iOS 12 Beta Supports Face ID Rescans With Swipe Up Gesture on iPhone X - MacRumors
Skip to Content

iOS 12 Beta Supports Face ID Rescans With Swipe Up Gesture on iPhone X

by

As more users sign onto the first beta for Apple's iOS 12, new discoveries are quickly being made, with the latest centering upon a simple but highly useful new gesture for iPhone X owners.

Currently, when you hold up the iPhone X and Face ID fails, you either have to lower it and raise it again, or press the side button to put the iPhone to sleep and wake it up through another side button press or tapping the display. You can also tap "Cancel" after the failure then swipe up to start over. All of these methods will reactivate a Face ID scan.

iphone x ios 12 beta face id via reddit


As discovered by Redditor shakil-ali, Apple has provided a slightly simpler way to rescan your face in the iOS 12 beta: now when the biometric security feature fails multiple times you can swipe up from the bottom of the iPhone X to get Face ID to scan again, without having to tap or press another button first. This should help to alleviate a small but sometimes frustrating part of unlocking the iPhone X with Face ID.

In regards to other hidden features of iOS 12, we have collected a bunch in a tidbits roundup posted yesterday. These include setting up an "alternate appearance" for Face ID, a new QR code scanner in Control Center, a revamped Battery Usage section in settings, and more.

As a whole, Apple announced iOS 12 with a focus on user privacy and digital health, and when the update launches in the fall iPhone and iPad owners will be able to keep track of everything they do on their devices with features like "Screen Time" in Settings.

Related Forums: iOS 12, iPhone

Top Rated Comments

penajmz Avatar
106 months ago
Just tried this and it works. A really nice fix for an annoyance I had some times.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
106 months ago
Amazing. I never knew you could do this. Judging from comments, a lot of other people didn’t know either.
It‘s just not true. You need to either move the phone to a different direction or tap cancel and reswipe.

People that are saying they do this in iOS 11 are lying or not understanding the issue correctly.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
johnyslats Avatar
106 months ago
Is this actually new? Have I imagined it or have you been able to do this for a while on iOS 11. Since upgraded to the beta so can’t check
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
106 months ago
Article is wrong or misleading. The prompt might be new but since iOS 11 you just swipe up to rescan.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
aleni Avatar
106 months ago
Just press cancel and swipe up. Macrumors doesn’t know this? Lol
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
106 months ago
Article is wrong or misleading. The prompt might be new but since iOS 11 you just swipe up to rescan.
It’s accurate! If FaceID fails once on iOS 11, you can swipe up to retry. But if it fails twice and the keypad appears, you’re forced to type your passcode (or lock and unlock to try again. See screenshot.) iOS 12 allows you to swipe up when the keypad is shown.

Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Popular Stories

iphone 16e usb c feature

Apple Begins Selling a $419 iPhone

Monday July 6, 2026 6:29 am PDT by
Apple recently added the iPhone 16e to its refurbished store, with U.S. pricing starting as low as $419 for a model with 128GB of storage. Originally released in February 2025, the iPhone 16e is a lower-end device with a 6.1-inch OLED display, an A18 chip with 8GB of RAM for Apple Intelligence support, a single 48-megapixel rear camera, a 12-megapixel front camera, a USB-C port, an Action...
iphone 17 ceramic shield

iPhone 18 With 9GB RAM Still Won't Support Two New iOS 27 Features

Friday July 3, 2026 12:10 pm PDT by
The lower-end iPhone 18 and iPhone 18e will be equipped with 9GB of RAM, up from 8GB in the iPhone 17 and iPhone 17e, according to supply chain analyst Ming-Chi Kuo. In a social media post, Kuo said the 1GB increase in RAM will ensure that Apple Intelligence features continue to run smoothly on the pair of devices. The higher-end iPhone 18 Pro, iPhone 18 Pro Max, and foldable "iPhone Ultra...
iPhone X 2022 Upload

'iPhone Ultra' Likely to 'Repeat the iPhone X Story' With Delayed Launch

Sunday July 5, 2026 10:28 am PDT by
Apple will likely "repeat the iPhone X story" by unveiling its foldable iPhone at the same time as the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max, but starting foldable iPhone pre-orders at a later date, according to analyst Ming-Chi Kuo. Kuo today said manufacturing challenges have limited early production of the foldable iPhone, which will reportedly be named iPhone Ultra. As a result, he...