As reported by TechCrunch today:
"Apple has a new patent, granted today by the USPTO, that details how wireless devices like iPhones and iPads might become context-specific remote input gadgets for use with creative desktop apps like Final Cut Pro, Logic, or even Photoshop. Using the tech described, your iPad could become a touch-screen video scrubber for editing movies, for example, and then easily switch to a color correction panel or audio mixer the next minute depending on your needs."
This sounds like one of the most appealing use-cases for iPad yet. It seems to me as though Apple saw what Rahul Dewan was doing with Duet Display and thought they could do even better.
Apple details how this might be used as well, which sounds like a much better user experience than has been seen in the past:
"In the patent, Apple describes how a user would be able to use their desktop software to set the type of remote that would appear on their device, and then describes how the app on your Mac would then receive commands based on what you do on the remote iPhone, iPad or other wireless device. Some examples include changing the interface for using a connected mobile device as a controller for real instrument audio recording, and then switching it to a MIDI-style virtual instrument input device."
This sounds like a great use-case for the many creators (and normal people who enjoy occasional dabbling like myself) that use Macs. There are many great MIDI-board applications already available for iPad, so it seems like an easy extension to have them control more “serious” Mac composition software. As Darrell from TechCrunch puts it “it’s definitely something that could add value to the ownership of iOS devices for the creative professional audience that already embraces Mac hardware.”
Apple’s sales numbers for iPad are down again, and many in the tech community are quick to shout about its inevitable downfall (something something Steve Jobs is dead so Apple is dead nonsense). TechCrunch reports that Apple filed for this patent in 2010, so I would argue they were quite aware of the need to shift focus with iPad.
"The patent was first filed in April of 2010, so it’s been on the shelf for quite a while now, but it’s still an interesting use case to consider, especially as Apple likely continues to re-evaluate the place of the iPad in its overall lineup, and possibly prepares for the launch of a larger, more powerful iPad Pro later this year, should rumors prove correct."
I agree with Darrell that this patent starts to get interesting now, but I disagree that it’s necessarily because of the “iPad Pro” (which I think is a mistake, if real, but that’s a story for another day).
Instead, I think this patent is interesting in light of the new Force Touch sensors that Apple has created. Rumors are that Force Touch will be coming to the next generation of iPhone, and I don’t think it’s a hard stretch to say the feature will come to the next generation iPad either. Force Touch on iPad will mean pressure sensitivity on iPad, which would instantly make it one of the best drawing tablets on the market. It only makes sense, then, that Apple would want to make it easy for users to be able to use that drawing feature in applications such as photoshop. Digital drawing is something that always made sense on the iPad form-factor, but was always less than stellar in practice. This patent and Force Touch promise to change that. If that won’t boost sales, I don’t know what will.
Back on the topic of MIDI boards, as described in the patent, Force Touch could also improve that functionality, making users actually want to use an iPad instead of a physical board. Force Touch would allow pressure sensitivity on the buttons, which could provide nuanced control of the MIDI board. Nuance is always welcome in music making. Another possibility is that Force Touch could be used to pull up a different set of MIDI controls, much the same way that it brings up a layer of secondary controls on Apple Watch.
If this patent is realized, users would finally have a truly compelling reason to upgrade their iPads (beyond the usual “thinner and lighter” reason). That’s likely what Apple needs to stop seeing bleeding iPad numbers.
The point is, the next iPad is the time for change in the product line, and Apple is thinking about what those changes should be. iPad as a creator’s tool certainly sounds intriguing.
