One problem with using a mobile device like the iPhone or iPad is the need to keep the display content private. Users may need to view sensitive information such as financial data or medical details, but in public places, it is difficult to prevent others from seeing any data displayed on the screen. To this end, users seem to be able to hide the screen by setting a physical barrier, or by actively blocking the view of others with one hand, but the nature of this has attracted more unnecessary attention. It is also possible to use screen filters to block light from extreme viewing angles, but this may degrade the overall visual quality of the user.

In a patent application entitled "Gaze at the Display Encryption" issued by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office on Thursday, Apple Inc. proposed a way to manipulate the contents of the display so that only active users can know exactly what is displayed, and Use deception to deceive the surrounding audience. The system is Apple-centric and detects the user's line of sight on the device screen. In this way, the device will know exactly what needs to be displayed on the display without any obstructions and so on. In the rest of the display that the user is not actively viewing, the system still displays the image, but it contains useless and incomprehensible information that the observer cannot understand.

When users change their viewing position, the screen will update to discover new gaze areas and overwrite previously seen data with fake content. This way, users will always see what they want, and the data will only be partially visible, making it difficult for the surrounding audience to peek, read, or understand. In addition, in the patent, Apple suggested that the unreadable portion of the display may contain content that visually matches the rest, but the information in it may be false. By making it visually similar to real information, this helps further obscure the user's current reading position on the screen and minimizes the chance for onlookers to realize that there is some kind of visual encryption.

Apple submits a large number of patent applications every week, but there is no guarantee that the patent design will appear in future products or services.