iPhone: Apple is working on a touchscreen that can be used even when wet

If you’ve ever tried using a capacitive touchscreen in a humid environment or with wet hands, you know that its behavior is very complex in these conditions. Either the screen doesn’t catch your finger when you want it, or it records imaginary interactions with what consequences this might have on the interface (especially with untimely switching on and off).

Activate a swim program on a connected watch? Impossible. Answer a call after cleaning a smartphone? Impossible. Texting in the rain? Very complicated. Still, these are not delusional uses. These are pretty common situations. But the nature of today’s touchscreens prevents us from taking advantage of them. Fortunately, Apple may have a solution.

Apple files patent for screen that stays handy when wet

The USPTO, the American agency responsible for intellectual protection, approved a patent on June 28, 2022, which the Cupertino company filed for in March 2021. It’s called “changing the operation of an electronic product during exposure to moisture.” In the statement, Apple explains how a capacitive or pressure-sensing display can change its operating mode when covered with water.

The firm even goes a little further by integrating it. humidity sensor will be able to measure the amount of water on the touch surface. Thanks to this detector, the screen will be able to change the way it perceives the interaction with the user. The document contains the drawing you can find opposite. The drawing represents an iPhone held by a user shooting a scene at sea. On the iPhone’s screen you can read ” Wet Mode (Wet mode) on the interface.

It is not yet clear whether this project will actually be successful and which electronic devices will benefit from it. The iPhone clearly appears to be on the list. But so should the Apple Watch. Note that all iPhones since the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus have been certified IP67 or higher. Sealing was achieved by removing the mechanical Touch ID button on the front, which then became a pressure sensor touchpad.

Here’s why water is driving our touchscreens a little crazy

Why is water driving our touchscreens crazy? because water both electrically conductive and resistive (i.e. the inverse of conductivity). Let’s first recall how a capacitive screen works. naturally a mild electric current on the skin surface. When you touch a capacitive screen, it will take this current and position your finger on its surface. And this system can very precisely place several fingers at the same time.

Water can conduct electricity. But it does this less well than other elements. We then say that it is conductive but also resistive. The conductivity of water depends on its constituent elements: the more minerals dissolved in it, the more electricity it conducts. This means that the behavior of the wet screen can also depend on the quality of the water. This makes it difficult to control everything.

Source : USPTO