Future iPhones Could Be Unlocked With Just Your Voice

When it comes to unlocking an iPhone, it’s a very hands-on task. You can either punch in a passcode or use one of your fingerprints to open it up. But in a future iPhone, such as the anticipated “iPhone 7,” users may be able to gain access to their device with another attribute unique to them — their voice.

A patent titled “Device Access Using Voice Authentication” was published and granted by the U.S. patent and trademark office Tuesday, revealing an invention which could allow a user to access restricted parts of an iPhone just by speaking. Speech inputted into the smartphone be compared against a voiceprint and if successfully authenticated, the user could then access the requested feature without need to unlock the device by hand. But if the voiceprint comparison fails, users can be asked to use another method to gain access to the device, such as a passcode or fingerprint scan.

It’s not the first time Apple has explored making the iPhone a more hands-free experience. With the iPhone 6S, it rolled out always-on Hey Siri, which enabled owners of the latest Apple smartphone to say “Hey Siri” to enable the voice assistant, even when the iPhone isn’t plugged in. On Feb. 2, Apple was also granted a patent which could enable its customers to control an iPhone by just hovering their hand over the screen.

As with many of Apple’s patents and patent applications, it’s unknown if or when it plans to use it in one of its products. Apple first filed the patent application on Mar. 21, 2011 and credits former Apple engineering director Adam Cheyer as the inventor.