Apple patent reveals stalkerish iOS social network plans

Not sure why that lady's winking like that...
Not sure why that lady's winking like that...

A new Apple patent has revealed an iOS-based social networking service which uses users' on-device content and location data to automatically find friends.

Well, we say friends. We mean "new friends", aka total strangers; you'll be able to set the app to find compatible 'buddies' near your current location, making it sound like a kind of dating app to us.

The patent application describes it as "ad hoc networking based on content and location", with the ability to match people up based on music they listen to on the iPhone, iPod Touch or iPad, as well as videos, pictures and websites they've recently visited and shared, rather than a public-facing profile that you physically set up, a la Facebook.

Location, location, location

As well as content data, the app would use location information to suggest matches; not just where you currently are, say Starbucks, but also where you've been recently, like Bognor Regis. Or Slough.

This information could be used to populate the "Now what shall we talk about…" option, although the prospect of a stranger wandering up to you and asking how your holiday to Timbuktu was is more than a little scary.

The whole app is no doubt setting off privacy sirens in web-phobic establishments around the world, but rest assured it proposes that you set your own privacy preferences during set up, and there's an option to turn make your personal profile undiscoverable.

The patent bites its thumb at Facebook which is still licking its wounds over Apple's decision to integrate Twitter into iOS 5 rather than Zuckerberg's baby.

Facebook's not at home dying its hair black and listening to The Smiths though; with an iPad app apparently round the corner and an App Store rival apparently in the works, there could be quite a tech battle coming up.

Via Patently Apple

TOPICS
News Editor (UK)

Former UK News Editor for TechRadar, it was a perpetual challenge among the TechRadar staff to send Kate (Twitter, Google+) a link to something interesting on the internet that she hasn't already seen. As TechRadar's News Editor (UK), she was constantly on the hunt for top news and intriguing stories to feed your gadget lust. Kate now enjoys life as a renowned music critic – her words can be found in the i Paper, Guardian, GQ, Metro, Evening Standard and Time Out, and she's also the author of 'Amy Winehouse', a biography of the soul star.

Latest in Websites & Apps
A mobile phone showing the Signal logo in front of a screen showing the app
Signalgate explained: what is Signal, and how secure is the messaging app?
Quordle on a smartphone held in a hand
Quordle hints and answers for Friday, March 28 (game #1159)
NYT Strands homescreen on a mobile phone screen, on a light blue background
NYT Strands hints and answers for Friday, March 28 (game #390)
Google Maps on a phone being held in someone's hand
Google Maps is getting two key upgrades, for easier route planning and quicker access to Gemini AI
Quordle on a smartphone held in a hand
Quordle hints and answers for Thursday, March 27 (game #1158)
NYT Strands homescreen on a mobile phone screen, on a light blue background
NYT Strands hints and answers for Thursday, March 27 (game #389)
Latest in News
Google Pixel Watch 3 side dial and button
Google Gemini reportedly spotted on Wear OS – could a rollout be close at hand?
Nintendo Switch 2 Joy-Con up-close from app store
Nintendo's new app gave us another look at the Switch 2, and there's something different with the Joy-Con
cheap Nintendo Switch game deals sales
Nintendo didn't anticipate that Mario Kart 8 Deluxe was 'going to be the juggernaut' for the Nintendo Switch when it was ported to the console, according to former employees
Toni Collette in Hereditary
Everything leaving Netflix in April 2025 – from the scariest movie ever made to a beloved DreamWorks animation with 99% on Rotten Tomatoes
Three angles of the Apple MacBook Air 15-inch M4 laptop above a desk
Apple MacBook Air 15-inch (M4) review roundup – should you buy Apple's new lightweight laptop?
Witchbrook
Witchbrook, the life-sim I've been waiting years for, finally has a release window and it's sooner than you think