Apple patent reveals Peek Mode for Smart Cover

Home / News / Apple patent reveals Peek Mode for Smart Cover

Want to take a sneaky peek at your iPad screen? Apple has a patent for Peek Mode, a Smart Cover feature that’ll tease out your iPad’s display.

Peek Mode lets you get a glimpse of the iPad’s screen by partially lifting the cover – by using the magnets in the edge of the Smart Cover, it activates a small section of the iPad’s screen – so you can see part of the display while saving battery. The patent also proposes that the second flap section can be lifted to – using the front-facing camera sensor – light some more of the screen, which can activate whatever the user needs.

We love the idea of glancing at a small chunk of the screen to check out essential info – like the time, weather, and our news feeds. Or perhaps your latest email could be shown on a larger section upon opening two sections of the Smart Cover.

The bad news? This patent has been gathering dust in a Cupertino vault. So, Apple – any chance you could plan ahead of the iPhone 5 launch and unveil Peek Mode at the iPad Mini event in October?

UPDATE: Read our iPhone 5 review

[Via AppleInsider]

You may also like

13.3in MacBook Retina Pro coming with iPhone 5?

iPhone 5 will be 4G, says EE*

EE to launch 4G in 16 cities by Christmas

About

Dan is Editor-in-chief of Stuff, working across the magazine and the Stuff.tv website. Our Editor-in-Chief is a regular at tech shows such as CES in Las Vegas, IFA in Berlin and Mobile World Congress in Barcelona as well as at other launches and events. He has been a CES Innovation Awards judge. Dan is completely platform agnostic and very at home using and writing about Windows, macOS, Android and iOS/iPadOS plus lots and lots of gadgets including audio and smart home gear, laptops and smartphones. He's also been interviewed and quoted in a wide variety of places including The Sun, BBC World Service, BBC News Online, BBC Radio 5Live, BBC Radio 4, Sky News Radio and BBC Local Radio.