Unlocking Your iPhone With a Mask on Just Got Less Annoying, Thanks to a New Face ID Update

After figuring out how to make your own mask at home and how to keep it from fogging up your glasses, you may have encountered a different problem: Your iPhone can't recognize your face when half of it is covered. Fortunately for Apple users, a new update for iOS makes this annoyance slightly easier to navigate, Thrillist reports.

Without the new software, anyone who tries unlocking their iPhone with Face ID while wearing a mask will have to wait for the feature to fail before entering their passcode. But if you download iOS 13.5, your phone will no longer waste time attempting to scan your obscured face: It will bring up the passcode screen right away when you swipe up with your mask on.

The improvement to Face ID is just one way Apple is adjusting its software for the COVID-19 era. The new update also features the COVID-19 Exposure Notification system, an API from Apple and Google that public health authorities can use to release apps that notify users to potential COVID-19 exposure. Users who download iOS 13.5 will also get enhancements to group FaceTime calls, which should make socially distant happy hours with friends a little easier.

If you own an iPhone or iPad, you can download the new update to your device today.

[h/t Thrillist]