We’ve all been in a dark theater when some jerk a few rows up takes out their fully-brightened iPhone and starts to text right in the middle of the movie. Those theaters are dark for reason. Apple may be working on a solution to this problem.
Tech insider Sonny Dickson—who’s broken big Apple-related news before—tweeted that a coming iOS 10.3 update will have a “Theater Mode” (controlled with a popcorn icon). He didn’t give any details on what Theater Mode would do, but, as Collider notes, back in 2012, Apple patented a functionality that would “disable noise and/or light emanating from wireless devices (such as at a movie theater)” or prevent “wireless devices from communicating with other wireless devices (such as in academic settings).”
At this point, any type of technology that automatically dims and silences a phone in a theater is just speculation, but, it’s a hopeful sign for annoyed moviegoers forced to deal with screen lights interrupting the middle of movies.
