Apple on Android phones with face unlock: They All Stink
Phil Schiller's quote came in time when it's still being debated whether it's worth having FaceID instead of a fingerprint scanner.
When Apple announced the 10th anniversary iPhone X, One of the most important changes it brought was the user authentication system. The fast and secure TouchID fingerprint scanner was replaced by futuristic FaceID. However, the feature was not without controversies, with the users still debating whether it’s worth having a facial recognition system instead of a fingerprint scanning sensor.
Apple critics say the iPhone X isn’t the first smartphone with facial recognition, pointing to the likes of Samsung Galaxy S8 with its Iris scanner. Some even point out at the face matching feature prevalent in Android since ICS 4.0 days. But as far as Apple’s Marketing Chief Phil Schiller is concerned, all the other phones with facial recognition can be described in three simple words.
“They all stink,” Schiller said succinctly in an interview with Dutch website Bright and touching several key features of the iPhone X.
"They don’t work in all the ways we need Face ID to work. We’re very aware that through the years the simple thing, this Home button, that started as the way you click to get to the Home screen, grew into doing so many things for us. We added Touch ID, it took you to the multitasking screen, paged Siri, activated Apple Pay. All through this one mechanical button.
So for FaceID, we needed the best way we know of to enable us to easily unlock our device with our face, in a protected way with the Secure Enclave, and support all these other things. We had to solve all of that. Other things that people have tried with face haven’t been anything like that. Face ID is a unique implementation." Schiller added.
OnePlus has already released their flagship OnePlus 5T with their take on face unlock. Also, Huawei recently unveiled a module capable of scanning no less than 300,000 points in 10 seconds to create a 3D image of the face. Apple’s iPhone X does the same thing but with only 30,000 points and this is why Huawei says its facial recognition tech will be much more accurate and secure.
Other Android manufacturers will also start offering their versions of FaceID next year as well. At that time, we'll be able to better judge Schiller's quotes. Somehow it feels like he is resting on his laurels too much and undermining the ability of competition.