Apple granted patent for ‘Dynamic User Interface Schemes For An Electronic Device Based On Detected Accessory Devices’

Apple has been granted a patent for “Dynamic User Interface Schemes For An Electronic Device Based On Detected Accessory Devices.”

About the patent

The patent involves electronic devices and accessories that use near-field wireless communication systems to dynamically alter the operation of the electronic devices. In other words, it involves how Apple devices detect and react to peripherals.

The patent points out that handheld electronic devices such as iPhones and iPads provide numerous functions and features, and use graphical user interfaces to allow users to interact with and control those functions and features. For example, handheld electronic devices display input objects such as icons, buttons, keys, and other graphical objects with which a user may interact to control the devices and their various functions. 

The devices may also display output objects, such as text or images, that convey information to the user. Apple wants its devices to offer specific info based on what peripheral or accessory is attached.

Summary of the patent

Here’s Apple’s abstract of the patent: “A method includes, at a computer system with a display, a housing, and an attachment mechanism, detecting attachment of an accessory to the computer system, where the accessory, while attached, has a predetermined orientation relative to the attachment mechanism, and in response to detecting the attachment of the accessory to the computer system in accordance with a determination that the accessory is a first accessory with first physical dimensions, displaying, on the display, a first visual indication that the accessory has been attached to the computer system, wherein the first visual indication indicates at least one property of the first physical dimensions, and in accordance with a determination that the accessory is a second accessory with second physical dimensions that are different from the first physical dimensions, displaying, on the display a second visual indication that the accessory has been attached to the computer system, wherein the second visual indication indicates at least one property of the second physical dimensions and the second visual indication is different from the first visual indication.”