Apple will finally let you unlock your iPhone with a mask on, but there's a catch

If you're an iPhone user during the COVID-19 pandemic, then you've probably become frustrated with trying to unlock your iPhone with a mask on. While every other smartphone vendor is using a fingerprint sensor, Apple stuck to its guns last year and made the iPhone 12 Face ID-only, forcing users to type a PIN when wearing a mask in public. Fortunately, Apple finally shares your frustration.

With iOS 14.5, you'll finally be able to unlock your iPhone easily with a mask on. There's just one big catch, which is that you need to be wearing an unlocked Apple Watch. Indeed, the ability to unlock a Mac with an Apple Watch has been there for some time, so it's not a question of security. In fact, the security is good enough for Apple Pay. This is something of a no-brainer.

Another new feature is support for Microsoft's Xbox Series X|S controllers and Sony's PS5 DualSense controllers. Xbox One and PS4 have been supported since iOS 13 and tvOS 13, and they're a big part of Apple Arcade. Now, with the new generation of controllers out, it was only a matter of time before support arrived.

All of these features are available as a developer beta starting today. The new betas include iOS 14.5, iPadOS 14.5, watchOS 7.4, and tvOS 14.5. You can get them from Apple Developer, or if you already have the profiles installed from the previous betas, you'll get the updates automatically.