Apple has a couple of ideas we may or may not see in future iterations of the iPhone: turning the backlight into a safety light for runners or as a party trick of sorts to synchronize with music. The company filed a patent in May and was just published today with the title “Handheld devices as visual indicators.” As a party accessory, the filing describes that the light being transmitted can be configured with the playlists on the device and it’ll vary the “light level transmitted by the display in accordance with the song being played.” It could be a fun thing to play around with but, of course, expect it to be a battery drain.
The other feature is a bit more functional and useful for those who like going on night runs or walks. The backlight can be used to serve as a light beacon to alert cars and other pedestrians of your presence. The light can either blink, fade in and out, strobe, or pulsate. While useful, we can’t say yet if this will even make its way to Apple devices. A lot of the patents the company applies for don’t make it to the actual products. And we don’t know yet if the patent itself will be approved. What do you think? Is this a feature you’d want? There are third-party apps for this purpose already, if you are.
Source: The Verge