Apple started providing certified water-resistance only since the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus models. Since then, the Cupertino-based tech giant has kept the standard water-resistant rating on its phones. Now, submission of a new patent hints that the iPhone-makers are planning to manufacture an iPhone that can not only survive underwater but will also be usable.
Apple devices have had a pretty good water-resistance in the past. Just recently, we saw an iPhone 11 completely working after being submerged underwater for two whole months. This proves that Apple does not take water-resistance for their devices too lightly.
Now, a new patent registered under the name – “Underwater User Interface” (Patent No. 20200104021), in the US Patent & Trademark Office hints that the company is planning to make a new UI for the upcoming iPhones or any other new device that will be usable underwater.
The patent claims that there is a humongous difference between using a device on land and using a device underwater. To use a device underwater, a new user interface (UI) is necessary, that will involve less key presses and keystrokes for carrying out in-device operations.
“Current methods for displaying user interfaces while an electronic device is underwater are outdated, time-consuming, and inefficient.”, explains the patent.
The patent aims to introduce a new UI that will make using an electronic device underwater much easier by providing efficient methods and interfaces for accessing touch displays. According to the patent, this UI will also lessen the burden on the minds of users while swimming underwater.
So, Apple simply wants to make a whole new user interface (UI) for devices that are to be used underwater. So, if Apple somehow implements this in any future iPhones, when the user takes that iPhone underwater, the whole UI will change and become much simpler. It will be able to show simpler controls, remove extra steps and even take account of the difference that the water makes to touch detection.
As is usual with information gleaned from patent filings, there is no guarantee that Apple is going to launch any such product in the near future, or that it’s even working on one. So take this information with a pinch of salt.
