Apple may be planning a Hotel app for the iPhone that would compete with apps such as Mobile Passport. The company has filed for a patent (number 20200302345) for “systems and methods for accessing hotel services using a portable electronic device.”
In the patent filing, Apple notes that as travelers stay in hotels or locations other than their homes, many interactions between the travelers and the hotels can take place. All of these interactions can require distinct actions from the user from different devices or elements. However, the lack of centralization of interactions with the hotel and with the available hotel services can require more effort from the user wishing to take advantage of hotel services, and perhaps even dissuade the user from using available hotel services.
Apple’s idea: using a single app, a user could access and control hotel services before arriving at the hotel, upon arriving at the hotel, in the hotel room, in the local vicinity, and after leaving the hotel. Such services can include, for example, checking-in and checking out, purchasing in-room dining or in-room entertainment, making reservations at local restaurants or local attractions, scheduling hotel guest reminders, and controlling the room setting either within the room or outside of the room.
