By Joanna Stern 

The iOS Coronavirus Update is available for your iPhone and is ready to install.

That's what the iOS 13.5 notification should say when it pops up on your iPhone in the next few days.

On Wednesday, Apple released an update to its iPhone and iPad software that addresses some of the issues we've complained about during our lockdown lives. For one, it's speeding up Face ID unlocking for iPhone users wearing protective masks. It also made an important tweak to group FaceTime calls.

It's not a huge update by any measure, but it is a useful one. I've been testing a beta version on my iPhone 11 for the last couple of weeks without any issue. (No battery life hit or performance slowdowns to report.)

When you download it, here are the three big things you want to know about.

Faster Mask Unlock

No, Apple's Face ID won't suddenly recognize you when you're wearing a mask, an issue I wrote about a few weeks ago. But it does make it easier to input your passcode. As you swipe up on the lock screen, the instant the software detects that your face is blocked by a mask, it pops up the passcode screen. The new algorithms are designed to work with most masks that cover a nose and mouth. Previously, Face ID tried multiple times to read your face, so you had a lag before you could input your code.

It's helpful when using Apple Pay at stores. I'm still hoping to get a mask made in the shape of my face so...I can creep everyone out. And, yeah, so Face ID will still work.

Less Annoying FaceTime

Anyone else bothered by those constantly ballooning and resizing FaceTime boxes during group video calls? We certainly were. You can now go to Settings, then FaceTime and turn off the Speaking toggle to stop the tile of the person talking from getting bigger. You'll now get a simple grid with static frames of everyone you're chatting with. You can still manually enlarge people's faces by tapping twice on their tiles.

Support for Exposure Notification

This update also brings the back-end technology for Covid-19 exposure-notification apps (which are often also known as contact-tracing apps). If you have no idea what that means, that is OK. Check out my column and video here -- they explain how public health authorities and app developers are looking to build smartphone software that uses Bluetooth to track who we come into contact with. This won't matter for you until your state or region offers a supported app that uses this technology. North Dakota, Alabama and South Carolina are planning to offer apps based on the tech soon. If you're curious, you can see some controls for the tools hidden in settings. Go to Privacy > Health > Covid-19 Exposure Logging.

Write to Joanna Stern at joanna.stern@wsj.com

 

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

May 20, 2020 14:12 ET (18:12 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2020 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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