Apple files for patent for ‘switching between watches or other accessories’

Are you an owner of multiple Apple Watches? Apple wants you to be able to switch between them with ease when it comes to syncing with an iPhone (or iPhones). The company has filed for a patent (number 20170201612) for “switching between watches or other accessories.”

The patent is for systems, methods and “non-transitory” computer readable media for allowing a user to switch between watches that have been paired with a device such as a smartphone. In one embodiment, the watches automatically detect a removal of a first watch from a user’s wrist and an attachment of a second watch to the user’s wrist. 

Messages from the watches are transmitted to the device to allow the device to switch the active watch from the first watch to the second watch. The switch can occur while the device is in a locked state, and the device can synchronize the second watch with data received from the first watch. 

Of course, Apple files for — and is granted — lots of patents by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office. Many are for inventions that never see the light of day. However, you never can tell which ones will materialize in a real product.