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ApplePatent applicationPhones & computersInterest 6/10

Apple patents camera controls that change based on button press strength

Apple describes a system where a single hardware button performs different camera tasks depending on how hard you press it. A light press triggers a depth-of-field effect, while a harder press takes a photo.

Why it mattersThis could make taking photos with advanced effects faster by removing the need to tap multiple on-screen buttons.

In the filing’s own words

User interfaces integrating one or more hardware buttons are described, including camera user interfaces that perform different media capture operations (e.g., different types of captures, synthetic depth-of-field operations, and/or changes to the camera user interface) in response to presses of different buttons and/or in response to different types of button presses, user interfaces that provide different responses to button presses inside and outside of a camera application, and user interfaces that provide different settings functions in response to different types of button presses.

What exactly they claim (claim 1)

1. A computer system configured to communicate with one or more display generation components, one or more cameras, and a set of hardware buttons including at least a first hardware button, comprising: one or more processors; and memory storing one or more programs configured to be executed by the one or more processors, the one or more programs including instructions for: while displaying, via the one or more display generation components, a camera application, detecting a press input at a location corresponding to the first hardware button; and in response to detecting the press input: in accordance with a determination that the press input at the location corresponding to the first hardware button is a press input of a first type, performing a synthetic depth-of-field operation in the camera application; and in accordance with a determination that the press input at the location corresponding to the first hardware button is a press input of a second type different from the first type, performing a first media capture operation in the camera application, wherein the press input at the location corresponding to the first hardware button of the second type applies more pressure to the location corresponding to the first hardware button than an amount of pressure that is applied to the location corresponding to the first hardware button by the press input of the first type.

Facts

Company
Apple (Apple Inc.)
Official title
USER INTERFACES INTEGRATING HARDWARE BUTTONS
Publication number
US20260270547A1
Application number
19666082
Filed
May 1, 2026
Published
Sep 10, 2026
Inventors
4
Claims
16

Classified under

H04N 23/62 Electricity & electronicsG06F 3/02 Physics & computingG06F 3/0482 Physics & computingG06F 3/04847 Physics & computingG06F 3/0488 Physics & computingH04N 23/632 Electricity & electronics
Read the full filing (official PDF) ↗ Open in the Patent Tracker

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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.