Apple may be considering its own line of home security cameras

Apple may be considering making its own line of home security cameras. The company has been granted a patent (US 11937021 B2) for “Camera And Visitor User Interfaces.”

About the patent

The patent relates generally to computer user interfaces, and more specifically to techniques for managing camera views and visitors. As Apple notes in the patent, cameras installed inside or outside of a home enable residents of the home to view events that occur, or have occurred, at entry points to the home. The cameras record video or take images of the entry points, which residents can view from various electronic devices.

However, Apple says that some techniques for managing camera views and visitors using electronic devices, “are generally cumbersome and inefficient.” For example, residents may want to be notified of events captured by cameras, visitors at entry points, or other notable events. 

For another example, some existing techniques for managing camera views or notifications use a complex and time-consuming user interfaces, which may include multiple key presses or keystrokes. As another example, some existing techniques do not enable users to switch between different camera views while maintaining the ability to control other accessories. 

Apple says that other existing techniques don’t provide users with an ability to obtain information related to recent visitors in images captured by the camera, where the information is different for visitors known to the home and visitors unknown to the home. 

What’s more, other existing techniques don’t provide notifications of suggestions based on an event corresponding to a media stream that is available for display. Apple’s patent involves techniques that provide electronic devices “with faster, more efficient methods and interfaces for managing camera views and visitors.”

Summary of the patent

Here’s Apple’s abstract of the patent: “The present disclosure generally relates to camera and visitor user interfaces. In some examples, the present disclosure relates to techniques for switching between configurations of a camera view. In some examples, the present disclosure relates to displaying indications of visitors detected by an accessory device of the home automation system. In some examples, the present disclosure relates to displaying a multi-view camera user interface.”