Apple patent is for an ‘user interface for camera effects’

Apple has been granted a patent (number 20180146132) for “user interface for camera effects,” which exemplifies the company’s ongoing efforts to make the cameras in its iPhones and iPads even better.

In the patent filing, Apple says that some techniques for managing camera effects with electronic devices are generally “cumbersome and inefficient.” For example, modifying the visual effects in viewfinders such that captured images and recorded videos exhibit the visual effects often requires extensive user input and is imprecise. 

Another example: some existing techniques use a “complex and time-consuming” user interface, which may include multiple key presses or keystrokes. Apple says that existing techniques require more time than necessary so “faster, more efficient methods and interfaces for managing camera effects” are needed.

Here’s Apple’s summary of the invention: “In some examples, the electronic device transitions between user interfaces for capturing photos based on data received from a first camera and a second camera. In some examples, the electronic device provides enhanced zooming capabilities that result in visual pleasing results for a displayed digital viewfinder and for captured videos.

“In some examples, the electronic device provides user interfaces for transitioning a digital viewfinder between a first camera with an applied digital zoom to a second camera with no digital zoom. In some examples, the electronic device prepares to capture media at various magnification levels. In some examples, the electronic device enhanced capabilities for navigating through a plurality of values.”

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