Future Apple Watch may respond to different amounts of force on the Digital Crown

A future Apple Watch may respond to differing amounts of force applied on its Digital Crown. Apple has been granted a patent (number US 11963795 B2) for “Sensing Contact Force Related To User Wearing An Electronic Device.”

About the patent

The patent relates to sensing the force applied to a wearable electronic device by a user’s body part when a user is wearing it. Such devices may include a variety of components. For example, wearable electronic devices may include input devices that a user can manipulate by touch. 

Also, wearable electronic devices may include various sensors, such as sensors that may be used to detect information about the user. Apple’s idea is for a smartwatch that can sense how much force is applied to its Digital Crown. Differing amounts of force could: cause the watch band to tighten, apps to launch, and more.

Summary of the patent

Here’s Apple’s abstract of the patent: “A wearable electronic device includes a body, a housing component, a band operable to attach the body to a body part of a user, and a force sensor coupled to the housing component. The force sensor is operable to produce a force signal based on a force exerted between the body part of the user and the housing component. 

“A processing unit of the wearable electronic device receives the force signal from the force sensor and determines the force exerted on the housing component based thereon. The processing unit may use that force to determine a tightness of the band, determine health information for the user, adjust determined force exerted on a cover glass, and/or to perform various other actions.”

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