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ApplePatent applicationPhones & computersInterest 6/10

Apple patents stylus feedback that changes based on how you hold it

Patent drawing
Patent drawing from the official filing.

Apple describes a system where a digital stylus sends data to a screen to show a visual preview of its position and angle. The display updates this preview in real-time as the user rotates the stylus, helping them see exactly how the tool is oriented relative to the surface.

Why it mattersThis could make drawing and writing on tablets feel more natural by giving users immediate visual cues about their hand position and tool angle.

In the filing’s own words

Some embodiments are directed to providing feedback about the pose and/or orientation of an input device relative to a surface, such as feedback about a change in an orientation of the input device relative to the surface due to rotational movement of the input device about a first axis associated with the input device, while the pose of the input device relative to the surface is maintained during the change in orientation of the input device relative to the surface. Some embodiments are directed to providing feedback about whether the orientation of the selected drawing implement for an input device is permitted to change or not in response to changes in the orientation of the input device. Some embodiments are directed to providing feedback corresponding to a setting or resetting of an orientation of the selected drawing implement for the input device in response to detection of an event.

What exactly they claim (claim 1)

1. A method comprising: at an electronic device in communication with a display generation component, one or more sensors, and an input device: displaying, via the display generation component, a user interface that includes a preview mark associated with the input device, wherein the preview mark has a first visual appearance in the user interface based on a first pose of the input device relative to a surface and based on a first orientation of the input device about a first axis associated with the input device; while displaying, via the display generation component, the user interface including the preview mark associated with the input device having the first visual appearance, and while the input device has the first pose relative to the surface, detecting, via the one or more sensors, rotational movement of the input device about the first axis associated with the input device, the rotational movement of the input device corresponding to a change in orientation of the input device about the first axis associated with the input device from the first orientation to a second orientation, different from the first orientation; and in response to detecting the rotational movement of the input device about the first axis associated with the input device, updating display, via the display generation component, of the user interface to include: the preview mark associated with the input device having a second visual appearance, different from the first visual appearance, based on the first pose of the input device and based on the second orientation of the input device about the first axis associated with the input device.

Facts

Company
Apple (Apple Inc.)
Official title
INTERACTIONS BETWEEN AN INPUT DEVICE AND AN ELECTRONIC DEVICE
Publication number
US20260329428A1
Application number
19730517
Filed
Jul 2, 2026
Published
Oct 22, 2026
Inventors
4
Claims
24

Classified under

G06F 3/0488 Physics & computingG06F 3/04815 Physics & computingG06T 11/20 Physics & computingG06T 2200/24 Physics & computing
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.