I can't really identify people by their footsteps.

I can identify people I know well by their voices, but I can't identify people in circumstances where I would not normally encounter them; for example, I would not identify a coworker if they called out to me on a weekend as I walking on a street, and they would need to say, "It's [their name]."

Mostly sound. Maybe aura a little bit for people who are extremely close to me, such as my wife and my parents.

That being said, recognizing family members inside the house isn't hard. For a blind person like me, that's the easiest thing in the world. Not only is the circle of possible individuals very limited but you also won't be surprised if you meet any of them. For example if you go to the bathroom and you see your dad or your sister in the hallway, it's probably something that can be expected.

What is extremely challenging is recognizing A) people you barely know B) in public places C) where you least expect it.

I'll give you an example. I once met a guy from uni in another country. We happened to visit the same tourist spot at the same time and so he saw me and called out my name. Now, this would already be super tough if it was your best friend but I hardly even knew this dude. We attended one seminar together. That's 14 weeks of class. The seminar had ended just 2 months earlier and so he was probably still able to remember my face. I, on the other hand, really struggled to remember his voice. I knew that I knew him from somewhere but... oh God... where???

These moments can sometimes be incredibly awkward. I remember walking through my city and seemingly random strangers excitedly shouting my name and walking to me. What do you answer in such a situation? "Uhhh hello...?" It feels super uncomfortable to be recognized by other people but not recognizing them. I suppose this is the kind of feeling that famous stars must get when they walk on the street and someone yells: "omg hey Tom Hanks!" and Tom Hanks is like "uhhh hello? I guess? Whoever you may be..."

This is why the right technique for sighted people to handle such a situation would be to greet the other person AND introduce themselves. So, you would for instance say: "Hi Bob! It's Hannah from your Thursday biology class!" But almost nobody does this unfortunately. I've had maybe 2 sighted people who mindful enough to do this. Most just don't even think about the fact that it could be a problem for the blind person. And so I have to live with the fact that oftentimes I simply don't recognize people. On the upside, I have gotten much more relaxed about it over time though. As a blind person you get into countless embarrassing, awkward or silly situations every day and so you learn to just laugh about them afterwards.

Their footsteps, their breathing if it is distinct enough, their keys if they keep them out on a belt or something, their voice if I know them well, either their natural scent or perfume/cologne if they use the same one consistently.

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I do fail at this though. Eventually, if I stop seeing someone often, their voice will not register with me and I might forget them and they talk to me like they know that I know who they are and I kind of have to play along. I was at a funeral recently where I had to do this a lot. This is common for me at big social gatherings like parties, etc. It's embarrassing for me because I know that I should know them and I wish I could do better with it.

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Also, it's sometimes possible to know who's arriving at my house based on their car. If their car is too new, I can't often do this, but if it's older, and has collected some unique sounds, I can almost certainly tell who it is that way.

Mainly its voice. I think the whole "feel your face" thing is an urban myth and load of trash, that one blind person made up and spread to a few of their friends.

I am sure there's probably a better different method than the one I use but I have to get people to introduce themselves to me like ten separate times before I can get everyone's voice.

by voice, perfume, by their hands if I talk to them in sign language.

I’m not fully blind but my vision isn’t good at all
So anyways, my friends would just call out to me or in high school I could tell who someone was by their bag lol.

Without them actively talking its mostly body language and height. I can see well enough to make out someones gate or stance and everyone is different. When I worked everyone had badges and keys so I knew everyone by their key/footstep sounds.

I’m incredibly good at voices, and just thot that was normal. I can’t see faces, but body shape works quite well. I try to memorize the color someone is wearing when we go out.

I have one working eye so people are often out of my view or focus. Apart from well just seeing and recognizing, I recognize pretty much everyone I see quite often by voice. Just something like "hello" is generally enough for me. Also coughing sounds give me a clue (but not totally reliable).

Some people I also recognize by their footsteps, but that's usually when someone has a very unique way of walking.