CN110083411B

CN110083411B - Apparatus and method for generating user interface from template

Info

Publication number: CN110083411B
Application number: CN201811428176.1A
Authority: CN
Inventors: C·马加赫恩; S-W·黄; N·J·保尔森; T·M·阿尔西纳
Original assignee: Apple Inc
Current assignee: Apple Inc
Priority date: 2013-06-08
Filing date: 2014-05-30
Publication date: 2022-02-01
Anticipated expiration: 2034-05-30
Also published as: NL2012965A; CN104685470A; WO2014197340A1; DE202014004555U1; TWI515640B; AU2014100585A4; AU2014100585B4; NL2012965C2; CN104685470B; CN110083411A; TW201506759A

Abstract

The invention relates to a device and a method for generating a user interface from a template. An electronic device is configured to receive a first request to display a user interface of a first third-party application on a respective display in communication with the device. The device is further configured to: in response to receiving the request, a first user interface template configured for use by a plurality of third party applications is obtained, and one or more values for populating the first template are requested from the first application. The device is further configured to: receiving a first set of values from a first application for populating a first template while the first application is running on a device; populating a first template with a first set of values; generating a first user interface for the first application using the first template populated with the first set of values; and send information to the respective display that enables the first user interface to be displayed.

Description

Apparatus and method for generating user interface from template

Cross Reference to Related Applications

The application is a divisional application of an invention patent application with the international application date of 30/05/2014 and the international application date of 30/10/2014 entering the Chinese country, the Chinese country application number of 201480001136.2 and the invention name of 'equipment and a method for generating a user interface from a template'.

This patent application claims priority to us provisional patent application 61/832,841 filed on 8.6.2013 and is related to: U.S. application Ser. No. 61/793,924 entitled "Voice and Touch User Interface" filed on 15.3.2013; U.S. application Ser. No. 13/032,614 entitled "rendering a Graphical User Interface to a remove Device with Display Rules Provided by the remove Device" filed on 22.2.2011; U.S. application Ser. No. 12/683,218 entitled "Pushing a User Interface to a Remote Device", filed on 6.1.2010; U.S. application Ser. No. 12/119,960 entitled "Pushing a User Interface to a Remote Device", filed on 13.5.2008; U.S. application Ser. No. 13/175,581 entitled "Pushing a User Interface to a Remote Device", filed 7/1/2011; U.S. application Ser. No. 13/161,339 entitled "rendering a Graphical User Interface to a remove Device with Display Rules Provided by the remove Device", filed on 15.6.2011; U.S. application Ser. No. 13/250,947 entitled "Automatic adaptive User Interfaces for Hands-Free Interaction", filed 30.9.2011; U.S. application Ser. No. 12/987,982 entitled "Intelligent Automated Assistant" filed on 10.1.2011; U.S. provisional application serial No. 61/295,774 entitled "Intelligent Automated Assistant" filed on 18.1.2010; U.S. provisional application Serial No. 61/493,201 entitled "Generation and Processing Data Items task to Performance" filed on 3.6.2011; U.S. provisional application serial No. 61/657,744 entitled "automated adaptation User Interface for Hands-Free Interaction", filed on 9/6/2012; U.S. provisional application serial No. 12/207,316 entitled "Radio with Personal DJ" filed 9/9 in 2008; U.S. provisional application Ser. No. 61/727,554 entitled "System and Method for New training Control of a Shared Audio or Visual Resource", filed on 16.11.2012; U.S. Application Ser. No. 61/832,818 entitled "Mapping Application with Selective User Interfaces" filed on 8.6.2013; U.S. Application Ser. No. 13/913,428 entitled "Application Gateway for Providing routing User Interfaces for Limited routing and Non-Limited routing Contents" filed on 8.6.2013; U.S. provisional application serial No. 61/832,842 entitled "Device, Method, and Graphical User Interface for Synchronizing Two of More Displays" filed on 8.6.2013.

Technical Field

The present invention relates generally to electronic devices for generating user interfaces, including but not limited to providing user interfaces for third party applications.

Background

The use of touch sensitive surfaces as input devices for computers and other electronic computing devices has increased significantly in recent years. Exemplary touch sensitive surfaces include trackpads and touch screen displays. Such surfaces are widely used to manipulate user interface objects on a first display associated with a first electronic device.

Exemplary manipulations include: adjusting a position and/or size of one or more user interface objects; activating a button or opening a file/application represented by a user interface object; or otherwise manipulate the user interface. Exemplary user interface objects include digital images, videos, text, icons, control elements such as buttons and other graphics.

Devices sometimes have first party (or native) device software (e.g., an operating system for devices and applications developed by or at the direction of the same entity that developed the operating system) and third party software that includes applications developed independently of the first party (or native) device software. Third party applications are sometimes loaded on the device to provide additional functionality to the device.

Disclosure of Invention

The user interfaces of third party applications are often customized and/or proprietary. In addition, dedicated user interfaces sometimes include text or controls that are too small to be safely used while driving. Moreover, different customized and/or dedicated user interfaces for different applications sometimes place controls with similar functionality in different locations, such that the user will spend additional time and attention locating and determining functionality of these different controls. Thus, it is cumbersome and inefficient to have different customized and/or specialized user interfaces for different applications. Furthermore, in some cases, these user interfaces take longer than necessary for user manipulation, thereby wasting energy. This latter consideration is particularly important in battery-powered devices.

Accordingly, there is a need for an electronic device having a faster, more efficient method for providing access to third party applications and eliminating driver distraction when using third party applications. Generating a user interface that improves the legibility and ease of use of the user interface for interacting with third party applications from templates used with the third party applications eliminates driver distraction and improves user efficiency. Such methods optionally supplement or replace conventional methods for generating user interfaces and providing access to third party applications. Such an approach relieves the cognitive burden on the user and generates a more efficient human-machine interface. For battery-driven devices, such an approach saves power and increases the time between battery charges.

The above-described deficiencies and other problems associated with user interfaces for electronic devices having touch-sensitive surfaces are reduced or eliminated by the disclosed devices. In some embodiments, the device is a desktop computer. In some embodiments, the device is portable (e.g., a laptop, tablet, or handheld device). In some embodiments, the device has a trackpad. In some embodiments, the device has a touch-sensitive display (also referred to as a "touchscreen" or "touchscreen display"). In some embodiments, an apparatus has a Graphical User Interface (GUI), one or more processors, memory, and one or more modules, programs, or sets of instructions stored in the memory for performing a plurality of functions. In some embodiments, the user interacts with the GUI primarily through finger contacts and gestures on the touch-sensitive surface. In some embodiments, these functions optionally include image editing, drawing, presentation, word processing, web page creation, disc editing, spreadsheet making, game playing, answering a call, video conferencing, emailing, instant messaging, exercise support, digital photography, digital video recording, web browsing, digital music playing, and/or digital video playing. Executable instructions for performing these functions are optionally included in a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium or other computer program product configured for execution by one or more processors.

According to some embodiments, a method is performed at an electronic device having one or more processors and memory. The method comprises the following steps: a first display request to display a user interface of a first third-party application on a respective display in communication with an electronic device is received. In response to receiving the first display request, the method includes: obtaining a first user interface template configured for use by a plurality of third-party applications; and requesting, from the first third-party application, one or more values for populating the first user-interface template. The method further comprises the following steps: receiving, from a first third-party application, a first set of values for populating a first user-interface template while the first third-party application is running on the electronic device; populating the first user interface template with a first set of values received from the first third-party application; generating a first user interface for the first third-party application using the first user interface template populated with the first set of values; and send information to the respective display that enables the first user interface for the first third-party application to be displayed on the respective display.

According to some embodiments, an electronic device includes a memory and a processing unit coupled to the memory. The processing unit is configured to receive a first display request to display a user interface of a first third-party application on a respective display unit in communication with the electronic device. The processing unit is further configured to, in response to receiving the first display request: obtaining a first user interface template configured for use by a plurality of third-party applications; and requesting one or more values from the first third-party application for populating the first user-interface template. The processing unit is further configured to: receiving, from a first third-party application, a first set of values for populating a first user-interface template while the first third-party application is running on the electronic device; populating the first user interface template with a first set of values received from the first third-party application; generating a first user interface for the first third-party application using the first user interface template populated with the first set of values; and send information to the respective display unit that enables the first user interface for the first third-party application to be displayed on the respective display unit.

According to some embodiments, an electronic device includes one or more processors, memory, and one or more programs; the one or more programs are stored in the memory and configured to be executed by the one or more processors, and the one or more programs include instructions for performing the operations of any of the methods described herein. According to some embodiments, a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium has stored therein instructions that, when executed by an electronic device, cause the device to perform the operations of any of the methods described herein. According to some embodiments, an electronic device comprises means for performing the operations of any of the methods described herein. According to some embodiments, an information processing apparatus for use in a first electronic device comprises means for performing the operations of any of the methods described herein.

Accordingly, electronic devices with displays have faster, more efficient methods for providing user interfaces for third party applications, thereby improving the effectiveness, efficiency, and user satisfaction of such devices. Such methods and interfaces may supplement or replace conventional methods for generating user interfaces.

Drawings

For a better understanding of the various described embodiments of the invention, reference should be made to the following description of the embodiments taken in conjunction with the following drawings in which like reference numerals represent corresponding parts throughout the figures.

FIG. 1A is a block diagram illustrating a portable multifunction device with a touch-sensitive display in accordance with some embodiments.

FIG. 1B is a block diagram illustrating exemplary components for event processing according to some embodiments.

FIG. 2 illustrates a portable multifunction device with a touch screen in accordance with some embodiments.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of an exemplary multifunction device with a display and a touch-sensitive surface in accordance with some embodiments.

FIG. 4A illustrates an exemplary user interface for an application menu on a portable multifunction device according to some embodiments.

FIG. 4B illustrates an exemplary user interface for a multifunction device with a touch-sensitive surface separate from a display in accordance with some embodiments.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating an operating environment in which a portable multifunction device communicates with an external information presentation system and/or server in accordance with some embodiments.

6A-6C illustrate exemplary user interfaces generated from templates, according to some embodiments.

7A-7I are flow diagrams illustrating a method of generating a user interface from a template according to some embodiments.

FIG. 8 is a functional block diagram of an electronic device according to some embodiments.

Detailed Description

Many electronic devices use graphical user interfaces. Many graphical user interfaces are custom designed or specific to individual applications. The methods and apparatus described below improve upon these methods by generating a user interface from a user interface template for use with a third party application. In some embodiments, the user interface template is a generic or application-independent user interface template used by a plurality of different applications. These user interfaces are displayed on respective displays. Using the same common user interface template for multiple different third party applications helps standardize the user interface of the third party applications. This standardization makes third party applications more intuitive and easier and more convenient to interact with while still providing users with access to the functionality of the third party applications.

These templates are particularly helpful in the following cases: a device is providing access to third party applications on an information presentation system external to the device, such as a smart phone that is providing access to third party applications on the smart phone through a touch screen display in an automobile. The information presentation system optionally has a display with one of a plurality of different sets of operating characteristics (e.g., display size, control type, etc.). In some embodiments, the respective display is a display in a vehicle information display system that is visible from a driver's seat of the vehicle in order to improve ease of use of the third party application by a driver and/or passenger in the vehicle.

1A-1B, FIGS. 2 and 3 provide a description of exemplary devices. 4A-4B and 6A-6C illustrate exemplary user interfaces generated from templates. 7A-7I are flow diagrams illustrating a method of providing a user interface for a third party application. Fig. 8 is a functional block diagram of an electronic device. The user interfaces in fig. 6A-6C are used to illustrate the processes in fig. 7A-7I.

Exemplary device

Reference will now be made in detail to embodiments, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. In the following detailed description, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of various described embodiments. However, it will be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art that various described embodiments may be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, well-known methods, procedures, components, circuits, and networks have not been described in detail as not to unnecessarily obscure aspects of the embodiments.

It will also be understood that, although the terms first, second, etc. may be used herein in some embodiments to describe various elements, these elements should not be limited by these terms. These terms are only used to distinguish one element from another. For example, a first contact may be termed a second contact, and, similarly, a second contact may be termed a first contact, without departing from the scope of the various described embodiments. The first contact and the second contact are both contacts, but they are not the same contact.

The terminology used in the description of the various described embodiments herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting. As used in the description of the various described embodiments and the appended claims, the singular forms "a," "an," and "the" are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will also be understood that the term "and/or" as used herein refers to and encompasses any and all possible combinations of one or more of the associated listed items. It will be further understood that the terms "comprises" and/or "comprising," when used in this specification, specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof.

As used herein, the term "if" is optionally to be interpreted to mean "when … …" or "at … …" or "in response to a determination" or "in response to a detection", depending on the context. Similarly, the phrase "if determined … …" or "if [ stated condition or event ] is detected" is optionally to be construed to mean "upon determination … …" or "in response to determination … …" or "upon detection of [ stated condition or event ] or" in response to detection of [ stated condition or event ] ", depending on the context.

Embodiments of an electronic device, a user interface for such a device, and an associated process for using such a device are presented. In some embodiments, the device is a portable communication device, such as a mobile telephone, that also contains other functions, such as personal digital assistant and/or music player functions. Exemplary embodiments of portable multifunction devices include, but are not limited to, those from Apple Inc (Cupertino, California)

iPod

And

an apparatus. Other portable electronic devices are optionally used, such as a laptop or tablet computer with a touch-sensitive surface (e.g., a touch screen display and/or a touch pad). It should also be understood that in some embodiments, the device is not a portable communication device, but is a desktop computer with a touch-sensitive surface (e.g., a touch screen display and/or a touch pad).

In the following discussion, an electronic device including a display and a touch-sensitive surface is presented. It should be understood, however, that the electronic device optionally includes one or more other physical user interface devices, such as a physical keyboard, mouse, and/or joystick.

Devices typically support a variety of applications, such as one or more of the following: a drawing application, a presentation application, a word processing application, a web page creation application, a disc editing application, a spreadsheet application, a gaming application, a telephone application, a video conferencing application, an email application, an instant messaging application, an exercise support application, a photo management application, a digital camera application, a digital video camera application, a web browsing application, a digital music player application, and/or a digital video player application.

Various applications executing on the device optionally use at least one common physical user interface device, such as a touch-sensitive surface. One or more functions of the touch-sensitive surface and corresponding information displayed on the device are optionally adjusted and/or varied from one application to the next and/or within a respective application. In this way, a common physical architecture of the device (such as a touch-sensitive surface) optionally supports various applications with a user interface that is intuitive and clear to the user.

Attention is now directed to embodiments of portable devices having touch sensitive displays. FIG. 1A is a block diagram illustrating a portable multifunction device 100 with a touch-sensitive display 112 in accordance with some embodiments. Touch-sensitive display 112 is sometimes referred to as a "touch screen" for convenience, and may sometimes be referred to or called a touch-sensitive display system. Device 100 includes memory 102 (optionally including one or more computer-readable storage media), a memory controller 122, one or more processing units (CPUs) 120, a peripheral interface 118, RF circuitry 108, audio circuitry 110, a speaker 111, a microphone 113, an input/output (I/O) subsystem 106, other input or control devices 116, and an external port 124. The device 100 optionally includes one or more optical sensors 164. Device 100 optionally includes one or more intensity sensors 165 (e.g., a touch-sensitive surface, such as touch-sensitive display system 112 of device 100) for detecting the intensity of contacts on device 100. Device 100 optionally includes one or more tactile output generators 167 for generating tactile outputs on device 100 (e.g., generating tactile outputs on a touch-sensitive surface, such as touch-sensitive display system 112 of device 100 or trackpad 355 of device 300). These components optionally communicate over one or more communication buses or signal lines 103.

As used in this specification and claims, the term "intensity" of a contact on a touch-sensitive surface refers to the force or pressure (force per unit area) of a contact (e.g., a finger contact) on the touch-sensitive surface, or to a substitute (surrogate) for the force or pressure of a contact on the touch-sensitive surface. The intensity of the contact has a range of values that includes at least four different values and more typically includes hundreds of different values (e.g., at least 256). The intensity of the contact is optionally determined (or measured) using various methods and various sensors or combinations of sensors. For example, one or more force sensors below or adjacent to the touch-sensitive surface are optionally used to measure forces at different points on the touch-sensitive surface. In some embodiments, force measurements from multiple force sensors are combined (e.g., a weighted average) to determine an estimated force of contact. Similarly, the pressure sensitive tip of the stylus is optionally used to determine the pressure of the stylus on the touch-sensitive surface. Alternatively, the size of the contact area detected on the touch-sensitive surface and/or changes thereto, the capacitance of the touch-sensitive surface proximate to the contact and/or changes thereto, and/or the resistance of the touch-sensitive surface proximate to the contact and/or changes thereto are optionally used as a substitute for the force or pressure of the contact on the touch-sensitive surface. In some embodiments, the surrogate measurement of contact force or pressure is used directly to determine whether an intensity threshold has been exceeded (e.g., the intensity threshold is described in units corresponding to the surrogate measurement). In some embodiments, the surrogate measurements of contact force or pressure are converted to an estimated force or pressure, and the estimated force or pressure is used to determine whether an intensity threshold has been exceeded (e.g., the intensity threshold is a pressure threshold measured in units of pressure).

As used in this specification and claims, the term "haptic output" refers to a physical displacement of a device relative to a previous position of the device, a physical displacement of a component of the device (e.g., a touch-sensitive surface) relative to another component of the device (e.g., a housing), or a displacement of a component relative to a center of mass of the device that is to be detected by a user through a sense of touch of the user. For example, where a device or component of a device is in contact with a surface of the user that is sensitive to touch (e.g., a finger, palm, or other portion of the user's hand), the tactile output generated by the physical displacement will be interpreted by the user as a tactile sensation that corresponds to the perceived change in the physical characteristic of the device or device component. For example, movement of a touch-sensitive surface (e.g., a touch-sensitive display or a trackpad) is optionally interpreted by a user as a "down click" or an "up click" of a physical actuation button. In some cases, the user will feel a tactile sensation, such as a "press click" or "release click," even when the physical actuation button associated with the touch-sensitive surface that is physically pressed (e.g., displaced) by the user's movement is not moving. As another example, movement of the touch-sensitive surface is optionally interpreted or sensed by the user as "roughness" of the touch-sensitive surface, even when there is no change in the smoothness of the touch-sensitive surface. While such interpretation of touches by a user will be limited by the user's individualized sensory perception, sensory perception of many touches is common to most users. Thus, when a haptic output is described as corresponding to a particular sensory perception of a user (e.g., "click down," "click up," "roughness"), unless otherwise stated, the generated haptic output corresponds to a physical displacement of the device or a component thereof that would generate the described sensory perception of a typical (or ordinary) user.

It should be understood that device 100 is just one example of a portable multifunction device, and that device 100 optionally has more or fewer components than shown, optionally combines two or more components, or optionally has a different configuration or arrangement of these components. The various components shown in fig. 1A are implemented in hardware, software, or a combination of software and hardware, including one or more signal processing and/or application specific integrated circuits.

The memory 102 optionally includes high-speed random access memory, and also optionally includes non-volatile memory, such as one or more magnetic disk storage devices, flash memory devices, or other non-volatile solid-state memory devices. Access to memory 102 by other components of device 100, such as CPU 120 and peripherals interface 118, is optionally controlled by memory controller 122.

Peripheral interface 118 may be used to couple input and output peripherals of the device to CPU 120 and memory 102. The one or more processors 120 run or execute various software programs and/or sets of instructions stored in the memory 102 to perform various functions of the device 100 and to process data.

In some embodiments, peripherals interface 118, CPU 120, and memory controller 122 are optionally implemented on a single chip, such as chip 104. In some other embodiments, they are optionally implemented on separate chips.

RF (radio frequency) circuitry 108 receives and transmits RF signals, also called electromagnetic signals. RF circuitry 108 converts electrical signals to/from electromagnetic signals and communicates with communication networks and other communication devices via electromagnetic signals. RF circuitry 108 optionally includes well-known circuitry for performing these functions, including but not limited to an antenna system, an RF transceiver, one or more amplifiers, a tuner, one or more oscillators, a digital signal processor, a codec chipset, a Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) card, memory, and so forth. RF circuitry 108 optionally communicates with networks, such as the internet (also known as the World Wide Web (WWW)), intranets, and/or wireless networks, such as cellular telephone networks, wireless Local Area Networks (LANs), and/or Metropolitan Area Networks (MANs), as well as other devices via wireless communications. The wireless communication optionally uses any of a number of communication standards, protocols, and technologies, including, but not limited to, global system for mobile communications (GSM), Enhanced Data GSM Environment (EDGE), High Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA), High Speed Uplink Packet Access (HSUPA), evolution, pure data (EV-DO), HSPA +, dual cell HSPA (DC-HSPDA), Long Term Evolution (LTE), Near Field Communication (NFC), wideband code division multiple access (W-CDMA), Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA), bluetooth, wireless fidelity (Wi-Fi) (e.g., IEEE 802.11a, IEEE 802.11b, IEEE 802.11g, and/or IEEE 802.11n), voice over internet protocol (VoiP), Wi-MAX, email protocols (e.g., Internet Message Access Protocol (IMAP), and/or Post Office Protocol (POP))), Instant messaging (e.g., extensible Messaging presence protocol (XMPP), Session initiation protocol for instant messaging and presence with extensions (SIMPLE), Instant Messaging and Presence Service (IMPS)), and/or Short Message Service (SMS), or any other suitable communication protocol, including communication protocols not yet developed at the filing date of this document.

Audio circuitry 110, speaker 111, and microphone 113 provide an audio interface between a user and device 100. The audio circuitry 110 receives audio data from the peripherals interface 118, converts the audio data to an electrical signal, and transmits the electrical signal to the speaker 111. The speaker 111 converts the electrical signals into human-audible sound waves. The audio circuitry 110 also receives electrical signals converted by the microphone 113 from sound waves. The audio circuitry 110 converts the electrical signals to audio data and transmits the audio data to the peripheral interface 118 for processing. Audio data is optionally retrieved from and/or transmitted to memory 102 and/or RF circuitry 108 by peripheral interface 118. In some embodiments, the audio circuitry 110 also includes a headset jack (e.g., 212 in fig. 2). The headset jack provides an interface between the audio circuitry 110 and removable audio input/output peripherals, such as output-only headphones or a headset with both output (e.g., monaural or binaural headphones) and input (e.g., microphone).

The I/O subsystem 106 couples input/output peripheral devices on the device 100, such as the touch screen 112 and other input control devices 116, to a peripheral interface 118. The I/O subsystem 106 optionally includes a display controller 156, an optical sensor controller 158, an intensity sensor controller 159, a haptic feedback controller 161, and one or more input controllers 160 for other input or control devices. The one or more input controllers 160 receive/transmit electrical signals from/to other input control devices 116. Other input control devices 116 optionally include physical buttons (e.g., push buttons, rocker buttons, etc.), dials, slide switches, joysticks, click wheels, and the like. In some alternative embodiments, input controller 160 is optionally coupled to (or not coupled to) any of: a keyboard, an infrared port, a USB port, and a pointing device such as a mouse. The one or more buttons (e.g., 208 in fig. 2) optionally include an up/down button for volume control of the speaker 111 and/or microphone 113. The one or more buttons optionally include a push button (e.g., 206 in fig. 2).

Touch-sensitive display 112 provides an input interface and an output interface between the device and a user. Display controller 156 receives electrical signals from touch screen 112 and/or transmits electrical signals to touch screen 112. Touch screen 112 displays visual output to a user. The visual output optionally includes graphics, text, icons, video, and any combination thereof (collectively "graphics"). In some embodiments, some or all of the visual output corresponds to a user interface object.

Touch screen 112 has a touch-sensitive surface, sensor, or group of sensors that accept input from a user based on tactile sensation and/or tactile contact. Touch screen 112 and display controller 156 (along with any associated modules and/or sets of instructions in memory 102) detect contact (and any movement or breaking of the contact) on touch screen 112 and convert the detected contact into interaction with user interface objects (e.g., one or more soft keys, icons, web pages, or images) displayed on touch screen 112. In an exemplary embodiment, the point of contact between touch screen 112 and the user corresponds to a finger of the user.

Touch screen 112 optionally uses LCD (liquid crystal display) technology, LPD (light emitting polymer display) technology, or LED (light emitting diode) technology, although other display technologies are used in other embodiments. Touch screen 112 and display controller 156 optionally detect contact and any movement or breaking thereof using any of a variety of touch sensing technologies now known or later developed, including but not limited to capacitive, resistive, infrared, and surface acoustic wave technologies, as well as other proximity sensor arrays or other elements for determining one or more points of contact with touch screen 112. In an exemplary embodiment, projected mutual capacitance sensing technology is used, such as that from Apple Inc (Cupertino, California)

iPod

And

the technique found.

The touch screen 112 optionally has a video resolution in excess of 100 dpi. In some embodiments, the touch screen has a video resolution of about 160 dpi. The user optionally makes contact with the touch screen 112 using any suitable object or appendage, such as a stylus, finger, or the like. In some embodiments, the user interface is designed to work primarily with finger-based contacts and gestures, which may be less accurate than stylus-based input due to the larger contact area of the finger on the touch screen. In some embodiments, the device translates the rough finger-based input into a precise pointer/cursor position or command to perform the action desired by the user.

In some embodiments, device 100 optionally includes a touch pad (not shown) for activating or deactivating particular functions in addition to the touch screen. In some embodiments, the trackpad is a touch-sensitive area of the device that, unlike a touchscreen, does not display visual output. The trackpad is optionally a touch-sensitive surface separate from touch screen 112 or an extension of the touch-sensitive surface formed by the touch screen.

The device 100 also includes a power system 162 for powering the various components. Power system 162 optionally includes a power management system, one or more power sources (e.g., batteries, Alternating Current (AC)), a recharging system, a power failure detection circuit, a power converter or inverter, a power status indicator (e.g., a Light Emitting Diode (LED)) and any other components associated with the generation, management and distribution of power in a portable device.

The device 100 optionally further includes one or more optical sensors 164. FIG. 1A shows an optical sensor coupled to an optical sensor controller 158 in the I/O subsystem 106. The optical sensor 164 optionally includes a Charge Coupled Device (CCD) or a Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor (CMOS) phototransistor. The optical sensor 164 receives light from the environment projected through one or more lenses and converts the light into data representing an image. In conjunction with imaging module 143 (also called a camera module), optical sensor 164 optionally captures still images or video. In some embodiments, an optical sensor is located on the back of device 100, opposite touch screen display 112 on the front of the device, so that the touch screen display can be used as a viewfinder for still and/or video image capture. In some embodiments, another optical sensor is located on the front of the device so that the user optionally obtains an image of the user for the video conference while viewing other video conference participants on the touch screen display.

Device 100 optionally further comprises one or more contact intensity sensors 165. FIG. 1A shows a contact intensity sensor coupled to an intensity sensor controller 159 in the I/O subsystem 106. Contact intensity sensor 165 optionally includes one or more piezoresistive strain gauges, capacitive force sensors, electrical force sensors, piezoelectric force sensors, optical force sensors, capacitive touch-sensitive surfaces, or other intensity sensors (e.g., sensors for measuring the force (or pressure) of a contact on a touch-sensitive surface). Contact intensity sensor 165 receives contact intensity information (e.g., pressure information or a proxy for pressure information) from the environment. In some embodiments, at least one contact intensity sensor is collocated with or proximate to a touch-sensitive surface (e.g., touch-sensitive display system 112). In some embodiments, at least one contact intensity sensor is located on the back of device 100, opposite touch screen display 112, which is located on the front of device 100.

The device 100 optionally further includes one or more proximity sensors 166. Fig. 1A shows a proximity sensor 166 coupled to the peripheral interface 118. Alternatively, the proximity sensor 166 is coupled to the input controller 160 in the I/O subsystem 106. In some embodiments, the proximity sensor turns off and disables the touch screen 112 when the multifunction device is placed near the user's ear (e.g., when the user is making a phone call).

Device 100 optionally further comprises one or more tactile output generators 167. FIG. 1A shows a haptic output generator coupled to a haptic feedback controller 161 in I/O subsystem 106. Tactile output generator 167 optionally includes: one or more electro-acoustic devices, such as speakers or other audio components; and/or an electromechanical device that converts energy into linear motion, such as a motor, solenoid, electroactive polymer, piezoelectric actuator, electrostatic actuator, or other tactile output generating component (e.g., a component that converts an electrical signal into a tactile output on the device). Contact intensity sensor 165 receives haptic feedback generation instructions from haptic feedback module 133 and generates haptic output on device 100 that can be sensed by a user of device 100. In some embodiments, at least one tactile output generator is collocated with or proximate to a touch-sensitive surface (e.g., touch-sensitive display system 112), and optionally generates tactile output by moving the touch-sensitive surface vertically (e.g., into/out of the surface of device 100) or laterally (e.g., back and forth in the same plane as the surface of device 100). In some embodiments, at least one tactile output generator sensor is located on the back of device 100, opposite touch screen display 112, which is located on the front of device 100.

Device 100 optionally also includes one or more accelerometers 168. Fig. 1A shows accelerometer 168 coupled to peripheral interface 118. Alternatively, accelerometer 168 is optionally coupled to input controller 160 in I/O subsystem 106. In some embodiments, the information is displayed in a portrait view or a landscape view on the touch screen display based on an analysis of the data received from the one or more accelerometers. Device 100 optionally includes a magnetometer (not shown) and a GPS (or GLONASS or other global navigation system) receiver (not shown) in addition to accelerometer 168 for obtaining information about the position and orientation (e.g., portrait or landscape) of device 100.

In some embodiments, the software components stored in memory 102 include an operating system 126, a communication module (or set of instructions) 128, a contact/motion module (or set of instructions) 130, a graphics module (or set of instructions) 132, a text input module (or set of instructions) 134, a Global Positioning System (GPS) module (or set of instructions) 135, and an application program (or set of instructions) 136. Further, in some embodiments, memory 102 stores device/global internal state 157, as shown in fig. 1A and 3. Device/global internal state 157 includes one or more of: an active application state indicating which applications (if any) are currently active; display state indicating what applications, views, or other information occupy various areas of the touch screen display 112; sensor status, including information obtained from the various sensors of the device and the input control device 116; and location information regarding the location and/or pose of the device.

Operating system 126 (e.g., Darwin, RTXC, LINUX, UNIX, OS X, WINDOWS, or an embedded operating system such as VxWorks) includes various software components and/or drivers for controlling and managing general system tasks (e.g., memory management, storage device control, power management, etc.) and facilitates communication between various hardware and software components.

The communication module 128 facilitates communication with other devices through one or more external ports 124, and also includes various software components for processing data received by the RF circuitry 108 and/or the external ports 124. An external port 124 (e.g., Universal Serial Bus (USB), firewire, etc.) is adapted to couple directly to other devices or indirectly through a network (e.g., the internet, wireless LAN, etc.). In some embodiments, the external port is a multi-pin (e.g., 30-pin) connector that is the same as or similar to and/or compatible with a 30-pin connector used on iPod (trademark of Apple inc.) devices. In some embodiments, the external port is a multi-pin (e.g., 8-pin) connector that is the same as or similar to and/or compatible with 8-pin connectors (e.g., lightning connectors) used on iPhone and iPod (trademark of Apple inc.) devices.

Contact/run module 130 optionally detects contact with touch screen 112 (in conjunction with display controller 156) and other touch sensitive devices (e.g., a trackpad or physical click wheel). Contact/motion module 130 includes various software components for performing various operations related to the detection of contact, such as determining whether contact has occurred (e.g., detecting a finger-down event), determining the intensity of contact (e.g., the force or pressure of the contact, or a substitute for the force or pressure of the contact), determining whether there is movement of the contact and tracking the movement across the touch-sensitive surface (e.g., detecting one or more finger-dragging events), and determining whether contact has ceased to be terminated (e.g., detecting a finger-up event or a break in contact). The contact/motion module 130 receives contact data from the touch-sensitive surface. Determining movement of the point of contact optionally includes determining velocity (magnitude), velocity (magnitude and direction), and/or acceleration (change in magnitude and/or direction) of the point of contact, the movement of the point of contact being represented by a series of contact data. These operations are optionally applied to single point contacts (e.g., single finger contacts) or multiple point simultaneous contacts (e.g., "multi-touch"/multiple finger contacts). In some embodiments, the contact/motion module 130 and the display controller 156 detect contact on a trackpad.

In some embodiments, the contact/motion module 130 uses a set of one or more intensity thresholds to determine whether an operation has been performed by the user (e.g., determine whether the user has "clicked" an icon). In some embodiments, at least a subset of the intensity thresholds are determined from software parameters (e.g., the intensity thresholds are not determined by the activation thresholds of particular physical actuators and may be adjusted without changing the physical hardware of device 100). For example, the mouse "click" threshold of the trackpad or touchscreen can be set to any of a wide range of predefined thresholds without changing the trackpad or touchscreen display hardware. Additionally, in some implementations, a user of the device is provided with software settings for adjusting one or more of the intensity threshold set values (e.g., by adjusting individual intensity thresholds and/or by adjusting multiple intensity thresholds at once with a system-level click on the "intensity" parameter).

The contact/motion module 130 optionally detects gesture input by the user. Different gestures on the touch-sensitive surface have different contact patterns (e.g., different motions, timings, and/or intensities of detected contacts). Thus, the gesture is optionally detected by detecting a specific contact pattern. For example, detecting a finger tap gesture includes detecting a finger down event, and then detecting a finger up (lift off) event at the same location (or substantially the same location) as the finger down event (e.g., at an icon location). As another example, detecting a finger swipe gesture on the touch-sensitive surface includes detecting a finger-down event, then detecting one or more finger-dragging events, and then subsequently detecting a finger-up (lift-off) event.

Graphics module 132 includes various known software components for presenting and displaying graphics on touch screen 112 or other display, including components for changing the visual impact (e.g., brightness, transparency, saturation, contrast, or other visual characteristics) of the displayed graphics. As used herein, the term "graphic" includes any object that may be displayed to a user, including without limitation text, web pages, icons (such as user interface objects including soft keys), digital images, videos, animations and the like.

In some embodiments, the graphics module 132 stores data representing graphics to be used. Each graphic is optionally assigned a corresponding code. The graphics module 132 receives one or more codes specifying graphics to be displayed from an application program or the like, and also receives coordinate data and other graphics attribute data together if necessary, and then generates screen image data to output to the display controller 156.

Haptic feedback module 133 includes various software components for generating instructions for use by haptic output generator 167 to produce haptic outputs at one or more locations on device 100 in response to user interaction with device 100.

Text input module 134, which is optionally a component of graphics module 132, provides a soft keyboard for entering text in various applications such as contacts 137, email 140, IM 141, browser 147, and any other application that requires text input.

The GPS module 135 determines the location of the device and provides this information for use in various applications (e.g., to the phone 138 for location-based dialing, to the camera 143 as photo/video metadata, and to applications that provide location-based services, such as weather desktop applets, local yellow pages desktop applets, and map/navigation desktop applets).

Application 136 optionally includes the following modules (or sets of instructions), or a subset or superset thereof:

contacts module 137 (sometimes called an address book or contact list);

a phone module 138;

a video conferencing module 139;

an email client module 140;

an Instant Messaging (IM) module 141;

an internet broadcast module 142;

a camera module 143 for still and/or video images;

an image management module 144;

a browser module 147;

a calendar module 148;

desktop applet module 149, optionally including one or more of: a weather desktop applet 149-1, a stock market desktop applet 149-2, a calculator desktop applet 149-3, an alarm desktop applet 149-4, a dictionary desktop applet 149-5, and other desktop applets obtained by the user, and a user created desktop applet 149-6;

a digital personal assistant module 150;

a vehicle integration module 151;

a video and music player module 152, optionally consisting of a video player module and a music player module;

notes module 153;

a map module 154; and/or

Music library module 155.

Examples of other applications 136 that are optionally stored in memory 102 include other word processing applications, other image editing applications, drawing applications, presentation applications, JAVA-enabled applications, encryption, digital rights management, voice recognition, and voice replication.

In conjunction with touch screen 112, display controller 156, contact module 130, graphics module 132, and text input module 134, contacts module 137 is optionally used to manage contact lists or contact lists (e.g., stored in memory 102 or in application internal state 192 of contacts module 137 in memory 370), including: adding a name to the address book; deleting names from the address book; associating a telephone number, email address, physical address, or other information with a name; associating the image with a name; classifying and classifying names; providing a telephone number or email address to initiate and/or facilitate communication through telephone 138, video conference 139, email 140, or IM 141; and so on.

In conjunction with RF circuitry 108, audio circuitry 110, speaker 111, microphone 113, touch screen 112, display controller 156, contact module 130, graphics module 132, and text input module 134, telephone module 138 is optionally used to enter a sequence of characters corresponding to a telephone number, access one or more telephone numbers in address book 137, modify an already entered telephone number, dial a corresponding telephone number, conduct a conversation, and disconnect or hang up when the conversation is complete. As noted above, the wireless communication optionally uses any of a variety of communication standards, protocols, and technologies.

In conjunction with RF circuitry 108, audio circuitry 110, speaker 111, microphone 113, touch screen 112, display controller 156, optical sensor 164, optical sensor controller 158, contact module 130, graphics module 132, text input module 134, contact list 137, and telephony module 138, video conference module 139 includes executable instructions for initiating, conducting, and ending a video conference between a user and one or more other participants according to user instructions.

In conjunction with RF circuitry 108, touch screen 112, display controller 156, contact module 130, graphics module 132, and text input module 134, email client module 140 includes executable instructions for creating, sending, receiving, and managing emails in response to user instructions. In conjunction with the image management module 144, the email client module 140 makes it very easy to create and send an email with a still image or a video image captured by the camera module 143.

In conjunction with RF circuitry 108, touch screen 112, display controller 156, contact module 130, graphics module 132, and text input module 134, instant message module 141 includes executable instructions for inputting a sequence of characters responsive to an instant message, modifying previously input characters, transmitting a corresponding instant message (e.g., using a Short Message Service (SMS) or Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS) protocol for a phone-based instant message or using XMPP, SIMPLE, or IMPS for an internet-based instant message), receiving an instant message, and viewing the received instant message. In some embodiments, the transmitted and/or received instant messages optionally include graphics, photos, audio files, video files, and/or MMS and/or other attachments supported in an Enhanced Messaging Service (EMS). As used herein, "instant message" refers to both telephony-based messages (e.g., messages sent using SMS or MMS) and internet-based messages (e.g., messages sent using XMPP, SIMPLE, or IMPS).

In conjunction with touch screen 112, display system controller 156, contact module 130, graphics module 132, audio circuitry 110, speakers 111, and RF circuitry 108, internet broadcast module 142 is a hypothetical third-party application that includes executable instructions for selecting and playing an internet broadcast station.

In conjunction with touch screen 112, display controller 156, optical sensor 164, optical sensor controller 158, contact module 130, graphics module 132, and image management module 144, camera module 143 includes executable instructions for capturing still images or video (including video streams) and storing them in memory 102, modifying characteristics of the still images or video, or deleting the still images or video from memory 102.

In conjunction with touch screen 112, display controller 156, contact module 130, graphics module 132, text input module 134, and camera module 143, image management module 144 includes executable instructions for arranging, modifying (e.g., editing), or otherwise manipulating, labeling, deleting, presenting (e.g., in a digital slide or album), and storing still and/or video images.

In conjunction with RF circuitry 108, touch screen 112, display system controller 156, contact module 130, graphics module 132, and text input module 134, browser module 147 includes executable instructions for browsing the internet (including searching, linking to, receiving, and displaying web pages or portions thereof, and attachments and other files linked to web pages) according to user instructions.

In conjunction with the RF circuitry 108, the touch screen 112, the display system controller 156, the contact module 130, the graphics module 132, the text input module 134, the email client module 140, and the browser module 147, the calendar module 148 includes executable instructions for creating, displaying, modifying, and storing a calendar and data associated with the calendar (e.g., calendar entries, to-do task lists, etc.) according to user instructions.

In conjunction with the RF circuitry 108, the touch screen 112, the display system controller 156, the contact module 130, the graphics module 132, the text input module 134, and the browser module 147, the desktop applet module 149 is a mini-application (e.g., a weather desktop applet 149-1, a stock market desktop applet 149-2, a calculator desktop applet 149-3, an alarm clock desktop applet 149-4, and a dictionary desktop applet 149-5) or a mini-application created by a user (e.g., a user created desktop applet 149-6) that is optionally downloaded and used by the user. In some embodiments, the desktop applet includes an HTML (HyperText markup language) file, a CSS (cascading Style sheet) file, and a JavaScript file. In some embodiments, the desktop applet includes an XML (extensible markup language) file and a JavaScript file (e.g., Yahoo! desktop applet).

In conjunction with RF circuitry 108, audio circuitry 110, speaker 111, microphone 113, touch screen 112, display controller 156, contact module 130, graphics module 132, and text input module 134, digital personal assistant module 150 records voice commands and sends information representing the recorded voice commands to a server, such as server 510 in fig. 5, for analysis and responds to the voice commands based on responses from the server.

The vehicle integration module 151 includes executable instructions for one or more intermediate processes that control a vehicle information display system in a vehicle (e.g., a car, truck, van, etc.) to provide a user interface, such as for a mapping application or a music application, on a respective display of the vehicle information display system (e.g., the display 547 of the external information presentation system 540 in fig. 5). The vehicle-integrated application converts information from the third-party application into content for display by the vehicle-integrated application on a respective display of the vehicle information display system.

In conjunction with touch screen 112, display system controller 156, contact module 130, graphics module 132, audio circuitry 110, speakers 111, RF circuitry 108, and browser module 147, video and music player module 152 includes executable instructions that allow a user to download and playback recorded music and other sound files stored in one or more file formats, such as MP3 or AAC files, as well as executable instructions for displaying, presenting, or otherwise playing back video (e.g., on touch screen 112 or on an external display connected via external port 124). In some embodiments, the device 100 optionally includes the functionality of an MP3 player, such as an iPod (trademark of Apple inc.).

In conjunction with the touch screen 112, the display controller 156, the contact module 130, the graphics module 132, and the text input module 134, the notes module 153 includes executable instructions for creating and managing notes, to-do task lists, and the like according to user instructions.

In conjunction with RF circuitry 108, touch screen 112, display system controller 156, contact module 130, graphics module 132, text input module 134, GPS module 135, and browser module 147, map module 154 is optionally used to receive, display, modify, and store maps and data associated with maps (e.g., driving routes; data related to stores and other points of interest at or near a particular location; and other location-based data) according to user instructions.

In conjunction with touch screen 112, display system controller 156, contact module 130, graphics module 132, audio circuitry 110, speaker il, and RF circuitry 108, music library module 155 is a hypothetical third-party application that includes executable instructions for selecting and playing songs from a music library.

Each of the modules and applications described above corresponds to a set of executable instructions for performing one or more of the functions described above as well as the methods described in this application (e.g., the computer-implemented methods and other information processing methods described herein). These modules (i.e., sets of instructions) need not be implemented as separate software programs, procedures or modules, and thus various subsets of these modules are optionally combined or otherwise rearranged in various embodiments. In some embodiments, memory 102 optionally stores a subset of the modules and data structures described above. Further, memory 102 optionally stores additional modules and data structures not described above.

In some embodiments, device 100 is a device on which the operation of a predefined set of functions is performed exclusively through a touch screen and/or a trackpad. The number of physical input control devices (such as push buttons, dials, and the like) on device 100 is optionally reduced by using a touch screen and/or touch pad as the primary input control device for operation of device 100.

The predefined set of functions performed exclusively by the touchscreen and/or trackpad optionally includes navigation between user interfaces. In some embodiments, the trackpad, when touched by a user, navigates device 100 from any user interface displayed on device 100 to a main, home, or root menu. In such embodiments, the "menu button" is executed using a touch pad. In some other embodiments, the menu button is a physical push button or other physical input control device, rather than a touchpad.

FIG. 1B is a block diagram illustrating exemplary components for event processing according to some embodiments. In some embodiments, memory 102 (in FIG. 1A) or memory 370 (FIG. 3) includes event classifier 170 (e.g., in operating system 126) and corresponding application 136-1 (e.g., any of the aforementioned applications 137-13, 155, 380 and 390).

Event sorter 170 receives the event information and determines application 136-1 and application view 191 of application 136-1 to which the event information is to be passed. The event sorter 170 includes an event monitor 171 and an event scheduler module 174. In some embodiments, the application 136-1 includes an application internal state 192 that indicates a current application view that is displayed on the touch-sensitive display 112 when the application is active or executing. In some embodiments, the device/global internal state 157 is used by the event classifier 170 to determine which application(s) are currently active, and the application internal state 192 is used by the event classifier 170 to determine the application view 191 to which to pass event information.

In some embodiments, the application internal state 192 includes additional information, such as one or more of the following: resume information to be used when the application 136-1 resumes execution, user interface state information indicating information being displayed by the application 136-1 or ready for display by the application 136-1, a state queue for enabling a user to return to a previous state or view of the application 136-1, and a repeat/undo queue of previous actions taken by the user.

Event monitor 171 receives event information from peripheral interface 118. The event information includes information about a sub-event (e.g., a user touch on touch-sensitive display 112 as part of a multi-touch gesture). Peripherals interface 118 transmits information it receives from I/O subsystem 106 or sensors (such as proximity sensor 166), accelerometer 168, and/or microphone 113 (through audio circuitry 110). Information received by peripheral interface 118 from I/O subsystem 106 includes information from touch-sensitive display 112 or a touch-sensitive surface.

In some embodiments, event monitor 171 sends requests to peripheral interface 118 at predetermined intervals. In response, peripheral interface 118 transmits the event information. In other embodiments, peripheral interface 118 transmits event information only when there is a significant event (e.g., receiving input above a predetermined noise threshold and/or receiving input for more than a predetermined duration).

In some embodiments, event classifier 170 further includes hit view determination module 172 and/or active event recognizer determination module 173.

When touch-sensitive display 112 displays more than one view, hit view determination module 172 provides a software process for determining where a sub-event has occurred within one or more views. The view consists of controls and other elements that the user can see on the display.

Another aspect of the user interface associated with an application is a set of views, sometimes referred to herein as application views or user interface windows, in which information is displayed and touch-based gestures occur. The application view (of the respective application) in which the touch is detected optionally corresponds to a programmatic level within a programmatic or view hierarchy of applications. For example, the lowest level view in which a touch is detected is optionally called a hit view, and the set of events identified as correct inputs is optionally determined based at least in part on the hit view of the initial touch starting from the touch-based gesture.

Hit view determination module 172 receives information related to sub-events of the touch-based gesture. When an application has multiple views organized in a hierarchy, hit view determination module 172 identifies the hit view as the lowest view in the hierarchy that should handle the sub-event. In most cases, the hit view is the lowest level view in which the initiating sub-event (i.e., the first sub-event in the sequence of sub-events that form an event or potential event) occurs. Once the hit view is identified by the hit view determination module, the hit view typically receives all sub-events related to the same touch or input source for which it was identified as the hit view.

The active event recognizer determination module 173 determines which view or views within the view hierarchy should receive a particular sequence of sub-events. In some embodiments, the active event recognizer determination module 173 determines that only the hit view should receive a particular sequence of sub-events. In other embodiments, active event recognizer determination module 173 determines that all views that include the physical location of the sub-event are actively involved views, and thus determines that all actively involved views should receive a particular sequence of sub-events. In other embodiments, even if the touch sub-event is completely confined to the area associated with a particular view, the higher views in the hierarchy will remain actively involved views.

The event scheduler module 174 schedules event information to an event recognizer (e.g., event recognizer 180). In embodiments that include an active event recognizer determination module 173, the event dispatcher module 174 passes the event information to the event recognizer determined by the active event recognizer determination module 173. In some embodiments, the event scheduler module 174 stores event information in an event queue, which is retrieved by the corresponding event receiver module 182.

In some embodiments, the operating system 126 includes an event classifier 170. Alternatively, application 136-1 includes event classifier 170. In another embodiment, the event classifier 170 is a stand-alone module or is part of another module stored in the memory 102, such as the contact/motion module 130.

In some embodiments, the application 136-1 includes a plurality of event handlers 190 and one or more application views 191, each of which includes instructions for handling touch events that occur within a respective view of the application's user interface. Each application view 191 of the application 136-1 includes one or more event recognizers 180. Typically, the respective application view 191 includes a plurality of event recognizers 180. In other embodiments, one or more of the event recognizers 180 are part of a separate module, such as a user interface toolkit (not shown) or a higher level object from which the application 136-1 inherits methods and other characteristics. In some embodiments, the respective event handlers 190 comprise one or more of: data updater 176, object updater 177, GUI updater 178, and/or event data 179 received from event sorter 170. Event handler 190 optionally utilizes or calls data updater 176, object updater 177 or GUI updater 178 to update application internal state 192. Alternatively, one or more of the application views 191 include one or more corresponding event handlers 190. Additionally, in some embodiments, one or more of data updater 176, object updater 177, and GUI updater 178 are included in a respective application view 191.

The corresponding event recognizer 180 receives event information (e.g., event data 179) from the event classifier 170 and identifies events from the event information. The event recognizer 180 includes an event receiver 182 and an event comparator 184. In some embodiments, the event recognizer 180 further comprises at least a subset of: metadata 183, and event delivery instructions 188 (optionally including sub-event delivery instructions).

The event receiver 182 receives event information from the event classifier 170. The event information includes information about the sub-event, such as a touch or touch movement. Depending on the sub-event, the event information also includes additional information, such as the location of the sub-event. When the sub-event relates to the action of a touch, the event information optionally also includes the velocity and direction of the sub-event. In some embodiments, the event comprises rotation of the device from one orientation to another (e.g., from a portrait orientation to a landscape orientation, or vice versa), and the event information comprises corresponding information about the current orientation of the device (also referred to as the device pose).

Event comparator 184 compares the event information to predefined event or sub-event definitions and determines an event or sub-event or determines or updates the state of an event or sub-event based on the comparison. In some embodiments, event comparator 184 includes event definitions 186. Event definition 186 contains definitions of events (e.g., predefined sub-event sequences), such as event 1(187-1), event 2(187-2), and others. In some embodiments, sub-events in event 187 include, for example, touch start, touch end, touch move, touch cancel, and multi-touch. In one example, the definition of event 1(187-1) is a double click on the displayed object. For example, the double tap includes a first touch (touch start) on the displayed object for a predetermined length of time, a first lift-off (touch end) for a predetermined length of time, a second touch (touch start) on the displayed object for a predetermined length of time, and a second lift-off (touch end) for a predetermined length of time. In another example, the definition of event 2(187-2) is a drag on the displayed object. For example, the drag includes a touch (or contact) on the displayed object for a predetermined duration, a movement of the touch on touch-sensitive display 112, and a lift-off of the touch (touch-off). In some embodiments, the event also includes information for one or more associated event handlers 190.

In some embodiments, event definition 187 includes definitions of events for respective user interface objects. In some embodiments, event comparator 184 performs a hit test to determine which user interface object is associated with a sub-event. For example, in an application view in which three user interface objects are displayed on touch-sensitive display 112, when a touch is detected on touch-sensitive display 112, event comparator 184 performs a hit test to determine which of the three user interface objects is associated with the touch (sub-event). If each displayed object is associated with a corresponding event handler 190, the event comparator uses the results of the hit test to determine which event handler 190 should be activated. For example, event comparator 184 selects the event handler associated with the object and sub-event that triggered the hit test.

In some embodiments, the definition of the respective event 187 further includes a delay action that delays the delivery of the event information until after it has been determined whether the sequence of sub-events does correspond to the event type of the event recognizer.

When the respective event recognizer 180 determines that a sub-event string does not match any event in the event definition 186, the respective event recognizer 180 enters an event not possible, event failed, or event ended state, which then disregards subsequent sub-events of the touch-based gesture. In this case, the other event recognizers (if any) that remain active for the hit view continue to track and process sub-events of the ongoing touch-based gesture.

In some embodiments, the respective event recognizer 180 includes metadata 183 with configurable attributes, flags, and/or lists that indicate how the event delivery system should perform sub-event delivery to actively involved event recognizers. In some embodiments, metadata 183 includes configurable attributes, flags, and/or lists that indicate how or how event recognizers interact with each other. In some embodiments, metadata 183 includes configurable attributes, flags, and/or lists that indicate whether a sub-event is passed to varying levels in the view or programmatic hierarchy.

In some embodiments, when one or more particular sub-events of an event are identified, the respective event identifier 180 activates an event handler 190 associated with the event. In some embodiments, the respective event identifier 180 passes event information associated with the event to the event handler 190. The activation event handler 190 is distinct from sending (and deferring sending) sub-events to the corresponding hit view. In some embodiments, the event recognizer 180 throws a flag associated with the recognized event, and the event handler 190 associated with the flag receives the flag and performs a predefined process.

In some embodiments, event delivery instructions 188 include sub-event delivery instructions that deliver event information about sub-events without activating an event handler. Instead, the sub-event delivery instructions deliver event information to event handlers associated with the sub-event string or to actively involved views. Event handlers associated with the sub-event strings or with actively involved views receive the event information and perform a predetermined process.

In some embodiments, data updater 176 creates and updates data used in application 136-1. For example, data updater 176 updates a phone number used in contacts module 137, or stores a video file used in video player module 145. In some embodiments, object updater 177 creates and updates objects used in application 136-1. For example, object updater 176 creates a new user interface object, or updates the location of a user interface object. GUI updater 178 updates the GUI. For example, GUI updater 178 prepares display information and sends the display information to graphics module 132 for display on the touch-sensitive display.

In some embodiments, event handler 190 includes or has access to data updater 176, object updater 177, and GUI updater 178. In some embodiments, data updater 176, object updater 177, and GUI updater 178 are included in a single module of a respective application 136-1 or application view 191. In other embodiments, they are included in two or more software modules.

It should be understood that the above discussion of event processing with respect to user touches on a touch sensitive display also applies to other forms of user input utilizing an input device to operate multifunction device 100, not all of which are initiated on a touch screen. For example, mouse movements and mouse button presses, optionally in conjunction with single or multiple keyboard presses or holds; contact movements on the touchpad, such as tapping, dragging, scrolling, etc.; inputting by a stylus; movement of the device; verbal instructions; detected eye movement; a biometric input; and/or any combination thereof, is optionally used as input corresponding to sub-events defining the event to be identified.

FIG. 2 illustrates a portable multifunction device 100 with a touch screen 112 in accordance with some embodiments. The touch screen optionally displays one or more graphics within the User Interface (UI) 200. In this embodiment, as well as other embodiments described below, a user can select one or more of these graphics by, for example, gesturing graphically with one or more fingers 202 (not drawn to scale in the figure) or with one or more styluses 203 (not drawn to scale in the figure). In some embodiments, the selection of the one or more graphics occurs when the user breaks contact with the one or more graphics. In some embodiments, the gesture optionally includes one or more taps, one or more swipes (left to right, right to left, up, and/or down), and/or a swipe of a finger (right to left, left to right, up, and/or down) that has made contact with device 100. In some implementations, or in some cases, inadvertent contact with a graphic does not select the graphic. For example, a swipe gesture that sweeps over an application icon optionally does not select the corresponding application when the gesture corresponding to the selection is a tap.

Device 100 optionally also includes one or more physical buttons, such as a "home screen" or menu button 204. As previously described, the menu button 204 is optionally used to navigate to any application 136 in a set of applications that are optionally executed on the device 100. Alternatively, in some embodiments, the menu buttons are implemented as soft keys in a GUI displayed on touch screen 112.

In one embodiment, device 100 includes touch screen 112, menu buttons 204, push buttons 206 for turning the device on and off and locking the device, volume adjustment button(s) 208, Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) card slot 210, headset jack 212, and docking/charging external port 124. Pressing the button 206 optionally serves to power the device on and off by pressing the button and holding the button in a pressed state for a predefined time interval; locking the device by depressing the button and releasing the button before the predefined time interval has elapsed; and/or unlocking the device or initiating an unlocking process. In an alternative embodiment, device 100 also accepts verbal input through microphone 113 for activating or deactivating certain functions. Device 100 also optionally includes one or more contact intensity sensors 165 for detecting the intensity of contacts on touch screen 112, and/or one or more tactile output generators 167 for generating tactile outputs for a user of device 100.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of an exemplary multifunction device with a display and a touch-sensitive surface in accordance with some embodiments. The device 300 need not be portable. In some embodiments, the device 300 is a laptop computer, desktop computer, tablet computer, multimedia player device, navigation device, educational device (such as a child learning toy), gaming system, or control device (e.g., a home or industrial controller). Device 300 typically includes one or more processing units (CPUs) 310, one or more network or other communication interfaces 360, memory 370, and one or more communication buses 320 for interconnecting these components. The communication bus 320 optionally includes circuitry (sometimes called a chipset) that interconnects and controls communication between system components. Device 300 includes an input/output (I/O) interface 330, where interface 330 includes a display 340, which is typically a touch screen display (e.g., touch screen display 112). I/O interface 330 also optionally includes a keyboard and/or mouse (or other pointing device) 350 and a touchpad 355, a tactile output generator 357 (e.g., similar to tactile output generator 167 described above with reference to fig. 1A) for generating tactile outputs on device 300, a sensor 359 (e.g., an optical sensor, an acceleration sensor, a proximity sensor, a touch-sensitive sensor, and/or a contact intensity sensor similar to contact intensity sensor 165 described above with reference to fig. 1A). Memory 370 includes high speed random access memory, such as DRAM, SRAM, DDR RAM or other random access solid state memory devices; and optionally includes non-volatile memory, such as one or more magnetic disk storage devices, optical disk storage devices, flash memory devices, or other non-volatile solid-state storage devices. Memory 370 optionally includes one or more storage devices located remotely from CPU 310. In some embodiments, memory 370 stores programs, modules, and data structures similar to, or a subset of, the programs, modules, and data structures stored in memory 102 of portable multifunction device 100 (FIG. 1A). Further, memory 370 optionally stores additional programs, modules, and data structures not present in memory 102 of portable multifunction device 100. For example, memory 370 of device 300 optionally stores drawing module 380, presentation module 382, word processing module 384, website creation module 386, disk editing module 388, and/or spreadsheet module 390, while memory 102 of portable multifunction device 100 (FIG. 1A) optionally does not store these modules.

Each of the above identified elements in fig. 3 is optionally stored in one or more of the previously mentioned memory devices. Each of the identified modules corresponds to a set of instructions for performing a function described above. The above identified modules or programs (i.e., sets of instructions) need not be implemented as separate software programs, procedures or modules, and thus various subsets of these modules are optionally combined or otherwise rearranged in various embodiments. In some embodiments, memory 370 optionally stores a subset of the modules and data structures described above. Further, memory 370 optionally stores additional modules and data structures not described above.

Attention is now directed to embodiments of a user interface ("UI") optionally implemented on portable multifunction device 100.

FIG. 4A illustrates an exemplary user interface for an application menu on portable multifunction device 100 according to some embodiments. A similar user interface is optionally implemented on device 300. In some embodiments, the user interface 400 includes the following elements, or a subset or superset thereof:

signal strength indicators 402 for wireless communications (such as cellular signals and Wi-Fi signals);

time 404;

a bluetooth indicator 405;

a battery status indicator 406;

tray 408 with common application icons such as:

an icon 416 of the phone module 138 labeled "phone," which icon 416 optionally includes an indicator 414 of the number of missed calls or voice messages;

an icon 418 of the email client module 140 labeled "mail", the icon 418 optionally including an indicator 410 of the number of unread emails;

icon 420 of the browser module 147, labeled "browser"; and

an icon 422 labeled "iPod" of the video and music player module 152 (also called iPod (trademark of Apple inc.) module 152); and

icons for other applications, such as:

icon 424 of IM module 141 labeled "text";

icon 426 of calendar module 148 labeled "calendar";

icon 428 of image management module 144 marking "photos";

icon 430 of camera module 143 labeled "camera";

an icon 432 of music library module 155 labeled "music library";

an icon 434 of the stock market desktop applet 149-2 labeled "stock market";

icon 436 of the map module 154 labeled "map";

icon 438 labeled "weather" for weather desktop applet 149-1;

icon 440 of alarm clock desktop applet 149-4 labeled "clock";

an icon 442 of the internet broadcasting module 142 labeled "internet broadcasting";

an icon 444 of the note module 153 marking "notes"; and

an icon 446 that sets applications or modules, the icon 446 providing access to settings of the device 100 and its various applications 136;

it should be noted that the icon labels shown in fig. 4A are merely exemplary. For example, icon 422 of video and music player module 152 is labeled "music" or "music player". Other tabs are optionally used for various application icons. In some embodiments, the label of the respective application icon includes a name of the application corresponding to the respective application icon. In some embodiments, the label of a particular application icon is different from the name of the application corresponding to the particular application icon.

Fig. 4B illustrates an exemplary user interface on a device (e.g., device 300 in fig. 3) having a touch-sensitive surface 451 (e.g., tablet or trackpad 355 in fig. 3) separate from a display 450 (e.g., touch screen display 112). Device 300 also optionally includes one or more contact intensity sensors (e.g., one or more of sensors 357) for detecting the intensity of contacts on touch-sensitive surface 451, and/or one or more tactile output generators 359 for generating tactile outputs for a user of device 300.

Although some of the examples that follow will be given with reference to input on touch screen display 112 (where the touch-sensitive surface and the display are combined), in some embodiments, the device detects input on a touch-sensitive surface that is separate from the display, as shown in FIG. 4B. In some embodiments, the touch-sensitive surface (e.g., 451 in fig. 4B) has a primary axis (e.g., 452 in fig. 4B) that corresponds to a primary axis (e.g., 453 in fig. 4B) on the display (e.g., 450). In accordance with these embodiments, the device detects contacts (e.g., 460 and 462 in fig. 4B) with the touch-sensitive surface 451 at locations that correspond to respective locations on the display (e.g., in fig. 4B, 460 corresponds to 468 and 462 corresponds to 470). Thus, when the touch-sensitive surface (e.g., 451 in FIG. 4B) is separated from the display (450 in FIG. 4B) of the multifunction device, user inputs (e.g.,

contacts

460 and 462, and their movements) detected by the device on the touch-sensitive surface are used by the device to manipulate the user interface on the display. It should be understood that similar methods are optionally used for the other user interfaces described herein.

Additionally, while the following examples are given primarily with reference to finger inputs (e.g., finger contact, finger tap gesture, finger swipe gesture), it should be understood that in some embodiments one or more of these finger inputs are replaced by inputs from another input device (e.g., mouse-based inputs or stylus inputs). For example, the swipe gesture is optionally replaced by a mouse click (e.g., rather than a contact), followed by movement of the cursor along the path of the swipe (e.g., rather than movement of the contact). As another example, the flick gesture is optionally replaced by a mouse click (e.g., rather than detection of a contact followed by termination of detection of the contact) while the cursor is over the location of the flick gesture. Similarly, when multiple user inputs are detected simultaneously, it should be understood that multiple computer mice are optionally used simultaneously, or one mouse and multiple finger contacts are optionally used simultaneously.

FIG. 5 illustrates a block diagram of an operating environment 500, in accordance with some embodiments. Operating environment 500 includes a server 510, one or more communication networks 505, portable multifunction device 100, and an external information presentation system 540. In some embodiments, the external information presentation system 540 is implemented in a vehicle.

The server 510 typically includes one or more processing units (CPUs) 512 for executing modules, programs, and/or instructions stored in a memory 524 to perform processing operations, one or more network or other communication interfaces 520, a memory 524, and one or more communication buses 522 for interconnecting these components. The communication bus 522 optionally includes circuitry (sometimes called a chipset) that interconnects and controls communication between system components. The memory 524 includes high-speed random access memory, such as DRAM, SRAM, DDR RAM or other random access solid state memory devices, and may include non-volatile memory, such as one or more magnetic disk storage devices, optical disk storage devices, flash memory devices or other non-volatile solid state storage devices. Memory 524 optionally includes one or more storage devices located remotely from CPU 512. The memory 524 or another non-volatile memory device within the memory 524 includes a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium. In some embodiments, memory 524 or the computer readable storage medium of memory 524 stores the following programs, modules and data structures, or a subset thereof:

operating system 526, including processes for handling various underlying system services and processes for performing hardware-related tasks. And

a network communication module 528 for connecting the server 510 (wired or wirelessly) to other computing devices via one or more communication network interfaces 520 and one or more communication networks 505, such as the internet, other wide area networks, local area networks, metropolitan area networks, and the like.

The portable multifunction device 100 generally includes the components described with reference to fig. 1A-1B and/or fig. 3.

External information presentation system 540 typically includes one or more processing units (CPU)542 for executing modules, programs, and/or instructions stored in a memory 554 in order to perform processing operations, one or more network or other communication interfaces 550, a memory 554, and one or more communication buses 552 for interconnecting these components. The external information presentation system 540 optionally includes a user interface 546, which user interface 546 includes a display device 547 and controls 548 (e.g., mechanical affordances (affordance), buttons or knobs, touch-sensitive surfaces such as a touchscreen display, or other input sources). In some embodiments, the display 547 is a touch screen display capable of receiving user touch input. The communication bus 552 optionally includes circuitry (sometimes called a chipset) that interconnects and controls communication between system components. The memory 554 comprises high-speed random access memory, such as DRAM, SRAM, DDR RAM or other random access solid state memory devices, and optionally non-volatile memory, such as one or more magnetic disk storage devices, optical disk storage devices, flash memory devices or other non-volatile solid state storage devices. Memory 554 optionally includes one or more storage devices located remotely from CPU 542. The memory 552 or an alternative non-volatile memory device within the memory 552 includes a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium. In some embodiments, memory 552 or a computer readable storage medium of memory 552 stores the following programs, modules, and data structures, or a subset thereof:

an operating system 556, including processes for handling various underlying system services and processes for performing hardware-related tasks. And

a network communication module 558 for connecting the server 540 (wired or wirelessly) to other computing devices via one or more communication network interfaces 550 and one or more communication networks 505, such as the internet, other wide area networks, local area networks, metropolitan area networks, and the like.

In some embodiments, the device 100 drives a display 547 of the system 540. For example, the apparatus 100 sends a video signal to the system 540, and the CPU 542 of the system 540 renders the video signal on the display 547. In some embodiments, the device 100 sends the video signal directly to the display 547 and the CPU 542 is not used to render the video signal (e.g., the device 100 uses the display 547 as an auxiliary display). In some embodiments, the user interface displayed on the touch screen 112 of the device 100 is synchronized with the user interface displayed on the display 547 of the system 540, and in some other embodiments, the user interface displayed on the touch screen 112 of the device 100 is not synchronized with the user interface displayed on the display 547 of the system 540. In some embodiments, system 540 sends information to device 100 corresponding to user input (e.g., user touch input on display 547, or user input through control 548), and device 100 updates the user interface displayed on touch screen 112 of device 100 according to the received information.

User interface and associated process

Attention is now directed to embodiments of a user interface ("UI") and associated processes that may be implemented on an electronic device, such as device 300 or portable multifunction device 100, having a display and a touch-sensitive surface.

6A-6C illustrate exemplary user interfaces generated from templates used with third party applications, according to some embodiments. The user interfaces in these figures are used to illustrate the processes described below, including the processes in fig. 7A-7I.

FIG. 6A illustrates a user interface template 601 displayed on a display 547 of an external information presentation system 540. In some embodiments, the system 540 is included in a vehicle (e.g., in a dashboard or steering wheel of the vehicle). In some embodiments, the display 547 is a touch screen display configured to receive user touch input. FIG. 6A also shows a plurality of user interface objects (sometimes referred to herein as "affordances" or "selectable user interface objects") including an application title bar 602, a default main menu 604, a customization menu 608, a content selection view 606, an active item bar 610, and an exit button 612. In some embodiments, the user interface template contains fewer affordances than shown in template 601 to further simplify the user interface and prevent driver distraction.

Fig. 6B shows an example of a user interface generated from a user interface template 601 (e.g., for use with an internet broadcast application). Fig. 6B illustrates an application title bar 602 that displays the title of the current application (e.g., internet broadcast application), a main menu 604 with default controls (e.g., up, down, search, sort, etc.), a custom menu 608 (e.g., favorites menu) with application specific controls (e.g., filter favorites, add favorites that are currently to corresponding to specific functionality), and an exit button 612. Fig. 6B also shows a content selection view 606 (e.g., station selection) showing selection options for the current application (e.g., soft jazz station 103, korean pop music station 105, etc.), and an activity item bar 610 showing information about the currently active item (e.g., hard rock music station 101).

Fig. 6C shows an example of a user interface generated from a user interface template 601 (e.g., for use with a music library application) that is different from the user interface generated from the template 601 shown in fig. 6B. Fig. 6C shows an application title bar 602 that displays the title of the current application (e.g., music library App), a main menu 604 with default controls (e.g., up, down, search, sort, etc.), a custom menu 608 (e.g., user playlist menu) with application-specific controls (e.g., playlist 1, playlist 2, etc.), and an exit button 612. Fig. 6C also shows a content selection view 606 (e.g., song library) that displays selection options for the current application (e.g., store song 103, store song 105, etc.), and an active items column 610 that displays information about the currently active item (e.g., store song 101).

As shown in fig. 6B-6C, a generic template (e.g., template 601 shown in fig. 6A) is optionally used to generate a different user interface for a different third party application by inserting information retrieved from the different third party application into user interface template 601 (e.g., the user interface for the internet broadcast application shown in fig. 6B is different than the user interface for the music library application shown in fig. 6C). However, the different user interfaces shown in FIGS. 6B and 6C share similarities, making them easier to use (e.g., in both the user interfaces in FIGS. 6B and 6C, an affordance for selecting playable content is displayed in the content selection view 606; and in both the user interfaces in FIGS. 6B and 6C, information about the media currently being played is displayed in the activity item bar 610). In addition, the template optionally imposes a minimum text size in order to ensure that the text displayed in the user interface in fig. 6B and 6C is easily readable.

7A-7I are flow diagrams illustrating a method 700 of providing a user interface for a third party application, according to some embodiments. The method 700 is performed at an electronic device (e.g., device 300 in fig. 3 or portable multifunction device 100 in fig. 1A). In some embodiments, an electronic device includes a display and a touch-sensitive surface. In some embodiments, the display is a touch screen display and the touch sensitive surface is on the display. In some embodiments, the display is separate from the touch-sensitive surface. Some operations in method 700 are optionally combined, and/or the order of some operations is optionally changed.

As described below, the method 700 provides a user interface for third party applications that reduces the cognitive burden on a user when interacting with the third party application, thereby creating a more efficient human-machine interface. For battery-powered electronic devices, enabling a user to interact with the user interface faster and more efficiently conserves power and increases the time between battery charges.

The device receives (702) a first display request to display a user interface of a first third-party application on a respective display in communication (via a wired connection or a wireless connection) with the electronic device. For example, the device receives an input corresponding to activating an application launch icon for the first third-party application (e.g., a tap gesture on internet broadcast icon 442 (fig. 4A) for internet broadcast application 142 (fig. 1A or 3) or a tap gesture on music library icon 432 (fig. 4A) for music library application 155 (fig. 1A or 3)) from a control associated with the respective display or a control associated with the electronic device. In some embodiments, the respective display is a display of the device (e.g., touch screen 112 of portable multifunction device 100). In some embodiments, the respective display is a display separate from the device (e.g., display 547 of external information presentation system 540 in fig. 5).

In response to receiving the first display request (704), the device obtains (706) a first user interface template configured (or designed) for use by a plurality of third-party applications; and the device requests (710), from the first third party application, one or more values for populating the first user interface template. In some embodiments, the first user interface template is a generic or application-independent (or non-dependent) user interface template used by a plurality of different applications. For example, in some embodiments, the device obtains the user interface template 601 shown in FIG. 6A.

In some embodiments, the respective display is (708) a display in a vehicle information display system visible from a driver seat of the vehicle; and the first user interface template is one of a plurality of predetermined user interface templates configured to generate a user interface for the third party application on the respective display, thereby preventing driver distraction (e.g., the plurality of predetermined templates having a large font and a number of easily selectable options that can be operated by the driver without distracting the driver from safe driving). Thus, in some embodiments, the use of these predetermined user interface templates enables the device to provide the user with access to the functionality of one or more third party applications while maintaining some control over the appearance of the user interface displayed on the respective display in order to ensure that the user interface on the respective display is simple and intuitive to use.

In some embodiments, values at the first third-party application are arranged (711) into a tree structure including a plurality of nodes having predetermined characteristics and having tree relationships (e.g., parent relationships or child relationships) with one or more other nodes in the tree structure. In some embodiments, the request for one or more values for populating the first user-interface template includes one or more of: a request to return a value corresponding to a child node list of a respective node of the plurality of nodes (e.g., for a node corresponding to an artist, a child node corresponds to a song by the artist or an album by the artist); a request to return a value corresponding to a list of characteristics of a respective node of the plurality of nodes; a request to provide content represented by the respective node (e.g., a request to provide audio content corresponding to an audio file, an audio stream, a video file, a video stream, and/or a playlist or broadcaster corresponding to a plurality of different units of content); a request to provide a list of nodes that match the search query (e.g., a request to provide a list of artists, photo albums, songs, radio stations, audiobooks, podcasts, etc. that match a set of one or more search terms and optionally, logical operators that connect the search terms); and a request to provide a list of actions specific to the first third-party application that are available when access to content associated with the first third-party application is provided (e.g., "like," "skip," "add to favorites," "mark up," or other special purpose operation). In some embodiments, the characteristics of the respective nodes include one or more of: the source image of the respective node, an identifier of the respective node, a duration of media content associated with the respective node, a title of the respective node (a track or a title of a radio station currently being played), a subtitle of the respective node (e.g., an artist of a song currently being played or a track of a radio station currently being played), a playable flag indicating whether the respective node is playable, a played flag indicating whether the respective node has been played, and/or a container flag indicating whether the respective node is a container with children nodes.

When a first third party application is running on the electronic device, the device receives (712) a first set of values from the first third party application for populating the first user interface template (e.g., receives a list of names of internet streaming radio stations). For example, fig. 6B shows a user interface template 601 populated with data from an application entitled "internet broadcast application".

In some embodiments, one or more values in the first set of values are retrieved (713), by the first third-party application, from a remote source (e.g., a server in communication with the first third-party application, such as server 510 in fig. 5) in response to a request for one or more values for populating the first user-interface template. For example, when a streaming internet radio station has been selected for play, the first third party application initiates sending a request to the remote server to start streaming the streaming internet radio station, and requests the name of the song, as well as the artist and corresponding album artwork of the song to be played on the streaming internet radio station. The first third-party application receives the values and transmits the values to the intermediary process for incorporation into a "now playing" user interface template that the intermediary process will transmit to the respective display.

In some embodiments, the device includes (714) a digital personal assistant process with voice recognition capabilities (e.g., digital personal assistant 150, the digital personal assistant 150 recording voice commands and sending information representing the recorded voice commands to a server, such as server 510 in fig. 5, for analysis, and responding to voice commands based on responses from the server). In some embodiments, the device determines (715) capabilities of the first third-party application based on responses from the first third-party application to a plurality of requests for values by the third-party application, the values being associated with user interface templates that populate user interfaces for respective displays (e.g., a digital personal assistant process traverses a tree structure of metadata for the first third-party application and maps out various options and metadata accessible through the first third-party application). In some embodiments, the device generates (716) an index of capabilities of the first third-party application (e.g., based on a map of various options and metadata accessible through the first third-party application). In some embodiments, the device provides (718) voice access to the capabilities of the first third-party application through a digital personal assistant process (e.g., enabling a user to request display of a list of songs by a particular artist using voice commands, display of a list of internet streaming radio stations available for play, playback of a particular song by a particular artist, or search through a media presentation application to obtain media that matches a verbally stated search query). For example, for a streaming internet radio application, the personal assistant will traverse and index the tree structure of metadata for available streaming internet radio stations and other operations that may be performed by the streaming internet radio application. The user is then enabled to provide verbal commands to the digital personal assistant to start playing a radio station, stop playing a radio station, create a new radio station based on the current song, skip a song, or other operations using voice commands related to the digital personal assistant (e.g., "assistant, please play artist X radio station," "assistant, please skip this song," "assistant, please list all radio stations created in the past week," or "assistant, please mark this song as favorite").

In some embodiments, the device detects (720) whether a predetermined condition has been met. In response to detecting that the predetermined condition has been met, the device re-determines (721) the capabilities of the first third-party application and re-generates a list of the capabilities of the first third-party application (e.g., re-indexes the various options accessible by the first third-party application when the device is placed in communication with a respective display, such as display 547 of external information presentation system 540 (FIG. 5), the device is connected to a vehicle information display system including the respective display, and/or a third-party application is launched.) for example, for a streaming internet radio application, the availability of a streaming internet radio station is optionally determined based on the availability of an internet connection for receiving the streaming internet radio station; similarly, if a user creates/subscribes to a new broadcast station or deletes/unsubscribes to an old broadcast station, the metadata associated with the streaming internet broadcast application changes (e.g., which broadcast stations are nodes in a tree structure and/or which broadcast stations are playable). To address the changed metadata at the streaming internet radio application, the device periodically reconstructs an index of the metadata at the streaming internet radio application (e.g., when the streaming internet radio application is started, or when the device is connected to the vehicle information display system). In some embodiments, the third party application proactively notifies the digital personal assistant that some portion of the metadata has changed or updated, and prompts the digital personal assistant to reconstruct an index of that portion (or all) of the metadata of the third party application. In response to receiving information that the portion of the metadata has changed or the third party application is next launched, the digital personal assistant reconstructs an index of the portion (or all) of the metadata of the third party application.

The device populates (722) the first user-interface template with a first set of values received from the first third-party application. For example, in accordance with these embodiments, FIG. 6B illustrates a user interface template 601 populated with data from a third party application entitled "Internet broadcast application" (e.g., station selection, favorites, current station, etc.) to generate the user interface of FIG. 6C for the third party application displayed on display 547.

In some embodiments, the first user interface template is used by a plurality of different third party applications, including (724) a first third party application and a second third party application. In some embodiments, populating the first user interface template with the values received from the respective third-party application includes: the values identified by the respective third-party application as belonging to the first class of values are inserted in the predefined area at a predefined font size in a user interface provided to the respective display. For the first user interface template, the first third party application identifies a first type of information as a first type of value and the second third party application identifies a second type of information different from the first type of information as the first type of value. For example, FIG. 6B shows user interface template 601 populated with values associated with Internet radio stations, and FIG. 6C shows user interface template 601 populated with values associated with stored songs. According to these embodiments, fig. 6B and 6C illustrate user interface templates having the same font size.

In some embodiments, for a first user interface template: the first third party application identifies (726) a name of a remotely generated content station (e.g., a streaming internet radio station) as a first type value; and the second third party application identifies the predetermined name of the playlist as the first type value. In some embodiments, the predetermined playlist is different than the streaming internet radio station in that the predetermined playlist has a set length and the content of the playlist is set when the user selects the playlist for play, whereas the streaming internet radio station is a continuous stream of music having an undetermined length that lasts as long as the user listens and includes content that is selected remotely (e.g., automatically by a computer according to a music selection algorithm, or manually by a music program host, a radio program host, or other person unrelated to the action by the user of the device). For example, in fig. 6B-6C, the device identifies the name of the streaming internet radio station as a first type value (e.g., a description of a playable media content item) for the internet broadcast application in fig. 6B (e.g., 142 in fig. 1A), and the device identifies the name of the song as a first type value for the music library application in fig. 6C (e.g., 155 in fig. 1A).

In some embodiments, for a first user interface template: the first third-party application identifies (728) a name of content (e.g., on-demand streaming of music or other media content over a distributed data network such as the internet) that is streamable to the device as a first-class value; and the second third party application identifies the name of the content (e.g., language learning program, audio book, music, podcast, etc.) stored on the device as a first type value.

The device generates (730) a first user interface for the first third-party application using the first user interface template populated with the first set of values. For example, fig. 6B illustrates a user interface generated from the user interface template 601 and values received from an internet broadcast application. According to this example, fig. 6B shows: a default main menu 604, the default main menu 604 including an information button (e.g., for returning a value corresponding to a list of characteristics for a respective node), an activation button (e.g., for providing content represented by a respective node), a search button (e.g., for providing a list of nodes matching a search query); and a customization menu 608 having customization buttons (e.g., for providing a list of actions specific to the first third-party application, the actions being available when providing access to content associated with the first third-party application).

In some embodiments, the apparatus includes (732) a plurality of processes, including: a first third-party application process for running a first third-party application, and a set of one or more intermediate processes for relaying information between a respective display and the first third-party application process (e.g., an application for integrating a third-party application with a vehicle information display system (such as a navigation or entertainment system) or other external information display system (such as external information presentation system 540 in fig. 5)). In some embodiments, the request for one or more values for populating the first user-interface template is generated by an intermediary process from a set of one or more intermediary processes; and the first user interface is generated by an intermediary process from a set of one or more intermediary processes. For example, a smart phone (e.g., portable multifunction device 100 in fig. 5) has a vehicle integration application 151 (e.g., an application that includes one or more intermediate processes), the vehicle integration application 151 controlling a vehicle information display system in a vehicle (e.g., a car, truck, van, etc.) to provide a user interface, such as for mapping applications or music applications, on a respective display of the vehicle information display system (e.g., display 547 of external information presentation system 540 in fig. 5). The smart phone also has one or more third party applications, such as a standalone podcast application or a streaming internet radio application, and the vehicle-integrated application converts information from the third party application into content for display by the vehicle-integrated application on a respective display of the vehicle information display system.

In some embodiments, the first third party application is (734) a media presentation application (e.g., internet broadcast 142 in fig. 1A). In some embodiments, the device includes a first-party application that is a media presentation application (e.g., video and music player module 152 in FIG. 1A); the first-party application includes a first-party user interface having a plurality of selectable affordances for requesting performance of a media presentation operation and one or more content presentation areas (e.g., an area for displaying a list of available media) at respective locations in the first-party user interface; and generating the first user interface for the first third-party application comprises: a user interface is generated that includes a selectable affordance and one or more content presentation areas that correspond in function and location to the selectable affordance and content presentation area of the first-party user interface. Thus, in some embodiments, the first user interface template is a template that conforms information from the third party application to a standardized user interface having controls, content areas, and appearances similar to the first party media presentation application so as to provide a consistent user interface familiar to the user and thus prevent driver distraction when displayed on the vehicle information display system visible from the driver's seat of the vehicle.

The device sends (736) or otherwise provides information to the respective display that enables the first user interface for the first third-party application to be displayed on the respective display (e.g., portable multifunction device 100 provides information to display 547 of external information presentation system 540 in FIG. 5).

In some embodiments, when a first user interface for a first third-party application is displayed on a respective display, the device receives (738) a respective input from an input device for the respective display (e.g., a touch-sensitive surface that coincides with the respective display, or a button or knob for controlling the respective display) that corresponds to a selection of an option in the first user interface (e.g., the selected option is an option to play, pause, find, display a new menu, or perform an operation specific to the third-party application, such as "like," "skip," or "add to favorites"). In response to receiving the respective input, the device provides (740), to a first third-party application running on the electronic device, information that enables the first third-party application to respond to selection of the option in the first user interface. In some embodiments, the device receives (742), from the first third-party application, a response to the selection of the option from the first third-party application; and sends (744) or otherwise provides information to the respective display that causes a response to the selection of the option to be provided (e.g., displayed) to the user. For example, a list of names of streaming internet radio stations is presented to the user on a respective display, the user taps the name of the respective streaming internet radio station (e.g., on a touch screen display of the external information presentation system 540 in fig. 5), an intermediary process at the device (e.g., the portable multifunction device 100 in fig. 5) provides information indicating that the respective streaming internet radio station has been selected to a first third-party application, the first third-party application requests a server (e.g., the server 510 in fig. 5) to provide artwork, a title, a subtitle, and an audio stream for the respective streaming internet radio station and then provides this information to an intermediary process (e.g., at the portable multifunction device 100 in fig. 5), the intermediary process generates a user interface based on the information and the user interface template and transmits the generated user interface to the respective display for display (e.g., on the display 547 of the external information presentation system 540 in fig. 5).

In some embodiments, a first party intermediary process at the device mediates communication between the respective displays and the first third party application by: the data from the first third-party application is converted to a standardized, simplified user interface to prevent distracted driving, and the first third-party application is made responsive to the input by relaying the input corresponding to user interaction with the user interface displayed on the respective display, even when the first third-party application is not provided with information indicative of the size, resolution, and other characteristics of the respective display and does not have direct access to user interaction with the user interface displayed on the respective display. For example, the third party application is not provided the time and location of the touch input, but rather obtains what information the user requests as information filtered through the first party intermediary process.

In some embodiments, when the first user interface of the first third-party application is displayed on the respective display (746), the device receives (748) information indicating a selection of a respective option in the first user interface (e.g., a selection of a container or a node having child nodes, such as an "artist" folder of songs including the selected artist, or a selection of a particular internet streaming radio station of the plurality of internet streaming radio stations). In some embodiments, in response to receiving information indicating selection of a respective option in the first user interface (750): the device obtains (752) a second user interface template (e.g., a template for displaying the contents of the container, such as a playlist template or a "now playing" user interface template) that is different from the first user interface template; and requesting (754) from the first third party application one or more values for populating the second user interface template. In some embodiments, when the first third party application is running on the electronic device, the device receives (756), from the first third party application, a second set of values for populating the second user interface template (e.g., name and play time information for a selected artist song for a playlist template, or name of a currently playing broadcast station for a "now playing" template, name of a currently playing song, artwork for a currently playing song); populating (758) a second user interface template with a second set of values received from the first third party application; generating (760) a second user interface for the first third-party application by using the second user interface template populated with the second set of values (e.g., inserting the name and play time information for the song by the selected artist into a playlist template, or inserting the name of the currently playing radio station, the name of the currently playing song, and an artwork for the currently playing song into a "now playing" template that includes controls for controlling pausing/starting/stopping/fast-forwarding/rewinding the currently playing song); and sending (762) or otherwise providing information to the respective display that enables a second user interface for the first third-party application to be displayed on the respective display.

In some embodiments, after sending (764) information to the respective displays that enables the first user interface for the first third-party application to be displayed on the respective displays, the device receives (766) a second display request to display a user interface for a second third-party application that is different from the first third-party application on the respective displays (e.g., receives activation of an application launch icon for the second third-party application using a control associated with the respective displays or a control associated with the electronic device). For example, when the user initially plays audio from the internet streaming application 142 (e.g., using the user interface for the streaming internet broadcast application shown in fig. 6B), the user switches to playing audio from a separate podcast application or an audio book application. In some embodiments, in response to receiving the second display request, the device requests (768) from the second third-party application one or more values for populating the first user-interface template; receiving (770) a third set of values from the second third-party application for populating the first user-interface template while the second third-party application is running on the electronic device; populating (772) the first user interface template with a third set of values received from the second third-party application; generating (774) a second user interface for the second third-party application using the first user interface template populated with the third set of values; and send (776) (or otherwise provide) information to the respective display that causes a second user interface for a second third-party application (e.g., the user interface for the music library application 155 shown in fig. 6C) to be displayed on the respective display. Thus, in some embodiments, when a different third party application using the same first user interface template is requested, the device repeats the process of requesting values from the third party application to populate the first user interface template. In this case, this process repeats because the first user-interface template is designed or configured for use by a plurality of different third-party applications.

In some embodiments, after sending the information to the respective display that enables the first user interface for the first third-party application to be displayed on the respective display (764): the device receives (778) an updated first set of values from the first third party application for populating the first user interface template. In some embodiments, in response to receiving the updated first set of values (780) for populating the first user-interface template, the device populates (782) the first user-interface template with the updated first set of values received from the first third-party application; generating (784) a first user interface for the first third-party application using the first user interface template populated with the updated first set of values; and providing (786) information to the respective display that enables the updated first user interface for the first third-party application to be displayed on the respective display. In some embodiments, the updated first set of values is determined based on an event occurring at the first third-party application (e.g., an update to a user interface for the first third-party application is initiated by the first third-party application, rather than by an intermediary process). For example, the third party application is a streaming media application and the data connection of the device is terminated. In response to detecting that the data connection has terminated functioning, the third party application transmits information to an intermediary process at the device indicating that the state of the streaming content previously marked as "playable" (e.g., when there is a working data connection) has changed such that the content is "unplayable" (e.g., because the data connection is no longer available). In some embodiments, when content changes from "playable" to "unplayable," the first user interface for the first third-party application is updated to indicate that the content is "unplayable" (e.g., by removing the content from a list of playable content, or by changing the appearance of the presentation of the content by reducing the contrast of the presentation or displaying a "unplayable" icon or symbol near the presentation of the content to indicate that the content is not currently playable). For example, in fig. 6B, if the device terminates access to a streaming internet radio station shown in content selection view 606, the device will regenerate the user interface shown in fig. 6B to reflect the unavailability of the streaming internet radio station (e.g., by displaying a non-playable icon adjacent to the name of the unavailable station, by reducing the contrast of the unavailable station (graying out the unavailable station), or by removing the station from content selection view 606).

It should be understood that the particular order of operations that have been described in fig. 7A-7I is merely exemplary and is not intended to suggest that the order is the only order in which the operations may be performed. Various ways of reordering the operations described herein will occur to those of ordinary skill in the art.

Fig. 8 illustrates a functional block diagram of a first electronic device 800 configured in accordance with the principles of various described embodiments, in accordance with some embodiments. The functional blocks of the device are optionally implemented by hardware, software, or a combination of hardware and software which embody the principles of the various described embodiments. Those skilled in the art will understand that the functional blocks described in fig. 8 are optionally combined or separated into sub-blocks in order to implement the principles of the various described embodiments. Thus, the description herein optionally supports any possible combination or separation or further definition of the functional blocks described herein.

As shown in fig. 8, the electronic device 800 includes a memory coupled to a processing unit 802. In some embodiments, the electronic device 800 further comprises a communication interface unit 804, the communication interface unit 804 being coupled to the processing unit 802 and configured to communicate with a respective display unit 806. In some embodiments, the processing unit 802 includes a receiving unit 807, an obtaining unit 808, a requesting unit 810, a populating unit 812, an interface generating unit 814, a sending unit 816, an information providing unit 818, a determining unit 820, an index generating unit 822, a speech providing unit 824, a detecting unit 826, and a digital assistant unit 828. The processing unit 802 is configured to receive (e.g., via the communication interface unit 804 using the receiving unit 807) a first display request to display a user interface of a first third-party application (e.g., using the respective display unit 806) on a respective display unit in communication with the electronic device 800. The processing unit 802 is further configured to, in response to receiving the first display request: obtaining (e.g., with obtaining unit 808) a first user-interface template configured for use by a plurality of third-party applications; and request (e.g., with the requesting unit 810) one or more values from the first third-party application for populating the first user-interface template. The processing unit 802 is further configured to: receiving (e.g., with receiving unit 807 or communication interface unit 804) a first set of values from the first third-party application for populating the first user-interface template while the first third-party application is running on the electronic device; populate (e.g., with a population unit 812) the first user-interface template with the first set of values received from the first third-party application; generate (e.g., with the interface generation unit 814) a first user interface for the first third-party application using the first user interface template populated with the first set of values; and send (e.g., with sending unit 816) information to the respective display unit that enables the first user interface for the first third-party application to be displayed on the respective display unit (e.g., respective display unit 806).

In some embodiments, the processing unit 802 is further configured to: while the first user interface for the first third-party application is displayed on the respective display unit (e.g., the respective display unit 806), receiving (e.g., via the communication interface unit 804 with the receiving unit 807) respective input from the input device for the respective display unit corresponding to selection of an option in the first user interface; and in response to receiving the respective input, provide (e.g., with information providing unit 818) information to the first third-party application that is running on the electronic device that enables the first third-party application to respond to selection of the option in the first user interface. In some embodiments, the processing unit 802 is further configured to: receiving (e.g., with the receiving unit 807 through the communication interface unit 804) a response from the first third-party application to the selection of the option from the first third-party application; and transmit (e.g., with transmitting unit 816) information to the respective display units that causes a response to the selection of the option to be provided to the user.

In some embodiments, processing unit 802 is further configured to, when the first user interface for the first third-party application is displayed on a respective display unit (e.g., respective display unit 806): receiving (e.g., through the communication interface unit 804 using the receiving unit 807) information indicating a selection of a corresponding option in the first user interface; and in response to receiving the information indicating the selection of the corresponding option in the first user interface: obtaining (e.g., with obtaining unit 808) a second user-interface template that is different from the first user-interface template; and request (e.g., with the requesting unit 810) one or more values from the first third-party application for populating the second user-interface template. In some embodiments, the processing unit 802 is further configured to: receiving (e.g., via the communication interface unit 804 with the receiving unit 807) a second set of values from the first third-party application for populating the second user-interface template while the first third-party application is running on the electronic device; populate (e.g., with a population unit 812) the second user-interface template with the second set of values received from the first third-party application; generating (e.g., with interface generation unit 814) a second user interface for the first third-party application by using the second user interface template populated with the second set of values; and send (e.g., with sending unit 816) information to the respective display unit that enables the second user interface for the first third-party application to be displayed on the respective display unit (e.g., respective display unit 806).

In some embodiments, the processing unit 802 is further configured to: after transmitting (e.g., with transmitting unit 816) information to the respective display units that enables the first user interface for the first third-party application to be displayed on the respective display units (e.g., respective display units 806), receiving (e.g., with receiving unit 807 or communication interface unit 804) a second display request to display a user interface for a second third-party application that is different from the first third-party application on the respective display units (e.g., respective display units 806). In some embodiments, the processing unit 802 is further configured to: in response to receiving the second display request, requesting (e.g., with requesting unit 810) one or more values from the second third-party application for populating the first user-interface template; receiving (e.g., via the communication interface unit 804 with the receiving unit 807) a third set of values from the second third-party application for populating the first user-interface template while the second third-party application is running on the electronic device; populate (e.g., with a population unit 812) the first user-interface template with a third set of values received from the second third-party application; generate (e.g., with interface generation unit 814) a second user interface for the second third-party application using the first user interface template populated with the third set of values; and send (e.g., with sending unit 816) information to the respective display unit that enables a second user interface for a second third-party application to be displayed on the respective display unit (e.g., respective display unit 806).

In some embodiments, the apparatus includes a plurality of processes, the plurality of processes including: a first third party application process for running a first third party application, and a set of one or more intermediate processes for relaying information between the respective display unit and the first third party application process; the request for one or more values for populating the first user-interface template is generated by an intermediary process from a set of one or more intermediary processes; and the first user interface is generated by an intermediary process from a set of one or more intermediary processes.

In some embodiments, one or more values of the first set of values are retrieved from a remote source by the first third-party application in response to a request for one or more values for populating the first user-interface template.

In some embodiments, the respective display unit (e.g., respective display unit 806) is a display unit in a vehicle information display system that is visible from a driver seat of the vehicle; and the first user interface template is one of a plurality of predetermined user interface templates configured for generating a user interface for the third party application on the respective display unit, thereby preventing driver distraction.

In some embodiments, the first user interface template is used by a plurality of different third party applications, including a first third party application and a second third party application; populating (e.g., using population element 812) the first user interface template with values received from the respective third-party application includes: inserting values identified by the respective third-party application as belonging to the first class of values in the predefined area at a predefined font size in a user interface provided to the respective display unit; and, for the first user interface template: the first third party application program identifies the first type information as a first type value; and the second third party application identifies a second type of information, different from the first type of information, as the first type of value.

In some embodiments, for a first user interface template: the first third party application identifies the name of the remotely generated content station as a first type value; and the second third party application identifies the predetermined name of the playlist as the first type value.

In some embodiments, for a first user interface template: identifying, by the first third-party application, a name of content that can be streamed to the device as a first type value; and the second third party application identifies the name of the content stored on the device as a first type of value.

In some embodiments, the values at the first third party application are arranged into a tree structure comprising a plurality of nodes having predetermined characteristics and having tree relationships with one or more other nodes in the tree structure; and the request (e.g., with the requesting unit 810) for one or more values for populating the first user interface template includes one or more of: a request to return a value of a child node list corresponding to a respective node of the plurality of nodes; a request to return a value of a list of characteristics corresponding to a respective node of the plurality of nodes; a request to provide content represented by a respective node; a request to provide a list of nodes matching the search query; and a request to provide a list of actions specific to the first third-party application, the actions being performable when providing access to content associated with the first third-party application.

In some embodiments, the first third party application is a media presentation application. In some embodiments, device 800 includes a first-party application that is a media presentation application; the first-party application includes a first-party user interface having a plurality of selectable affordances and one or more content presentation areas at respective locations in the first-party user interface for requesting performance of a media presentation operation; and generating (e.g., with interface generation unit 814) a first user interface for the first third-party application includes: a user interface is generated that includes a selectable affordance and one or more content presentation areas that correspond in function and location to the selectable affordance and content presentation area of the first-party user interface.

In some embodiments, processing unit 802 is further configured to, after sending information to the respective display unit that enables the first user interface for the first third-party application to be displayed on the respective display unit (e.g., respective display unit 806): receiving (e.g., with receiving unit 807 via communication interface unit 804) an updated first set of values for populating the first user interface template from the first third party application; and, in response to receiving the updated first set of values for populating the first user-interface template: populate (e.g., with a population unit 812) the first user interface template with the updated first set of values received from the first third-party application; generate (e.g., with interface generation unit 814) an updated first user interface for the first third-party application using the first user interface template populated with the updated first set of values; and provide (e.g., with information providing unit 818) information to the respective display unit that enables the updated first user interface for the first third-party application to be displayed on the respective display unit.

In some embodiments, device 800 includes a digital personal assistant process (e.g., digital assistant unit 828) having voice recognition capabilities. In some embodiments, the processing unit 802 is further configured to: determining (e.g., with determining unit 820) capabilities of the first third-party application based on responses from the first third-party application to a plurality of requests for values of the third-party application, the values associated with user interface templates populating user interfaces for respective display units; generating (e.g., using index generation unit 822) an index of capabilities of the first third-party application; and provide (e.g., with speech providing unit 824) voice access to the capabilities of the first third-party application through the digital personal assistant process (e.g., with digital assistant unit 828).

In some embodiments, the processing unit 802 is further configured to: detecting (e.g., with the detection unit 826) whether a predetermined condition has been satisfied; and, in response to detecting that a predetermined condition has been satisfied: redetermine (e.g., with determining unit 820) the capabilities of the first third-party application; and re-generate (e.g., using index generation unit 822) an index of the capabilities of the first third-party application.

The operations in the above-described information processing method are optionally implemented by running one or more functional modules in an information processing apparatus, such as a general-purpose processor (e.g., as described above with respect to fig. 1A and 3) or an application-specific chip.

The operations described above with reference to fig. 7A-7I are optionally implemented by components depicted in fig. 1A-1B or fig. 8. For example, receive

operations

702 and 712, request operation 710, fill operation 722, generate operation 730, and send operation 736 are optionally implemented by event sorter 170, event recognizer 180, and event handler 190. Event monitor 171 in event sorter 170 detects a contact on touch-sensitive display 112 and event dispatcher module 174 passes the event information to application 136-1. A respective event recognizer 180 of application 136-1 compares the event information to respective event definitions 186 and determines whether a first contact at a first location on the touch-sensitive surface (or whether the orientation of the device) corresponds to a predefined event or sub-event, such as a selection of an object on a user interface, or a rotation of the device from one orientation to another. When a respective predefined event or sub-event is detected, the event recognizer 180 activates an event handler 190 associated with the detection of the event or sub-event. Event handler 190 optionally uses or calls data updater 176 or object updater 177 to update application internal state 192. In some embodiments, event handler 190 accesses a respective GUI updater 178 to update the content displayed by the application. Similarly, those skilled in the art will clearly know how other processes may be implemented based on the components shown in FIGS. 1A-1B.

The foregoing description, for purpose of explanation, has been described with reference to specific embodiments. However, the illustrative discussions above are not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise forms disclosed. Many modifications and variations are possible in light of the above teaching. The embodiment was chosen and described in order to best explain the principles of the invention and its practical application, to thereby enable others skilled in the art to best utilize the invention and various embodiments described with various modifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated.

Claims

1. A method for processing a verbal request, comprising, at an electronic device in communication with a display of a vehicle:

receiving a verbal request for a digital personal assistant of the electronic device while a third-party application on the electronic device is displaying a user interface through the display of the vehicle and while the digital personal assistant is available for use; and

in response to receiving the verbal request for the digital personal assistant, determining a response to the verbal request based on capabilities of the third-party application, comprising:

in accordance with a determination that a first set of capabilities of the third-party application are available for use by the digital personal assistant, making the first set of capabilities of the third-party application available for use by the digital personal assistant; and

in accordance with a determination that a second set of capabilities of the third party application, different from the first set of capabilities, are available for use by the third party application, making the second set of capabilities of the third party application available for use by the digital personal assistant.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein determining that the first set of capabilities of the third-party application are available for use by the digital personal assistant comprises determining that an internet connection is available.

3. The method of claim 1, comprising detecting a predefined condition and re-indexing the capabilities of the third party application in accordance with the detection of the predefined condition.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein capabilities of the third party application are indexed in a respective index, and the method comprises detecting a predefined condition and updating the respective index by re-indexing the capabilities of the third party application in accordance with the detection of the predefined condition.

5. The method of claim 3 or 4, wherein the predefined condition comprises a user of the electronic device subscribing or unsubscribing from a service.

6. The method of any of claims 1-4, comprising processing the request at a server remote from the electronic device.

7. The method of any of claims 1-4, wherein the capabilities of the third party application are determined based on metadata provided by the third party application.

8. The method of any of claims 1-4, wherein the capabilities of the third party application include one or more of marking likes, playing media, skipping media, selecting media for playback.

9. An electronic device having one or more processors, a microphone, a communication interface configured to communicatively couple the electronic device with a display of a vehicle, and memory storing one or more programs for execution by the one or more processors of the electronic device, the one or more programs including instructions for:

10. The electronic device of claim 9, wherein determining that the first set of capabilities of the third-party application are available for use by the digital personal assistant comprises determining that an internet connection is available.

11. The electronic device of claim 9, wherein the one or more programs include instructions for: detecting a predefined condition and re-indexing the capabilities of the third party application in accordance with the detection of the predefined condition.

12. The electronic device of claim 9, wherein the capabilities of the third-party application are indexed in respective indexes, and the one or more programs include instructions for: detecting a predefined condition and updating the respective index by re-indexing the capabilities of the third party application in accordance with the detection of the predefined condition.

13. The electronic device of claim 11 or 12, wherein the predefined condition comprises a user of the electronic device subscribing or unsubscribing from a service.

14. The electronic device of any of claims 9-12, wherein the one or more programs include instructions for: the request is processed at a server remote from the electronic device.

15. The electronic device of any of claims 9-12, wherein the capabilities of the third party application are determined based on metadata provided by the third party application.

16. The electronic device of any of claims 9-12, wherein the capabilities of the third party application include one or more of marking likes, playing media, skipping media, selecting media for playback.

17. A computer-readable storage medium storing one or more programs for execution by one or more processors of an electronic device having a microphone and a communication interface configured to communicatively couple the electronic device with a display of a vehicle, the one or more programs comprising instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors of the electronic device, cause the electronic device to perform operations comprising:

18. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 17, wherein determining that the first set of capabilities of the third-party application are available for use by the digital personal assistant comprises determining that an internet connection is available.

19. The computer readable storage medium of claim 17, wherein the one or more programs include instructions for: detecting a predefined condition and re-indexing the capabilities of the third party application in accordance with the detection of the predefined condition.

20. The computer readable storage medium of claim 17, wherein the capabilities of the third party application are indexed in a respective index, and the one or more programs include instructions for: detecting a predefined condition and updating the respective index by re-indexing the capabilities of the third party application in accordance with the detection of the predefined condition.

21. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 19 or 20, wherein the predefined condition comprises a user of the electronic device subscribing or unsubscribing from a service.

22. The computer readable storage medium of any of claims 17-20, wherein the one or more programs include instructions for: the request is processed at a server remote from the electronic device.

23. The computer-readable storage medium of any of claims 17-20, wherein the capabilities of the third party application are determined based on metadata provided by the third party application.

24. The computer-readable storage medium of any of claims 17-20, wherein the capabilities of the third-party application include one or more of marking likes, playing media, skipping media, selecting media for playback.