Unlocking Your Phone By Tapping Anywhere You Like, Apple's New Patent Shows

Apple has patented another idea for under-display Touch ID. This will bring the company one step closer to an iPhone without a notch or bezel. Besides, with the new normal routine due to the COVID-19 pandemic, everybody now wears a mask and Face ID isn’t as effective as before.

The newly published patent, which was first spotted by Patently Apple, illustrates a larger sensor that allows for fingerprint recognition over much of the display. This means you wouldn’t have to place your finger on a specific spot to unlock the screen. Not just that, this feature would make in-app authentication far more seamless than now.

The patent writes:

“Where a fingerprint sensor is integrated into an electronic device or host device, for example, as noted above, it may be desirable to more quickly perform authentication, particularly while performing another task or an application on the electronic device. In other words, in some instances it may be undesirable to have a user perform an authentication in a separate authentication step, for example switching between tasks to perform the authentication.”

For instance, to open a banking app, instead of having to tap on the app then moving your finger to a particular spot of the screen, your fingerprint could be translated as the tap on the app. The app would automatically unlock once it’s opened, just like when you use Face ID.

To be honest, a patent doesn’t mean Apple will actually work on this idea to bring it to the real world because it involves other changes to the phone when a larger sensor is used. But if it does come true, being able to unlock your phone by tapping anywhere you want will be a big leap.

Apple is close to announcing the iPhone 12 lineup, stay tuned and visit MobyGeek for the event.

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