Perfect for when you glance at your phone anyway

"Do not disturb" modes are nothing new, but Microsoft's newest patented feature proposes making it a lot smarter - and potentially more useful.

The "inconspicuous mode," spotted by Twitter user Patent Yogi, would detect when a user is in a theater, meeting or other place they'd like their smartphones to shut up, and automatically turn their volume and brightness down.

The mode also reportedly would reduce the number of notifications on your lockscreen for when you're tempted to glance at your phone anyway.

It could detect where you are by paying attention to GPS, NFC and Wi-Fi signals, as well as users' calendars and browser histories, to determine when you're in a no-phone-zone.

Microsoft is expected to make some big reveals regarding Windows 10 and the future of Windows Phone this Wednesday, January 21, so maybe we'll see this feature then.

This is everything we want to see at GDC 2015

Via The Next Web