Keep It Safe: 11 iPhone Apps You Can Lock With Face ID
While not everyone is a fan of the iPhone's notch, it's fair to say that most of us really like Face ID.
Sure, it would be great to have Touch ID too, but Face ID is a really handy feature for instantly unlocking your iPhone with almost no effort, and what's really cool about it is that it can keep other apps on your iPhone protected too.
Many third-party apps support Face ID authentication. Sometimes that's simply to lock an app so only you can access it, but often it can also be used to sign in to online services like bank and credit card accounts. This makes it a convenient option even for folks who aren't worried about other people using their iPhone.
Before we start, there are a couple of things you should know, however. First off is that in many cases you'll need to initially enable Face ID from inside the app, but sometimes you can also find it by going into your iPhone settings and searching for the app in there. You can also see a list of all the apps you've enabled for Face ID by going into Settings > Face ID & Passcode > Other Apps, and turn any of them off from here, too.
Lastly, just keep in mind that you won't be able to unlock apps using Face ID if you're wearing a mask — at least not yet. Even though an Apple Watch can help you unlock your iPhone while you're wearing a mask, this doesn't extend to letting you into secure apps or using things like Apple Pay. The good news is that's set to change in iOS 15.4 — and you can even try it out in the public beta.
Although you can't use Face ID with every app on your iPhone, you may be surprised at how many do work. Read on for 11 options that are worth trying out with Face ID.
Apple Notes
Weirdly enough, not every Apple app on your iPhone supports Face ID. The good news is that the Notes app does, though, so you can secure your journal, to-do list, and more while still easily accessing them with facial recognition.
Note that you can't lock the entire Notes app with Face ID. Instead, you'll need to choose specific notes you want to protect, which then get encrypted with a password that you set. You can then use Face ID in place of that password to access these locked notes.
You probably already know how great the Notes app is and how many hidden tricks and features it has, but Face ID ads a new level of security that many iPhone note-taking apps lack.
WhatsApp Messenger
Not everyone is a fan of WhatsApp, especially since the company behind it, Meta — previously known as Facebook — has had a rough go when it comes to security and privacy.
Still, it remains one of the most used messaging apps globally, and whether we like it or not, it's still a pretty secure app. All your messages are encrypted, and you can also make it so not everyone can see your status online. The ability to hide all your conversations behind Face ID is a nice plus.
Google Drive
If you've only used Apple devices, you've probably only tried iCloud. Still, if you don't have enough room on your iCloud storage, you can try other cloud services like Google Drive.
Google Drive offers up to 15 GB of free storage in the cloud. It's pretty easy to use, and you'll be able to access it on pretty much any device or platform. Like other Apple apps, you can also protect all your files with Face ID.
This can be pretty annoying at first, since it's going to ask you for Face ID every time you return to the app, but you can change its settings, so that it only requires Face ID after you've been away for a few minutes.
Dropbox
If you don't want to be on Google's team, Dropbox is another cloud service that you can check out.
Dropbox has been around for years now, and there's a reason for that. Not only is it reliable, it's also pretty secure. Sure, you don't get as much free storage, but it still offers some, and, you guessed it, you can protect your sensitive files and information behind Face ID.
Interactive Brokers
If you like to invest in the stock market, you've probably heard of Interactive Brokers. While you may prefer other apps to make your investments, Interactive Brokers does let you secure your portfolio with the help of Face ID.
What's cool about the Interactive Brokers app is that you can use Face ID to protect the app and also use it for two-factor authentication when logging into the website.
In this case, you'll receive a notification on your iPhone to to open the app to finish logging in. If the iPhone app is secured with Face ID, then you'll need to authenticate with that before you can open the app to confirm your login for the website. This means you get another layer of security that many financial apps don't offer.
App Store
Another one of Apple's own apps, the App Store, supports Face ID, which is perfect if you have kids using your iPhone to play or download games. That way, they can't buy games without having your authorization first.
Since it's an Apple app, the best part is that you know Face ID will work like a charm.
Evernote
Evernote is one of the best note-taking apps you can find on the App Store. What makes it so great is that it's easy to use, it comes with a ton of features, and you can start using it for free.
The best part of all is how secure it is. Not only does Evernote keep all your notes and ideas safe in the cloud, but you can also protect your notes locally with the help of Face ID on your iPhone, making it a great app to store all the important details of your life.
PayPal
Even though PayPal is not a service everybody in the world can use, it's still one of the most popular online payment systems available.
So, what better way to protect your finances than with Face ID? What's cool about Face ID here is it not only ensures you'll be the only one able to open the PayPal app, but you also won't have to enter your credentials every time. That's a great combination of both security and convenience.
Google Chrome
You probably think that there's no better browser for iPhone than Safari, and, for the most part, you'd be right. It's faster, easier to use, and really secure. Plus, it integrates seamlessly with your Mac and iPad via iCloud.
But Google Chrome also offers most of those things on the iPhone app, plus another feature: you can lock it with Face ID.
It's weird that Apple hasn't added Face ID support on Safari, but until they do it, you can use Google Chrome to keep your search history safe from anyone else who may be using your iPhone.
1Password
You probably already know 1Password, as it's one of the best password managers available right now — especially for Apple fans.
You can safely store all your passwords and even your family's passwords too, and you'll never again need to worry about forgetting them. Having multiple passwords is one of the best ways to avoid getting hacked, and 1Password makes that extremely easy.
Of course, you still need to protect your password manager, and that's where Face ID comes in. The 1Password app lets you secure all your passwords with Face ID so no one else can even open the app without you present.
Amazon
You probably don't want people to go snooping on your account and see all the purchases you've made online. Or you don't want anyone to make a purchase on your account without your consent. Fortunately, the Amazon apps come with an extra security layer to protect your account.
You can make it, so Amazon uses Face ID instead of asking for your password when it needs to confirm your identity. Instead of having to enter your password every time, you can just enable Face ID, so the app automatically lets you in as soon as you open it — and lets you easily make purchases with only a couple of taps, too.