There's a reason the movie theater keeps telling you to silence your phone. Hearing a phone ring in the middle of "The Hobbit: Battle of Five Armies" will take you out of the experience. Most people are pretty good about silencing their smartphones in the theater, but there's still the occasional ring while you're watching. However, a recently filed Microsoft patent might offer the answer to that.
Indian patent firm PatentYogi first discovered the U.S. government's awarding the patent to Microsoft last week. The software is called "inconspicuous mode" and is supposed to minimize how much your smartphone interrupts the surrounding events, according to CNN Money. The software uses GPS to determine your location. If you're inside a movie theater or another location that requires silence or a dimmed screen, the device will activate a preset collection of settings. For example, one user might just want his screen dimmed while another might want all but the most important notifications to appear.
If the GPS scanner isn't enough, the patent includes a few other features for activating inconspicuous mode. The software could sync with the user's calendar and silence itself according to an event's settings. If a user pays for a ticket with a tap-to-pay outlet, the device might activate inconspicuous mode for the length of the event.
If users doesn't want inconspicuous mode to activate at a certain time, they can opt out.
It's uncertain how Microsoft will implement the patent, or if Microsoft will offer it to future Android and iOS phones. But a piece of software like this would help improve the art scene and keep users from interrupting it with their smart devices.
