1. Mobile

iPhone X users can now use Face ID to make purchases on eBay

By

Ebay Charity App
2nix Studio/Shutterstock
Shopping just got a little easier for iPhone X users. This morning, eBay announced it now supports Face ID for purchases on its IOS app. The announcement makes eBay the first third-party app to allow Face ID to authenticate purchases.

Introduced on the iPhone X, Face ID uses facial mapping technology to authenticate users. Face ID uses a series of infrared dots to create a 3-D model of the the user’s face. This model is is then compared to data stored on the user’s iPhone X to unlock the phone and make purchases.

Apple reports that Face ID is more secure than Touch ID technology used on older iPhone models. It reports that while Touch ID has a false positive ratio of 50,000:1, the likelihood of a false positive authentication with Face ID is one in a million. While there have already been reports of false positives with the iPhone X, the technology is much more accurate than similar technology offered on the Samsung Galaxy and other Android phones.

eBay began developing its newest app shortly after Apple announced the iPhone X in September. To ensure the technology was available for the holiday shopping season, the company used simulation software for development and testing while awaiting the release of the iPhone X to the public. Once the devices became available, eBay did a final round of testing on the new phone to ensure everything worked properly.

While eBay may be the first third-party app to offer purchases via Face ID, expect to see other retailers following suit in the near future. The improved security of Face ID, and relative ease of setup for apps currently using Touch ID to authenticate purchases, makes integration a very attractive option for retailers who are seeing an increasing number of sales come from mobile websites and apps.

eBay is one of the world’s largest online retailers, with operations in over 30 countries. It currently has 168 million active buyers on its sites, with over half of its revenue coming from outside the U.S.. Each week more than 12 million listings are added via eBay mobile apps, and more than 60 percent of its sales are conducted through its mobile sites and apps.

eBay’s new app with Face ID integration is now available for users worldwide in the iOS app store.

Editors' Recommendations

Hubble Space Telescope captures a peculiar pair of galaxies

This observation from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope showcases Arp 86, a peculiar pair of interacting galaxies which lies roughly 220 million light-years from Earth in the constellation Pegasus. Arp 86 is composed of the two galaxies NGC 7752 and NGC 7753 – NGC 7753 is the large spiral galaxy dominating this image, and NGC 7752 is its smaller companion.

The best FPS games for Xbox Series X

Xbox Project Scarlett hardware Holiday 2020 launch Halo Infinite

The best video game soundtracks of all time

transistor iphone ipad release featured

How to earn new cards in Back 4 Blood

Hunters in Back 4 Blood.

How to get more copper in Back 4 Blood

Back 4 Blood Cleaners attacking Retch.

This new gaming mouse isn’t the best, but it became my favorite anyway

Steelseries Prime Wireless on a mousepad.

Crunchy algae, anyone? NASA shares ideas for food in space

NASA astronaut Megan McArthur enjoys fresh food on the International Space Station.

Boeing Starliner valve issue may have been caused by humid Florida weather

The Boeing CST-100 Starliner spacecraft to be flown on Orbital Flight Test-2 (OFT-2) is seen in the Commercial Crew and Cargo Processing Facility at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on July 12, 2021. Part of the agency’s Commercial Crew Program, OFT-2 is a critical developmental milestone on the company’s path to fly crew missions for NASA.

How Super Smash Bros.’ Sora actually compares to other anime sword fighters

sora carrying keyblade in reveal trailer

How time of day affects learning ability, and how to use it to your advantage

brain with computer text scrolling artificial intelligence

Hawaiian telescope snaps an image of a recently formed baby planet

The summit of Maunakea, Hawai'i at night, showing the two Keck telescope domes in the front right.

Hubble had a ringside seat to observe a star going supernova

Astronomers recently witnessed supernova SN 2020fqv explode inside the interacting Butterfly galaxies, located about 60 million light-years away in the constellation Virgo. Researchers quickly trained NASA's Hubble Space Telescope on the aftermath.

NASA’s Lucy spacecraft is in cruise mode, but solar array issue persists

At 24 feet (7.3 meters) across each, Lucy’s two solar panels underwent initial deployment tests in January 2021. In this photo, a technician at Lockheed Martin Space in Denver, Colorado, inspects one of Lucy’s arrays during its first deployment. These massive solar arrays will power the Lucy spacecraft throughout its entire 4-billion-mile, 12-year journey through space as it heads out to explore Jupiter’s elusive Trojan asteroids