Facial recognition of a sort returned to the latest Google Pixel phones on Thursday after being omitted on previous phones due to cost challenges. The performance challenges remain: Google Pixel phone’s poor face recognition is no match for Apple iPhone’s Face ID.

The feature on the new Pixel 7 is not as good Apple Inc’s Face ID unlocking mechanism, as it can struggle in low light and is more vulnerable to being spoofed. In addition, Google has said it is not secure enough to enable signing into apps or making payments.

Google’s pursuit of face unlock for Android smartphones spans at least a decade, but it came under greater pressure when Apple released Face ID in September 2017, the sources said.

To that point, Google struggled to devise a system that both performed quickly and was impervious to spoofing, or the use of photos or hyper-realistic costumes to fool someone else’s phone into unlocking, one of the sources said…

Another source noted that after the arrival of Apple’s Face ID, which uses a depth-sensing and infrared camera called TrueDepth to map a face, Google executives signed off on a comparable technology. Google’s Pixel 4, released in 2019, called its infrared depth-sensing setup uDepth… But the gear was expensive… Google dropped uDepth in the Pixel 5 in 2020 due to costs, the sources said.

Face unlock on the new phones relies on a typical front camera. But unlike the previous system, it cannot securely unlock apps and payments because Google says spoofing chances – such as by holding up a user’s photo – are greater than 20%… Low light and sunglasses also can cause trouble, Google says,

MacDailyNews Take: Google makes junk and peddles it to the ignorant.

Face ID provides intuitive and secure authentication enabled by the state-of-the-art TrueDepth camera system with advanced technologies to accurately map the geometry of your face.

With a simple glance, Face ID securely unlocks your iPhone or iPad Pro. You can use it to authorize purchases from the iTunes Store, App Store, and Book Store, payments with Apple Pay, and more.

The technology that enables Face ID is some of the most advanced hardware and software that we’ve ever created. The TrueDepth camera captures accurate face data by projecting and analyzing thousands of invisible dots to create a depth map of your face and also captures an infrared image of your face. A portion of the neural engine of the Apple Silicon chip — protected within the Secure Enclave — transforms the depth map and infrared image into a mathematical representation and compares that representation to the enrolled facial data.

Face ID automatically adapts to changes in your appearance, such as wearing cosmetic makeup or growing facial hair. If there is a more significant change in your appearance, like shaving a full beard, Face ID confirms your identity by using your passcode before it updates your face data. Face ID is designed to work with hats, scarves, glasses, contact lenses, and many sunglasses. Furthermore, it’s designed to work indoors, outdoors, and even in total darkness.

ace ID uses the TrueDepth camera and machine learning for a secure authentication solution. Face ID data—including mathematical representations of your face—is encrypted and protected with a key available only to the Secure Enclave.

The probability that a random person in the population could look at your iPhone or iPad Pro and unlock it using Face ID is less than 1 in 1,000,000 with a single enrolled appearance.

Face ID matches against depth information, which isn’t found in print or 2D digital photographs. It’s designed to protect against spoofing by masks or other techniques through the use of sophisticated anti-spoofing neural networks. Face ID is even attention-aware, and Face ID with a medical face mask will always confirm attention. Face ID recognizes if your eyes are open and your attention is directed towards the device. This makes it more difficult for someone to unlock your device without your knowledge (such as when you are sleeping).

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Works well, except for identical twins, who can unlock each others’ iPhones.

Maybe so, but you do understand why, right?

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