LocalAuthentication.hasHardwareAsync() returns false on iPhone 13 Pro if FaceID permission was canceled

[dziter]

Minimal reproducible example

https://github.com/dziter/expo-local-auth/tree/feat/expo-local-authentication

What platform(s) does this occur on?

iOS

Did you reproduce this issue in a development build?

No (only happens in a standalone build)

Summary

To reproduce:

On the minimal reproducible example, on iOS with a device supporting FaceID/TouchID, please do:

1 - Click on 'Check Hardware'
2 - Click on 'Check Enrollment'
3 - Click on 'Authenticate'
4 - Click on 'Cancel' when the iOS permission for FaceID/TouchID is shown
5 - Click on 'Check Hardware' // await LocalAuthentication.hasHardwareAsync() returns false

Expected:
await LocalAuthentication.hasHardwareAsync(); should return true (independently of the permission choice made by the user for authenticateAsync on step 4).

If it can help, I think the library works as expected when the FaceID/TouchID permission is not shown but instead the passcode, meaning when this permission is not in the Info.plist:
<key>NSFaceIDUsageDescription</key>

---

More details for our production use case:
1 - Check if the user device supports biometry:
await LocalAuthentication.hasHardwareAsync() && await LocalAuthentication.isEnrolledAsync()

2 - The user requests to enable biometry:
await LocalAuthentication.authenticateAsync();

3 - The user clicks on Cancel when the iOS permission is shown
const result = await LocalAuthentication.authenticateAsync(); console.log(result); //will be: {"error": "not_available", "success": false, "warning": null}

4 - We want to show a switch 'Enable Biometry' when the user did not enable biometry but the device has the hardware capability/
Issue: await LocalAuthentication.hasHardwareAsync(); returns false

Environment

expo-env-info 1.2.0 environment info:
System:
OS: macOS 14.4.1
Shell: 5.9 - /bin/zsh
Binaries:
Node: 21.6.2 - ~/.nvm/versions/node/v21.6.2/bin/node
Yarn: 4.2.2 - ~/.yarn/bin/yarn
npm: 10.2.4 - ~/.nvm/versions/node/v21.6.2/bin/npm
Watchman: 2023.09.25.00 - /opt/homebrew/bin/watchman
Managers:
CocoaPods: 1.15.2 - /usr/local/bin/pod
SDKs:
iOS SDK:
Platforms: DriverKit 23.4, iOS 17.4, macOS 14.4, tvOS 17.4, visionOS 1.1, watchOS 10.4
Android SDK:
API Levels: 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34
Build Tools: 29.0.2, 29.0.3, 30.0.2, 30.0.3, 31.0.0, 32.0.0, 33.0.0, 33.0.0, 33.0.1, 34.0.0, 35.0.0
System Images: android-32 | Google APIs ARM 64 v8a, android-32 | Google Play ARM 64 v8a, android-32 | Google Play Intel x86 Atom_64
Android NDK: 22.1.7171670
IDEs:
Android Studio: 2022.3 AI-223.8836.35.2231.11005911
Xcode: 15.3/15E204a - /usr/bin/xcodebuild
npmPackages:
expo: ^51.0.0 => 51.0.5
react: 18.2.0 => 18.2.0
react-native: 0.74.1 => 0.74.1
Expo Workflow: bare

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