Apple now has a beta update for your iPhone which gives you facial recognition even while you’re wearing a mask – unlocking your device so you can make payments or enter passcodes. The best thing is you don’t need an Apple Watch for it.

Already, if you’re wearing a face mask or sunglasses (but not both) as long as you have your Apple Watch on, you can simply raise and glance at your iPhone to unlock it. But now they’re developing an upgrade which makes the watch unnecessary.

In a recent statement with the release of iOS 15.4 beta, Apple said: “Face ID is most accurate when it’s set up for full-face recognition only.”

“To use Face ID while wearing a mask, iPhone can recognise the unique features around the eye to authenticate,” the statement continued.

How do I get this beta update early?

To get this feature working before it’s available to everyone, you’ll need iOS 15.4 beta. To access this, you can use a secondary device to sign up for the beta software program here.

Then go into your iPhone settings, ‘Face ID & Passcode’, and select ‘Use Face ID with a mask’. Once you’ve enrolled, the beta update will display as available on your device.

Reading glasses support

Previously, Apple added the ability to recognise glasses that you wear regularly while carrying out facial recognition: “Using Face ID while wearing a mask works best when it’s set up to recognise each pair of glasses you wear regularly,” the company said.

However the new feature won’t work with sunglasses as the company stated: “Face ID with a mask doesn’t support sunglasses.”

Other new features in the latest beta update include some new emoji such as heart hands, biting lip, pregnant person and pregnant man, hamsa, and several others, as well as the ability to copy text from objects using the camera while in the Notes or Reminders apps.

For more information on this new feature from Apple, visit here.

For more from Women Love Tech about Apple, visit here.