Tired of entering your passcode on your iPhone? Mask getting in the way of FaceID? Apple’s latest update to the iWatch makes it easy to unlock your iPhone.
Apple Updates
Apple released updates to all its iThingys April 26th. Besides updates to iOS for iPhones, there was a major update to the Watch. According to the marketing, this update allows you to unlock your iPhone just by wearing your watch.
Easy Unlock?
Easy unlock once you have gone through a lot of steps. First you have to update your iPhone to version iOS 14.5. Then, after making sure your phone is on WiFi, you download the over 600mb update for the watch via the app on your phone.
The update claims it will install automatically overnight if your watch is connected to its charger and within spitting distance of the phone. My watch did not automatically update overnight. The next day I had to click Install from the app to force it. The install took almost 20 minutes on an older model watch.
Easy unlock? Not yet. Now you have to make changes on the phone. In settings, go to FaceID and Passcode. Scroll way down and you should find a new option to Unlock with Apple Watch. Enable that.
When you pick up your phone while wearing a mask it should unlock. You’ll get a weird clicking noise on the watch and an option to block the unlock but it’s slow.
Watch OS 7.4 makes it easy to unlock your iPhone but with quite a few steps.
I found that first time I tried my phone while wearing a mask it did not work. But it’s been working since.
Incredibly useful when you’re in a masked situation and you need quick access to your phone.
I would be cautious about enabling this feature if you have little helpers (pets and kids) who might then wreak havoc on your device.
