Filed under: Stories we never thought we’d write pre-pandemic…

It’s 2021 and as we all know, the world is not the same place it was just over a year ago. But, we have to make best of our unusual circumstances, and so as we continue to protect ourselves and each other by wearing masks every day, here’s a few handy tips to help you out.

iPhone users will understand the struggle of not being able to open their device with Face ID while wearing a mask, so here’s three suggestions on how you can.

1. Type your passcode

Let’s get the most obvious ‘hack’ out of the way. You can, of course, just type your four or six digit passcode to gain access to your phone when Face ID is not available. But who has the time to type these days?

2. Train your phone

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Videos began circulating on popular short-form content app, TikTok, of creators training their phone to recognise their face with a mask on. You can do this by going into settings, Face ID and Passcode, and click ‘Set Up Alternate Appearance’.

Position your face in the frame without your mask on at first, and then when it asks you to rotate, put your mask on and this will train the phone to recognise you with it on. This way, you should be able to unlock your phone whether you have a mask on or not.

Note: some users reported no success with the function, so it could depend on the mask you’re using, or other factors.

3. Use your Apple Watch

Apple’s latest software update, iOS 14.5 comes with a cool feature which allows you to unlock your iPhone while wearing a mask. However, you’ll need an Apple Watch linked to your iPhone which will unlock your device instead.

It works if you have an Apple Watch Series 3 or later with watchOS 7.4 or later, you’ll need wrist detection turned on. In order for the feature to activate, you’ll need to be wearing a mask that covers your nose and mouth.

Discover more about the new trick here.

Image: Getty