You Can Add Face ID Lock to IPhone Apps That Don’t Support It
Face ID is great for locking and unlocking your iPhone, but it’s even better for authenticating apps that contain sensitive data. Even though many apps now support logging in with Face ID, there are still many that don’t, but there is a hack that can block any app for Face ID thanks to an interesting feature of iOS.
Set up automation to lock apps with Face ID
The Apple Shortcuts app never ceases to amaze with its usefulness. One of the strangest hacks allows you to block any app with Face ID, as Reddit user /u/fishmiloo discovered.
To set up automation, open the Clock app on iPhone and select the Timer tab. Tap When Timer Ends and select Stop Playback . This feature reverses the timer: Instead of playing an alert when the timer ends, the Stop Playing feature mutes any audio playing on your iPhone, making for a good sleep timer . But here’s the catch: once the “Stop Playing” timer expires, your iPhone will lock up. We can use this feature to block certain apps with Face ID. (Don’t change this to a ringtone; if you do, the Face ID hack will stop working.)
Now open Shortcuts and select the Automation tab. Tap the + icon in the top right corner and select Create Personal Automation . Scroll down and select App and on the next page select the app you want to block. Make sure the trigger is set to Is Opened , which is selected by default, and click Next . On the next page, select ” Add action “And use the search bar to find Start timer .
Set up the action “Start timer for 1 second ” and click “Next” . Turn off the “Ask before launch” option and click “Finish” . That’s all! If someone else opens the app of your choice, your iPhone will automatically lock within one second. But if you ‘re using your phone, Face ID will immediately unlock your device and let you use the app. This feature is especially useful if you want to hide sensitive apps from prying eyes: if someone grabs your phone, you can be sure it will be locked the moment they try to open certain apps.
To be on the safe side, you should create a similar automation for every app that has personal information about you, including at least financial, dating, messaging, backup, and email apps. You can even use this hack as a prank defense by blocking settings and shortcuts.
The only real limitation here is that it doesn’t let you use the timer feature on your iPhone. You can get around this by using the alarm feature instead. Simply asking Siri to ring at a specific time is enough, which is an effective substitute.