Apple patents system that builds app screens from simple instructions
Apple has been granted a patent for a software framework that creates user interfaces based on simple, declarative requests from an app. Instead of the app writing detailed code for every button or layout, it tells the framework what it needs, and the framework decides how to look and display it. This approach relies on the operating system to handle the visual details, reducing the amount of code developers need to write.
In the filing’s own words
Some techniques are described herein for rendering and causing display of a user interface according to a declarative request. In such techniques, a framework executing in a process of an application receives a declarative request from the application and, in response, determines a visual configuration of user-interface elements for a user interface and renders the user interface based on the visual configuration. In some examples, the framework allows the application to minimize the amount of code needed for the user interface and instead rely on a library and/or code provided by an operating system of a computer system to provide the code to create and manage the user interface.
What exactly they claim (claim 1)
1. A method, comprising: by a framework executing in a process of an application on an electronic device, wherein the electronic device includes a display, wherein the framework is separate from the application: receiving, from the application, a declarative request; in response to receiving the declarative request, determining, based on the declarative request: one or more user-interface elements; and a visual configuration of the one or more user-interface elements, wherein the visual configuration is not defined in the declarative request; based on the visual configuration, rendering a user interface including the one or more user-interface elements; and after rendering the user interface, causing the user interface to be displayed via the display.
Facts
- Company
- Apple (Apple Inc.)
- Official title
- Framework for creating user interfaces
- Patent number
- US12748606B2
- Application number
- 18380138
- Filed
- Oct 13, 2023
- Granted
- Sep 29, 2026
- Inventors
- 5
- Claims
- 36
Classified under
G06F 9/451 Physics & computingG06F 9/54 Physics & computingMore from Apple in AI & software
- Apple patents AI that acts on voicemails for you Oct 15, 2026
- Apple patents letting users teach custom hand gestures to their devices Oct 22, 2026
- Apple patents AI that acts on voicemails for you Sep 1, 2026
- Apple patents video tool that swaps focus between subjects after filming Oct 20, 2026
- Apple patents system that changes room ambience based on what you look at Sep 3, 2026
Summaries are simplified from the filing’s own abstract and first claim. A patent filing is not a product announcement.
Patent data and drawings: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). Nebula is not affiliated with or endorsed by the USPTO.