It has been a while since Apple iOS 11 has hit the headlines for all the wrong reasons but there is a silver lining to the chaos. Users have been rigorously registering their complaints about Apple iOS 11 and its shoddy Face ID feature but a closer look at it reveals it is actually not a problem at all. Rather, it has a brilliant and brand new secret feature!
What is it? Firstly, let’s talk about the problem. People have been upset by the Face ID on the iPhone X which appears to be broken whilst authorising family purchases. And, that is the case even when Ask to Buy is enabled.
So, instead of Facial recognition, users are prompted to manually type in their Apple ID and password every time. Laborious isn’t it?
Further, here’s an excerpt from a thread in Apple’s official Support Communities forum that explains a user’s predicament in detail:
“I was able to approve family purchase requests with Face ID after I’d set up my iPhone X last weekend. Now, I’m being forced to type in my Apple ID password for every new request I get (and with 3 kids I get lots of them!) which is frustrating given how complicated they have to be these days to be considered secure. Interestingly, it still lets me use Touch ID on my iPad to approve so it seems to be specific to the iPhone X/Face ID combo.”
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This has created a lot of backlash on social media since numerous, rushed iOS 11 updates haven’t addressed this issue at all. BUT, there’s logic behind why Face ID never really worked for the authorisation of family purchases. The greatest risk with family purchases is that unauthorised and unwarranted purchases made by children can bypass the limitations of Face ID and lay bare its biggest vulnerability. That is, Face ID can be easily fooled by biological relatives.
The bottomline is: Apple is protecting parents’ wallet from getting a nasty shock due to unwarranted splurges that they never made.
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Of course, it proves Apple’s latest decision to do away with Touch ID was misplaced since Face ID cannot replace the benefits of Touch ID especially vis-à-vis multi-user authentication and enhanced security with biological siblings.
So ironically, this iOS 11 gaffe is actually protecting your wallet…
