Apple patent involves using your iPhone as a mobile key

Apple has been granted a patent (number US 11643048 B2) for “mobile key enrollment and use.” The goal is to make it easy to use your iPhone to unlock your car or house. 

About the patent

In the patent Apple notes that as electronic devices such as smartphones have become more widely used, their functions have grown beyond phone calls and text messaging. Providing an efficient method for using and implementing the various functions on these electronic devices can be complex and time-consuming.

One of those functions is the ability to be able to use your iPhone as a key to unlock your car or house. However, Apple says that some techniques for enrolling and using a mobile key 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. Apple wants to overcome such limitations when using the iPhone (or perhaps an Apple Watch) as a mobile key.

Summary of the patent

Here’s Apple’s abstract of the patent: “A computer system performs techniques related to enrolling and using a secure credential. In some embodiments, a computer system provides user interfaces for enrolling a secure credential on the computer system. In some embodiments, a computer system provides user interfaces for inviting a user account to use a secure credential.”