Sunday, November 4, 2012

Apple Granted Patent Rights for Original iOS Maps App GUI | iPhone ...

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office grated Apple a patent for their graphical user interface that is in all iOS Maps app since 2008 this Tuesday.

Apple?s U.S. Patent No 8,302,033 for a ?Touch screen device, method, and graphical user interface for providing maps, directions, and location-based information,? describes the foundation UI for their Maps app that continues to be used in iOS 6. It first debuted in the second-generation iPhone and was first filed with the patent office one month before the iPhone 3G was released in 2008. Back then the plan was the leverage the iPhone?s mutlitouch display, GPS receiver and wireless communication assets to improve upon then-current GPS systems.

From the patent?s background:

Some portable communication devices (e.g., mobile telephones, sometimes called mobile phones, cell phones, cellular telephones, and the like) have resorted to adding more pushbuttons, increasing the density of push buttons, overloading the functions of pushbuttons, or using complex menu systems to allow a user to access, store and manipulate data.

They also wanted to get rid of ?time consuming requirement to memorize multiple key sequences and menu hierarchies? that the existing market was using at the time. In essence it describes the modern states of map apps of using the image of the map itself to input destinations and instructions.

Another function described in the patent was bookmarking, so a user could have access to constantly used destinations. Zooming in and out is described as being done with a pinching motion and a hidden options menu that could be accessed from a button in the lower fight hand corner that would roll up the map.

There?s more, but its basically what you are using right now on your iPhone minus some upgrades that were added in the meantime.

Source: http://www.iphoneinformer.com/4934-apple-granted-patent-rights-for-original-ios-maps-app-gui/

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