Face ID not working on iPhone. What to do

Since 2013, iPhones have been unlocking using biometrics. At first it was Touch ID fingerprint sensor, and then he gave way to more advanced facial recognition – Face ID. Both of these systems work almost flawlessly. I would even say “like a clock”. But sometimes problems do happen. And if when using Touch ID this is mostly associated with wet fingers, then with Face ID everything is not so clear. Periodically, the system just flat out refuses unlock iphone and prompts you to enter a passcode.

Even with all the toggles turned on, Face ID may not work as expected

What could it be: a software glitch or Face ID ordered to live long? Do not rush to run to the service center. Most likely, the whole problem is local, and it can be solved without any difficulties. In this material, we tell you what to do if on an iPhone Face ID not working.

How to add a second person to Face ID

To solve the problem with a non-working Face ID, first of all, you need to figure out if you have recently changed your appearance. Although the system learns and adapts to the new appearance of the owner, it does not do it instantly. Therefore it makes sense create an alternative look or again add a face to Face ID on iPhoneif the alternate slot is already occupied. This is done as follows:

Alternative look:

Be sure to add an alternate appearance. This will speed up the already fast Face ID

• Open the settings on your iPhone and go to the “Face ID and passcode” section;
• Click the Alternate Appearance button and follow the on-screen instructions.

Re-add face:

Reset is almost instantaneous.

• open iPhone settings and go to the “Face ID and passcode” section;
• Click the “Reset Face ID” button;
• Once the reset is complete, re-add your face and further create an alternate look for faster recognition.

Now try to unlock your smartphone. Since you were able to easily add your face to the system, there is no doubt about the performance of Face ID sensors. Therefore, unlocking is likely to happen without any problems.

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How to force restart iPhone

But when trying add a face to Face ID you may encounter the fact that the sensors will not recognize it for some reason. In such a situation, you must first resort to iPhone hard reset. It is possible that after the update or something else there was a small failure, and the smartphone just needs to be cheered up a little:

You will have to use all the buttons on the iPhone case

• Press the volume up button;
• Press the volume down button;
• Hold the lock button until the Apple logo appears on the screen.

Immediately after turning on, you need to enter the passcode and try again add a face to Face ID. Most likely, after a reboot, the problem will be resolved, and everything will work as it should.

Requiring Attention for Face ID

However, there are situations when everything is much more prosaic. Many users are unaware that Face ID settings included demand for attention. When this feature is activated, the iPhone will not unlock until you look into the camera. This is done on purpose so that without your knowledge, simply by turning the phone towards you, it will not unlock. Very often there is no opportunity to look at the iPhone in the car or just on the road, and we wait for Face ID to work without glancing at the screen. But magic doesn’t work that way. Every time you unlock your iPhone, you should definitely look at the screen.

By the way, since summer has come, many have put dark glasses on their eyes. Very often, because of them, Face ID cannot determine where you are looking. Therefore, the demand for attention can bring many inconveniences. Here’s how to turn it off:

Before disconnecting, the smartphone will warn you that requiring attention increases the security of Face ID

• Open the settings and go to the “Face ID and passcode” section;
• Turn off the “Require Attention for Face ID” toggle.

Additionally, I recommend enabling “Attention Recognition”. Here, Face ID will simply detect that your face is turned towards the screen of the smartphone, but the look will not matter. At least some protection.

Reset iPhone to factory settings

Unfortunately, all these attempts may fail. Therefore, if you have already done a reboot, and reset face ID and re-adding the person lead to nothing, then you need to execute hard reset iphone and on a clean system, check the performance of biometrics. Be sure to back up before resetting so you don’t lose important data. The reset is done as follows:

Resetting to factory settings solves most of the software problems on any iPhone

• Open the settings and go to the “General” section;
• Scroll to the very bottom and select “Transfer or reset iPhone”;
• Click “Erase content and settings” and follow the instructions on the screen;
• After performing the reset, set your iPhone to “like new” and try adding your face to Face ID.

If everything works as it should, then it was some kind of software glitch, and you can try restore iphone from backup. True, there is no guarantee that after the restoration the problem will not return. Therefore, it is possible that all information will have to be downloaded to the phone manually. If nothing has changed even after the reset, then the problem is definitely in the hardware, and you need to visit a service center. For example, in Apple Pro Service Center, with which we are already working, and have repeatedly contacted the guys with their equipment. It is possible that some kind of fall did not go unnoticed for the iPhone. Moreover, now they 50% discount applies for this type of work. Or even riding a bike / scooter, which we talked about separately.

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