The iPhone X was reportedly sold out within 10 minutes of its pre-orders due to the not so surprising high demand. The iPhone X employs a FaceID feature instead of the usual TouchID. This leads some users wondering as to what would happen to those features, which heavily relied on TouchID, for which we have compiled this list.
With the iPhone X expected to break all sorts of records, even with a price tag of $999, much has been speculated about the features which the phone is going to offer. The following is a list of prominent features of iPhone X, which makes it distinct from the older iPhone models.
Smooth App-Switching:
Gone are the days when you had to double tap on the home button to bring up the famous app switcher. This was becoming inefficient day by day and more time-consuming. Therefore, it was high time that a smartphone like iPhone implemented a new way to bring up the multi-tasker. The change comes with iPhone X where if you swipe up from the home bar and hold your finger down for a couple of seconds, it brings up your favorite app switcher.
Not only this, there is another way to bring up this. If you want to switch been apps back and forth, you can simply swipe left or right on the home bar to switch to the next application making it more efficient.
Flashlight and Camera just got new shortcuts:
Now courtesy the large screen due to more screen to body ratio, Apple is capitalizing on it to improve the overall efficiency of its iPhone X. There are two shiny icons at the bottom of the lock screen and the notification drawer.
Forcing pressing the one on the right takes you to the camera while the one on the left turns on the flashlight. Previously on iOS 11, you had to swipe your screen to the left to open the camera instantly, but in this case, it becomes easier with a mere press of a button.
FaceID can be disabled selectively:
If you are not much of a fan of the new FaceID and are reluctant and hesitating about using it every now and then for everything, then you are at a liberty to disable it for a particular feature. You have two options to choose from either a FaceID or a standard password for iTunes, the App Store, and to unlock your iPhone. Individual apps, Apple Pay, Safari Autofill also have the option of disabling FaceID and opting for the regular password instead.
FaceID detects your presence!
There are numerous advantages of using a FaceID instead of the usual TouchID. The FaceID is capable of enabling some features, which detect your attention. iPhone X would automatically dim the display if it detects that your attention is diverted from the screen.
Furthermore, in case you are using your iPhone, the phone lowers the incoming notification sounds itself, since there is no point in a loud notification sound if the phone is there in your hand and you are using it.
Emergency mode:
In case that you are trapped in an emergency, you can press the sleep wake button five times, which provides you with a choice of viewing the person’s medical ID or to call the emergency services quickly. This also disables the FaceID feature so that no one can unlock your phone by directing it to your face forcefully. You will have to enter the passcode or password to unlock the phone afterward though. This is most suited to those situations where you are around people you don’t trust.
Enabling Siri:
On the previous iPhones you had to long press the home button to invoke Siri, but since the iPhone X doesn’t have a home button, you will have to long press the sleep and wake button on the side of the device to invoke Siri. Apple pay can be accessed in a much similar way when the phone is locked. Just pressing the sleep/wake button twice, will bring up the Wallet app.
Shutting down is so different now:
You must be thinking that if long pressing the sleep/wake button invokes Siri, then how would you shut down the phone itself? Well, there is a different way now where you must press and hold the sleep/wake along with the volume down button simultaneously for a few seconds, much like “hard-rebooting” the previous iPhone models, but this time just for a shutdown.
Alternatively, you can go into the settings and turn off your device from there too, since the newer method might sound like a hassle to some.
Screenshotting just got a level easier:
For this to work, you have to remember a new set of button shortcuts. The screenshot can be taken on the iPhone X by long pressing the sleep-wake button along with the volume up button simultaneously. It may be a little difficult at first, but once you are used to it, it’s much easier than you think.
Waking up the phone:
Most of the people used the home button to wake up their devices for use, instead of the sleep/wake button which seemed far distant to be used. Now with the home button been replaced by the TouchID, it makes you wonder what’s the alternative for waking up the device? Apart from still using the sleep/wake button or the raise to wake, you can simply press on the screen to turn on the display!
Reachability survives!
The home screen can be accessed by swiping up from the bottom edge of the device. To indicate this there is a new horizontal action bar at the bottom. With this new iPhone without a home button, many wondered the fate of Reachability; don’t worry its still there! If you swipe down on the home bar you can shift the entire user interface down. This becomes much easier for you to use your phone single-handedly since the iPhone X screen size differs a lot from the usual non-Plus iPhones.
The iPhone X has a lot to live up to. Only time will tell how successful it turns out to be.