Apple offers a range of ways to unlock its devices from PINs to passwords and fingerprints. But you could soon use a selfie to gain access to your apps and messages thanks to Apple’s latest patent*.

    The filing details a system of scanning a user’s face with the front-facing camera when the handset is moved into a certain position, and automatically unlocking the device if the image matches one on file.

    Called “Locking and unlocking a mobile device using facial recognition,” the patent explains that current methods of unlocking a device are “inconvenient* and time-consuming*.”

    Apple, instead, provides a method for automatically unlocking a mobile device using a system comprising of “capturing an initial image while the device is locked, monitoring a motion state of the mobile device to determine whether the device is moving or is motionless; analyzing the images to detect a user’s face and unlocking the device.”

    Android Lollipop users already have an almost identical feature known as “Trusted face” in the Smart Lock menu. It is an extension of Face Unlock that launched on Android Ice Cream Sandwich.

    Once the screen is enabled and the camera is held in front of the face, the screen automatically unlocks. This relies on the user pressing the power button to enable the screen.

    By comparison, it appears that Apple’s proposed system would track the movement of the phone to determine whether it is being used, or is placed flat on a table.

    The screen wouldn’t need to be enabled.(SD-Agencies)