There are many ways in which one can damage their smartphone’s screen. For the most part this involves dropping the phone, but in the future it seems that Apple is interested in creating phones whose screens might be less prone to breaking or cracking, and this will be achieved by crowdsourcing data.
In a recently discovered patent filed by Apple, it looks like the company is exploring the idea of a system that will crowdsource data so that in the future, phones can be built with screens that are less prone to cracking because of this feedback. This system is also capable of detecting when the phone has suffered from screen damage and alert the user early on.
According to the patent, it talks about how via the use of different sensors, it will be able to detect things like hairline cracks. It will also be able to differentiate between a hairline crack and spiderweb cracks, and can measure things like fracture depth, length, width, and even expansion rate.
It will then alert the user and ask them to confirm the damage by circling the area with their finger, and the diagnostic information could be used to generate a timeline of events that might come in handy during the repair process. It’s an interesting idea, although a bit ironic considering that there are reports that Apple is planning on fighting the “Right to Repair” bill.