From history: on this day Apple invented the Slide to unlock function

When Steve Jobs first demonstrated Slide to unlock, the audience sighed with delight. Credit: Jared Earle / Flickr CC

2December 23: Today in Apple history: Apple invents slide to unlock December 23: Today in Apple history: Apple invents slide to unlock On December 3, 2005 Apple filed a patent application for the iconic Slide to unlock gesture for iPhone.

slide-to-unlock-780 × 506 While iPhone is still a secret research project, the ability to unlock a device with a simple swipe symbolizes what Apple wants iPhone to represent: easy to use , intuitive and very technological – ahead of all competitors.

Slide to unlock summarizes philosophy iPhone

With all that iPhone can do, the claim that Slide to unlock was one of the most impressive features when using the device for the first time sounds somewhat odd. Throughout the 1990s and then 2000s, as mobile phones became ubiquitous, a surprising amount of time and money was invested in the design of unlocking solutions.

The titles of those patents looked something like this: “Apparatus and methods for preventing unintended operation of a manual input device”, and they all boiled down to one thing – the need to “stop the creepy dialer.”

The Oxford Dictionary defined the phenomenon as 'an unintentional call from a cell phone in the back pocket of your trousers, as a result of pressing one or more buttons on the device.'

From history: on this day Apple invented the Slide to unlock function

Great things start with simple sketches.
Photo: USPTO

Of course, iPhone did not have any buttons on the front side, except for 'Home', but accidentally pressing it was still quite possible.

Most other companies have found a way out by binding to unlock a specific keyboard shortcut that would not have happened to be typed by accident. However Apple was able to offer a much simpler, sleeker and more convenient solution.

Like other best GUI solutions, this slider mimics a real life situation – pushing back a bolt before opening a door. The behavior of the slider, in particular if you do not complete the gesture to the end, complements this sense of reality that is so much appreciated by designers Apple.

99 problems to which not belongs Slide to Unlock

With the release of the operating system version iOS 10 Apple finally sent the iconic Slide to unlock gesture to the digital dump. The days of the feature that dazzled the audience with the introduction of the first iPhone in 2007 were numbered when Apple introduced the Touch ID feature with the iPhone 5s in 2013. and then Face ID last year.

However, Slide to unlock still matters for Apple. Thus, the long-running confrontation between Samsung and Apple is characterized by clashes of interest around several key patents – including this one.

As recently as this year, while the feature is not relevant to today's devices, the patent was still being studied to answer the following questions:
a) whether Apple had the right to patent the technology first;
b) whether Samsung's actions constitute a patent infringement.

As a result, Apple won this dispute last month. The Supreme Court ruled that the company would receive $ 120 million, and Samsung's patent infringement appeals would no longer be accepted.

Which interface element from the first time iPhone became your favorite? Share with us in the comments.

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