Biometric authentication methods like Touch ID and Face ID come standard on most modern iPhones, and a new free jailbreak tweak called BioLockout by iOS developer ARX8x lets you take full control over when they can be used.
BioLockout takes advantage of Activator, so you can easily configure a gesture that toggles biometric authentication on or off on demand. You can set it up in the Settings app after installation:
Once configured, invoking the gesture renders your device’s Touch ID or Face ID authentication useless for the time being. You can try unlocking your device biometrically afterward, but it will fail every single time.
You can easily disable BioLockout’s influence over your device’s biometric authentication capabilities by unlocking it with the traditional passcode. After you do, you can start using Touch ID or Face ID to unlock your device every time after that.
Notably, BioLockout works with more than just the Lock screen; you can also use it to prevent Touch ID or Face ID authentication in apps that generally request it for login (such as banking apps). Likewise, it’ll prevent biometric-based logins after that until you enter your passcode at least once first.
BioLockout has limited uses in the real world, but it works as advertised and may help you evade biometric authentication spoofing and boost your device’s security in specific scenarios – such as when someone tries to scan your fingerprint while you sleep.
If you’d like to give BioLockout a try, then you can download it for free from Cydia’s BigBoss repository. The tweak works on all jailbroken iOS 10 devices and requires Activator to work correctly.
How would you use BioLockout on your device? Let us know in the comments section below.
