In a perfect world, technology combines usability with sleek design. In recent years, we've seen tech companies continuously put one over the other, always failing to produce the perfect device for consumers. The announcement of the iPhone X excited many, as its fullscreen display makes the phone look beautiful.

Too soon?

While the X's design is stunning, the absence of a home button does raise some concern. Apple has replaced the action of clicking the home button to return to the main screen with a swipe up, which is a gesture that will be easy to adjust to.

However, the loss of Touch Id remains a concern for quite a few reasons.

The feature is a crucial part of iPhones although it was only added to devices three generations ago. It has done a lot of great things for the phone's usability. Almost all apps have added support for Touch ID, allowing users to unlock more than just their phone with their fingerprint.

Usability concerns

Its replacement, Face ID, sounds amazing and should make unlocking an iPhone easier than ever before. Although the iPhone X has yet to be released, Apple sounds confident in the fact that a glance at the camera will open users up to the home screen.

There are some concerns with just how usable this feature is, though. Touch ID is something that really can't be interfered with.

While dirty hands may cause the fingerprint reader to fail, the feature allows users to have multiple fingers registered. Touch ID can be used at any time, even while trying to hide your phone.

With Face ID, users will have to look into the camera to unlock their phone. Unless it can somehow scan faces from very odd angles, users will most likely have to hold the camera close to their face in order for the feature to work.

While this isn't the end of the world, it is a lot less convenient than Touch ID.

Other concerns include things like lighting and glasses. If Face ID is trained to recognize a user's face, will it work if the user has glasses on? It would be quite a hassle for someone to take off their glasses each time they want to unlock their phone.

Lighting is one of the biggest concerns. It's safe to say that most people are addicted to their phones nowadays, meaning that they're always using them, even in the dark. It's highly unlikely the facial recognition software will be able to pick up someone's face when they are in a room with a light off.

Although Face ID sounds great and allows for a beautiful fullscreen design, it should work in harmony with Touch ID, not act as a replacement. Rumors circulated months ago that Apple was working on a fingerprint reader that would be incorporated into the screen, which would be perfect. Hopefully, rumors of the company completely abandoning Touch ID are false and they figure out some way to bring the two features together.
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