Roughly 11 months after applying for it, Apple has been awarded a patent for the distinctive 'page-turning' animation effect seen in iBooks and other apps on the iPad (not to mention the Kindle iPad app).
The animation is triggered by a swipe or tap near the edge of the page in iBooks, whereupon the next 'leaf' of whatever you're reading curls over enticingly. You can even turn the page partway.
Imitating the flavour and feel of a real book, though, may be on the way out. Apple has come under fire for this 'skeumorphic' approach - most pernicious in the 'leather effect' backgrounds on some of its personal organisation apps - and it's been widely rumoured that Jony Ives is not a fan.
Like it or not, the page turning animation is safely locked down now, and can be thrown into the patent vault for Tim Cook to swim in like Scrooge McDuck.
We are obliged to Apple Insider for the story
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