US 2,008,122,796 · Filed 2007-09-05

How Apple Patented the Swipe That Changed Mobile Forever

Before smartphones got really smart, they needed to understand what your finger was actually trying to do when you touched the screen. Apple figured out the math behind recognizing a swipe, a scroll, or a tap—and locked it down so competitors couldn't copy the exact same gesture recognition system.

Curated and verified by the IsItPatented Editorial team

The plain-English version

What it protects

The claim covers a method for detecting finger touches on a screen and using decision-making rules (heuristics) to figure out what command the user intended. Specifically, it protects the ability to recognize vertical scrolling gestures, two-dimensional panning (dragging things around), and the gesture for flipping between items in a list. Someone copying this exact approach to gesture recognition would be infringing on the patent's protected claims.

Why it matters

This patent represents one of the core technologies that made early touchscreen devices genuinely usable. The ability to reliably distinguish between a scroll, a swipe, and a pan was fundamental to user experience and became table-stakes for any device claiming to have an intelligent touch interface. Companies building competing smartphones had to either invent their own gesture-recognition systems or license this one.

Real-world use

Every time you swipe up to scroll through your Instagram feed or drag the map around on your phone's map app, you're benefiting from the kind of gesture-recognition logic this patent describes.

Original USPTO abstract

A computer-implemented method for use in conjunction with a computing device with a touch screen display comprises: detecting one or more finger contacts with the touch screen display, applying one or more heuristics to the one or more finger contacts to determine a command for the device, and processing the command. The one or more heuristics comprise: a heuristic for determining that the one or more finger contacts correspond to a one-dimensional vertical screen scrolling command, a heuristic for determining that the one or more finger contacts correspond to a two-dimensional screen translation command, and a heuristic for determining that the one or more finger contacts correspond to a command to transition from displaying a respective item in a set of items to displaying a next item in the set of items.

Patent details

Publication number: US 2,008,122,796
Filing date: 2007-09-05
Grant date: Application — not yet granted
Assignee: Jobs Steven P / Scott Forstall / Greg Christie / Lemay Stephen O / Scott Herz / Van Os Marcel / Bas Ording / Gregory Novick / Westerman Wayne C / Imran Chaudhri / Patrick Lee Coffman / Kenneth Kocienda / Ganatra Nitin K / Freddy Allen Anzures / Wyld Jeremy A / Jeffrey Bush / Michael Matas / Marcos Paul D / Pisula Charles J / Virgil Scott King / Chris Blumenberg / Francisco Ryan Tolmasky / Richard Williamson / Boule Andre M J / Lamiraux Henri C
Inventor(s): JOBS STEVEN P., FORSTALL SCOTT, CHRISTIE GREG, LEMAY STEPHEN O., HERZ SCOTT, VAN OS MARCEL, ORDING BAS, NOVICK GREGORY, WESTERMAN WAYNE C., CHAUDHRI IMRAN, COFFMAN PATRICK LEE, KOCIENDA KENNETH, GANATRA NITIN K., ANZURES FREDDY ALLEN, WYLD JEREMY A., BUSH JEFFREY, MATAS MICHAEL, MARCOS PAUL D., PISULA CHARLES J., KING VIRGIL SCOTT, BLUMENBERG CHRIS, TOLMASKY FRANCISCO RYAN, WILLIAMSON RICHARD, BOULE ANDRE M.J., LAMIRAUX HENRI C.
CPC class: G06F3/0488

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