There was a time when Apple pioneered the potential of haptic feedback on its devices, with 3D Touch on the iPhone and Force Touch on the Apple Watch, but all of that has been abandoned on modern devices. However, a patent suggests that a similar new feature could find its way to futures like the iPhone 14. An Apple patent titled "Peripherals, Methods, and Graphical User Interfaces for Providing Haptic Feedback" was released on August 26 and discovered by Apple. Insider, and discusses ways to make haptic feedback more useful. By haptic feedback we mean the vibrations you receive on the screen during certain interactions, and this patent details possible modifications that can make interactions easier or more intuitive.
(Image credit: Apple / Apple Insider) The patent focuses on ways to make it clear to the user when some sort of touchscreen action has been performed, such as dragging one app over another to create a folder. A haptic feedback could be used to clearly indicate when a case has been created. Another example given is using haptic feedback when adjusting on-screen volume controls, so perhaps by the intensity of the vibration you can tell how much you adjusted it, or there could be a separate haptic feedback for each volume level you happens . It doesn't seem like this system necessarily responds to different levels of pressure like 3D Touch did, but it does provide a similar emphasis on haptics to improve on-screen interactions. The patent also concerns phones and tablets, as well as other non-specific devices, so we could see this in many Apple products in the future. That being said, we don't count on that, patents are not always used.
(Image credit: Avenir)
Analysis: Better haptics could also help accessibility and gameplay
While the examples given in the patent seem to be useful for any Apple user, we were able to see how some of these haptic feedbacks can be especially useful for anyone who may be visually impaired, with the vibrations filling in the gaps where their sight is, they lack. The improved haptics could also be a big help for gaming. One of the main benefits of console gaming is the vibration that a controller provides. We could envision the haptics of the future doing even something similar to the vibration of the PS5's haptic controller, which can, for example, do a surprisingly good job of mimicking the sensation of walking on sand or being tossed around by the wind, all through vibrations. smart. . As with the grunt of the controllers, we doubt a touchscreen implementation would be as intense or equal, but it could be much better than nothing.