Apple wants to make it harder to shoulder-surf iPhone users

“Shoulder surfing” occurs when someone with less than honorable intentions looks at your phone while you enter sensitive information, such as a PIN or password. It’s a serious problem and Apple wants to make sure it happens less often on an iPhone.

As noted by AppleInsiderApple recently filed two patents to address this problem. The first describes a “privacy film” with a “light blocking layer” as one of the substrates in a phone screen, allowing you to only see light from the screen when you look directly at it.