14 DAY TRIAL // Microsoft has filed a patent for a new technology that could pave the way for a significantly improved lock screen that might at some point be used on Windows 10 Mobile devices, such as the Surface Phone.
Called Rich Notifications, the new patent presents a new way to interact with notifications on the lock screen, providing users with a faster way to access information about missed calls or received messages.
More like an improved version of Glance screen, this new technology allows users to simply tap on a notification on the lock screen to see the essential information. It uses what the patent calls a notification module and supports multiple gestures that would make it possible to see relevant details for each notification.
Gestures to reveal notification info
For example, users can simply tap a phone call notification to see the name of the caller or the mail icon to read the subject of the message or the sender. The patent drawings show a design similar to the current Glance screen, with notifications displayed at the bottom of the screen, but which could be significantly improved with the addition of new features to access more information without unlocking the phone.
According to Microsoft, the process of interacting with these notifications is split into several steps. First, one or more notifications are displayed on the screen, and the device then waits to “receive an access gesture relative to one or more of the notifications.” A so-called deep link is then used to import information from the application in question, so the device can then “display content associated with deep linked applications.”
While this technology is still in patent stage, there’s no doubt that it would be a great addition to Microsoft’s phone feature lineup. And given the fact that the software giant might not launch any new Lumia phones, but only concentrate on the Surface Phone, this device will hopefully be the one to come with such functionality.
Thanks for the tip, Timm!