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Your iPhone 6 will soon predict what area of the screen you’ll touch next… but for what purpose?

Published Jun 12th, 2015 10:30PM EDT
iOS 9 Features Touch Prediction

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A hidden feature in iOS 9 will make your iPhone 6 and other supported iOS devices even smarter than they already are, as the devices will be able to predict what area of the screen you’ll touch next.

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It’s unclear at this time how this functionality works, but “touch prediction” has been discovered in the iOS Developer Diary that keeps track of every new feature coming to iOS.

“Enhancements to touch events, such as the ability to get access to intermediate touches that may have occurred since the last refresh of the display and touch prediction,” is the iOS 9 feature in question, as listed by Apple.

The company didn’t detail this “touch predication” iOS 9 feature during WWDC and it may well turn out to be a feature that none of us will ever be aware of.

Apple might be looking to reduce touch latency by being able to tell where the user will touch the screen next, a feature that would make iOS feel even faster than it is. What’s interesting about the technology is that Apple would somehow have to learn how the user interacts with an iPhone or iPad for being able to make such predictions.

And Apple is already looking into observing and learning from the user. The company has at least two patents that describe means of learning how a user handles an iPhone or iPad in order to smartly adjust parameters and prolong battery life. Furthermore, the company is also improving Siri by giving it Google Now-like features, something that’s possible only by looking at how someone uses the iPhone.

Chris Smith Senior Writer

Chris Smith has been covering consumer electronics ever since the iPhone revolutionized the industry in 2008. When he’s not writing about the most recent tech news for BGR, he brings his entertainment expertise to Marvel’s Cinematic Universe and other blockbuster franchises.

Outside of work, you’ll catch him streaming almost every new movie and TV show release as soon as it's available.