Apple Patent Applications: Multi-Touch Scroll Wheel, Sharing Digital Media During iPhone Calls

A number of patent applications from Apple were released by the United States Patent and Trademark Office this morning, and two of them have received a fair bit of attention, having been first brought to light in a pair of reports (#1, #2) from AppleInsider.

The first application, entitled "Multi-dimensional scroll wheel", was filed in September 2008. It describes a scroll wheel, such as that used in the iPod classic and iPod nano, that is capable of sensing user input in multiple ways, as well as sensing multiple simultaneous inputs, essentially bringing multi-touch capabilities to the iconic iPod scroll wheel.

To improve the effectiveness of a touch-based scroll wheel, the present disclosure provides multi-touch scroll wheel circuitry capable of sensing input in multiple ways. For example, scroll wheel circuitry can sense a moving object, such as a finger, as it is moved not only in a rotational manner but also in a linear manner across the center of the scroll wheel. The scroll wheel circuitry can also sense more than one object at a time, such as multi-finger touch or motion. In this manner, the scroll wheel circuitry can enable a device to recognize a wider range of input. To be clear, a wheel can be circular, but can also have any shape that enables a closed loop type input.

141647 scroll wheel 500

The patent application also cites potential implementations of a multi-touch click wheel as part of a notebook computer, a peripheral input device similar to a mouse, or a wireless input device capable of communicating either directly with a media player or with a media player docking station.

The second application, entitled "Methods and systems for mixing media with communications", was filed in November 2007 and describes methods for sharing digital media files such as music, videos, and images as part of an audio, video, or data communications connection without terminating the original connection.

The present invention permits a user to initiate a communications operation with a recipient, or to receive a communications operation initiated by another individual, and to transmit a selected media item over the same communication path used for the communications operation without terminating the communications operation. This combined transmission can occur regardless of the type of media selected by the user to be added to the communications operation.

141643 media sharing 300

Notably, while Apple's drawings accompanying the patent application point to implementations related to the iPhone, Apple also makes numerous references to the sharing of media while users are engaged in video conferences, something not possible in the current models of the iPhone. The addition of video calling, which would require a front-facing camera, to the iPhone has been a popular target of speculation, with rumors appearing as recently as this week pointing to the possibility of its appearance in an upcoming iPhone hardware update.

Related Forums: iPhone, iPod touch and iPod

Popular Stories

iPhone 17 Pro Blue Feature Tighter Crop

iPhone 17 Pro Launching in Three Months With These 12 New Features

Saturday June 14, 2025 5:45 pm PDT by
The iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are three months away, and there are plenty of rumors about the devices. Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models as of June 2025:Aluminum frame: iPhone 17 Pro models are rumored to have an aluminum frame, whereas the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro models have a titanium frame, and the iPhone X through iPhone 14 Pro have a...
apple watch ultra 2 new black

Apple Watch Ultra 3 Finally Coming After Two-Year Hiatus

Monday June 16, 2025 8:45 am PDT by
Apple will finally deliver the Apple Watch Ultra 3 sometime this year, according to analyst Jeff Pu of GF Securities Hong Kong (via @jukanlosreve). The analyst expects both the Apple Watch Series 11 and Apple Watch Ultra 3 to arrive this year (likely alongside the new iPhone 17 lineup, if previous launches are anything to go by), according to his latest product roadmap shared with...
Logitech Logo Feature

Logitech Announces Two New Accessories for WWDC

Friday June 13, 2025 7:22 am PDT by
Alongside WWDC this week, Logitech announced notable new accessories for the iPad and Apple Vision Pro. The Logitech Muse is a spatially-tracked stylus developed for use with the Apple Vision Pro. Introduced during the WWDC 2025 keynote address, Muse is intended to support the next generation of spatial computing workflows enabled by visionOS 26. The device incorporates six degrees of...
iPadOS 26 App Windowing

Apple Explains Why iPads Don't Just Run macOS

Friday June 13, 2025 7:46 am PDT by
iPadOS 26 allows iPads to function much more like Macs, with a new app windowing system, a swipe-down menu bar at the top of the screen, and more. However, Apple has stopped short of allowing iPads to run macOS, and it has now explained why. In an interview this week with Swiss tech journalist Rafael Zeier, Apple's software engineering chief Craig Federighi said that iPadOS 26's new Mac-like ...
iphone 16 pro models 1

17 Reasons to Wait for the iPhone 17

Thursday June 12, 2025 8:58 am PDT by
Apple's iPhone development roadmap runs several years into the future and the company is continually working with suppliers on several successive iPhone models simultaneously, which is why we often get rumored features months ahead of launch. The iPhone 17 series is no different, and we already have a good idea of what to expect from Apple's 2025 smartphone lineup. If you skipped the iPhone...
apple watch ultra snow

6 Features Coming to the Apple Watch Ultra 3

Tuesday February 25, 2025 9:00 am PST by
The Apple Watch Ultra 3 is expected to launch later this year, arriving two years after the previous model with a series of improvements. While no noticeable design changes are expected for the third generation since the company tends to stick with the same Apple Watch design through three generations before changing it, there are a series of internal upgrades on the way. By the time the ...
terminal macos tahoe

Apple's Terminal App Gets Colorful Redesign in macOS Tahoe

Monday June 16, 2025 4:12 am PDT by
Apple's Terminal app is getting a visual refresh in macOS Tahoe, and it's the first notable design update since the command-line tool debuted. The updated Terminal will support 24-bit color and Powerline fonts, according to Apple's State of the Platforms presentation at WWDC25. The app will also adopt the new Liquid Glass aesthetic with redesigned themes that align with macOS 26's broader...