iOS 13.5 Beta Makes It Easier to Unlock an iPhone With Passcode When Wearing a Mask - MacRumors
Skip to Content

iOS 13.5 Beta Makes It Easier to Unlock an iPhone With Passcode When Wearing a Mask

Many people are wearing masks that cover their faces when going outside, visiting stores, and other tasks, and Apple's Face ID iPhones do not unlock when the face is obscured by a mask.

fasterfaceid
In the iOS 13.5 beta, released this morning, Apple has streamlined the speed with which the passcode pops up when a person wearing a mask is detected, making it easier to get into an iPhone with a passcode when ‌Face ID‌ fails.

Speedier access to the passcode interface is noticeable when you swipe upwards on the Home screen when unlocking the iPhone, as this action now immediately brings up the passcode interface if your face is covered by a mask.

Previously, the iPhone would attempt to initiate ‌Face ID‌ first, creating a few seconds of delay before the passcode interface was shown. The new, speedier passcode entry method makes it quicker to get into an iPhone.

The feature is available in the current iOS 13.5 beta, which should see a public release in the next few weeks.

Related Forum: iOS 13

Popular Stories

Four iPhone 18 Pro Colors Mock Feature

iPhone 18 Pro Launching Later This Year With These 10 New Features

Tuesday May 26, 2026 6:32 am PDT by
While the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max are not launching until September, there are already plenty of rumors about the devices. It was initially reported that the iPhone 18 Pro models would have fully under-screen Face ID, with only a front camera visible in the top-left corner of the screen. However, the latest rumors indicate that only one Face ID component will be moved under the...
Apple Watch Ultra 2 Black Titanium

watchOS 27 Will Add These New Features to Your Apple Watch

Sunday May 24, 2026 11:53 am PDT by
Apple will unveil watchOS 27 during its WWDC 2026 keynote on Monday, June 8, and a handful of new features have been rumored already. The first developer beta of watchOS 27 should be available immediately following the keynote, and a public beta typically follows in July. The update should be released to all users with a compatible Apple Watch model in September. Below, we recap watchOS...
iPhone 15 General Feature Green

Apple Preparing 'Most Significant Overhaul in the iPhone's History'

Friday May 22, 2026 1:36 pm PDT by
Apple reportedly plans to unveil its first foldable iPhone in September this year — it may be named "iPhone Ultra" — and expectations are high. In his Power On newsletter, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said the foldable iPhone will be "the most significant overhaul in the iPhone's history." "iPhone 4, iPhone 6 and iPhone X were clearly a big deal, but this is a whole new design," he said....

Top Rated Comments

thadoggfather Avatar
79 months ago
Power tip: when you swipe up on current versions, press FaceID text in the center of the screen to avoid waiting for it to scan your face and fail, prompting the password after that.
Score: 58 Votes (Like | Disagree)
thejadedmonkey Avatar
79 months ago
If only there was some other means of authenticating, that didn't rely on your face being visible.

#TouchIDForEver
Score: 23 Votes (Like | Disagree)
I7guy Avatar
79 months ago

If only there was some other means of authenticating, that didn't rely on your face being visible.

#TouchIDForEver
If only there were another way of authenticating that didn't rely on biometrics not working with gloves on.
Score: 13 Votes (Like | Disagree)
jarman92 Avatar
79 months ago
Why did this take a pandemic? This process has been way too slow since the iPhone X...
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)
79 months ago
This is why I'm still using an 8+. I wear a surgical mask for long periods of time. It's not just unlocking the phone, but all passwords & ApplePay. It's a pain when I use my iPadPro. Please release a combo FaceID / under-screen Fingerprint sensor, Apple.
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)
79 months ago
FaceID is a good test for mask compliance. If your phone doesn't recognize you with one on, you're not wearing it enough!

Jokes aside thank you Apple for trying to address this.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)