Apple has applied for a patent on a technology that would allow the company to censor audio streams during playback. The patent application, available on patent database Justia and first reported by Business Insider, describes ways of removing "unwanted audio" within streams.

The application says that "metadata" within an audio file may be used to remove or replace unwanted audio. Beyond that, it says an audio player may use "real-time recognition analysis to identify explicit words while playing the audio stream." The filing adds, "For example, the audio stream may be analyzed ahead of the actual playback and allow the audio player to apply a muting, silence, beep tone, or other censoring method to remove the unwanted audio."

Titled "Management, Replacement and Removal of Explicit Lyrics during Audio Playback," the application was filed in September 2014 and published on March 31, 2016, according to the patent database. Despite reports that the patent had been granted, the database showed only that the patent application had been filed. It's important to note that Apple, like many companies, applies for many patents that never make it to market.

Pitchfork has reached out to Apple for comment.