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iPhone X users can’t use Face ID to approve family purchases

iPhone X users can’t use Face ID to approve family purchases

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Something to be aware of if you get one for Christmas

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A woman using Face ID
Photo by Dieter Bohn / The Verge

iPhone X owners have discovered that they can’t use Face ID to approve family purchases, pointing out on Apple’s forums that they can’t figure out how to activate the facial recognition feature to requests, and have to enter their password manually.

Ask to Buy is an iOS feature that allows parents to control what their children are buying with their phone. It’s useful, given that children have been known to rack up hundreds of dollars of purchases by mistake.

Ars Technica points out that users could approve the request with Touch ID, but since the release of the iPhone X, that’s no longer the case, and parents have to manually enter their Apple ID to approve the purchase. The feature can be used to authenticate a user to make purchases, Apple’s support page for the feature doesn’t mention Face ID. However, given that the facial recognition system can be fooled by children, maybe that is a good thing, especially if your child is trying to load up a new gadget during the holidays.