Apple has been granted a patent (number US 11875021 B2) for an “Underwater User Interface” for an iPhone, but has filed for a second. Hey, haven’t we all wanted to use our smartphones underwater?
The patent relates generally to computer user interfaces, and more specifically to techniques for accessing underwater user interfaces and for operating an electronic device while the electronic device is under water. In the patent Apple says that, as electronic devices are manufactured to be water resistant or water proof, some users are using their electronic devices while engaging in water based activities or other activities that cause their electronic devices to come in contact with water or other liquids.
Users will, in some circumstances, operate their electronic devices while the electronic devices are wet. However, Apple says that current methods for displaying user interfaces while an electronic device is under water are “outdated, time consuming, and inefficient.”
Apple’s patent involves techniques that provide “electronic devices with faster, more efficient methods for accessing underwater user interfaces and interfaces for interacting with an electronic device while the electronic device is under water.”
