You shouldn’t have to deal with the frustration of unlocking your iPhone with Face ID when you’re wearing a mask. And you don’t have to. This simple pro tip shows you how to skip Face ID and quickly unlock with a passcode instead.
You should never take off a medical mask just to unlock your iPhone. Putting your health at risk to check your latest Twitter DM simply isn’t worth it — no matter who it’s from. There are safer alternatives.
If you really, really like Face ID, you might choose to train it to recognize you while you’re wearing a mask. If you can do without it, though, here’s how to quickly skip past it and use passcode unlock instead.
How to quickly skip past Face ID
- Swipe up on your iPhone.
- Tap the Face ID text in the center of your screen as soon as it appears.
- Enter your passcode.
Photo: Killian Bell/Cult of Mac
It’s as easy as that.
Of course, the passcode prompt will appear eventually if you don’t tap the “Face ID” text — you already knew that. But having to wait for it is what makes unlocking with a mask so frustrating. This tip should speed things up a bit.
Oh, and it works on iPad Pro, too!
Apple plans Face ID fix
You’ll be pleased to know you won’t need this pro tip for too long. Apple just dropped its iOS 13.5 beta, which allows iPhone to recognize you’re wearing a mask, then take you directly to the passcode prompt with little delay.
