A future iPhone update will allow the phone to be unlocked while wearing a mouth mask. An Apple Watch is then used to authenticate the user, it said The Wall Street Journal-journalist Joanna Stern.
The new feature is included in a trial version of iOS update 14.5. It is not known when Apple will make the option available to everyone.
Recent iPhones use a face scanner to recognize the user and unlock the phone. This works worse when a mouth mask is worn, because the bottom of the face is then covered.
iOS 14.5 checks if an unlocked Apple Watch is connected to the phone. If so, a scan of just the top of the face is enough to decrypt the iPhone.
Technology has been working for Macs for some time
The Apple Watch has long been able to unlock Mac computers in a similar way. The smartwatch uses a proximity sensor to detect if it has been removed from the wrist, allowing Apple to say with some certainty that the original owner is using it.
Apple previously implemented an update to make iPhone unlocking with a mouth mask easier. A special function ensures that face recognition is skipped and the password field is immediately displayed.
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