From daringfireball.net:

I havenโ€™t seen this issue, but I sympathize with those of you whoโ€™ve been hit by it. โ€œUnlock With Apple Watchโ€ almost completely mitigates the annoyance of using an iPhone with Face ID while wearing a mask.

I realize Grubes isn't quite committing the sin of assuming Apple lock-in, but it's close. "Hey, your iPhone works great with your watch!" is verrrrry close to, "Your iPhone doesn't work as intended without one, so of course you have one."

And, let's be clear, the iPhone assemblage expects a watch at this point.

I recall reading a review for the original AirPods by someone who didn't have a watch. She complained that it was too difficult to control volume with the AirPods she was reviewing, and she was 100% right.

The volume button on the AirPods is on your watch. It's the "digital crown". If you don't have a watch, you can't adequately control volume; a crucial part of your Apple AirPods is missing. It can even be a Series 2 watch like mine. Works perfectly. Not only sound, which is slick, but the pause, fast-forward, and rewind are also all there on the watch interface waiting on you.

You could argue that she should have been aware of how the watch would complete the AirPods, Jerry McGuire style, but the review was absolutely spot on saying the AirPods' design stinks out of the box.

Ostensibly, Siri would solve all your extra control problems, and the always-on "Hey Siri" of AirPods Pro and AirPods v2+ likely helps mitigate this a bit. Currently, though it's an adequate solution in theory, it's a huge fail in practice. I map my AirPods' double-tap away from Siri and to forward (left ear) and back (right) to get back some measure of control. Removing one pauses, of course.

(That said, when we finally figure out how to integrate Siri culturally and socially, it's going to be amazing. I think I've mentioned how once, in a crowed and extremely loud Apple Store, I was able to nearly whisper a text reply into my watch and have the perfectly transcribed text sent without so much as removing my phone from my pocket. That's how Siri should work, and, at some point, I bet it does -- a nearly subvocal interface that allows rich interactions.)

If you're wearing a watch, AirPods work great -- better than reaching for some dumb volume wart on a wire hanging down from your ears.

But if you're not, AirPods are a bad idea. You're almost precisely up the proverbial Sonic Creek without a paddle.

And, apparently, you're stuck up Face ID Creek too.

To be clear, this Face ID pain is not something I've felt since I quickly gave away my XR. I still prefer a phone with Touch ID so I don't have to have a clear line of sight to my full visage to use my phone. I've been on the SE train for a while now -- and am currently, unexpectedly, using an SE v1 again. What a beautifully sized phone. And I'm now the iPad mini train again too, a perfect balance of easy to carry away from the house (iPhone SE1) and maximized interactions when I'm at home and pockets no longer matter (iPad mini 6). Both are sooooo much nicer with Touch ID. No watch required.

I do, however, love using my AirPods. I've even PodSwapped them and feel good about that so far.

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