Unlocking is the Face ID job everybody knows: raise your iPhone or tap the screen, glance at it, and you are in — no passcode typing, no waiting. But that same glance is quietly your password for a lot more. Once you turn the other jobs on, Face ID approves purchases, fills your saved passwords, pays at the register, and keeps private notes and apps locked until your face — and only your face — shows up.

The five Face ID jobs

  1. Unlock your iPhone. The one you already use: pick up the phone, look at it, swipe up. It is the fastest way in, and everything below builds on it.
  2. Approve App Store purchases — no password typing. When you download or buy an app, double-click the side button and glance instead of typing your long Apple account password. Face ID works with a mask for this too: go to Settings > Face ID & Passcode and turn on Face ID with a Mask so approvals still work when your face is partly covered.
  3. Fill saved passwords automatically. In Safari and in apps, your saved passwords and passkeys fill in after one glance — no hunting through a password list, no typing on a tiny keyboard. Make sure Password AutoFill is on under Settings > Face ID & Passcode.
  4. Pay with Apple Pay. At a shop, double-click the side button, glance to authorise, then hold your iPhone near the reader. The same double-click-and-glance confirms purchases inside apps and on the web, so checkout takes seconds.
  5. Lock private notes and apps. In the Notes app, open a note, tap the menu, and choose Lock — from then on it only opens with Face ID. On iOS 18 you can do the same for whole apps: touch and hold an app icon and tap Require Face ID, and that app stays locked until you look at your phone.
Your face is already your password — let it do more than open the home screen.

Turn them all on in one place

  1. Open Settings > Face ID & Passcode and enter your passcode.
  2. Turn on the toggles you want: iPhone Unlock, iTunes & App Store, Password AutoFill, and Apple Pay (listed as Wallet & Apple Pay on some versions).
  3. Add an alternate appearance if Face ID misses you sometimes — same screen, tap Set Up an Alternate Appearance and scan again, for example with your usual glasses on.
  4. Try each job once right away — download a free app, fill a password, lock one note — so you know the glance works before you need it in a queue at the register.

Good to know

  • It is built for one face at a time. Face ID is a personal sign-in, not a shared family password — anyone whose face is enrolled gets into everything it protects, including locked apps and notes.
  • A lock is only as strong as what sits behind it. Locking an app or a note with Face ID is perfect for everyday privacy — a borrowed phone, a curious kid — and it takes seconds to set up.
  • If a glance fails, your passcode is the backup. Nothing gets lost: Face ID is a faster door, not the only door.

Five jobs, one glance, and almost no setup. Unlocking was just the start — once Face ID is paying, signing you in, and standing guard over your private apps, typing passwords on your iPhone starts to feel like the old way.

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