Since its introduction, Apple’s Face ID biometric recognition on iPhone has been the industry standard, but the emergence of the Covid-19 pandemic in early 2020 somehow annoyed many, as face masks are have become mandatory outside. People had to either remove the mask or type in the password to unlock the screen.

Later, Apple realizing the limitation of Face ID, introduced unlocking with the Watch, but this had little impact, as there were millions of people who did not own Apple’s smart wearable.

Now, the company has introduced the iOS 15.4 update which enables the Face ID feature of the iPhone to be able to accurately identify the owner with the mask. This will greatly benefit millions of iPhone owners around the world.

Once you have updated (tutorial at the bottom) your iPhone, you need to open the Face ID & Passcode function in the settings and activate the Face ID with a mask. It will ask you to scan the face as normal for the first face scan and perform additional time with glasses (if you are still wearing one). Compared to previous times, this scan will be precise and collect more facial data points to accurately map the distinct feature of the owner’s face, especially around the eye area and it can even recognize with glasses.

Additionally, users can enroll four different sun visors to the Face ID security feature, so the device can instantly recognize and unlock the screen.

I tested Face ID with a face mask feature. It works wonderfully fast in terms of face recognition and iPhone unlocking. However, it is only supported on the iPhone 12 series and newer models.

Along with Face ID with face mask feature, the new iOS 15.4 update brings new emojis, support for EU COVID digital certificate support in Health app, support for EU vaccination card format on Apple Wallet app, Emergency SOS settings changed to use call waiting for all users and some keyboard related bugfixes may insert a period between numbers typed, News widgets in Today view may not open articles when tapped and more.

Apple iOS 15.4 full changelog:
Face ID
Face ID while wearing a mask option on iPhone 12 and newer
Apple Pay and password autofill in apps and Safari can be used with Face ID while wearing a mask

emoji

New emoji including faces, hand gestures and household objects are now available on the emoji keyboard
Handshake emoji lets you choose separate skin tones for each hand

FaceTime
SharePlay sessions can be launched directly from supported apps

Siri
Siri can provide offline time and date information on iPhone XS, iPhone XR, iPhone 11 or newer

Vaccination cards
EU Healthcare COVID Digital Certificate support lets you upload and store verifiable versions of COVID-19 vaccination, test results and recovery records
COVID-19 Vaccination Cards in Apple Wallet Now Support EU COVID Digital Certificate Format

The iOS 15.4 update also includes the following improvements for iPhone:
Safari web page translation adds support for Italian and Chinese (Traditional)
Podcasts app adds episode filters for seasons, as well as played, unplayed, saved or downloaded episodes
iCloud custom email domains can be managed from Settings
News offers improved discovery of audio content in the Today feed and the Audio tab
The camera on the keyboard can be used to add text to notes and reminders
Shortcuts now support adding, deleting, or querying tags with callbacks
Changed Emergency SOS settings to use call waiting for all users. Call with 5 taps is still available as an option in the Emergency SOS settings
Close-up in Magnifier uses the ultra-wide camera of the iPhone 13 Pro and iPhone 13 Pro Max to help you see small objects
Saved passwords can now include your own notes in settings

Apple iOS 15.4 also brings bug fixes for the iPhone:
The keyboard can insert a period between the digits entered
Today View news widgets may not open articles when touched
Photos and videos may not sync to iCloud Photo Library
Speak Screen Accessibility feature may quit unexpectedly in Books app
Live listening may not turn off when disabled in Control Center

In a related development, Apple has also rolled out iPadOS 15.4 with key enhancements including the highly anticipated Universal Control.

Once upgraded to the new firmware, users will be able to effortlessly control and navigate multiple devices – Macs and iPads – using a keyboard, trackpad and mouse – wirelessly.

With this feature, users can move the cursor across screens of multiple devices with any of the single input accessories mentioned above. You can even move a file stored on an iPad to the MacBook just by long-pressing the file with a mouse from screen to screen

However, the devices must be very close to each other, like the secondary display of a PC monitor, but Universal Control works wirelessly via Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and Handoff enabled.

And, the first initiation of Universal Control must start from the Mac to the iPad and not the other way around.

Here is how to install iOS 15.4/iPadOS 15.4 update on your iPhone/iPad:
Via OTA (live)
Prerequisite: Users who want to install the update directly to the device via OTA must ensure that there is enough storage space and the battery life of the device must be more than 50 %, before starting to download the new iOS update.
Step 1: Settings >> General >> Software Update

Via manual installation via Apple iTunes
Prerequisites: Make sure to back up your iPhone/iPad with iCloud or via iTunes before starting the download procedure. Also, your PC must have the latest version of the iTunes application. If not, go to About, then Check for Updates or visit iTunes.com.
Step 1: Launch iTunes on your Mac or PC.
Step 2: Insert your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch if it isn’t already there.
Step 3: Tap iPhone, iPad or iPod touch in the top left navigation.
Step 4: Tap on the Check for updates button in the first section which contains your device information and you can also click on restore instead if you want to perform a clean wipe with the updated software.
Step 5: An update should be recognized, click Download and Update from the context menu and accept the terms or conditions.
Step 6: Unlock your device with your password if prompted to proceed with the upgrade.

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