For Face ID with Mask to work, it must be switched on and configured separately. After updating an older iOS version to version 15.4, your mobile phone should automatically ask you after restarting whether you want to use Face ID with Mask or not.

Otherwise, to set it up, you have to call up the settings on your iPhone and select the menu “Face ID & Passcode”. You will then need to enter your passcode to access the menu. Finally, you can scroll down and activate the “Use Face ID with a mask” function.

If you have activated the option, you will then have to complete the face recognition set-up process again. To do this, position your face centrally in front of the iPhone’s front camera and then look around slowly so that the phone can scan your contours thoroughly.

During this process, significantly more data points are extracted from the upper half of the face, especially from the eye area. The lower half of the face is largely neglected, because although you do not have to wear a mask for the scan, the algorithm assumes this is the case.

For optimal functionality, wearers of glasses are advised to take several scans. The first is done with glasses, the second without. If you wear different glasses, you can add an additional face recognition for each model to further improve accuracy.

To do this, simply tap “Add glasses” in the Face ID menu and repeat the scan for all the glasses you wear while reading, driving or in other situations. However, Apple’s Face ID with Mask is not supported for sunglasses, as the tinted lenses obscure too much of the necessary upper half of the face and thus cannot ensure sufficient security.

Face ID with mask is not directly a new iOS feature, but rather an extension of the regular biometric feature.

Consequently, further customisation of all services where you use Face ID – unlock, passwords, Apple Pay, etc. – is not required. Similarly, Face ID with Mask has no other impact on the accuracy or speed of the scan.