Face ID

Face ID, also known as facial recognition, is a security feature used to confirm your identity based on your unique facial features. It’s designed to accurately capture and store information about your face and is used in many of the latest devices, including iPhone 15 Pro Max, Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra and Google Pixel 7 Pro

Face ID is most commonly used to unlock devices using the front-facing camera and, for certain iPhones, a range of additional face-mapping sensors. If you have iPhone 15, iPhone 15 Plus, iPhone 15 Pro or iPhone 15 Pro Max, you will be able to use Face ID to verify online purchases and log into mobile banking applications as these devices contain a combination of light projectors and sensors, allowing for reliable biometric authentication.

Devices such as the Google Pixel 7 Pro, Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra and Samsung Galaxy Z Fold4 only use the front-facing camera for Face ID, so you will need to use additional security methods, including fingerprint unlock, passwords, patterns or PINs, to sign into applications or make payments.

Face ID is designed to work both indoors and outdoors. With certain devices, like iPhone 15 Pro Max and Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra, it can even work when you’re wearing glasses, a hat, scarf and makeup if you set up an ‘Alternative Appearance’ in settings.

With iPhone 12 and newer iPhones, you can also enable Face ID to work while you’re wearing a face mask. If you have an older device, like the iPhone X, you will need to be wearing an Apple Watch which is unlocked to enable this feature.

Personalise your Face ID experience further by toggling the setting ‘Require Attention for Face ID’ on iPhone, ‘Require open eyes’ on Samsung and ‘Require eyes to be open’ on Google Pixel

Once you have Face ID set up, simply hold your device close to your face for authentication when prompted by applications or when unlocking your device. If you would like further information on how to use Face ID, view our guide to setting up Face ID on iPhone 14