Apple patent involves an operational safety mode for an automobile

Let the Apple Car rumors roll on. Apple has filed for a patent (number 20190356614) for operational safety mode that manages the output of notifications at an electronic device when a user of the device is operating a vehicle. It would seem to involve the current and future iterations of the “Do Not Disturb” feature of the iPhone.

Electronic devices can receive information, including, merely by way of example, communications from other users’ electronic devices and/or applications. Such electronic devices can output notifications indicating the arrival of information. However, Apple says that some operational modes involving the output of notifications using electronic devices, however, are generally cumbersome and inefficient. For example, some existing techniques use a complex and time-consuming user interface, which may include multiple key presses or keystrokes. Existing techniques require more time than necessary, wasting user time and device energy. This latter consideration is particularly important in battery-operated devices. 

Apple is looking to provide electronic devices with faster, more efficient methods and interfaces for managing the output of notifications. Such methods and interfaces optionally complement or replace other methods for managing the output of notifications. The company adds that its methods and interfaces “reduce the cognitive burden on a user and produce a more efficient human-machine interface.”

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.