The interactive experience is richer than the "solid state" button, and Apple has won the patent for iPhone non-display input area technology.
CTOnews.com January 16, Guo Mingyi said in a tweet as early as October last year that Apple is developing new "solid-state" volume and power buttons for the iPhone to replace existing physical / mechanical buttons. Apple won a better design patent than the "solid state" button on Thursday, according to an updated list of patents by the US Trademark and Patent Office (USPTO).
Apple showed off a technology patent called Intensity-Sensitive Off-Display Input Regions. Apple said in its patent that most electronic devices with screens currently use mechanical buttons, which provide a simple click experience and provide almost no feedback to users.
Instead of simply using "solid" buttons instead of mechanical buttons, Apple's patent sets non-display input areas (such as strength-sensitive side buttons or surfaces) on the side of the phone. to provide interface, tactile and / or audio feedback, which makes the user's operation of the user interface more efficient and intuitive.
The solid state instead of mechanical buttons only produces interactions such as vibration, both of which are relatively simple in terms of functional interaction. The solid-state buttons on the side of the fuselage also occupy the space of the screen frame of the device, reducing the available display area for visual information on portable electronic devices.
CTOnews.com learned that Apple also outlined in the patent how to improve the system's interface to provide users with more features. Such methods and interfaces can choose to complement or replace traditional methods to provide additional functional control and provide feedback when using buttons to interact with the device.
By helping the user understand the connection between the input provided and the response of the device to the input, such a method and interface can reduce the user's input errors, thereby creating a more effective man-machine interface and reducing the number and degree of input that the user needs.
