Make Face ID Work Only if You’re Looking at Your iPhone
Depending on your settings, Face ID may be able to unlock your iPhone simply by seeing that your face is nearby. While this makes unlocking your iPhone pretty snappy, it can also be insecure.
For instance, someone could grab your iPhone and unlock it by pointing it at your face while you’re sleeping or distracted. Fortunately, there’s an accessibility feature that makes Face ID a bit more secure.
When this feature is turned on, your iPhone will use its TrueDepth camera to make sure you’re actually looking at your iPhone before unlocking it, making it a must that you know your iPhone is getting unlocked.
This feature should be enabled by default, but here’s how you can make sure:
- Open the Settings app.
- Scroll down and tap on Accessibility.
- Tap on Face ID & Attention.
- Enable Require Attention for Face ID.
- Enter your passcode when prompted.
And that’s it. Now, if you want to try it, simply lock your iPhone and try unlocking it, but instead of looking at it, look up or to the sides or close your eyes. Your iPhone won’t unlock until you look at it.
Another cool option you’ll find here is Attention Aware Features. When this is enabled, your iPhone display won’t dim or turn off as long as you’re looking at it, which means you can use a shorter Auto-Lock interval, which will improve both security and battery life without worrying about your iPhone’s screen turning off while you’re in the middle of reading something. It also lowers the volume of alerts and notifications when you’re already looking at your iPhone.
You can also find both of these options under Settings > Face ID & Passcode.