If everything follows the planned times, Apple would present new software in June, among which iOS 15 and iPadOS 15 would stand out. The next big update that will come to the iPhone and iPad could incorporate a novelty that users have been demanding for years, especially in tablets: being able to have multiple users on the same device. All this has been learned thanks to a new patent that we analyze below.
Apple patents a system that would allow it
In the last hours Apple has registered a new patent in which clues of new access to devices are given through different user accounts that, in each case, would require entering their own password. This could happen on any Apple device, but since Macs already have it, it is clear that it could be more focused on the iPhone and iPad. On a technical level, the patent describes much more complex issues, but ultimately it is just that. Keep in mind that adding this new feature is not something that can be done easily, but requires more complexity at the code level during device startup.
The Californian company, like so many others, registers dozens of patents every day that later end up bearing fruit or not. Not all of them glimpse great news at the software and hardware level, so we usually echo only the most interesting ones. Although this does not imply that what is patent ends up seeing the light in the short or long term, in this case it would make a lot of sense that the company was investigating it for the immediate future such as iOS 15 or iPadOS 15, but we insist: there is nothing confirmed.
What could multi-user mean on iOS and iPadOS?
IPads are increasingly focused on replacing a computer in many cases and there are different user profiles that may not require a Mac for many tasks. Thanks to the good hardware that they have been incorporating in recent years and the arrival of iPadOS in 2019, Apple tablets share more and more things with computers. However, having the possibility of having multiple users is something that computers do have and tablets do not yet. Taking into account that an iPad can also be a device for family use, it would make all the sense in the world to have several accounts with different settings focused on the use that each user makes of it.
In an iPhone, it might be meaningless in many cases because it is a device that will generally be used by one person, but there are many others where it would be interesting. For example, let’s imagine a user account for daily use and another for weekends, having in the first settings and apps focused on work and on the weekend a configuration more focused on leisure.
Of course, Apple would first have to solve several possible problems related to storage space . Will all accounts have access to the same apps and will only the settings change? How much space could one account occupy? These will be details that Apple will have to polish, especially for devices with considerably lower storage capacities than what we have in a Mac. However, we hope that this novelty will end up arriving as it even reached Apple TV a couple of years ago. .