iPhone X’s Face ID will only recognize one person

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Face ID
An extra layer of protection for your messages.
Photo: Apple

Only you will be able to unlock your iPhone X using Face ID.

When the new biometric security features makes its debut this November, it will support just one user, Apple has confirmed. If anyone else uses your device, they’ll have to enter the passcode.

You can register multiple fingerprints with Touch ID, which means if you share your iPhone, iPad, or MacBook Pro with family members, they can get into it just as fast as you can. But iPhone X doesn’t have Touch ID, because there is no physical Home button.

Apple has replaced it with Face ID, which the company says is far more secure. There’s a 1 in 50,000 chance a random person could unlock your device with Touch ID, but a 1 in 1 million chance they could unlock your iPhone X with their face.

What’s more, Face ID has no moving parts, so it won’t wear out over time like the Home button on older iOS devices. And unlike Touch ID, it will work even when your iPhone is wet. Its biggest downside? It won’t support multiple faces at launch.

“This has been reported by multiple people who spoke to Apple at this week’s iPhone event,” reads a report from TechCrunchwhich also got confirmation of this from Apple.

It’s possible this could change in the future — but it might not.

Although Touch ID supports multiple fingerprints, that’s only because you have multiple fingers, and you might want to use more than one for unlocking. It wasn’t really intended for multiple users, and Apple doesn’t advertise it as such.

It might decide, then, that since most of us only have one face, that’s all Face ID needs to remember. That will certainly be the case with most iPhones, but it will be interesting to see if Apple’s stance is different when Face ID reaches iPad and Mac, which are often shared devices.

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