Future Apple devices could share data when pointed at each other

Future Apple devices may share data when pointed at each other. The tech giant has been granted a patent (number 11,159,932) for “electronic devices with intuitive sharing capabilities.”

About the patent

In the patent, Apple says that sharing information wirelessly with nearby electronic devices can be “cumbersome.” The user may have to take several steps to share information with another device. Also, the user may not know when the device of another user is sufficiently close to establish a short-range wireless communications link.

Apple adds that there may be multiple devices within range, making it challenging to safely and easily establish a communications link with the desired device. For example, when a user is in a public environment with a large number of unfamiliar devices, the user may have difficulty finding and selecting the desired device with which he or she desires to communicate wirelessly. 

Apple’s invention involves iPhones, iPads, and other devices that would, pointed at each other, “see” the other device, and present the option to share info.

Summary of the patent

Here’s Apple’s abstract of the patent: “An electronic device may use information about the location of nearby devices to make sharing with those devices more intuitive for a user. When two devices are pointed towards one another, each device may automatically present the option to share information with the other device. 

“When a user wishes to share information with one or more devices in a group of users, an array of icons representing the nearby users may be positioned on the display according to the locations of the nearby users so that the sharing user can easily select which user he or she wishes to share with. A sharing user may broadcast a signal and nearby users may elect to receive the signal by pointing their devices towards the sharing user. A user of two devices may share information between the two devices and may use one device to manipulate the information on the other device.”