Phone facial recognition applications, and pros and cons

[tangey]

As a 1st gen (for apple), I think it's a pretty good implementation. It is certainly as quick as the original touch ID was. I imagine that in another iteration or 2, it'll be pretty much instantaneous. And likely as not, more secure than current. I have no idea whether (identical twins aside) it is more or less secure than fingerprints.

I have a couple of issue with it.
1) if I'm a bit slow in bringing it up to my face, it times out and asks for the passcode. I then need to press cancel to get another go at faceId.
2) I occasionally like to access my phone on the desk, which I now can't do as my face is not within range of the camera.
3) Once unlocked, you still need to swipe up. Surely this should at least be optional to fully unlock the device. Given the demo animojis stuff is pretty good, once unlocked, one should be able to indicate a "swipe up" by a quick upward movement of the head.
4) Probably not specific to faceID, perhaps my usage pattern may be different to others, but it appears most time I want to unlock the phone, it is NOT to access the same app that I was using last time. I'd much rather see the app icons again, rather that the last app.

In terms of the reason for implementation:-
I'm guessing their first priority was edge-2-edge screen. They couldn't get touchID to work in that scenario. Someone suggested to do faceID, which would allow the screen they wanted AND also give them a headline feature. The hardware used to implement face ID will I guess be used for other applications other than security, so they see additional legs in using the hardware to provide other "features".

It probably also makes it easier to make it dust/splash proof.

edited, as a couple of sentences didn't make it out of my head as intended.

 

[BRiT]

I have no idea whether (identical twins aside) it is more or less secure than fingerprints.

It is far less secure than finger prints by order of magnitudes. Siblings (not even identical twins) and children have been shown to be able to unlock family member's devices. There's plenty of videos and articles out there about how insecure it can be and it's even discussed and shown in this thread.

 

[wco81]

It is far less secure than finger prints by order of magnitudes. Siblings (not even identical twins) and children have been shown to be able to unlock family member's devices. There's plenty of videos and articles out there about how insecure it can be and it's even discussed and shown in this thread.

It is but they claim they're comparing more data points so in theory should be more secure. Or able to be made more secure in future iterations.

In terms of the reason for implementation:-
I'm guessing their first priority was edge-2-edge screen. They couldn't get touchID to work in that scenario. Someone suggested to do faceID, which would allow the screen they wanted AND also give them a headline feature. The hardware used to implement face ID will I guess be used for other applications other than security, so they see additional legs in using the hardware to provide other "features".

It probably also makes it easier to make it dust/splash proof.

They claim once they thought they could make FaceID work, they didn't bother to try to make TouchID work through the screen or putting the sensor in the back. For better or worse, they're going to deprecate TouchID in favor of FaceID.

So they've made investments with companies making the depth sensors for FaceID, and probably future AR applications.

 

[Mize]

I personally think it sucks and the fact that two Chinese brands are bringing under-display fingerprint sensors to market next month makes Apple look stupid.

The iPhone X is a good piece of kit, but I'd take the LG V30 over it in a heartbeat were it not for stupid ass iMessage and the iPhone/Mac interoperability. iOS is now almost as kludgy as Android (can't send there letter i or having no password for root? Really?).

Oh well.

 

[wco81]

Those Chinese brands don't have spyware?

 

[Mize]

Those Chinese brands don't have spyware?

?
AFAIK, they aren't being made by Sony, HP, AOL, etc.

But I'm not suggesting buying One Plus phones or phones with Synaptic's new, under-glass fingerprint sensor. I'm pointing out that the world's most valuable company, a company known for innovation, was beaten by much smaller companies with tiny-by-comparison R&D budgets.

That's the bit that matters.

 

[Gubbi]

That's the bit that matters.

The smart phone high end is now entering the phase of commoditization, as there are only marginal improvements in capability from one generation to the next.

Fierce competition between SOC producers (with almost similar product portfolies) and even fiercer competition between handsets producers means we're going to see a lot of downward price pressure in the high end going forward. Why anyone would pay three times for an iPhone X over a One+5 is beyond me.

Cheers

 

[Mize]

Gubbi: it's called "trapped by the Apple ecosystem."
When an overwhelming preponderance of friends, family and clients are on iOS then being without iMessage is a real mess.
Likewise, if you write, design, code with a macbook pro then the convenience of the macos-to-iOS interoperability is pretty hard to do without.
You can (and I have) customize Android to provide much of the latter, but then something updates and it's broked...

There's also the lack of water resistance on OnePlus.

 

[wco81]

Plus people have money these days.

You could ask why people pay for premium marques when they buy cars too.

 

[tongue_of_colicab]

Gubbi: it's called "trapped by the Apple ecosystem."
When an overwhelming preponderance of friends, family and clients are on iOS then being without iMessage is a real mess.

That mostly seems to be a Murican problem because the rest of the world uses Whatsapp, LINE, etc. so it doesn't matter which device you are one.

Plus people have money these days.

You could ask why people pay for premium marques when they buy cars too.

Do they? Seems a lot of people are actually getting into problems these days because they buy phones they can't really afford as its such a status symbol these days (for some).

Car comparison doesn't really work this time because luxury cars actually do give you a much better experience than something plastic fantastic from the US or Japan by some margin. The difference between a 1000 dollar iPhone or Samsung and something like a Oneplus costing 1/2 or 1/3 of that isn't nearly as profound or in some cases not even there.

 

[wco81]

That's your opinion.

Here in the SF Bay Area, there are plenty of people carrying around $1000 phones and driving luxury cars.

Yeah the luxury cars have nicer leather interiors, great acceleration and turn heads. But they're stuck in the same traffic as the Hondas which cost half or a third as much or even cheaper cars.

 

[Silent_Buddha]

Gubbi: it's called "trapped by the Apple ecosystem."
When an overwhelming preponderance of friends, family and clients are on iOS then being without iMessage is a real mess.
Likewise, if you write, design, code with a macbook pro then the convenience of the macos-to-iOS interoperability is pretty hard to do without.
You can (and I have) customize Android to provide much of the latter, but then something updates and it's broked...

There's also the lack of water resistance on OnePlus.

I agree. Although in my case...

My fiancé gave me an iPhone to get me to use iMessage. I'm now using the phone because I don't want to be rude (but I hate how backwards Apple is with a lot of stuff on the phone). However, I don't use iMessage. Instead, I've gotten her to use Skype.

Regards,
SB

 

[tongue_of_colicab]

That's your opinion.

Here in the SF Bay Area, there are plenty of people carrying around $1000 phones and driving luxury cars.

Yeah the luxury cars have nicer leather interiors, great acceleration and turn heads. But they're stuck in the same traffic as the Hondas which cost half or a third as much or even cheaper cars.

What is to say many of those people aren't over spending?

As far as the comparison with cars goes; I doubt you'll find anybody that will claim he or she prefers the seats in a Prius over a Rolls Royce. Even if both are stuck in traffic, the Rolls is going to be a much better place to be stuck in traffic in. The point I was trying to make is that the difference between a iPhone, Samsung or Oneplus are much more subjective, most people won't notice the slightly better screen/camera/speed. Everybody will notice the difference between sitting in a budget car and a luxury car.

 

[Mize]

I agree. Although in my case...

My fiancé gave me an iPhone to get me to use iMessage. I'm now using the phone because I don't want to be rude (but I hate how backwards Apple is with a lot of stuff on the phone). However, I don't use iMessage. Instead, I've gotten her to use Skype.

Regards,
SB

In my case I'd need a lot of people to switch messaging apps... I'd be fine with Skype, WhatsApp, etc.

 

[wco81]

Skype is okay but on an iPhone, it's inferior experience than FaceTime, which can be accessed from several other apps.

Does MS still guarantee point to point encryption for Skype? I know they changed it from P2P to routing the traffic through their servers when they acquired Skype.