Samsung tipped to copy Apple to help you take better photos

By Monica J. White Published March 11, 2025

Taking photos or selfies can be a chore — especially if you have smaller hands. Many of us struggle to tap the right part of the screen to snap the photo, let alone to adjust things like zoom and brightness. Fortunately, it seems that Samsung might be working on a fix. A new leaked patent shows that the company is toying with the idea of a camera control sensor. This sounds like a similar concept to the camera control button introduced in the iPhone 16.

As spotted by leaker xleaks7 on X and shared by SeasonalityChart, the new patent is a pretty exciting development. It seems that instead of adding a dedicated button, Samsung wants to integrate sensors into the existing side buttons.

The idea is simple: Samsung wants you to be able to control many aspects of the camera without needing to look at the screen (or losing focus by randomly tapping and hoping for the best). Instead, the company is working on introducing touch-sensitive side sensors that will let you do more than just snap a picture. It all comes down to swipe gestures.

The patent explains the type of gestures you might have to use, and it’s all easy enough to learn, including simple presses, long presses, and double presses. The rest comes down to touch and swiping all around. Vertical swipes will adjust one camera function; horizontal swipes will handle something else, such as zoom or brightness. Samsung added some haptic feedback to let you know that your desired action went through without needing to look at the screen.

The best part is that all of this will only become activated when the camera app is in use. (Can you imagine what a disaster it’d be otherwise?) SeasonalityChart also teases that these sensors might be used for navigating the Gallery app, editing photos, or switching between apps.

It’s good to see Samsung following in Apple’s footsteps with this patent — now, the question is when or if this will actually appear in upcoming smartphones.