Samsung patents a gesture method for unlocking phone and launching apps

Tired of pressing the home or power button on your Samsung phone to turn on the screen? Then you might be interested in this new patent that Samsung has received for a new phone unlock method, one that wakes up or unlocks a phone when a user draws a shape on the display with at least one intersection in it. It's a more, um, artistic take on the “Double Tap to wake” feature that Nokia came up with on its now defunct MeeGo OS and then ported to Windows Phone; it was recently copied by LG (called KnockOn, and touted wrongly as LG's own invention) and will also be making an appearance on the upcoming HTC One successor.

According to the patent's details, the pattern needs to have at least one intersection but can vary in size and shape. As is usually the case with Samsung, there will be additional functionality as well – users will be able to launch various apps by associating a specific pattern with it, which should offset the inconvenience of drawing gestures instead of simply tapping on it twice to wake the screen up (the hardware home button already partly offsets the need to have tap to wake, as there's no need to reach for the power button unlike the competition's devices.)

In the end, it's simply another feature that Samsung might add to its software somewhere down the road to make things more convenient for users, and we'll just have to wait for it to arrive on one of the company's future phones or tablets.

Via | Source