Physical control device for touchscreens

An electronic device comprising:

• a touch screen having a capacitive touch sensor panel configured to simultaneously detect multiple objects in contact with the touch screen;
• and
• processing circuitry coupled to the touch screen and configured to:
• identify a physical control device in contact with the touch screen, the physical control device including a housing that comes in contact with the touch screen and a plurality of conductive protrusions that come in contact with the touch screen when the physical control device is in contact with the touch screen, wherein identifying the physical control device is based on a conductive pattern of the plurality of conductive protrusions detected by the capacitive touch sensor panel;
• perform an action at the electronic device in accordance with an input to the physical control device that causes a change in a characteristic of the conductive pattern of the plurality of conductive protrusions detected by the capacitive touch sensor panel;
• and
• ignore a touch input at the touch screen from the housing of the physical control device in contact with the touch screen.

A method of communicating information between a physical control device and an electronic device including a touch screen, the physical control device having a housing and a plurality of conductive protrusions detectable by a capacitive touch sensor panel of the touch screen when the physical control device contacts the touch screen, the method comprising:

• identifying, using processing circuitry of the electronic device, the physical control device in contact with the touch screen based on a conductive pattern of the plurality of conductive protrusions detected by the capacitive touch sensor panel;
• performing a first action at the electronic device in accordance with an input to the physical control device that causes a change in a characteristic of the conductive pattern of the plurality of conductive protrusions detected by the capacitive touch sensor panel;
• and
• ignoring a touch input at the capacitive touch sensor panel from the housing of the physical control device in contact with the touch screen.