How do I access a note protected by finger sensor when only Face recognition available on XS Max

[ran4df]

I restored my old iPhone to my new iPhone XS Max, one of my old notes was protected by Finger Sensor, but as my XS only support face recognition it won't open the note, It only asks for a password - I am convinced that I have entered the correct password, but it refuses to let me in. Question: If I revert back to my old iPhone will I then be able to use finger sensor again. My worry is that the note may have been corrupted during the backup which is why it won't accept my password.

 

[tadpoles]

Unless your old phone has been erased you should be able to open the note on your old iPhone but I am puzzled as to why Face ID won’t work to access the note on your new iPhone.

 

[ran4df]

Hi Tadpoles, my old iPhone was erased to make way for daughter to use and now Face ID won't open note

 

[kataran]

Welcome to iMore

Go to Settings>Notes>Password and make sure Face ID is toggled on

 

[msm0511]

I restored my old iPhone to my new iPhone XS Max, one of my old notes was protected by Finger Sensor, but as my XS only support face recognition it won't open the note, It only asks for a password - I am convinced that I have entered the correct password, but it refuses to let me in. Question: If I revert back to my old iPhone will I then be able to use finger sensor again. My worry is that the note may have been corrupted during the backup which is why it won't accept my password.

The reason is that the first time you try to access a locked note on a new phone you have to use the password. It’s a note specific password, not your Apple ID password. Whether you remember or not, when you initialized locking the note, iOS made you add a password to the note. IIRC each individual locked note you create has its own password as well.

 

[judgetom]

Hi. I assume you are using the same Apple ID as on your old iPhone and you have enabled as standard account iCloud?

Also is the „On my iPhone“ Account option deactivated?

Can you access other password protected notes on your new iPhone or does the same error occur?

 

[ran4df]

That makes sense, but if I restore to my old iPhone will I be able to use finger sensor and/or password

 

[ran4df]

Hi judgetom - same Apple ID, not sure about On my iPhone“ Account and the passworded notes also fails too

 

[Annie_M]

I'm not sure if this will help, but what about logging into icloud.com and accessing it that way?

 

[msm0511]

That makes sense, but if I restore to my old iPhone will I be able to use finger sensor and/or password

Since you already restored your old iPhone the only way you’d be able to get in on that phone would be the password as well. It took me forever to find the note specific password I made when I got my XS Max. Luckily I remembered it. I like that the locked notes have separate passwords, but you have to write them down and put them in a safe place. There’s no way to get back into that note unless you remember the password you created for that specific note.

 

[msm0511]

I'm not sure if this will help, but what about logging into icloud.com and accessing it that way?

I don’t believe iCloud Keychain saves note specific passwords. I may be wrong though.

 

[kataran]

I don’t believe iCloud Keychain saves note specific passwords. I may be wrong though.

Didn’t know it would ask for password as I always back up to iTunes encrypted and didn’t have to put in my passcode when I switched to my X

 

[msm0511]

Didn’t know it would ask for password as I always back up to iTunes encrypted and didn’t have to put in my passcode when I switched to my X

I always set up as new, so I didn’t realize it would remember those from an encrypted backup. Good to know. Thanks!

 

[Annie_M]

I don’t believe iCloud Keychain saves note specific passwords. I may be wrong though.

I was curious and just logged in to iCloud.com and was able to open a locked document once I remember what password I set for the file. It's different than my Apple ID password.

 

[ran4df]

Hi Annie_8Plus I had tried iCloud.com, but could not get in, I can only think that I may not have remembered the password as well as I thought I had

 

[ran4df]

Tried iCloud.com and password failed again, I can only assume I don't remember the password as well as I thought - I will restore to my old iPhone and see if I have better luck - will let you know how I get on

 

[mino22]

Go to Settings>Notes>Password and make sure Face ID is toggled on

 

[ran4df]

Hi Folks - Problem solve, once I got my old iPhone back from daughter - I restored it to an old backup, ok so I had to re-register my finger recognition, but hey presto I was then able to open locked notes using fingerprint, then I saved unlocked notes back to iCloud and revert back to my new iPhone XS Max, simples.
Thank you for all your input x