New York’s mass transit agency wants Apple to come up with a better way for iPhone users to unlock their phones without taking off their masks, as it seeks to guard against the spread of the coronavirus in buses and subways.
In a letter to CEO Tim Cook received through The Associated Press, Metropolitan Transportation Authority President Patrick Foye said passengers had been noticed to have cut off their mask to unlock their phones’ facial popularity technology, despite a recent update by Apple that simplified the unlocking procedure for people. . Wear a mask.
Previously, an iPhone user dressed in a mask had to wait a few seconds while the facial popularity software tried to identify him before he probably entered a password. In reaction to the pandemic, Apple’s iOS 13.5, released in May, automatically displays the password box after a user has swiped from the back of the lock screen. In addition, Apple Pay Express Transit, introduced last year, allows users of certain bus and subway lines to pay with their iPhone or Apple Watch without having to activate the device.
“We perceive that Apple is running to solve the challenge and we know that Apple has a variety of technologies at its disposal as a global leader among generation companies,” Foye wrote in the letter sent Sunday. “We urge Apple to drive the deployment of new technologies and respond to those additional consumers in the COVID-19 era.”
Foye added that the MTA would be willing to work with Apple on messaging so that users are aware of the recent iPhone update.
“There is nothing more vital to us than the fitness and protection of our customers,” Apple said in an email referring to the updates already made. “We are fully committed to painting with the MTA to assist in their efforts to prevent the spread of COVID-19.”
Bus and subway use in New York and other cities sank at the height of the pandemic. The MTA has lost more than 90% of its subway passengers, which, along with relief in revenue on its other properties, has created a tax gap that will take years to fill, authorities said. Attendance has increased slowly, but remains at very predetomic levels.
In addition to an aggressive cleaning program that has included the unprecedented step of shutting down the subway overnight, the MTA requires all riders to wear masks and socially distance. In May, the agency announced a $1 million pilot program to test out the use of ultraviolet lamps to kill the coronavirus on subways and buses. The authority has said in recent weeks that more than 90% are wearing some form of face covering.
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