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Apple Tweaks iOS Animation In China In Attempt To Avoid Sales Ban (theverge.com)
Apple released a tiny update to iOS this week designed to avoid a sales ban in China. iOS version 12.1.2 contains software changes exclusive to China that are designed to circumvent Apple's patent dispute with Qualcomm, which won an initial sales ban over claims that Apple violated a pair of its patents. The Verge reports: The update changes the animation for when an app is forced to close, according to MacRumors, seemingly avoiding a Qualcomm patent around app management. Previously a closed app would slide off the top of the screen, but it now shrinks and disappears into the middle of the screen. Last month, Qualcomm won a court injunction that banned Apple from selling iPhone models including the 6S, 6S Plus, 7, 7 Plus, 8, 8 Plus, and X. iOS 12.1.2 The patents related to how software resizes pictures and manages applications. This fix appears to change application management, but it's currently unclear what, if anything, has changed about the process of resizing pictures.
If this constitutes a valuable piece of intellectual property which deserves the protection of patent law then I suspect evolution has run its course and humanity is about to become extinct. Either that or the next populist dictator could do worse than round up the entirity of the "tech" world and execute them posthaste.
Facts are history now plebs have politics for religion on social media.
I seem to recall similar totally ridiculous patents. Didn't Apple sue Samsung at great length about, what was it, bouncing when you couldn't scroll any more? Or was it rounded corners? This sounds like payback.
Really, this patent issue is well and truly out of hand.
Can I patent the wheel, please? How about a box?
"Cats like plain crisps"