JP2014191458A - Application state display device, application state presentation method, and system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To allow a user to easily grasp a detailed state of an application on an application list screen displaying an icon for activating the application.SOLUTION: An application state display device 100 includes: an application control part 130 which executes an application in the background; an image data acquisition part 140 which acquires image data of the application being executed in the background at a predetermined timing; and an icon display control part 180 which displays the image data acquired by image data acquisition part 140 on the icon of the application of the acquired image data.

Description

  The present invention relates to an application state display device, an application state display method, and a system for displaying a detailed state of an application to a user without starting the application.

  In general, an icon for starting an application (hereinafter referred to as an application for simplification) is displayed on a desktop screen of a personal computer or a menu screen of a smartphone that has been rapidly increasing in recent years. Here, a desktop screen, a menu screen, or the like on which an icon for starting an application is displayed is an application list screen. Then, on the application list screen, new arrival information of an application activated by the icon may be displayed together with the icon.

  For example, a second icon indicating new arrival information of each application is superimposed and displayed in a form like a balloon on a first icon for starting an application such as mail, video purchase, RSS reader, and the second icon is displayed. A technique has been proposed in which the user can easily check the new arrival information of each application by displaying an outline of the new arrival information on the screen in accordance with the user's selection (see, for example, Patent Document 1). .

  In addition, the function that is currently being executed in the icon for starting each function or the macro that registered its operation settings displayed on the operation screen provided for the multifunction device with functions such as copy, fax, printer, and scanner. A technique has been proposed in which a user can easily grasp the execution state of each function by displaying an image representing a predetermined execution state in an overlapping manner on the icon (for example, Patent Documents). 2).

JP 2011-53790 A JP 2012-248102 A

  However, in the technologies described in Patent Documents 1 and 2, what the user can confirm without starting the application is a part of information such as the number of new mails and whether the application is being executed, and details of the application. In order to grasp the state, for example, the detailed contents of the received mail, the application itself has to be started or another display screen has to be started. For this reason, there is a problem that the user cannot confirm the detailed state of the application on the application list screen.

  Further, in the technologies described in Patent Documents 1 and 2, the user can confirm from the icons displayed on the application list screen only in the latest state of the application, for example, the time when the number of received mails increases, that is, Also, we couldn't confirm app status changes with time transitions from a certain point in the past to the present, such as the time when the email was received. By the way, in the technique described in Patent Literature 1, when the user selects the second icon indicating the new arrival information of each application, the user changes the time transition from a certain point in the past to the present time as an overview of the new arrival information. Although the accompanying application state change could be confirmed on another screen, there was a problem that visibility was inferior because of the separate screen.

  In view of the above problems, the present invention has an object to provide an application state display device, an application state display method, and a system that allow a user to easily grasp the detailed state of an application on the application list screen. To do.

  The present invention proposes the following matters in order to solve the above problems. In addition, in order to make an understanding easy, although the code | symbol corresponding to embodiment of this invention is attached | subjected and demonstrated, it is not limited to this.

  (1) The present invention is an application status display device that displays the status of an application on an icon for starting the application, the application control means for executing the application in the background, and at a predetermined timing, Image data acquisition means for acquiring image data of an application running in the background, and icon display control means for displaying the image data acquired by the image data acquisition means on the icon of the application that acquired the image data And an application status display device characterized by comprising:

  (2) In the application status display device according to (1), the image data acquisition unit acquires image data of the application running in the background at a plurality of predetermined timings, and displays the icon Proposed is an application state display device characterized in that a control means sequentially displays a plurality of image data acquired by the image data acquisition means on an icon of the application from which the plurality of image data has been acquired. .

  (3) In the application status display device according to (2), the icon display control unit acquires a plurality of image data acquired by the image data acquisition unit, and the icon of the application acquired the plurality of image data. On top of this, an application status display device is proposed, which is characterized by being displayed in chronological order.

  (4) In the application status display device according to (2) or (3), the present invention is characterized in that the icon display control unit circulates and displays a plurality of image data acquired by the image data acquisition unit. An application status display device is proposed.

  (5) The application status display device according to (1) to (3) includes an image data editing unit that edits the image data acquired by the image data acquisition unit. is suggesting.

  (6) In the application status display device according to (1) to (4), the present invention provides that the image data acquisition means performs at least one of an occurrence of an event in the application and a preset time interval. An application status display device that acquires the image data is proposed.

  (7) The present invention relates to the application status display device of (2) to (6), wherein the image data acquired by the image data acquisition unit is stored for each application, and the image data storage unit Proposing an application status display device comprising: image data management means for deleting stored image data in response to the application that has acquired the image data being activated in the front ground. ing.

  (8) In the application status display device according to (7), the image data management unit is configured to perform image data other than a predetermined number of image data retroactively from the latest image data acquired by the image data acquisition unit. An application status display device characterized in that is deleted.

  (9) The present invention provides a setting information storage means for storing setting information as to whether or not to display the application status on the icon for each application in the application status display devices of (1) to (8). The application control unit determines whether or not to execute the application in the background based on the setting information stored in the setting information storage unit. The application status display device according to any one of the above.

  (10) The present invention is an application state display method in an application state display device that displays an application state on an icon for starting an application, the application state display device including an application control unit, image data acquisition And an icon display control means, wherein the application control means executes the application in the background, and the image data acquisition means executes in the background at a predetermined timing. A second step of acquiring image data of the application, and the icon display control means displays the image data acquired in the second step on the icon of the application from which the image data has been acquired. Proposes application state display method characterized by comprising a third step, the.

  (11) The present invention is a program for causing a computer to execute an application state display method in an application state display device that displays an application state on an icon for starting an application, the application state display device , Application control means, image data acquisition means, and icon display control means, wherein the application control means executes the application in the background, and the image data acquisition means at a predetermined timing, A second step of acquiring image data of the application running in the background; and the icon display control means acquires the image data acquired in the second step. We propose a program to execute a third step of displaying on a serial application icon, to the computer.

  According to the present invention, the user can easily grasp the detailed state of the application on the application list screen.

It is a figure which shows the structure of the application status display apparatus which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is an example of a display of image data as a detailed state of an application concerning an embodiment of the present invention. It is a figure which shows the flow of a display process of the image data on the icon in the icon display control part which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the image data management processing flow in the application status display apparatus which concerns on embodiment of this invention.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. Note that the constituent elements in the present embodiment can be appropriately replaced with existing constituent elements and the like, and various variations including combinations with other existing constituent elements are possible. Therefore, the description of the present embodiment does not limit the contents of the invention described in the claims.

<Configuration of application status display device>
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of an application status display device 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention. Here, the application status display device 100 according to the present embodiment acquires screen data of an application (hereinafter referred to as an app for the sake of simplification) executed in the background on the icon of the application list screen. In addition, by displaying the acquired image data, the user can grasp the detailed state of the application on the application list screen. Here, the application list screen is a desktop screen of a personal computer, a menu screen of a smartphone, or the like on which an icon for starting an application is displayed.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the application state display device 100 includes an input unit 10 such as a touch panel, a setting information acquisition unit 110, a setting information storage unit 120, an application control unit 130, an image data acquisition unit 140, an image data storage unit 150, an image The data editing unit 160, the image data management unit 170, the icon display control unit 180, and the display unit 20 such as a liquid crystal display are included.

  The setting information acquisition unit 110 acquires setting information regarding image data displayed on the icon of the application list screen from the user via the input unit 10 for each application. When setting information is set in the application, whether the setting information is set when the setting information acquisition unit 110 receives an instruction from the application when the application is installed. The setting information may be acquired from the application in response to determining that it is set as a determination result of “no”.

  Specifically, the setting information acquisition unit 110 displays information on whether or not the application displays image data as detailed application information on an icon on the application list screen, and executes the application on the application control unit 130. Execution timing information related to timing, acquisition timing information related to image data acquisition timing in the image data acquisition unit 140, editing information related to image data editing in the image data editing unit 160, and management information related to management in the image data management unit 170 From the user or app. Each information will be described in each processing unit described later.

  The setting information storage unit 120 stores setting information regarding image data displayed on the icon of the application list screen acquired by the setting information acquisition unit 110 for each application.

  The application control unit 130 executes the application in the background. The application control unit 130 refers to display enable / disable information stored in the setting information storage unit 120 and executes an application set to display image data on an icon on the application list screen in the background. To do. By referring to the display availability information, only an application that displays image data as detailed information of the application on the icon of the application list screen can be executed in the background. Note that if the display information is not stored in the setting information storage unit 120, all applications may be executed in the background.

  Further, the application control unit 130 refers to the execution timing information stored in the setting information storage unit 120 and determines the timing for executing the application in the background. Here, the execution timing information is the timing at which the application control unit 130 executes the application in the background. For example, the timing at which an event such as the termination of the application in the front background occurs, or the execution timing such as 10:00 am It is time of. Note that the execution timing information may include an event or time at which the application control unit 130 ends the application being executed in the background.

  The image data acquisition unit 140 acquires image data that is a detailed state of the application being executed in the background at a predetermined timing. Here, the predetermined timing includes event-driven timing for acquiring image data of the app when an event occurs, and time-driven timing for acquiring image data of the app at a preset time interval, Either or both are stored in the setting information storage unit 120 as the acquisition timing information. Specifically, the image data acquisition unit 140 acquires the acquisition timing information in the setting information storage unit 120, and acquires the image data of the application being executed in the background at the acquired timing.

  As an application in which event-driven timing is set in the acquisition timing information of the setting information storage unit 120, for example, an application that displays a message posted to an SNS such as a mail application or Twitter (registered trademark) or LINE (trademark). is there. This is because in the case of a mail application, the reception state of receiving a new mail, and in the case of an application that displays a message posted on the SNS, the posting state where a new message is posted is necessary information for the user. .

  In the case of a mail application, the image data acquisition unit 140 acquires, as image data, a text detail screen including a title, a sender, and a text for the received mail every time a mail is received. In the case of an application that displays a message posted to the SNS, each time a message is posted, the posted message, posting date and message posting screen including the message are acquired as image data for the posted message.

  On the other hand, as an application in which time-driven timing is set in the acquisition timing information of the setting information storage unit 120, for example, there is a breeding game application that trains an object such as a character, a farm, or a city. In the breeding game app, the energy value that represents the number of times that the object can be taken care of over time is restored, or items for nurturing the object can be obtained, so the game state changes over time, so it changes over time This is because the game state to be played is necessary information for the user.

  When the acquisition timing information of the setting information storage unit 120 is set to the time-driven type timing every 30 minutes for the training game application, the image data acquisition unit 140 displays the main screen of the training game every 30 minutes. Acquired as image data.

  Further, as an application that may set both event-driven timing and time-driven timing in the acquisition timing information of the setting information storage unit 120, there is a game application having sociality. In social game applications, there are external events such as taking care of their own characters from other users, or events where multiple users achieve their objectives (generally called “Raid Battle Events”) This is because the game state when an external involvement or event occurs is necessary information for the user. At the same time, even in game apps with social characteristics, the game state changes over time, such as the energy value representing the number of times the object can be taken care of over time, or items for nurturing the object can be obtained Therefore, the game state that changes over time is also necessary information for the user.

  The image data storage unit 150 stores the image data acquired by the image data acquisition unit 140 or the image data edited by the image data editing unit 160 for each application. The image data storage unit 150 may store the image data acquired by the image data acquisition unit 140 or the image data edited by the image data editing unit 160 for each application in chronological order. Here, the time-series order may be either ascending order from old image data to new image data or descending order from new image data to old image data.

  The image data editing unit 160 edits the image data acquired by the image data storage unit 150. Specifically, the image data editing unit 160 edits the image data acquired by the image data storage unit 150 with reference to the editing information stored in the setting information storage unit 120. The edited image data is stored in the image data storage unit 150. Here, the editing information is the editing content of the image data, and is, for example, a trimming instruction that specifies a range, an instruction to add a symbol or character, or an emphasis instruction that encloses a part in a frame. Thus, by editing the image data acquired in the image data storage unit 150, when displayed on the icon of the application list screen, the visibility of the image data, that is, the detailed state of the application can be improved. it can.

  In the case of a mail application, for each received mail, an explanation will be given by taking an example of editing when a text detail screen including the received date, sender, title, and text is acquired as image data by the image data acquisition unit 140 To do. When the editing information stored in the setting information storage unit 120 is an instruction to trim the reception date and time, the sender, and the title, the image data editing unit 160 acquires the image acquired by the image data acquisition unit 140. Trim everything from the data to the reception date, sender, and title to create new image data. The created new image data is stored in the image data storage unit 150 and displayed on an icon on the application list screen.

  The image data management unit 170 refers to the management information stored in the setting information storage unit 120 and manages the image data stored in the image data storage unit 150. Here, the management information is a condition for deleting the image data from the image data storage unit 150. For example, the image data of the application activated in the front ground is deleted or acquired by the image data acquisition unit 140. It is to delete image data other than a predetermined number of image data retroactively from the latest image data.

  By deleting the image data of the app launched in the background, only the detailed status of the app while it is running in the background, that is, only the detailed status of the app while the user is not operating the app. Can be displayed on the icon of the application list screen. Further, by deleting image data other than a predetermined number of image data retroactively from the latest image data acquired by the image data acquisition unit 140, an image that the application has not been executed for a long time in the front ground Even when a large amount of image data is acquired by the data acquisition unit 140, only the detailed state of the latest application can be displayed on the icon of the application list screen.

  The icon display control unit 180 displays the image data stored in the image data storage unit 150 on the icon of the application that acquired the image data. Specifically, the icon display control unit 180 allows the user to turn on the application state display device 100 or to return the application state display device 100 from the power saving mode, so that an application list of the application state display device 100 is displayed. When the screen is made visible, the image data stored in the image data storage unit 150 is displayed on the icon for each application.

  When the icon display control unit 180 displays only one latest image data acquired by the image data acquisition unit 140 on the icon for one application, the image data acquisition unit 140 or the image data editing unit Image data is directly acquired from 160, and the acquired image data is displayed on the icon.

  When a plurality of image data is stored in the image data storage unit 150 for one application, the icon display control unit 180 acquires the image data one by one from the image data storage unit 150 in order, and puts it on the icon. indicate. Thereby, by displaying a plurality of image data of the detailed state of the application in order on the application list screen, the user can easily confirm the detailed state of the application without any operation.

  When the image data storage unit 150 stores image data in chronological order, the icon display control unit 180 acquires the image data one by one from the image data storage unit 150 in chronological order and displays it on the icon. . The interval until the next switching to image data can be arbitrarily set by the user or the system.

  By displaying the image data of the detailed state of the application in time series on the application list screen, the user can easily check the detailed state of the application along the time series. As a result, in the game application, it is possible to reduce the troublesomeness of starting up the game screen many times to confirm the game state, and it is possible to suppress the user's play withdrawal.

  When the icon display control unit 180 once displays all the image data stored in the image data storage unit 150, the icon display control unit 180 returns to the first displayed image data and circulates and displays it. For example, in the case of a mail application, when image data of four received mails is stored in the image data storage unit 150 in ascending order of time series, the mail image data is displayed on the icon in the order received, and the last When the received image data of the mail is displayed, it returns to the image data of the first received mail and circulates and displays it.

  The icon display control unit 180 superimposes all the image data stored in the image data storage unit 150 and superimposes the icon when a plurality of image data is stored in the image data storage unit 150 for one application. It may be displayed above. In this case, for example, when the user slides the top image data, the display position of the top image data is moved, and the image data arranged below the moved image data on the icon By displaying, the user can view the superimposed image data. Thereby, the user can browse a plurality of image data, that is, detailed states of a plurality of applications at the same time.

  FIG. 2 is a display example of image data as a detailed state of the application according to the present embodiment. FIG. 2A shows a case where when the application list screen 200 of the application state display device 100 is visible, the mail application has not received an email until the application has been terminated. In this case, FIG. In the application list screen 200, a default mail icon 210 is displayed.

  FIG. 2B shows a case where the mail application has received an e-mail until the application is terminated when the application list screen 200 of the application state display device 100 is visible. In this case, The application list screen 200 displays received mail image data 220. When a plurality of mails are received, the image data of each received mail is displayed in order.

  Returning to FIG. 1, when the image data displayed on the icon is selected via the input unit 10, the icon display controller 180 selects the icon displayed below the image data. The activation instruction is given to the application activated by the icon.

  With reference to FIG. 3, a flowchart of display processing of image data on an icon in the icon display control unit 180 according to the present embodiment will be described. This flow is a process in the case of displaying image data on an icon in ascending order of time series.

  First, in step S1, the icon display control unit 180 determines whether or not the application list screen is visible. If the app list screen is visible (YES), the process proceeds to step S2. If the app list screen is not visible (NO), the app list screen is visible. Repeat the process.

  Next, in step S <b> 2, the icon display control unit 180 extracts an application that displays the detailed information of the application on the icon based on the display availability information in the setting information storage unit 120. When a plurality of applications are extracted, the processes from step S3 to step S8 are performed for each application.

  Next, in step S3, the icon display control unit 180 sets the image data count i = 1.

  Next, in step S <b> 4, the icon display control unit 180 determines whether the image data count i is greater than the total number of image data stored in the image data storage unit 150. If the image data count i is larger than the total number of image data stored in the image data storage unit 150, the process returns to step S3, and the image data count i is stored in the image data storage unit 150. If smaller than the total number, the process proceeds to step S5.

  Next, in step S5, the icon display control unit 180 displays the i-th oldest image data from the image data storage unit 150 on the icon.

  Next, in step S6, the icon display control unit 180 determines whether or not an icon is selected by the user. If no icon has been selected by the user, the process proceeds to step S7. If an icon has been selected by the user, the process proceeds to step S8.

  Next, in step S7, the icon display control unit 180 adds 1 to the image data count i, and returns the process to step S4.

  Next, in step S8, the icon display control unit 180 activates the application for which the icon has been selected by the user.

  In this way, the image data indicating the detailed state of the application can be displayed in chronological order on the icon of the application list screen.

  Note that the icon display control unit 180 may limit the image data to be displayed on the icon to image data after the application is terminated in the front ground, or the latest data stored in the image data storage unit 150. The image data may be limited to a predetermined number of image data retroactively from the image data.

<Image data management processing flow>
FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an image data management processing flow in the application status display device 100 according to the present embodiment. This processing flow is a case where the image data storage unit 150 stores only a predetermined number retroactively from the latest image data.

  First, in step S11, the application control unit 130 executes the application in the background.

  Next, in step S12, the image data acquisition unit 140 acquires the image data of the application executed in step S11 at a predetermined timing.

  Next, in step S <b> 13, the image data editing unit 160 determines whether to edit the image data based on the editing information in the setting information storage unit 120. If the image data is edited (YES), the process proceeds to step S14. If the image data is not edited (NO), the process proceeds to step S16.

  Next, in step S14, the image data editing unit 160 edits the image data acquired in step S12 based on the editing information in the setting information storage unit 120.

  In step S15, the image data edited in step S14 is stored in the image data storage unit 150.

  Next, in step S <b> 16, the image data acquired in step S <b> 12 is stored in the image data storage unit 150.

  Next, in step S <b> 17, the image data management unit 170 determines whether or not a predetermined number or more of image data is stored in the image data storage unit 150 retroactively from the latest image data. If a predetermined number or more of image data is stored in the image data storage unit 150 retroactively from the latest image data (YES), the process proceeds to step S18, and the process proceeds to the past from the latest image data. If the predetermined number or more of image data is not stored in the image data storage unit 150 (NO), the process proceeds to step S19.

  Next, in step S <b> 18, the image data management unit 170 deletes the image data in ascending order of the number exceeding the predetermined number.

  Next, in step S19, the application control unit 130 determines whether or not the application has ended. The termination of the application here includes termination of execution in the background because it was performed in the front background. If the application has not ended, the process returns to step S12. If the application has ended, the process ends.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, the user can easily grasp the detailed state of the application on the application list screen without executing the application in the front ground. Further, the user can easily check the detailed statuses of the apps on the app list screen without any operation, and can also check the detailed statuses of the apps at the same time. Furthermore, the user can easily confirm the detailed state of the application in time series on the application list screen.

  Note that the application status display device of the present invention is realized by recording the processing of the application status display device on a recording medium that can be read by the computer system, and reading and executing the application status display device recorded on the recording medium. be able to. The computer system here includes an OS and hardware such as peripheral devices.

  Further, the “computer system” includes a homepage providing environment (or display environment) if a WWW (World Wide Web) system is used. The program may be transmitted from a computer system storing the program in a storage device or the like to another computer system via a transmission medium or by a transmission wave in the transmission medium. Here, the “transmission medium” for transmitting the program refers to a medium having a function of transmitting information, such as a network (communication network) such as the Internet or a communication line (communication line) such as a telephone line.

  The program may be for realizing a part of the functions described above. Furthermore, what can implement | achieve the function mentioned above in combination with the program already recorded on the computer system, what is called a difference file (difference program) may be sufficient.

  The embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail with reference to the drawings. However, the specific configuration is not limited to the embodiments, and includes designs and the like that do not depart from the gist of the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Input part 20 Display part 100 Application status display apparatus 110 Setting information acquisition part 120 Setting information storage part 130 Application control part 140 Image data acquisition part 150 Image data storage part 160 Image data editing part 170 Image data management part 180 Icon display control part

Claims (11)

An application status display device that displays the status of the application on an icon for starting the application,
Application control means for executing the application in the background;
Image data acquisition means for acquiring image data of an application running in the background at a predetermined timing;
Icon display control means for displaying the image data acquired by the image data acquisition means on the icon of the application that acquired the image data;
An application status display device comprising: The image data acquisition means acquires image data of an application running in the background at a plurality of predetermined timings,
The said icon display control means displays the several image data acquired by the said image data acquisition means on the icon of the said application which acquired the said several image data in order, The display of Claim 1 characterized by the above-mentioned. Application status display device.   The said icon display control means displays the several image data acquired by the said image data acquisition means on the icon of the said application which acquired the said several image data in order of time series. The application status display device described.   The application state display device according to claim 2 or 3, wherein the icon display control means circulates and displays a plurality of image data acquired by the image data acquisition means.   4. The application status display device according to claim 1, further comprising image data editing means for editing the image data acquired by the image data acquisition means.   5. The image data acquisition unit according to claim 1, wherein the image data acquisition unit acquires the image data every time an event occurs in the application and at least every preset time interval. The application status display device described. Image data storage means for storing the image data acquired by the image data acquisition means for each application;
Image data management means for deleting the image data stored in the image data storage means in response to the application that has acquired the image data being activated in the front ground;
The application status display device according to any one of claims 2 to 6, further comprising:   8. The application status display according to claim 7, wherein the image data management unit deletes image data other than a predetermined number of image data retroactively from the latest image data acquired by the image data acquisition unit. apparatus. For each application, comprising setting information storage means for storing setting information as to whether or not to display the status of the application on the icon,
The said application control means determines whether an application is performed in background based on the setting information memorize | stored in the said setting information storage means, The one of Claims 1-8 characterized by the above-mentioned. The application status display device described in 1. An application status display method in an application status display device that displays an application status on an icon for starting an application,
The application status display device includes application control means, image data acquisition means, and icon display control means,
A first step in which the application control means executes the application in the background;
A second step in which the image data acquisition means acquires image data of an application running in the background at a predetermined timing;
A third step in which the icon display control means displays the image data acquired in the second step on the icon of the application from which the image data was acquired;
An application status display method comprising: A program for causing a computer to execute an application state display method in an application state display device that displays an application state on an icon for starting an application,
The application status display device includes application control means, image data acquisition means, and icon display control means,
A first step in which the application control means executes the application in the background;
A second step in which the image data acquisition means acquires image data of an application running in the background at a predetermined timing;
A third step in which the icon display control means displays the image data acquired in the second step on the icon of the application from which the image data was acquired;
A program that causes a computer to execute.

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