so, you heard of a new feature that will allow you to unlock your iPhone while wearing a mask, and so you want. (Who could blame you ?!) The good news is that you can access it with a public beta that is now available. The bad news is that you will have to go through some obstacles before you can use it. You will also need an Apple Watch, and your smartwatch should be on your wrist, unlocked and password protected. Oh, and loaded.
Did you understand all that? Good.
The first thing you need to do is download the latest public beta updates for your watch and also for your iPhone, for iOS 14.5 and watchOS 7.4. (Be sure to back up your devices in case something strange happens during the process.) You will also be asked to provide your Apple ID password, so keep it handy. So, go to beta.apple.com on Safari on your iPhone and select Start. On this page, you can select which of the public beta programs you want to download. Select the iOS tab and scroll down to where it says enroll your iOS device and select this option. Then scroll down and click on the blue button Download profile button. You will see a series of prompts to install the public beta profile.
After completing this process, go to Definitions, select Generaland click Software update. This is where you should see an option for Download and install the iOS 14.5 public beta. Follow the instructions to install the update, take a sip of water, and then get ready to install the clock update. Remember that your watch will need a charger and will require at least 50% of battery life.
On the same beta landing page as Safari, click Start and then select the watchOS option in the top menu. On this page, you should see a blue Profile download button-Click. Follow the instructions to download the public beta profile and go to your Watch app. Once the watch is connected to the charger and at least half of the charge, browse the Watch app to General, then Software updateand select Install below the description of the watchOS 7.4 public beta.
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After public beta profiles are installed on your watch and iPhone, you can enable the feature that allows your phone to be unlocked while wearing a mask. Go to your phone Definitions, scroll down until Facial ID and password, and you should now see an option for Unlock with Apple Watch. Toggle this resource in. Now, your Apple Watch should buzz while unlocking your phone when you’re wearing a mask, and the watch will also show an option to lock your phone again. Unlocking is almost instantaneous and definitely much easier than entering your password.
That’s it, ready! It may have taken a minute to set up, but luckily you won’t have to pull on the mask or manually enter your password every time you need to unlock your phone going forward.