Apple gets new patent for multi-touch swipe gestures

Apple Inc. has obtained a patent that could let users interact with computing devices using swipe gestures on touchscreen keyboards.

 

US Patent 8,542,206 allow a user to enter text and other commands using a virtual keyboard to use swipes instead of tapping particular keys.

 

"For example, leftward, rightward, upward, and downward swipes can be assigned to inserting a space, backspacing, shifting (as for typing capital letters), and inserting a carriage return and/or new line. Various other mappings are also described," it said. 

 

Enthusiast site AppleInsider said the new patent could appear in a future version of iOS, the operating system for iPhones, iPads and iPod touches that use virtual keyboards.

 

The iOS platform relies on touch gestures to navigate its user interface, such as swiping and pinch-to-zoom.

 

"While the keyboard seen in iOS 7 has gone through some design tweaks, the backend has remained largely unchanged from its original incarnation. Apple's current solution is intuitive, with dynamically scaling hit zones, intelligent autocorrect, and a number of other usability features, but some may argue the existing implementation fails to take full advantage of the latest hardware's capabilities," it said.

 

AppleInsider also said it is not clear at this time if Apple will include the technology in a future version of iOS. — KDM, GMA News