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Apple Explains Face ID On-stage Failure (bbc.com)

Posted by msmash on from the okay-then dept.

Apple has explained why its new facial recognition feature failed to unlock a handset at an on-stage demo (see around the 1:35:58 mark here) at the iPhone X's launch on Tuesday. From a report: The company blamed the Face ID glitch on a lockout mechanism triggered by staff members moving the device ahead of its unveil. Apple's software chief dealt with the hiccup by moving on to a back-up device, which worked as intended. But the hitch was widely reported. "People were handling the device for [the] stage demo ahead of time and didn't realise Face ID was trying to authenticate their face," an unnamed company representative is quoted as saying by Yahoo's David Pogue. "After failing a number of times, because they weren't Craig [Federighi], the iPhone did what it was designed to do, which was to require his passcode."

12 of 189 comments (clear)

  1. and it didn't happen during rehearsal? by jm007 · · Score: 3, Insightful

    they did rehearse this, no?

    1. Re:and it didn't happen during rehearsal? by courteaudotbiz · · Score: 5, Insightful

      I am pretty sure Bill Gates did a rehearsal before connecting a scanner to his W98 PC on the stage when he got a BSOD... Shit happens, and it sometimes happens with the worst timing possible.

    2. Re:and it didn't happen during rehearsal? by jm007 · · Score: 5, Insightful

      here's another truth to consider.... companies won't tell the truth if it makes them look bad.... they spin it so it's somehow okay or at least insignificant; in this particular context of a 'big release event,' how much pressure do you think there is regarding truth vs perception?

  2. Pass by geekoid · · Score: 4, Insightful

    A device the police can unlock by just showing it to you? pass.

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    1. Re: Pass by x0ra · · Score: 4, Insightful

      hardly enforceable when a SWAT team broke into your home at 4am with stun grenades...

    2. Re:Pass by ShanghaiBill · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Could be just me, but I never had requirement for the phone to be police-proof.

      But some people do need protection from the police. If you don't speak up for their rights, there will be no one left to speak up when the police come for you.

      You can feel complacent about your freedom only because other people have fought and sacrificed for you.

    3. Re:Pass by sootman · · Score: 4, Insightful

      1. Your eyes have to be open for this to work. If a cop grabs your phone, close your eyes. If they try to get you to unlock it, open one eye, then the other, until it fails. If a cop grabs your phone, the first thing he'll do is look at it, thus triggering failure #1. It only takes 2 failures to trigger the passcode requirement. https://www.macrumors.com/2017...

      2. As we are discussing right here in this very story, if it fails to unlock by face, IT THEN ASKS FOR A PASSCODE. And it WON'T OPEN AGAIN UNTIL THAT PASSCODE IS ENTERED. So you are just as secure as if you were already a passcode-only person.

      This is actually MORE secure than the current thumbprint system, which can ABSOLUTELY be opened if you are restrained. There's no way to close your thumbprint when you're in handcuffs. As has been discussed elsewhere, you can not (in the U.S., generally, blah blah blah) be compelled to give your password but you can be compelled to put your thumb on a device.

      3. Also, there's this: https://www.theverge.com/2017/...

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  3. Feature without a requirement by Sherman+Peabody · · Score: 4, Insightful

    No one asked for this feature, but Apple wants to give it to us anyway. They have really lost touch with their user base, IMHO, and stray further and further afield. I think it may be time for another visionary but I doubt that Apple's culture will promote one as the old guard holds on for dear life.

  4. From the same company who lies repeatedly by JoeyRox · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Reception issues? You're holding it wrong
    You iPhone 6 display touchscreen stops working? You must have dropped it
    Video display on your Macbook flickering? Isolated, non-systemic incident

  5. Movement causes battery drain? by Spy+Handler · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Apple's explanation sounds like people simply moving the phone around caused the phone to try to authenticate via Face ID, and because the authentication attempts failed, the phone required Craig Federaghi to enter his passcode.

    Seems like the phone could waste electricity trying to face authenticate when no such authentication is wanted.

  6. "You're holding it wrong" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

    People were handling the device for [the] stage demo ahead of time and didn't realise Face ID was trying to authenticate their face,

    Just make sure you do not leave it face up on a table anywhere where your significant other, boy/girfriend, kids and/or sibblings or just random other public could be getting into the viewing angle of that camera (sitting down eating your lunch perhaps ? Or just at your desk in class or at work ? Or relaxing on the couch with the phone on the side table ?) ...

    Yet another of those "working well in a controlled environment, but not thought out for real life" "enhancements". :-)

  7. Freebie for three-letter agencies by ItsJustAPseudonym · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I can just hear the NSA drooling over this feature now. A phone that tries to facial-recognize everyone who gets in range? It must be one of their wildest dreams come true.