Apple Patent Allows For Screen & App Data Sharing Over FaceTime

One of the perks of using software like Google Docs is that it allows for live collaboration between users, so edits and changes made to the document will be reflected in real time, thus allowing for teams to work together on a singular document at the same time. Now wouldn’t it be cool if such collaborative features were available on iOS devices?

As it turns out, Apple might be thinking of something similar. According to the folks at AppleInsider, they have recently come across a patent by Apple that suggests that data sharing and collaboration could eventually be part of iOS. The patent suggests a way for users to share data in real time rather than emailing information back and forth, which according to the patent could lead to a lost in time and in some cases, money.

The patent also talks about how the app and data can be overlaid on top of a FaceTime call, so if you want to hear and see the person you’re collaborating with, this could be one of the ways to facilitate that. As you can see in the image above, such collaboration might not necessarily be limited to productivity as parents could even read and interact with an ebook from a remote location.

Of course there’s no way of telling if this patent will eventually be made a reality or if it is simply Apple brainstorming for ideas, but it sounds like a pretty handy tool and it would be nice to see more desktop collaborative features make their way onto mobile.

Tyler Lee
Categories: Apple
Tags: facetime, Patent