How to Add an Alternate Appearance to Face ID in iOS 12

Thursday August 23, 2018 12:36 PM PDT by Juli Clover
When the iPhone X launched, there was no option to record multiple faces like there was to enter in multiple fingerprints with Touch ID, but that's something Apple changed in iOS 12.

With iOS 12, you can add a second face to Face ID, which is useful if you have a job where your face dramatically changes, such as with a surgeon's mask or protective goggles.


Face ID can learn to overcome items like hats, sunglasses, and scarves, recognizing you anyway, but having the option for a second face while you're wearing frequently worn items makes sure Face ID works more seamlessly.

  1. Open the Settings app.

  2. Scroll down to Face ID & Passcode and tap it.

  3. Enter your passcode.

  4. Choose the "Set Up an Alternate Appearance."

From there, you can set up Face ID as you did when you first purchased and set up your iPhone X for the first time.

The iPhone will walk you through the steps of positioning your face in the camera and then moving your head in a circle.

Once your alternate appearance has been entered, there's no option to delete it. To re-add an appearance, you will need to tap the "Reset Face ID" button that has replaced the "Set Up Alternate Appearance" option.


Be aware, there's no confirmation screen when you tap the "Reset Face ID" option. Once it's tapped, all of your Face ID data is cleared.

24 comments


Top Rated Comments

(View all)
Avatar
dominiongamma
9 months ago

Why not just bring back Touch ID? Whatever alleged inconvenience bezels are, the trade-off for the inclusion of Touch ID, not having to deal with the troubles of Face ID not working under certain conditions, and elimination of that hideous notch are well worth it.

Greasy fingers, wet fingers kind of made Touch ID difficult to use, Face ID seems better
Rating: 7 Votes
Avatar
KazKam
9 months ago
This is a hack for adding another "identity" to Face ID. One of the things I liked about Touch ID was being able to register one of my fingers on the phones of my other family members (since I'm their IT support specialist) and being able to easily unlock. I also was able to put my wife's fingerprint on mine.

Face ID may be technically more secure, but I find it a helluva lot less convenient for my use cases, and in several cases, a downright nuisance.
Rating: 4 Votes
Avatar
billybobfred
9 months ago

Why not just bring back Touch ID? Whatever alleged inconvenience bezels are, the trade-off for the inclusion of Touch ID, not having to deal with the troubles of Face ID not working under certain conditions, and elimination of that hideous notch are well worth it.


There are many features that make Face ID a much better form of authentication. For one, Face ID is far more secure than Touch ID ever was. The massive amount of saved screen space is also a factor. As for the notch, I think that will go away as tech improves and lets them hide the sensors and camera under the screen.
Rating: 4 Votes
Avatar
Blizzardman
9 months ago

Greasy fingers, wet fingers kind of made Touch ID difficult to use, Face ID seems better


And for me a very unique scenario where FaceID is MUCH better is trying to use my phone while having my Ski gear on. I have gloves which work with touchscreens but it was always a hassle with TouchID.
Rating: 3 Votes
Avatar
ThomasJL
9 months ago
Why not just bring back Touch ID? Whatever alleged inconvenience bezels are, the trade-off for the inclusion of Touch ID, not having to deal with the troubles of Face ID not working under certain conditions, and elimination of that hideous notch are well worth it.
Rating: 3 Votes
Avatar
ghostface147
9 months ago

I think the only thing Apple could do to make FaceID better, would be a setting to allow full access to the home screen without having to swipe up. It's not like there aren't the same number of conditions when TouchID doesn't work - wearing gloves, wet fingers, etc.


I agree in a little. Sometimes I just want to glance at the lock screen to see who emailed me or sent me a text. Yes it is unlocked with FaceID automatically, but then I'd lose what I'm looking at if it unlocked straight to the home screen. So if I want to unlock and go to the home screen, out of habit I just swipe up as soon as I want to use the phone and it unlocks and goes home.
Rating: 2 Votes
Avatar
justperry
9 months ago

Be aware, there's no confirmation screen when you tap the "Reset Face ID" option. Once it's tapped, all of your Face ID data is cleared.


As it should be, iOS and macOS/OS X got to verbose to my liking, bit like Windows, if I say delete then delete the damn thing.
Rating: 2 Votes
Avatar
jmgregory1
9 months ago

Why not just bring back Touch ID? Whatever alleged inconvenience bezels are, the trade-off for the inclusion of Touch ID, not having to deal with the troubles of Face ID not working under certain conditions, and elimination of that hideous notch are well worth it.


I think the only thing Apple could do to make FaceID better, would be a setting to allow full access to the home screen without having to swipe up. It's not like there aren't the same number of conditions when TouchID doesn't work - wearing gloves, wet fingers, etc.
Rating: 1 Votes
Avatar
JRobinsonJr
9 months ago

There are many features that make Face ID a much better form of authentication. For one, Face ID is far more secure than Touch ID ever was. The massive amount of saved screen space is also a factor. As for the notch, I think that will go away as tech improves and lets them hide the sensors and camera under the screen.


There are two potentially competing tenets at work here that IMO should be discussed separately.

1. Is FaceID more SECURE than TouchID? I'll leave that to people more knowledgable that I am, but suspect the answer is yes.

2. Is FaceID more USABLE/USEFUL than TouchID? That's a very different discussion. Having used both I am still a huge face of TouchID... but would be OK with FaceID too. It's just not my personal preference. This is going to be a mostly subjective topic. How to solve it? Why not have both! Sure, it adds to the cost, but given that we're anticipating $1200-ish for a top-of-the-line Xs Plus anyway... does that really matter?
Rating: 1 Votes
Avatar
AmpSkillz
9 months ago

('https://www.macrumors.com/how-to/add-an-alternate-face-id-appearance-in-ios-12/')


When the iPhone X launched, there was no option to record multiple faces like there was to enter in multiple fingerprints with Touch ID, but that's something Apple changed in iOS 12.

With iOS 12, you can add a second face to Face ID, which is useful if you have a job where your face dramatically changes, such as with a surgeon's mask or protective goggles.



Face ID can learn to overcome items like hats, sunglasses, and scarves, recognizing you anyway, but having the option for a second face while you're wearing frequently worn items makes sure Face ID works more seamlessly.
[LIST=1]
* Open the Settings app.

* Scroll down to Face ID & Passcode and tap it.

* Enter your passcode.

* Choose the "Set Up an Alternate Appearance."

From there, you can set up Face ID as you did when you first purchased and set up your iPhone X for the first time.

The iPhone will walk you through the steps of positioning your face in the camera and then moving your head in a circle.

Once your alternate appearance has been entered, there's no option to delete it. To re-add an appearance, you will need to tap the "Reset Face ID" button that has replaced the "Set Up Alternate Appearance" option.



Be aware, there's no confirmation screen when you tap the "Reset Face ID" option. Once it's tapped, all of your Face ID data is cleared.

Article Link: How to Add an Alternate Appearance to Face ID in iOS 12 ('https://www.macrumors.com/how-to/add-an-alternate-face-id-appearance-in-ios-12/')


I was so happy when the alternate face feature came out because I do work in surgery and wear a surgical mask The majority of the time I’m at work. Ever since I bought the iPhone X I’ve been unable to auto unlock my phone without entering in my password while I’m at work (as I could so easily do with touch ID even through rubber gloves) and it’s my biggest complaint about the iPhone X by far.

Unfortunately the alternate face feature does not let you add a face that is Partially obscured by a surgical mask as it is incorrectly suggesting in this article...
Rating: 1 Votes
[ Read All Comments ]