The iPhone’s Face ID still confuses everyone after 7 years

iPhone Face ID set up screen in front of an iPhone 15 line up and a thinking emoji
Credit: Apple

iPhone Face ID set up screen in front of an iPhone 15 line up and a thinking emoji
Credit: Apple

Breakdown

  • In a recent Reddit post, a user asked about a question regarding the iPhone Face ID, receiving numerous theories
  • The user mentioned that they can open their partners iPhone using Face ID
  • Apparently, Face ID can adapt to your appearance over time, with the theory being that the service has merged the couple’s faces together

iPhone's Face ID has been around for almost seven years, launching back in 2017 with the incredible iPhone X, that broke the standard formula for iPhones in more ways than one. However, despite existing for over half a decade, one feature has gone mostly under the radar from normal users.

Despite the fact that iOS 18 is on the way, a new iPhone SE model has leaked, and the iPhone 16 leaks are appearing often, it seems that Face ID's full list of features isn't as clear as many would hope. Something that Reddit users found out first hand after a post was shared yesterday.

In the iOS subreddit, user Boney999 asked users in the subreddit a question about the beloved security measure. In a post titled "One day I noticed I can unlock my girlfriends [iPhone] 12 with my face.", the user poses the question "Is it possible that because I have been unlocking her phone with the passcode and looking at it for a few months, now it opens to my face also?"

Many commenters answered with various theories. However, the Apple support documents confirm what has happened here. In the support page aptly titled 'About Face ID advanced technologies' and within the 'Advanced technologies' subheading, the answer seems fairly simple: Face ID automatically adapts to changes in your appearance.

The theory, suggested by users iFixFruit and sofunnysofunny, is that Face ID may have mixed the original poster and their partners faces together, allowing for both people to open the iPhone 12. However, this can be fixed by fully resetting Face ID and restarting the setup process.

However, I didn't even know this existed, so I'm sure others didn't. I've been using Face ID since I got the iPhone X back in 2017, and I didn't know it could adapt to your appearance. Of course, this makes a lot of sense in hindsight, but it goes to show you how much effort Apple puts into their services.

In other Apple news, Apple is currently facing an antitrust lawsuit in the US over concerns of the closed ecosystem. And, the iPhone 16 line up could be getting a dedicated capture button.