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Face ID has a cool feature you probably haven’t even discovered yet

Published Nov 20th, 2017 8:32PM EST
iPhone X Face ID
Image: Apple Inc.

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Apple has had a string of solid and, at times, impressive iPhone releases over the past few years. Still, it’s been quite a while since we’ve seen a new iPhone model actually stir up some genuine excitement amongst iPhone users. Sure, camera technology on the iPhone has improved tremendously over the past few years, but the overall look and feel of the iPhone itself has essentially remained unchanged since the iPhone 6 was released more than three years ago. As far as new features are concerned, you might have to go as far back as Touch ID on the iPhone 5s before coming across a new iPhone feature that managed to generate some genuine buzz on its own.

The iPhone X, therefore, is a welcome breath of fresh air. Sporting an edgeless OLED display and a new facial recognition system dubbed Face ID, the iPhone X is the radical redesign iPhone fans have been looking forward to for years. Though it wasn’t entirely clear how consumers would initially take to the iPhone X, it’s now overwhelmingly clear that the iPhone X is a breakthrough product and that Face ID, specifically, works exactly as advertised.

With Face ID being a completely new feature, one of the more enjoyable aspects of the iPhone X is that users are still uncovering some thoughtful design touches Apple added to Face ID. The most recent example sprung up on Reddit over the weekend and involves the alarm app on the iPhone X. Now we’ve all likely experienced the frustration that comes along when trying to lazily turn off an annoyingly loud iPhone alarm early in the morning when you’re still angling for a few more minutes of sleep. The iPhone X, though, has the perfect fix for this issue.

As the first-hand account explains below, the iPhone X alarm app will decrease in volume the moment you look at it.

Woke up this morning to my iPhone alarm and when I looked at my X, I noticed the volume lowered itself. I tried this again to make sure I wasn’t just imagining it after waking up, and it does! That is such a little thing that didn’t need to be a feature, but the fact that it is, is amazing. Now when I wake up and look at my phone its a softer volume instead of continually blaring the alarm at me. Little things like this are awesome.

Is this a groundbreaking feature? Of course not. Still, it speaks to the level of detail Apple tends to obsess over relentlessly. More than that, it speaks to how Face ID has the potential to impact all facets of the user experience.

Yoni Heisler Contributing Writer

Yoni Heisler has been writing about Apple and the tech industry at large with over 15 years of experience. A life long expert Mac user and Apple expert, his writing has appeared in Edible Apple, Network World, MacLife, Macworld UK, and TUAW.

When not analyzing the latest happenings with Apple, Yoni enjoys catching Improv shows in Chicago, playing soccer, and cultivating new TV show addictions.