iPadOS 18.1 Facial Recognition and QR Code Reading Issues

Overview

Apple has introduced a serious bug in iPadOS 18.1 which impacts Apps such as NoahFace that perform facial recognition and/or QR code reading. This bug only occurs on specific older model iPads. If you have an impacted iPad model and you upgrade to iPadOS 18.1, facial recognition and QR code reading will NOT work reliably.

You can identify the model of you iPads using the information in the following Apple Tech Note: Identify your iPad model

The following model iPads are NOT impacted:

• iPad Gen 10 (released Sep 2022)
• iPad Gen 9 (released Sep 2021)
• iPad Gen 8 (released Sep 2020)
• iPad Pro Gen 7 (released May 2024)
• iPad Mini Gen 5

If you have an iPad model that is listed above as NOT impacted you can safely upgrade to iPadOS 18.1.

The following model iPads are not compatible with iPadOS 18.1, and are therefore also NOT impacted:

• iPad Gen 6
• iPad Gen 5
• iPad Gen 4
• iPad Gen 3
• iPad Gen 2
• iPad Gen 1

The following model iPads ARE impacted:

• iPad Gen 7 (released Sep 2019)

If you have an iPad model that is listed above as impacted you should NOT upgrade to iPadOS 18.1.

If you have an iPad model that is not listed at all, you should assume it may be impacted and you also should NOT upgrade to iPadOS 18.1.

‍

Further Recommendations

In light of Apple introducing serious bugs such as this you should also consider:

• Disabling automatic software updates in iPadOS Settings under General / Software Update.
• Performing regular iCloud backups of your iPads. This will enable you to downgrade to a stable version of iPadOS if you ever need to in the future.

‍

Workarounds

If you have already upgraded an iPad to iPadOS 18.1 and you are experiencing issues with facial recognition or QR code reading, your options are as follows:

• Upgrade to iPadOS 18.2. If you are using QR codes only and do not use facial recognition, you can resolve the issue by upgrading to iPadOS 18.2.
• Use Alternative Identification Methods. You can reconfigure NoahFace to use alternative forms of identification such as Passcodes and Employee Numbers.
• Restore your iPad From a Backup. If you have an iCloud backup of your iPad running an earlier iPadOS version, you can restore the iPad to its previous state.‍
• Purchase a new iPad. Recent model iPads are not impacted by this bug.‍
• Use NoahFace Face Detection. There are two face detection algorithms in the NoahFace App - one that relies on internal NoahFace code (which works) and one that relies on Apple iPadOS code (which does not work).

The last workaround, which is explained in detail below, will only work for facial recognition (not for QR codes).

Use NoahFace Face Detection

There are two face detection algorithms in the NoahFace App - one that relies on internal NoahFace code (which works) and one that relies on Apple iPadOS code (which does not work). By slightly adjusting your camera zoom setting, you can force the NoahFace App to use its internal facial detection code (which works). To do this, in the NoahFace App under Settings / Camera, move the slider slightly above its lowest setting as follows:

‍

If you are running version 24.45 or later of the NoahFace App, you can adjust the zoom from the NoahFace Dashboard by entering a zoom value between 1.0 and 2.0 in your Access Point Type settings. For example:

‍

The primary downside of this workaround is that your iPad will consume a lot more power when the zoom setting is not at its lowest setting. This means it is critically important that you have a high power charger and that you initially monitor your iPad to ensure it is remaining sufficiently charged.

‍