You shouldn’t have to touch devices or tap on apps to control them, says a new Apple patent, you should be able to just wave your iPhone and let it figure out what you want.
Detail from the patent showing an iPhone (or “wireless communications device”) controlling other devices — image credit: Apple
Sometimes you can see a clear connection between different Apple patents, and this may be one of them. For Apple was recently granted a patent for what appears to be a remote control for the expected Home Hub — and now it’s gone further.
In a newly-granted patent called “Controlling Electronic Devices Based On Wireless Ranging,” Apple expands its idea to remotely controlling anything from real-life physical devices, to virtual ones. Right now you can control a TV set from your iPhone or unlock a car, but this new patent wants one device that controls everything, and figures out for itself what you want.