How To Fix Face ID Not Working on iOS 14

Have you recently updated to iOS 14 only to encounter your Face ID not working?

Well, perhaps we can fix that for you. Apple’s new operating systems have been making headlines for their new features as well as the unfortunate amount of bugs and glitches that Apple users have been encountering.

Apple’s forums have been swarmed with reports about broken cameras, Bluetooth bugs, and so on. iOS 14 has been getting its fair share of problems, but here at Saint, we strive to provide our readers with any fix, solution, and explanation we can supply for your benefit.

In this article, we will be going over a list of fixes that have been scoured from all over the internet. Included will be methods that have worked for older iOS versions, as well as for iOS 14. If you’re having an isolated problem with Face ID and a third-party app, we’ve also got that covered for you.

Let’s get started.

• 1. How Does Face ID Work?
• 2. General Troubleshooting.
• 3. Restart Your iPhone.
• 4. Fix Face ID For Certain Apps.
• 5. Scan A New Face ID.
• 6. Reset The Face ID Feature.
• 7. Reset All Your iPhone’s Settings.

1. How Does Face ID Work?

If you think your front camera takes a picture of you and analyzes it with your stored Face ID, then think again. Face ID technology employs a lot of clever ways to take a picture of your face, even in the dark. Here’s a quick explanation that you can pass off as trivia to your friends.

Built into the front of your iPhone is a TrueDepth camera that shoots approximately 30,000 invisible dots to your face. This maps out your facial features and structure from closest to farthest, which is then read by an infrared camera. Even in the dark, an infrared light illuminates your face so the TrueDepth camera can scan you in the dark.

With the infrared map of your face, your iPhone calculates the mathematical model of your face in milliseconds and compares it with all currently active Face IDs. Also, your iPhone regularly updates your Face ID as you continually take photos. This is how your iPhone continues to recognize your face even when you grow facial hair or wear a pair of glasses.

2. General Troubleshooting.

First, let’s do a general troubleshoot regarding your issue. To follow basic protocol, are you using the Face ID with your phone comfortably away from your face? Remember to raise your phone in portrait orientation and in an angle that clearly shows your face.

Sometimes Face ID may not automatically detect or clearly see your face, especially when you’re wearing peripherals like sunglasses. By default, the Face ID requires you to actively look at the camera, so you’ll have to take off anything obscuring your eyes before trying to unlock your phone with your face.

Double-check and make sure that the front camera isn’t covered by anything. Lastly, if you have problems trying to use the Face ID while you’re lying down, this is most likely caused by what you’re lying on partially covering your face.

That covers all the conventional things to take into consideration when using your Face ID. Let’s go ahead and fiddle with your settings to see how we can fix your problem.

3. Restart Your iPhone.

A basic fix, but an effective one is restarting your mobile device. Whenever a software problem happens on your iPhone, like a bug or glitch, restarting your device will usually fix it.

Since these bugs and glitches happen due to faulty code or a malfunction in the system, when you reboot your iPhone, your software will boot again like normal. This will iron out most of your software problems.

Here’s how you can restart your iPhone:

1. First, press and hold the power button on the right side of your mobile device.
2. Next, a slider that says ‘Slide to power off’ should appear. Drag this slider to the right to turn off your device.

3. Finally, when your screen has turned off, wait for a couple of seconds before pressing the power button again to turn on your iPhone.

4. Fix Face ID For Certain Apps.

A problem with Face ID not working on certain apps might be because of your settings. If you’ve recently upgraded to the new iOS 14 for your iPhone, you might want to take a look at your Face ID settings.

Apple allows its users to retain their personal settings by default when they update their iOS. However, mishaps and communication problems with your phone’s software and the new update can cause your settings to reset or malfunction.

A great way to solve this problem is by resetting all of your iPhone’s settings, but with this method, we’ll settle for manually looking through any changes in your Settings app.

Here’s what we can do about your Face ID not working for certain apps:

1. Go ahead and open up your Settings and go to Face ID & Passcode.
2. Now, a prompt might open requiring you to enter your Passcode, fill this in if so.
3. Then, a list of all the apps requiring permissions to use the Face ID feature should appear, disable the app you’re having a problem with.
4. Next, open the same app through your home screen and sign in regularly without using the Face ID.
5. Once you’re in, go back to Face ID & Passcode and allow the app to use Face ID. After this, terminate the problematic app.

6. Finally, reopen the app and try to use your Face ID.

This should fix any problems you have with the Face ID and specific applications. If the issue persists, go ahead and proceed to the next method.

5. Scan A New Face ID.

Even though the Face ID is a revolutionary new way to implement security on your device, this can still produce errors. Scanning a new Face ID or resetting your Face ID settings might be in your best interest.

Although this might seem like a nuclear fix because you’ll be resetting your entire Face ID settings, it is one of the most effective ways to getting Face ID to work. As mentioned above, the transfer between iOS 13 to your new iOS 14 may have messed up certain features of your iPhone, in this case, your Face ID.

Scanning a duplicate face model should help your iPhone have more models to compare your face with, and perhaps provide it with a newer model in contrast to the older one which might be corrupted.

Here’s how you can scan a new Face ID:

1. Let’s start by opening up your Settings and going to Face ID & Passcode. Enter your Passcode if a prompt asks for it.
2. Now, select Set Up an Alternate Appearance and look straight into your iPhone with your face positioned inside the frame.
3. Next, follow the instructions and move your head to complete the circle.

4. When you finish the first Face ID scan, tap on Continue, and complete the second circle.
5. Finally, setting up your duplicate Face ID should be complete so you can go ahead and tap Done.

Go ahead and try to use your Face ID to unlock your phone or an app to see if this fixed the problem.

6. Reset The Face ID Feature.

These last two methods will revolve around resetting certain parts of your iPhone. For this solution, we will guide you through resetting your Face ID settings. However, if you are experiencing a lot of other problems after the iOS 14 update, then it might be in your best interest to reset all your phone’s settings altogether.

Resetting your Face ID settings should completely clear your iPhone’s Face ID cache. This will eliminate all your preferences, essentially starting your Face ID like new.

Here’s how you can reset the Face ID feature in your phone:

1. First, open up the Settings app and go to Face ID & Passcode.
2. Once you’re in, tap on Reset Face ID.

3. Finally, you’ll be asked to set up your Face ID again. Tap on Set up Face ID and refer to the method above for the steps.

7. Reset All Your iPhone’s Settings.

Losing some of your settings or having it corrupted as you upgrade to iOS 14 is quite a serious concern. This can cause all sorts of errors in your operating system, like Bluetooth problems, widgets, and so on.

If you’re experiencing other problems besides the Face ID, resetting all your iPhone’s settings might be in your best interest. This is also a viable option if all the methods above didn’t work for you.

Before you proceed, if you’re reading this after iOS 14 was released, then it’s good to remember that the new operating system is still suffering from a lot of software problems. Apple should release a patch of fixes soon, and you can wait for that update instead of resetting your iPhone’s settings if you prefer to do so.

Here’s how you can reset all your iPhone’s settings:

1. Start by opening up your Settings app and going to General.
2. Next, scroll down until you can see and tap on Reset.
3. After that, a list of different resets should be displayed. For this solution, we will be tapping on Reset All Settings.

4. Now, you should be required to input your Passcode. Fill it in and proceed through the prompts to reset all your settings.
5. Finally, your iPhone will restart but once it powers back on go ahead and set up a new Face ID.

After resetting all your iPhone’s settings, a clean and fully functional version of iOS 14 should be running your iPhone. Hopefully, the issue with your Face ID is finally fixed.

Now, if the issue still hasn’t disappeared and you’re thinking about getting your phone checked by a technician, you might want to try factory resetting your iPhone. Factory resetting your mobile device will reformat everything in your phone and install a fresh iOS 14 operating system. This will delete all your personal files and preferences, but don’t worry as this will be backed up. Read more about it here.

Keep in mind that if the Face ID only began to malfunction after the iOS 14 update, then the chances of it being a hardware problem are very slim. With that in mind, you can think twice about going to an electrician and simply wait for Apple’s next iOS patch which should fix your error.

Now that you’ve finished the entire article, we hope that we’ve helped resolve your ‘Face ID not working on iOS 14’ issue. If you have any clarifications regarding the article, feel free to leave a comment down below.

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