Apple’s iOS 13.5 update makes it easier for users to unlock iPhones while wearing a protective mask

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Apple’s iOS 13.5 update will make it easier for users to unlock their iPhones while wearing a protective mask

  • An update in iOS 13.5 will make it easier to unlock an iPhone with a mask on
  • It will send users wearing protective masks straight to a passcode screen
  • Currently Face ID has to fail repeatedly before prompting a passcode 
  • The update could help people avoid having to remove masks 

By James Pero For Dailymail.com

Published: | Updated:

A new feature inside an upcoming iOS update will make it easier for users to unlock their iPhones while wearing a mask.

As noted by a TechCrunch report, videos shared to Twitter show an updated unlock process in iOS 13.5 that brings users straight to the secondary manual passcode entry when Face ID detects that they’re wearing a mask.

This saves users the trouble of having to try and fail to unlock their device with Face ID and could also help avoid unsafe practices. 

Theoretically the new feature will help some avoid potentially unsafe situations in which people might be tempted to remove their masks in order to unlock their device.

Currently users are forced to wait until Face ID fails to verify their biometrics and are then prompted to enter a six digit passcode to unlock their device. 

It’s unclear if the new feature will actually be rolled out with the release of iOS 13.5 or if it will make its way into later updates.

New Face ID feature aside, Apple will begin rolling out technology designed to support an incoming batch of COVID-19 tracking apps. 

According to a report form The Verge, after a test phase started this week the companies are set to release a first version of an application programming interface (API) to some developers working for public health agencies in the weeks ahead. 

Those APIs will enable apps developed by agencies to interface with Google and Apple’s data banks to extract things like Bluetooth information gleaned from peoples’ smartphones. 

Apple will release an API for developers designing apps that notify people about whether they’ve come in contact with a person carrying COVID-19 (stock)

Specifically, those apps would allow public health agencies to alert people who may have been exposed and enable those people to either quarantine or seek testing. 

The companies are expected to release their APIs on a larger scale midway through next month according to The Verge.