In iOS 18.5, there only appears an alternate Face ID appearance for masks. I seem to recall there used to be an alternate appearance option for sunglasses. There’s lots of conflicting and outdated information out there on this. And Settings itself points out that adding support for masks makes Face ID overall less accurate so no urge to go there. My Face ID is having trouble recognizing me in bright sunlight with sunglasses on. Didn’t use to be a problem, but now it is. I’d like to keep the option for require attention when unlocking on. Is there any other way to teach Face ID what I look like with my shades on?
I don’t know why you’re not seeing the Add Glasses option right under the mask option, but it’s there on iOS 18.5 for me.
There’s also an option to add an alternative appearance, so you might also try that.
The only option displayed to me on this iPhone 15 (18.5) is Set Up Face ID with a Mask for Alternate Appearance.
I do have Require Attention for Face ID and Attention Aware Features set to on. Turned them off, but that didn’t change my options.
I wonder if this could be related to a profile I have. In order to use my employer’s wifi, I need to install and activate a profile. I know that profiles can enforce certain security features. I’ll have to compare to my wife’s iPhone to see if that’s it, because I cannot do without that profile, unfortunately.
When Face ID was released with the iPhone X, the require attention and attention aware settings were added in part for the reason that some sunglasses make it impossible for the FaceID sensors to recognize that your eyes are looking at the phone (I believe the setting also exists for people with sight disabilities that prevent them from pointing their eyes at a particular place.)
So if turning that/those options off doesn’t help with Face ID recognition while wearing sunglasses I’m not sure what the issue may be.
The sunglasses work just fine lots of the time, so I know it’s not that they are IR opaque or something like that. Nevertheless, at times I encounter trouble that I didn’t used to have. I’m pretty certain there used to be an alternate Face ID appearance for glasses. But that is gone here. I’d be curious to figure out why that is no longer showing here — @bb1 indicates he still sees it on the same iOS version as I’m using.
I only have the “with glasses” option after I turned on “Face ID with a mask” - I’ll be traveling soon wearing a mask on the plane and I thought I might try the option.
This is most interesting. So I’ve been able to confirm that allowing Face ID with a mask renders the option to set up an alternate appearance with glasses.
The question then becomes: is this worth the tradeoff as Apple’s byline seems to make a big point about how Face ID with mask support is less secure than Face ID w/o mask.
I believe that glasses are an optional add with masks simply because adding mask support means that Face ID will only use your eyes to unlock, so capturing your glasses is more important.
See Use Face ID while wearing a mask with iPhone 12 and later - Apple Support
Important item on that support page, though:
Face ID with a mask is not designed to work with sunglasses.
If your sunglasses are not working with Face ID without mask support, then I think you can try adding an alternate appearance while wearing the sunglasses, or, based on this support page:
Face ID works with many sunglasses, though Face ID with a mask isn’t designed to work with sunglasses. If you’re wearing sunglasses designed to block certain types of light, then your sunglasses might be blocking the infrared light used by the TrueDepth camera. Try using Face ID without your sunglasses.
indeed. I’d prefer not to turn on mask support either, but without mask support I don’t get a sunglasses option.
I use very dark sunglasses a lot. Now and then I am having trouble being recognized by the iPhone. I have found that it always helps to change the angle by turning right or left a bit. This has turned into something I do without thinking so I am not sure, but I think it is more likely to happen if the sun hits the phone from behind my head. I do have Require Attention for Face ID on.
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I wear glasses all the time. I wear a mask a lot of the time outside the home, not wanting to catch something to endanger an immunocompromised family member. And I wear sunglasses frequently (although not usually when trying to unlock the phone, which is mostly indoors).
Sometimes Face ID doesn’t work. But it is much more accurate than Touch ID on my iPad with aging fingers.
FYI - I have noticed that even when I’m at home not wearing a mask or sunglasses it can fail if I don’t hold the phone UP in front of my face, not down where I would normally hold it when using it. And it works better at a proper reading distance, about 12 inches (300 cm). So I have to remember to hold it out in front of my eyes.
That is even more a requirement when wearing a mask.
Just my experience.