Face ID - Move your iPhone a little lower

It’s definitely sad when replacing a little individual part of your phone cost almost as much as replacing the whole phone itself. Especially when everyone is complaining about how critical the elements are that are needed to make phones, you’d think they’d want people to fix things instead of tossing them in the trash and buying new. Just saying! I’m glad you had the coverage and were able to have yours repaired! I have an older model with no coverage so I’m forced to buy a new phone since it’s not cost effective to just replace the camera itself.

Unbelievably I rebooted the phone then smacked the top left side of the screen (where the camera that faces me is located) against the palm of my hand. Then I went to Face ID & Passcodes in Settings and toggled Password Autofill on and I was able to reset my Face ID moving the phone whilst it captured all the angles of my face! Eureka amazed that a few taps did the trick!!

Are you actually kidding me Apple!!

So, ive done everything possible to try and get my Face ID to work again.

Reset it numerous times etc, even factory reset it and transferred to an old iPhone etc etc blah blah blah... then i read this thread about tapping the phone and Boooom it worked again!!

Could have saved myself loads of hassle if i just thrown it across the room it may have worked again!!

Omg This worked for me too. I’ve been trying for days to get my Face ID to set up. Constantly getting “move iPhone lower” or “move iPhone higher “. I smacked it (it took a couple times) and then suddenly it worked!

I can’t believe it. The Face ID on my 13 pro started to intermittently fail with apps. I tried to add a new alternate Face ID and it kept telling me to adjust my face in the frame etc to no avail. I tried resetting my Face ID but had the same problem. Tried power off/on - no good. Tried updating to IOS 17.3 - no good. Finally I tried giving the front camera a hard slap on my palm AND IT WORKED! Maybe a loose wire? I’m a happy camper now.

I sh1t you not, but the slap technique worked for me too. Randomly FaceID stopped unlocking my phone today. I power off/on. Nope. Go into settings and go to reset. Same problem as it won’t detect my face in the frame to do the head swirl. Kept saying move up. Move down. It would refocus. Reset again. Same thing. Searching online. Nothing good. I am about to go trade in my phone. I find this post. Firmly slap my screen in the camera area and it works in the first try. Seriously unbelievable. On the technique, I held the phone in my left hand. Slapped with my right and I would guess my 3 middle fingers hit the front facing camera area between the last two knuckles. 🤷🏼‍♂️😂💯

iPhone 13, 17.3.1: giving it a light knock on the table made it first worse in that it said it "wasn't ready", then knocked it again, AND IT WORKED!! :), can't really believe it, like an old cathode ray TV!, this cannot be right.

knocking or tapping the phone sometimes brings the Face ID back for a bit, but sooner or later things go back to not working, have seen many users are getting the module fixed at stores etc. that usually involves removal of screen and soldering so is not a tiny cost, that said, less than replacing a phone, a bit disappointed that this element breaks so easily as my phone had not taken big falls or knocks.

I had the issue with FACE ID failing. I had replaced my screen protector a couple of weeks ago and there was a slight smudge in the front facing camera apparently after I put the new one on. I removed the screen protector and cleaned the lens and it works fine now. I did put a new screen protector on.

I absolutely cannot believe that this incredibly advanced, profoundly expensive piece of technology was fixed with percussive maintenance. I used to smack start motors with a rubber mallet when they got stuck in a dead spot. I used to smack a chisel into bolt heads when they rounded.

I cannot believe I just smacked my iphone to make its face id work. wild.

I was having this same issue. I tried force restarts and completely resetting my phone. After a few days and a call with support who also couldn’t fix it. I finally fixed it by taking my screen protector off 🤦🏻‍♀️

I tried slapping my phone, I reset my phone, and then slapping my iPhone 13 Pro Max, I totally turned off my camera, I cleaned (w/eye glass cleaner and dry, lent free cloth) my iPhone, I took off the clear protector, I removed my rubber case (which doesn’t obstruct the face of the camera or any part of the screen, I also update every time I see my “Settings” indicate such (currently iOS 17.5.1). I tried everything suggested in this support group over & over.

HOWEVER, after trying everything multiple times I took off my glasses, & tried one last hard “knuckle” knock (mostly out of anger) while looking at the “lower iPhone” glaring at me and voila! I was able to complete the Face ID. BUT, the second I put my glasses on, I got the FACE NOT RECOGNIZED again.

WHEN WILL THIS FRUSTRATING, RIDICULOUS, & irritating error be fixed? I venture to further say it’s NOT just the iPhone 13, 13 pro, nor 13 pro max.

I have done every single thing on this list and nothing has fixed my issue. Is there another step I can take?

I’m having this same issue out of the blue. I’ve been told to take it to an Apple store but the nearest one is an hour away. This is ridiculous.

There’s gotta be some glitch with a recent update. I have the 13 pro. Clear glass protector, haven’t changed it recently. No cracks. This is ridiculous.