Apple.com/iPhone-X

Upper front view of Apple's latest flagship handset, the iPhone X

The Face ID system is probably the biggest selling point of the iPhone X. The newest biometric scanner headlined by Apple's latest flagship device is touted to replace the Touch ID feature. However, based on the latest reports, there may be one reason to keep the Touch ID, as users complain that the facial recognition system fails to authenticate family transactions made through the phone.

As reported by The Verge, there are reports of iPhone X users not having their family purchases approved. Several users have shared their experience in Apple forums, saying that they still have to enter their Apple username and password manually so that their transactions will be accepted. This problem may not sound so serious, although having to type in the password to authenticate purchases is a little bit inconvenient, compared to spending a few seconds to read the user's face.

Particularly, the Apple purchase feature in question is Ask to Buy, an iOS content that gives parents the power to control whatever purchases is done through their device. Children tend to place many items to the online shopping cart without their parents knowing, which are things that they don't really intend to buy in the first place. Transactions will only be allowed upon typing in the Apple ID and password of the parents.

Ars Technica reported that Ask to Buy can still allow purchase requests via Touch ID. Unfortunately for iPhone X, the device is only reliant on Face ID, thus users will still need to manually enter the password to authenticate the transactions. It should be noted, however, that the Face ID system is not listed on Apple's support page as a method in authenticating purchases. Engadget speculates that Apple has not yet officially added the Face ID feature to Ask to Buy, but there is also a chance that Apple does intend to disable it due to security reasons.

Apple has yet to address the Face ID issue in the iPhone X, although it seems more likely that the feature is not actually included in Ask to Buy. The feature may be enabled in the future via minor iOS update, but this remains speculative at this point.