According to the 9to5 Mac newswire, Apple has been working on the lock screen – which is very popular on the Android platform owing to its high levels of security and ease of use – for some time.
9to5 Mac adds that the facility has now reached the testing stages internally within Apple.
The newswire asserts that the lock screen system is similar to the 'dots' seen on Google Android, with the user setting up a pattern that replaces the PIN/passcode system on most smartphones.
"There is no word on whether or not this new lock screen will make its way to iOS devices for users. We were told, though, that Apple will be pushing this lock screen down to some of their internal applications in the future. For example the applications retail-store employees use", says the newswire.
"Apple is even planning on bringing this down to their new mobile payment system business, on the EasyPay machines", 9to5 adds.