Apple is researching face unlocking technology for iOS devices.
According to a patent filing published by the United States Patent & Trademark Office (USPTO), Apple is researching automatic facial analysis that will allow iDevice users to lock and unlock future iOS devices.
The filing explains:
The camera capturing and face recognition processing may be triggered by the device having detected that it has been motionless for a threshold period of time.
In another embodiment, a locked mobile device is configured to capture an initial image using its camera, capture a new image in response to detecting movement of the device, determine that the device moved to a use position, capture a subsequent image in response to determining that the device moved to a use position, analyze the subsequent image to detect a user’s face, and unlock the device in response to detecting the user’s face.
Android already has the technology implemented, but it does have its security flaws: