothing seems changed
       | to me under "Privacy"?
       | 
       | Edit: I see iOS is still good at autocorrecting after I press
       | "send". Absolutely maddening.
        
         | gpsz wrote:
         | It's still off for me, so perhaps you never turned it off?
         | 
         | > famous new setting
         | 
         | Privacy -> Tracking
        
           | teekert wrote:
           | But that was there before, right? I'm pretty sure.
           | 
           | Edit: yeah I'm quite positive it was.
        
             | estel wrote:
             | It was, yes. The SDK for App Tracking permissions has been
             | there since 14.0. The change in 14.5 is that using the new
             | APIs (and getting user permission) is now mandatory.
        
         | benhurmarcel wrote:
         | > Hmm, I'm pretty sure I turned off "Personalized ads" under
         | Privacy -> Apple ads, and now it's back on.
         | 
         | It stayed off after the update for me.
        
       | kccqzy wrote:
       | The proxied safe browsing feature also launches as part of this
       | release: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26110928
        
       | teekert wrote:
       | But why does iOS still turn my alarm to max volume every now and
       | then
        
       | DC1350 wrote:
       | The real story is the woman with beard emoji and two new ways to
       | represent vaping
        
         | [deleted]
        
       | tinyprojects wrote:
       | Everyone is missing the point. This is the start of a major
       | battle between two tech juggernauts. One look at the Facebook ads
       | manager will show you Facebook is very scared about this privacy
       | update and trying to do everything in their power to mitigate it.
       | 
       | Apple is the gatekeeper and Facebook can't do anything about it.
       | Their dominant revenue stream is about to be strangled.
       | 
       | I think Zuckerberg realizes he is screwed in the long run, and
       | only his bet on VR with Oculus will save him.
        
         | 2OEH8eoCRo0 wrote:
         | >Apple is the gatekeeper and Facebook can't do anything about
         | it.
         | 
         | Antitrust. As much as I applaud Apple here- isn't this just
         | more proof they they abuse their position?
        
           | lifty wrote:
           | Antitrust for allowing the user to choose? I don't think that
           | would stand in court.
        
             | 2OEH8eoCRo0 wrote:
             | I was spitballing but sure. It obviously shows how powerful
             | Apple is and how locked their platform is.
             | 
             | And don't get me started on choice. It's a step in the
             | right direction but Apple doesn't give a shit about choice
             | or they'd allow multiple App stores, side loading,
             | browsers, etc. They wouldn't be fighting with repair shops.
        
         | xbar wrote:
         | Perhaps a new version of the Facebook phone?
        
         | matdehaast wrote:
         | Good chance FB will own the VR space from platform on a
         | hardware and software level. My bet is they will be bigger in
         | 10 years than they are now if VR materialises
        
       | rrebelo wrote:
       | Sorry for the shameless plug, but for those without an Apple
       | Watch I've made a program [0] that implements the Unlock Mac with
       | Bluetooth for any other device, including Android phones, Android
       | Wear or Tizen watches or even some ear plugs.
       | 
       | [0] https://www.gadgetish.com/osx.html
       | 
       | Edit:
       | 
       | However, the Windows version works only with Android phones:
       | https://www.gadgetish.com
        
         | artificialLimbs wrote:
         | Enabled Umwelt in Accessibility (Big Sur).
         | 
         | Clicked allow updates.
         | 
         | Crashes every time I open. Displays check for updates screen,
         | then immediately crashes.
        
           | rrebelo wrote:
           | Oh, thank you so much. I hadn't test it under Big Sur.
           | 
           | It seems there is an incompatibility with Big Sur in the
           | Sparkle Framework (I use it for updates).
           | 
           | Will look into it.
        
       | idlewords wrote:
       | Of course to unlock the Apple Watch, you'll be wanting the Apple
       | Ring...
        
       | mhb wrote:
       | Wow new emojis! Maybe some future update will make it possible to
       | turn location services off in fewer than 5 taps.
        
       | lemax wrote:
       | My Face ID is completely broken after getting water on my
       | "waterproof" iPhone X. I downloaded the beta in the hopes of
       | using my Apple Watch to unlock my iPhone without Face ID enabled.
       | My employer enforces a device policy with passcode required
       | immediately and auto-lock in 1 minute, so this would have been
       | really nice. Unfortunately this feature only works a) with Face
       | ID enabled and b) while wearing a mask. Not exactly just "Unlock
       | with Apple with Apple Watch".
        
         | reaperducer wrote:
         | _my "waterproof" iPhone X_
         | 
         | Oh, wow. I'm usually aware of Apple's new offerings, and I
         | completely missed that there's a "waterproof" version of the
         | iPhone X available. I just have the regular water resistant
         | version.
        
         | gpm wrote:
         | > b) while wearing a mask
         | 
         | Wtf? What possible benefit does this have? Securing your phone
         | against people who stole it (and your watch) but aren't willing
         | to put on a mask?
        
           | abadaba wrote:
           | I wonder if Face ID is still able to partially detect a
           | masked user's face, just with a much lower confidence
           | interval. Maybe the presence of the watch allows Face ID to
           | lower the confidence threshold when it detects a mask
           | blocking half of the face. This is just a guess, I have no
           | idea how Face ID works.
           | 
           | If Face ID can't detect anything when a user wears a mask
           | then I completely agree with you. It seems really silly to
           | require the mask in order for the watch unlock to work. I
           | don't understand the security model there.
        
       | kristofferR wrote:
       | The "Unlock with Apple Watch" feature was the reason I used all
       | the betas, thankfully they were totally trouble free for me this
       | time.
        
         | gentryb wrote:
         | This was a reason I inadvertently got some previous co-workers
         | over-excited about a feature (only to find it was only in the
         | betas I happened to be running). Still remember having to break
         | it to the first person who really wanted to enable the feature
         | that it must be in beta - and I spoke too early.
         | 
         | As an aside - earlier betas didn't seem to like various colored
         | masks in my experience (turquoise being the main one) - which
         | seemed to be fixed in later versions.
         | 
         | For context: worked at a COVID-19 Testing/Vaccination site -
         | mask on more hours than not each 24... I _LOVE_ this feature
         | still.
        
       | Tomte wrote:
       | Scribble should now be supported in German (and a few other
       | languages). That's the main feature I've been waiting for.
        
       | xyst wrote:
       | So if I can unlock my phone with FaceID + Apple Watch + Mask.
       | Then in theory, wouldn't ANY person with a mask be able to unlock
       | my phone? If you steal the phone at the right time, and unlock
       | the phone while wearing a mask and still be in proximity to the
       | victim wearing the watch. You will have an unlocked iPhone at
       | your disposal. Quickly disable all of the security features,
       | remove the SIM, and now you have a $1000+ item you can fence.
        
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