Apple patent blocks iPhones from recording at concerts

Credit: Ethan Miller

Credit: Ethan Miller

Apple was awarded a U.S. patent in June for a system that can force iPhones into disabling video-recording functions at concert venues.

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The system uses infrared signals to send messages to the smartphones to force them to shut down video recording capabilities. Apple's patent illustration shows a phone at a concert with the words "recording disabled" on screen.

Various artists have been outspoken about fans filming their shows, with many claiming that it spoils the experience for other fans.

During a show this summer, Adele publicly told a fan who was filming the performance: "You can enjoy it in real life, rather than through your camera ... I'd really like you to enjoy my show because there's lots of people outside that couldn't come in."

It's not known whether Apple plans to put the patent into use.

Yondr is another company with a mission to eliminate cellphone distractions at concerts.

The company creates "phone-free spaces" at events where attendees must seal their cellphones in one of the company's lockable pouches. The pouch stays locked inside the phone-free zone but unlocks once you leave it.

"If you haven't been to a phone-free show, you just don't know what you're missing. There's something about living in real life that can't be replicated," Yondr founder Graham Dugoni told The Washington Post.

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