CN118176498A

CN118176498A - Accessing WEB-based fragments for display

Info

Publication number: CN118176498A
Application number: CN202280072714.6A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 迪伦·沙恩·爱林伯格; 丹尼尔·拉哈米莫维
Original assignee: Snap Inc
Current assignee: Snap Inc
Priority date: 2021-10-29
Filing date: 2022-10-26
Publication date: 2024-06-11

Abstract

Methods and systems for presenting profile pages are disclosed. For example, a messaging application implemented on a client device receives a request to access a page of the messaging application and identifies a first web-based application linked to the page of the messaging application. The messaging application obtains a first application fragment corresponding to the first web-based application and identifies data fields of the first application fragment corresponding to information presented on a page of the messaging application. The messaging application populates the data fields of the first application fragment by sending a message from the messaging application to the first web-based application. The messaging application adds a visual representation of the first application fragment including the populated data field to a page of the messaging application.

Description

Accessing WEB-based fragments for display

Priority statement

The present application claims the benefit of priority from U.S. patent application Ser. No. 17/456,775, filed on day 29 at 11 at 2021, which claims the benefit of priority from U.S. provisional application Ser. No. 63/273,437, filed on day 29 at 10 at 2021, each of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

Technical Field

The present disclosure relates generally to using a messaging application to present content obtained from a web-based application.

Background

As the popularity of social networks increases, social networks continue to expand their capabilities. To increase ease of use, social networks have integrated more and more functionality so that users can accomplish many or even most of their computer-based tasks within the social network itself.

Drawings

In the drawings, which are not necessarily drawn to scale, like numerals may describe similar components in different views. For ease of identifying discussions of any particular element or act, one or more of the most significant digits in a reference number refer to the figure number in which that element was first introduced. Some non-limiting examples are shown in the figures of the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic representation of a networking environment in which the present disclosure may be deployed, according to some examples.

Fig. 2 is a diagrammatic representation of a messaging client application in accordance with some examples.

FIG. 3 is a diagrammatic representation of a data structure maintained in a database in accordance with some examples.

Fig. 4 is a diagrammatic representation of a message according to some examples.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary web-based application fragment system according to some examples.

Fig. 6, 7, and 8 are graphical representations of the output of a web-based application fragment system according to some examples.

FIG. 9 is a flow chart illustrating example operations of a web-based application fragment system according to some examples.

FIG. 10 is a diagrammatic representation of machine in the form of a computer system within which a set of instructions, for causing the machine to perform any one or more of the methodologies discussed herein, may be executed according to some examples.

Fig. 11 is a block diagram illustrating a software architecture in which an example may be implemented.

Detailed Description

The following description includes systems, methods, techniques, sequences of instructions, and computer program products that implement the illustrative examples of this disclosure. In the following description, for purposes of explanation, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide an understanding of the various examples. It will be apparent, however, to one skilled in the art that the examples may be practiced without these specific details. In general, well-known instruction instances, protocols, structures, and techniques have not been shown in detail.

Typically, messaging applications enable users to access various web-based applications to obtain various information or play games. For example, the messaging application may launch a web-based reservation application to enable a user to view, access, or make reservations at different restaurants. As another example, the messaging application may launch a web-based workout application to enable a user to track various workout information. Each different web-based application may provide access to different types of information and tools.

In many cases, various different web-based applications may be associated with a common goal of a user or may have some aspect in common. That is, the user may access a profile page of the restaurant and may desire to view a menu of the restaurant and make a reservation at the restaurant. However, in order to access a menu of a restaurant, a typical messaging application must initiate a separate display of a first web-based application that provides access to the restaurant menu. After initiating the separate display, the user must manually search for restaurants corresponding to the previously displayed profile page to access the restaurant menu. Furthermore, in order to make a reservation at a restaurant, the user must return to the restaurant's profile page and then separately launch a second web-based application that provides access to the restaurant reservation system. Also within this page, the user must search for a restaurant of interest to make a reservation at the restaurant. This navigation between multiple information pages is tedious and time consuming, which can undermine the overall appeal of using a messaging application. Furthermore, each time a separate web-based application is launched to accomplish some unique tasks, a significant amount of resources are consumed.

The disclosed technology improves the efficiency of using an electronic device by generating templates for different pages of a messaging application and associating one or more application fragments with each template. The associated application fragments correspond to unique and specific information provided by the different respective web-based applications. The unique and specific information is related to a common goal or common aspect of the current page of the messaging application being displayed. The disclosed examples obtain unique and specific information from different respective web-based applications associated with a given page being viewed, and present a display of a visual representation of the obtained unique and specific information in one or more application segments associated with the page. In some cases, the disclosed examples access a list of previously registered web-based applications associated with a user profile and retrieve unique and specific information for a subset of web-based applications determined to be previously associated with the user profile and corresponding to templates of pages of the messaging application being viewed.

In this way, the disclosed examples may provide access to a collection of information from different web-based applications in a common page of a messaging application. For example, the disclosed examples may provide information about available reservation periods (obtained from a first web-based application corresponding to a restaurant reservation) and menu information for the given restaurant (obtained from a second web-based application corresponding to a restaurant menu) in the same page of the given restaurant. By automatically obtaining context-related information for a given page (e.g., venue profile) of a messaging application from various web-based applications, the messaging application avoids the need for a user to navigate to multiple information pages and individually launch multiple full-scale web-based applications to access such context-related information for a given page of the messaging application. This reduces the overall amount of resources and increases the overall appeal of using messaging applications.

Network computing environment

Fig. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an example messaging system 100 for exchanging data (e.g., messages and associated content) over a network. The messaging system 100 includes multiple instances of the client device 102, each of which hosts several applications including the messaging client 104 and other external applications 109 (e.g., third party applications). Each messaging client 104 is communicatively coupled to other instances of messaging clients 104 (e.g., hosted on respective other client devices 102), messaging server systems 108, and external application servers 110 via a network 112 (e.g., the internet). The messaging client 104 may also communicate with locally hosted third party applications, such as external applications 109, using an Application Programming Interface (API).

The messaging client 104 is capable of communicating and exchanging data with other messaging clients 104 and messaging server systems 108 via the network 112. The data exchanged between the messaging clients 104 and the messaging server system 108 includes functions (e.g., commands for activating functions) as well as payload data (e.g., text, audio, video, or other multimedia data).

The messaging server system 108 provides server-side functionality to particular messaging clients 104 via the network 112. Although certain functions of the messaging system 100 are described herein as being performed by the messaging client 104 or by the messaging server system 108, the location of certain functions within the messaging client 104 or within the messaging server system 108 may be a design choice. For example, it may be technically preferable to: certain techniques and functions are initially deployed within the messaging server system 108, but later migrated to the messaging client 104 where the client device 102 has sufficient processing power.

The messaging server system 108 supports various services and operations provided to the messaging client 104. Such operations include sending data to the messaging client 104, receiving data from the messaging client 104, and processing data generated by the messaging client 104. As examples, the data may include message content, client device information, geographic location information, media enhancements and overlays, message content persistence conditions, social network information, and live event information. The exchange of data within the messaging system 100 is activated and controlled by functions available via the user interface of the messaging client 104.

Turning now specifically to messaging server system 108, api server 116 is coupled to application server 114 and provides a programming interface to application server 114. The application server 114 is communicatively coupled to a database server 120, which database server 120 facilitates access to a database 126, which database 126 stores data associated with messages processed by the application server 114. Similarly, web server 128 is coupled to application server 114 and provides a web-based interface to application server 114. To this end, web server 128 processes incoming network requests via the hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP) and several other related protocols.

The API server 116 receives and transmits message data (e.g., command and message payloads) between the client device 102 and the application server 114. In particular, the API server 116 provides a set of interfaces (e.g., routines and protocols) that may be invoked or queried by the messaging client 104 to activate the functions of the application server 114. The API server 116 exposes various functions supported by the application server 114, including: registering an account; a login function; sending a message from a particular messaging client 104 to another messaging client 104 via the application server 114; transmitting a media file (e.g., image or video) from the messaging client 104 to the messaging server 118 and for possible access by another messaging client 104; setting up a media data collection (e.g., a story); retrieving a friends list of the user of the client device 102; retrieving such a collection; retrieving the message and the content; adding and deleting entities (e.g., friends) in an entity graph (e.g., social graph); locating friends in the social graph; and open an application event (e.g., associated with messaging client 104).

The application server 114 hosts several server applications and subsystems, including, for example, a messaging server 118, an image processing server 122, and a social networking server 124. The messaging server 118 implements several message processing techniques and functions, particularly those related to the aggregation and other processing of content (e.g., text and multimedia content) included in messages received from multiple instances of the messaging client 104. As will be described in further detail, text and media content from multiple sources may be aggregated into a collection of content (e.g., referred to as a story or gallery (gallery)). These sets are then made available to the messaging client 104. Such processing may also be performed by the messaging server 118 on the server side in view of the hardware requirements of other processors and memory intensive processing of the data.

The application server 114 also includes an image processing server 122, which image processing server 122 is dedicated to performing various image processing operations, typically for images or videos within the payload of messages sent from the messaging server 118 or received at the messaging server 118.

The image processing server 122 is used to implement the scanning functionality of the enhancement system 208 (shown in fig. 2). The scanning functionality includes activating and providing one or more Augmented Reality (AR) experiences on the client device 102 when images are captured by the client device 102. In particular, the messaging client 104 on the client device 102 may be used to activate the camera. The camera device displays one or more real-time images or videos and one or more icons, markers, or identifiers of one or more AR experiences to the user. The user may select a given one of the identifiers to initiate a corresponding AR experience or to perform a desired image modification. Image processing server 122 may receive video and/or one or more images captured by client device 102. Image processing server 122 may perform feature analysis and object recognition on the received video and/or one or more images to identify and detect one or more real world objects depicted in the received video and/or images. The image processing server 122 may access the features and/or attributes of each real world object detected from the database or detected by searching the internet. In response to detecting the real-world objects, image processing server 122 may generate a list of identifiers of real-world objects depicted in the video and/or image, and may associate one or more attributes or features with each object in the list.

The social networking server 124 supports various social networking functions and services and makes these functions and services available to the messaging server 118. To this end, the social networking server 124 maintains and accesses an entity graph 308 (shown in FIG. 3) within the database 126. Examples of functions and services supported by the social networking server 124 include identifying other users with whom a particular user of the messaging system 100 is related or who the particular user is "focusing on" and also identifying interests and other entities of the particular user.

Returning to the messaging client 104, features and functions of external resources (e.g., third party applications 109 or applets) are available to the user via the interface of the messaging client 104. The messaging client 104 receives a user selection of an option to launch or access a feature of an external resource (e.g., a third party resource) such as the external application 109. The external resource may be a third party application (external application 109) (e.g., a "native application") installed on the client device 102, or a small-scale version (e.g., an "applet") of a third party application hosted on the client device 102 or located remotely from the client device 102 (e.g., on the third party server 110). The small-scale version of the third-party application includes a subset of features and functions of the third-party application (e.g., full-scale, native version of the third-party independent application) and is implemented using a markup language document. In one example, the small-scale version (e.g., an "applet") of the third-party application is a web-based markup language version of the third-party application (e.g., a web-based application) and is embedded in the messaging client 104. In addition to using markup language documents (e.g., a..ml file), the applet may include scripting languages (e.g., a..js file or a. Json file) and style sheets (e.g., a..ss file).

In some implementations, some of the web-based applications include, are associated with, and/or provide web-based application fragments. The web-based application fragment defines one or more visual elements, such as icons, labels, or menus that include data fields. The data field is used to represent content obtained from a corresponding web-based application based on the contextual placement of the web-based application segment (e.g., a page of messaging client 104 that includes visual elements). That is, the web-based application may provide visual elements configured with and associated with instructions for retrieving specified content from the web-based application. The visual element with instructions is used to define and generate web-based application fragments. In this way, the web-based application fragment may provide information associated with a particular feature of a number of features available on the corresponding web-based application.

In an example, the first web-based application corresponding to a restaurant reservation may include many different features. Such features include searching for restaurants, reading comments about restaurants, viewing menus, and making reservations at restaurants. The first web-based application may generate or provide a first web-based application fragment including data fields representing only one or more particular features of a number of different features. For example, the first web-based application fragment may be an icon or a marker having a data field representing a subscription time or any other of a number of different features of the first web-based application. When placed within a given page of messaging client 104, such as a venue profile page, the first web-based application fragment may be used to retrieve and provide the available reservations of the restaurant represented by the venue profile page being viewed. That is, the locale profile page may include a locale template that identifies a visual type of the first web-based application segment and a display location within the locale profile page. The messaging client 104 may determine that the first web-based application fragment included in the venue template includes a data field (e.g., corresponding to a subscription). The messaging client 104 may obtain instructions from the first web-based application fragment that identify the corresponding first web-based application and specify one or more attributes of the venue profile page being viewed. One or more attributes may be required to populate the data field.

In an example, the messaging client 104 generates a communication or message that includes one or more attributes (e.g., name of the restaurant and current time and location) and includes a request for available reservations corresponding to the data field. Messaging client 104 sends the communication or message to the first web-based application. The first web-based application searches (without being navigated to or launched) for restaurants that match the one or more attributes and retrieves available reservations (e.g., data fields). The first web-based application generates a message or communication with the requested data fields (e.g., available subscriptions). The first web-based application sends a message or communication back to the messaging client 104. The messaging client 104 populates the data fields of the first web-based application fragment to generate a visual identifier of the first web-based application fragment, the visual identifier including content obtained from the first web-based application based on the current context displayed by the messaging client 104.

The messaging client 104 may determine that the locale profile template of the current locale profile page being viewed is also associated with a second web-based application segment. The second web-based application fragment may be associated with a second web-based application. The second web-based application may correspond to a restaurant review and may include many different features. Such functions include searching for restaurants, restaurant reviews, viewing menus, and making reservations at restaurants. The second web-based application may generate or provide a second web-based application fragment that includes data fields representing only one or more particular features of the number of different features. For example, the second web-based application snippet may be an icon or a sign with a data field representing a comment for the restaurant. When placed within a given page of messaging client 104, such as a venue profile page, the second web-based application fragment may be used to retrieve and provide available reviews of restaurants represented by the venue profile page being viewed.

In an example, the messaging client 104 may determine that the second web-based application fragment included in the venue template includes a data field (e.g., corresponding to a comment). The messaging client 104 may obtain instructions from the second web-based application segment that identify a corresponding second web-based application and specify one or more attributes of the venue profile page being viewed. One or more attributes may be required to populate the data field.

The messaging client 104 generates a communication or message that includes one or more attributes (e.g., name and location of a restaurant) and includes a request for available comments corresponding to the data field. Messaging client 104 sends the communication or message to a second web-based application. The second web-based application (without being navigated to or launched) searches for restaurants that match the one or more attributes and retrieves available reviews (e.g., data fields). The second web-based application generates a message or communication with the requested data fields (e.g., available comments). The second web-based application sends a message or communication back to the messaging client 104. The messaging client 104 populates the data fields of the second web-based application segment to generate a second visual identifier for the second web-based application segment, the second visual identifier including content obtained from the second web-based application based on the current context displayed by the messaging client 104.

The messaging client 104 may present the second visual identifier of the second web-based application snippet (corresponding to the restaurant comment) with or separate from the visual identifier of the first web-based application snippet (corresponding to the reservation time). The visual identifier may be selected to launch a corresponding web-based application, and in particular, to present features corresponding to web-based application fragments in a new page of the web-based application. In an implementation, a user may navigate to a desired page (e.g., a locale profile page) using the messaging client 104, and the messaging client 104 may automatically present information obtained from different web-based applications on the same locale profile page using corresponding web-based application fragments. In this manner, the messaging client 104 may automatically present information that may be of interest to the user when accessing a given page of the messaging client 104 without having to navigate to a corresponding web-based application to complete a task or access the information. That is, the user may not have to access and launch the first web-based restaurant reservation application to access the reservation time while viewing the venue profile page of the restaurant because this information is immediately available on the same venue profile page of the restaurant through the visual identifier of the first web-based application fragment. Similarly, the user may not have to access and launch the second web-based restaurant review application to access the reviews when viewing the venue profile page of the restaurant because this information is immediately available on the same venue profile page of the restaurant through the visual identifier of the second web-based application fragment. This presents the user with a large amount of information from many different sources on the same page, which avoids navigating multiple information pages and improves the overall efficiency of the device and reduces resource consumption.

In an example, in response to receiving a user selection of an option to launch or access a feature of an external resource (external application 109), the messaging client 104 determines whether the selected external resource is a web-based external resource or a locally installed external application. In some cases, the external application 109 locally installed on the client device 102 may be launched independent of the messaging client 104 and separately from the messaging client 104, for example, by selecting an icon or marker corresponding to the external application 109 on a home screen of the client device 102. A small-scale version of such an external application may be launched or accessed via messaging client 104, and in some examples, no portion of the small-scale external application may be accessed outside of messaging client 104 (or only a limited portion). The small-scale external application may be launched by the messaging client 104 receiving markup language documents associated with the small-scale external application (web-based application) from the external application server 110 and processing such documents. These small-scale external applications may provide small-scale external application fragments similar to the web-based application fragments discussed above and below.

In response to determining that the external resource is a locally installed external application 109, the messaging client 104 instructs the client device 102 to launch the external application 109 by executing locally stored code corresponding to the external application 109. In response to determining that the external resource is a web-based resource, the messaging client 104 communicates with the external application server 110 to obtain a markup language document corresponding to the selected resource. The messaging client 104 then processes the obtained markup language document to render the web-based external resource within the user interface of the messaging client 104. In some cases, rather than launching a full-scale web-based resource, messaging client 104 may use application fragments associated with the full-scale web-based resource to access and obtain information corresponding to one or more characteristics of the web-based resource. The information may then be represented in the information page currently being viewed. In this way, context-related information for the page being viewed may be accessed and obtained from particular features of the web-based resource without completely launching the web-based resource. Such context-related information may then be represented in a respective visual identifier of the segment of the web-based resource.

The messaging client 104 may notify the user of the client device 102 or other users (e.g., "friends") related to such user of the activity occurring in one or more external resources. For example, the messaging client 104 may provide notifications to participants in a conversation (e.g., chat session) in the messaging client 104 regarding the current or recent use of external resources by one or more members of the user group. One or more users may be invited to join an active external resource or to initiate (in the group of friends) a recently used but currently inactive external resource. The external resources may provide the participants in the conversation each using a respective messaging client 104 with the ability to share items, conditions, states, or locations in the external resources with one or more members of the group of users entering the chat session. The shared items may be interactive chat cards with which members of the chat may interact, for example, to launch corresponding external resources, to view specific information within the external resources, or to bring members of the chat to specific locations or states within the external resources. Within a given external resource, a response message may be sent to the user on the messaging client 104. The external resource may selectively include different media items in the response based on the current context of the external resource.

The messaging client 104 may present a list of available external resources (e.g., third parties or external applications 109 or applets) to the user to initiate or access a given external resource. The list may be presented in a context-dependent menu. For example, icons or indicia representing different ones of the external applications 109 (or applets) may vary based on how the user launches (e.g., from a conversational interface or from a non-conversational interface) the menu.

System architecture

Fig. 2 is a block diagram illustrating additional details regarding the messaging system 100 according to some examples. In particular, the messaging system 100 is shown to include a messaging client 104 and an application server 114. The messaging system 100 includes several subsystems that are supported on the client side by the messaging client 104 and on the server side by the application server 114. These subsystems include, for example, a transient timer system 202, a collection management system 204, an augmentation system 208, a map system 210, a game system 212, and an external resource system 220.

The ephemeral timer system 202 is responsible for enforcing temporary or time-limited access to content by the messaging client 104 and the messaging server 118. The ephemeral timer system 202 contains a number of timers that selectively enable access (e.g., for presentation and display) to messages and associated content via the messaging client 104 based on a duration and display parameters associated with the message or collection of messages (e.g., a story). Additional details regarding the operation of the transient timer system 202 are provided below.

The collection management system 204 is responsible for managing collections or collections of media (e.g., collections of text, image video, and audio data). A collection of content (e.g., messages, including images, video, text, and audio) may be organized into an "event gallery" or "event story. Such a collection may be available for a specified period of time (e.g., the duration of the event associated with the content). For example, content related to a concert may be made available as a "story" for the duration of the concert. The collection management system 204 may also be responsible for publishing icons that provide notifications of the presence of particular collections to the user interface of the messaging client 104.

In addition, the collection management system 204 also includes a curation interface 206, the curation interface 206 allowing a collection manager to manage and curate a particular collection of content. For example, curation interface 206 enables an event organizer to curate a collection of content related to a particular event (e.g., delete inappropriate content or redundant messages). In addition, the collection management system 204 employs machine vision (or image recognition techniques) and content rules to automatically curate the collection of content. In some examples, the user may be paid the compensation for including the user-generated content into the collection. In such cases, the collection management system 204 operates to automatically pay such users for use of their content.

Enhancement system 208 provides various functionality that enables a user to enhance (e.g., annotate or otherwise modify or edit) media content associated with a message. For example, the enhancement system 208 provides functionality related to generating and publishing media overlays (media overlays) for messages processed by the messaging system 100. The enhancement system 208 is operable to provide media overlay or enhancement (e.g., image filters) to the messaging client 104 based on the geographic location of the client device 102. In another example, the enhancement system 208 is operable to provide media coverage to the messaging client 104 based on other information, such as social network information of the user of the client device 102. The media overlay may include audio and visual content and visual effects. Examples of audio and visual content include pictures, text, logos, animations and sound effects. Examples of visual effects include color overlays. Audio and visual content or visual effects may be applied to media content items (e.g., photos) at the client device 102. For example, the media overlay may include text, graphical elements, or images that may be overlaid on a photograph taken by the client device 102. In another example, the media overlay includes a location identification overlay (e.g., a Venetian beach), a name of a live event, or a merchant name overlay (e.g., a beach cafe). In another example, the enhancement system 208 uses the geographic location of the client device 102 to identify media overlays that include a merchant name at the geographic location of the client device 102. The media overlay may include other indicia associated with the merchant. The media overlay may be stored in database 126 and accessed through database server 120.

In some examples, enhancement system 208 provides a user-based distribution platform that enables a user to select a geographic location on a map and upload content associated with the selected geographic location. The user may also specify the environment in which a particular media overlay should be provided to other users. Enhancement system 208 generates media overlays that include the uploaded content and associate the uploaded content with the selected geographic location.

In other examples, the enhancement system 208 provides a merchant-based distribution platform that enables merchants to select particular media overlays associated with geographic locations via a bidding process. For example, the enhancement system 208 associates the media coverage of the highest bidding merchant with the corresponding geographic location for a predefined amount of time. Enhancement system 208 communicates with image processing server 122 to obtain an AR experience and presents an identifier of such experience in one or more user interfaces (e.g., as an icon on a real-time image or video, or as a thumbnail or icon in an interface dedicated to the identifier of the presented AR experience). Once the AR experience is selected, one or more images, videos, or AR graphical elements are retrieved and presented as an overlay over the image or video captured by the client device 102. In some cases, the camera is switched to a front view (e.g., the front-facing camera of the client device 102 is activated in response to activation of a particular AR experience) and images from the front-facing camera of the client device 102 instead of the rear-facing camera of the client device 102 begin to be displayed on the client device 102. One or more images, videos, or AR graphical elements are retrieved and presented as an overlay over the image captured and displayed by the front-facing camera of the client device 102.

In other examples, the enhancement system 208 is capable of communicating and exchanging data with another enhancement system 208 and a server on another client device 102 via the network 112. The exchanged data may include: a session identifier identifying the shared AR session; a transformation between the first client device 102 and the second client device 102 (e.g., the plurality of client devices 102, including the first device and the second device) for aligning the shared AR session to a common origin; a common coordinate system; functions (e.g., commands for activating functions) and other payload data (e.g., text, audio, video, or other multimedia data).

The enhancement system 208 sends the transformation to the second client device 102 so that the second client device 102 can adjust the AR coordinate system based on the transformation. In this way, the first client device 102 and the second client device 102 synchronize their coordinate systems (coordinate SYSTEMS AND FRAMES) to display the content in the AR session. Specifically, the enhancement system 208 calculates the origin of the second client device 102 in the coordinate system of the first client device 102. The enhancement system 208 may then determine an offset in the coordinate system of the second client device 102 based on the location of the origin in the coordinate system of the second client device 102 from the perspective of the second client device 102. The offset is used to generate a transformation such that the second client device 102 generates AR content from a common coordinate system with the first client device 102.

Enhancement system 208 may communicate with client device 102 to establish separate or shared AR sessions. The enhancement system 208 may also be coupled to the messaging server 118 to establish an electronic group communication session (e.g., group chat, instant messaging) for the client device 102 in a shared AR session. The electronic group communication session may be associated with a session identifier provided by the client device 102 to obtain access rights to the electronic group communication session and the shared AR session. In one example, the client device 102 first obtains access rights to the electronic group communication session and then obtains a session identifier in the electronic group communication session that allows the client device 102 to access the shared AR session. In some examples, the client device 102 is able to access the shared AR session without assistance from the enhancement system 208 in the application server 114 or communicating with the enhancement system 208 in the application server 114.

The map system 210 provides various geographic location functions and supports the presentation of map-based media content and messages by the messaging client 104. For example, the map system 210 enables display of user icons or avatars (e.g., stored in the profile data 316) on the map to indicate the current or past locations of the user's "friends," as well as media content (e.g., a collection of messages including photos and videos) generated by such friends within the context of the map. For example, a message posted by a user from a particular geographic location to the messaging system 100 may be displayed to a "friend" of a particular user within the context of that particular location of the map on the map interface of the messaging client 104. The user may also share his or her location and status information with other users of the messaging system 100 (e.g., using an appropriate status avatar) via the messaging client 104, where the location and status information is similarly displayed to the selected user within the context of the map interface of the messaging client 104.

The gaming system 212 provides various gaming functions in the context of the messaging client 104. The messaging client 104 provides a game interface that provides a list of available games (e.g., web-based games or web-based applications) that can be launched by a user within the context of the messaging client 104 and played with other users of the messaging system 100. The messaging system 100 also enables a particular user to invite other users to participate in playing a particular game by issuing an invitation from the messaging client 104 to such other users. The messaging client 104 also supports both voice messaging and text messaging (e.g., chat) within a game play context, provides a leaderboard for games, and also supports providing in-game rewards (e.g., tokens and items).

The external resource system 220 provides an interface to the messaging client 104 for communicating with the external application server 110 to launch or access external resources and their associated fragments (e.g., web-based application fragments). Each external resource (application) server 110 hosts, for example, a markup language (e.g., HTML 5) based application or a small-scale version of an external application (e.g., a game, utility, payment, or ride share application external to messaging client 104). The external resource server 110 may also provide one or more web-based application fragments for each of the external applications. The messaging client 104 may launch a web-based resource (e.g., an application) by accessing an HTML5 file from an external resource (application) server 110 associated with the web-based resource. In some examples, the application hosted by the external resource server 110 is programmed in JavaScript with a Software Development Kit (SDK) provided by the messaging server 118. The SDK includes an API having functions that can be invoked or activated by the web-based application. In some examples, messaging server 118 includes a JavaScript library that provides access to certain user data of messaging client 104 to a given third party resource. HTML5 is used as an example technique for programming games, but applications and resources programmed based on other techniques may be used.

To integrate the functionality of the SDK into the web-based resource, the SDK is downloaded from the messaging server 118 by the external resource (application) server 110 or otherwise received by the external resource (application) server 110. Once downloaded or received, the SDK is included as part of the application code of the web-based external resource. The code of the web-based resource may then call or activate certain functions of the SDK to integrate features of the messaging client 104 into the web-based resource.

The SDK stored on the messaging server 118 effectively provides a bridge between external resources (e.g., third parties or external applications 109 or applets) and the messaging client 104. This provides a seamless experience for the user to communicate with other users on the messaging client 104 while also preserving the look and feel of the messaging client 104. To bridge communications between the external resource and the messaging client 104, in some examples, the SDK facilitates communications between the external resource server 110 and the messaging client 104. In some examples, webViewJavaScriptBridge running on the client device 102 establishes two unidirectional communication channels between the external resource and the messaging client 104. Messages are sent asynchronously between the external resources and the messaging client 104 via these communication channels. Each SDK function activation is sent as a message and callback. Each SDK function is implemented by constructing a unique callback identifier and sending a message with the callback identifier.

By using the SDK, not all information from the messaging client 104 is shared with the external resource server 110. The SDK limits which information to share based on the needs of external resources. In some examples, each external resource server 110 provides an HTML5 file corresponding to the web-based external resource to messaging server 118. The messaging server 118 may add a visual representation (e.g., box art or other graphic) of the web-based external resource in the messaging client 104. Once the user selects the visual representation or instructs the messaging client 104 to access the features of the web-based external resource through the graphical user interface of the messaging client 104, the messaging client 104 obtains the HTML5 file and instantiates the resources needed to access the features of the web-based external resource.

The messaging client 104 presents a graphical user interface (e.g., a landing page or a banner screen) for the external resource. During, before, or after rendering the login page or the header screen, the messaging client 104 determines whether the initiated external resource has been previously authorized to access the user data of the messaging client 104 (e.g., whether the external resource is on a list of registered resources of the messaging client 104). In response to determining that the initiated external resource has been previously authorized to access the user data of the messaging client 104, the messaging client 104 presents another graphical user interface of the external resource that includes functionality and features of the external resource. In response to determining that the initiated external resource was not previously authorized to access the user data of messaging client 104, after a threshold period of time (e.g., 3 seconds) of displaying a login page or title screen of the external resource, messaging client 104 slides a menu (e.g., animations the menu to appear from the bottom of the screen to the middle or other portion of the screen) for authorizing the external resource to access the user data. The menu identifies the type of user data that the external resource is to be authorized to use. In response to receiving the user selection of the receipt option, the messaging client 104 adds the external resource to a list of authorized external resources and enables the external resource to access user data from the messaging client 104. In some examples, the external resources are authorized to access the user data by the messaging client 104 in accordance with the OAuth 2 framework.

The messaging client 104 controls the type of user data shared with the external resource based on the type of external resource that is authorized. For example, external resources including full-scale external applications (e.g., third parties or external applications 109) are provided access to a first type of user data (e.g., a two-dimensional only (2D) avatar of a user with or without different body characteristics). As another example, access to a second type of user data (e.g., payment information, a 2D avatar of the user, a three-dimensional (3D) avatar of the user, and avatars having various avatar characteristics) is provided to an external resource including a small scale version of the external application (e.g., a web-based version of a third party application). Avatar characteristics include different ways of customizing the look and feel (e.g., different poses, facial features, clothing, etc.) of the avatar.

The web-based application fragment system 224 presents the page of the messaging client 104 and one or more visual identifiers of the web-based application fragments associated with the presented page. The web-based application fragment system 224 communicates with the external resource system 220 to populate data fields of the web-based application fragment associated with the page being rendered. The web-based application fragment system 224 then adds a visual identifier representing the populated data field to the page being rendered. An illustrative implementation of web-based application fragment system 224 is shown and described below in connection with FIG. 5.

Data architecture

Fig. 3 is a schematic diagram illustrating a data structure 300 that may be stored in the database 126 of the messaging server system 108, according to some examples. Although the contents of database 126 are shown as including several tables, it should be understood that data may be stored in other types of data structures (e.g., as an object-oriented database).

Database 126 includes message data stored in message table 302. For any particular one of the messages, the message data includes at least message sender data, message receiver (or recipient) data, and a payload. Additional details regarding information that may be included in a message and within message data stored in message table 302 are described below with reference to fig. 4.

The entity table 306 stores entity data and links (e.g., by way of reference) to the entity graph 308 and profile data 316. The entities whose records are maintained within the entity table 302 may include individuals, corporate entities, organizations, objects, places, events, and the like. Regardless of the entity type, any entity about which the messaging server system 108 stores data may be an identified entity. Each entity is provided with a unique identifier as well as an entity type identifier (not shown).

The entity map 308 stores information about relationships and associations between entities. By way of example only, such relationships may be social-based, professional-based (e.g., working at a common company or organization), interest-based, or activity-based.

The profile data 316 stores various types of profile data regarding a particular entity. The profile data 316 may be selectively used and presented to other users of the messaging system 100 based on privacy settings specified by a particular entity. In the case where the entity is a person, the profile data 316 includes, for example, a user name, telephone number, address and settings (e.g., notification and privacy settings) and a user-selected avatar representation (or a collection of such avatar representations). A particular user may then selectively include one or more of these avatar representations within the content of messages transmitted via messaging system 100 and on map interfaces displayed to other users by messaging client 104. The set of avatar representations may include a "status avatar" that presents a graphical representation of status or activity that the user may select to communicate at a particular time.

In the case where the entity is a community, the profile data 316 for the community may similarly include one or more avatar representations associated with the community in addition to the community name, the member, and various settings (e.g., notifications) for the relevant community.

Database 126 also stores enhancement data, such as overlays or filters, in enhancement table 310. Enhancement data is associated with and applied to video (data of the video is stored in video table 304) and images (data of the images is stored in image table 312).

Database 126 may also store data related to individual and shared AR sessions. The data may include data communicated between an AR session client controller of the first client device 102 and another AR session client controller of the second client device 102, as well as data communicated between the AR session client controller and the enhancement system 208. The data may include data for establishing a common coordinate system of the shared AR scene, transformations between devices, session identifiers, images depicting the body, skeletal joint positions, wrist joint positions, feet, etc.

In one example, the filter is an overlay that is displayed as overlaid on the image or video during presentation to the recipient user. The filters may be of various types, including user-selected filters in a set of filters presented to the sending user by the messaging client 104 when the sending user is composing a message. Other types of filters include geo-location filters (also referred to as geo-filters) that may be presented to a sending user based on geo-location. For example, a nearby or location-specific geographic location filter may be presented by the messaging client 104 within the user interface based on geographic location information determined by a Global Positioning System (GPS) unit of the client device 102.

Another type of filter is a data filter that may be selectively presented to the sending user by the messaging client 104 based on other inputs or information collected by the client device 102 during the message creation process. Examples of data filters include a current temperature at a particular location, a current speed at which a sending user travels, a battery life of the client device 102, or a current time.

Other enhancement data that may be stored within the image table 312 includes AR content items (e.g., corresponding to application AR experiences). The AR content item or AR items may be real-time special effects and sounds that may be added to an image or video.

As described above, the augmentation data includes AR content items, overlays, image transforms, AR images, AR logos or badges, and the like that relate to modifications that may be applied to image data (e.g., video or images). This includes real-time modification that modifies an image as it is captured using a device sensor (e.g., one or more cameras) of the client device 102 and then displays the image with the modification on a screen of the client device 102. This also includes modifications to the stored content (e.g., video clips in the gallery that may be modified). For example, in a client device 102 capable of accessing multiple AR content items, a user may use a single video clip with multiple AR content items to see how different AR content items will modify the stored clip. For example, by selecting different AR content items for content, multiple AR content items to which different pseudo-random movement models are applied may be applied to the same content. Similarly, real-time video capture may be used with the illustrated modifications to illustrate how the video image currently captured by the sensor of the client device 102 will modify the captured data. Such data may be displayed only on the screen and not stored in memory, or content captured by the device sensor may be recorded and stored in memory with or without modification (or both). In some systems, the preview feature may simultaneously show how different AR content items look within different windows in the display. This may, for example, enable multiple windows with different pseudo-random animations to be viewed simultaneously on the display.

Thus, the data, as well as various systems using the AR content items or other such transformation systems using the data to modify the content, may involve: detection of a subject (e.g., face, hand, body, cat, dog, surface, subject, etc.); tracking such objects as they leave the field of view, enter the field of view, and move around in the field of view in video frames; and modifying or transforming such objects as they are tracked. In various examples, different methods for implementing such transformations may be used. Some examples may involve: generating a 3D mesh model of the one or more objects, and implementing the transformation within the video using the transformation of the model and the animated texture. In other examples, tracking points on an object may be utilized to place an image or texture (which may be 2D or 3D) at a tracked location. In yet another example, neural network analysis of video frames may be used to place images, models, or textures in content (e.g., frames of images or video). Thus, the AR content item relates to both: images, models, and textures used to create transformations in content, as well as additional modeling and analysis information required to implement such transformations using object detection, tracking, and placement.

Real-time video processing may be performed using any kind of video data (e.g., video streams, video files, etc.) stored in the memory of any kind of computerized system. For example, a user may load a video file and save it in the memory of the device, or may use a sensor of the device to generate a video stream. In addition, computer animation models may be used to process any object, such as a person's face and body parts, animals, or inanimate objects (e.g., chairs, automobiles, or other objects).

In some examples, when a particular modification is selected along with the content to be transformed, the elements to be transformed are identified by the computing device and then detected and tracked if they are present in the frames of the video. Elements of the object are modified according to the modification request, thereby transforming frames of the video stream. The transformation of frames of the video stream may be performed by different methods for different types of transformations. For example, for frame transforms that refer primarily to variations of the elements of the object, feature points are computed for each element of the object (e.g., using an active shape Model (ACTIVE SHAPE Model, ASM) or other known methods). Then, a grid based on the characteristic points is generated for each of the at least one element of the object. The grid is used to track subsequent stages of elements of objects in the video stream. During the tracking process, the mentioned grid for each element is aligned with the position of each element. Additional points are then generated on the grid. A first set of first points is generated for each element based on the modification request, and a second set of points is generated for each element based on the first set of points and the modification request. The frames of the video stream may then be transformed by modifying the elements of the object based on the set of first points, the set of second points, and the grid. In such a method, the background of the modified object may also be changed or distorted by tracking and modifying the background.

In some examples, the transformation of changing some regions of the object using the elements of the object may be performed by calculating characteristic points of each element of the object and generating a grid based on the calculated characteristic points. Points are generated on the grid, and then various regions are generated based on the points. The elements of the object are then tracked by aligning the region for each element with the position for each of the at least one element, and the nature of the region may be modified based on the modification request, thereby transforming the frames of the video stream. The nature of the mentioned areas may be transformed in different ways depending on the specific modification request. Such modification may involve changing the color of the region; removing at least some portions of the region from frames of the video stream; including one or more new objects into the modification request-based region; and modifying or distorting elements of the region or object. In various examples, any combination of such modifications or other similar modifications may be used. For some models to be animated, some characteristic points may be selected as control points for the entire state space to be used to determine options for model animation.

In some examples of computer-animated models that use face detection to transform image data, a particular face detection algorithm (e.g., viola-Jones) is used to detect faces on the image. An ASM algorithm is then applied to the facial region of the image to detect facial feature reference points.

Other methods and algorithms for the face may be used. For example, in some examples, landmarks are used to locate features, the landmarks representing distinguishable points present in most of the images considered. For example, for facial landmarks, the position of the left eye pupil may be used. If the initial landmark is not identifiable (e.g., if a person has eye-masks), a secondary landmark may be used. Such landmark identification procedure may be used for any such object. In some examples, a set of landmarks form a shape. Coordinates of points in the shape may be used to represent the shape as a vector. One shape is aligned with another shape using a similarity transformation that minimizes the average euclidean distance between shape points, which allows translation, scaling, and rotation. The average shape (MEAN SHAPE) is an average of the aligned training shapes.

In some examples, the landmarks are searched starting from an average shape aligned with the position and size of the face determined by the global face detector. Such a search then repeats the steps of: the tentative shape is suggested by template matching the image texture around each point to adjust the position of the shape point, and then conforming the tentative shape to the global shape model until convergence occurs. In some systems, individual template matching is unreliable, and shape models pool the results of weak template matching to form a stronger overall classifier. The entire search is repeated at each level in the image pyramid from coarse resolution to fine resolution.

The transformation system may capture an image or video stream on a client device (e.g., client device 102) and perform complex image manipulation locally on the client device 102 while maintaining an appropriate user experience, computation time, and power consumption. Complex image manipulation may include size and shape changes, mood transitions (e.g., changing a face from frowning to smiling), state transitions (e.g., aging a subject, reducing apparent age, changing gender), style transitions, graphical element applications, and any other suitable image or video manipulation implemented by a convolutional neural network that has been configured to be efficiently performed on the client device 102.

In some examples, a computer animation model for transforming image data may be used by the following system: in the system, a user may capture an image or video stream (e.g., a self-portrait) of the user using a client device 102 having a neural network that operates as part of a messaging client 104 operating on the client device 102. A transformation system operating within the messaging client 104 determines the presence of faces within an image or video stream and provides a modified icon associated with a computer animation model for transforming a data image, or the computer animation model may be present in association with an interface described herein. The modification icon includes a change that may be the basis for modifying the face of the user within the image or video stream as part of the modification operation. Once the modification icon is selected, the transformation system initiates a process of transforming the user's image to reflect the selected modification icon (e.g., generating a smiling face for the user). Once the image or video stream is captured and the specified modification is selected, the modified image or video stream may be presented in a graphical user interface displayed on the client device 102. The transformation system may implement a complex convolutional neural network for a portion of the image or video stream to generate and apply the selected modifications. That is, the user may capture an image or video stream and, once the modification icon is selected, the modified result may be presented to the user in real-time or near real-time. Further, the modification may be persistent while the video stream is being captured and the selected modification icon remains switched. Machine-learned neural networks may be used to implement such modifications.

Presenting a modified graphical user interface performed by the transformation system may provide additional interaction options to the user. Such options may be based on an interface (e.g., initiated from a content creator user interface) for initiating selection of a particular computer animation model and content capture. In various examples, the modification may be persistent after the modification icon is initially selected. The user may switch the modification on or off by tapping or otherwise selecting the face being modified by the transformation system and store it for later viewing or browsing to other areas of the imaging application. In the case of multiple faces modified by the transformation system, the user may globally switch the modification on or off by tapping or selecting a single face that is modified and displayed within the graphical user interface. In some examples, each face in a set of multiple faces may be individually modified, or such modification may be individually switched by tapping or selecting a single face or a series of individual faces displayed within a graphical user interface.

Story table 314 stores data related to a collection of messages and associated image, video, or audio data that are assembled into a collection (e.g., a story or gallery). Creation of a particular collection may be initiated by a particular user (e.g., each user whose record is maintained in the entity table 306). A user may create a "personal story" in the form of a collection of content that has been created and transmitted/broadcast by the user. To this end, the user interface of the messaging client 104 may include user selectable icons to enable the sending user to add particular content to his or her personal story.

The collection may also constitute a "live story" which is a collection of content from multiple users created manually, automatically, or using a combination of manual and automatic techniques. For example, a "live story" may constitute a curated stream of user-submitted content from various locations and events. Users whose client devices enable location services and are at a common location event at a particular time may be presented with an option to contribute content to a particular live story, for example, via a user interface of messaging client 104. The live story may be identified to the user by the messaging client 104 based on his or her location. The end result is a "live story" told from a community perspective.

Another type of collection of content is referred to as a "location story" that enables users whose client devices 102 are located within a particular geographic location (e.g., at a college or university campus) to contribute to the particular collection. In some implementations, the contribution to the location story may require a secondary authentication to verify that the end user belongs to a particular organization or other entity (e.g., a student who is a university campus).

As mentioned above, video table 304 stores video data, which in one example is associated with messages whose records are maintained within message table 302. Similarly, the image table 312 stores image data associated with messages whose message data is stored in the entity table 306. Entity table 306 may associate various enhancements from enhancement table 310 with various images and videos stored in image table 312 and video table 304.

Data communication architecture

Fig. 4 is a schematic diagram illustrating the structure of a message 400, the message 400 generated by a messaging client 104 for transmission to another messaging client 104 or messaging server 118, according to some examples. The contents of a particular message 400 are used to populate the message table 302 stored within the database 126 accessible by the messaging server 118. Similarly, the content of message 400 is stored in memory as an "in-transit" or "in-flight" data store for client device 102 or application server 114. Message 400 is shown as including the following example components:

message identifier 402: a unique identifier that identifies the message 400.

Message text payload 404: text to be generated by a user via a user interface of the client device 102 and included in the message 400.

Message image payload 406: image data captured by the camera component of the client device 102 or retrieved from the memory component of the client device 102 and included in the message 400. Image data for a message 400 that has been sent or received may be stored in the image table 312.

Message video payload 408: video data captured by the camera assembly component or retrieved from the memory component of the client device 102 and included in the message 400. Video data for a transmitted or received message 400 may be stored in video table 304.

Message audio payload 410: audio data captured by a microphone or retrieved from a memory component of the client device 102 and included in the message 400.

Message enhancement data 412: enhancement data (e.g., filters, labels, or other annotations or enhancements) representing enhancements to the message image payload 406, the message video payload 408, or the message audio payload 410 to be applied to the message 400. Enhancement data for a message 400 that has been sent or received may be stored in the enhancement table 310.

Message duration parameter 414: parameter values indicating the amount of time in seconds that the content of a message (e.g., message image payload 406, message video payload 408, message audio payload 410) will be presented to or made accessible by a user via the messaging client 104.

Message geographic location parameter 416: geographic location data (e.g., latitude and longitude coordinates) associated with the content payload of the message. A plurality of message geographic location parameter 416 values may be included in the payload, each of which is associated with a content item included in the content (e.g., a particular image within the message image payload 406, or a particular video within the message video payload 408).

Message story identifier 418: an identifier value that identifies one or more collections of content (e.g., the "story" identified in story table 314) associated with a particular content item in message image payload 406 of message 400. For example, the identifier value may be used to associate a plurality of images within the message image payload 406 with a plurality of content sets each.

Message tag 420: each message 400 may be tagged with a plurality of tags, each of which indicates the subject matter of the content included in the message payload. For example, in the case where a particular image included in the message image payload 406 depicts an animal (e.g., a lion), a tag value indicating the relevant animal may be included within the message tag 420. The tag value may be generated manually based on user input or may be generated automatically using, for example, image recognition.

Message sender identifier 422: an identifier (e.g., a messaging system identifier, an email address, or a device identifier) indicating the user of the client device 102 on which the message 400 was generated and from which the message 400 was sent.

Message recipient identifier 424: an identifier (e.g., a messaging system identifier, an email address, or a device identifier) indicating the user of the client device 102 to which the message 400 is addressed.

The contents (e.g., values) of the various components of message 400 may be pointers to locations in a table in which the content data values are stored. For example, the image value in the message-image payload 406 may be a pointer to a location within the image table 312 (or an address of a location within the image table 312). Similarly, values within message video payload 408 may point to data stored within video table 304, values stored in message enhancement data 412 may point to data stored in enhancement table 310, values stored in message story identifier 418 may point to data stored in story table 314, and values stored in message sender identifier 422 and message receiver identifier 424 may point to user records stored in entity table 306.

Application fragment system based on WEB

FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary web-based application fragment system 224 according to some examples. The web-based application fragment system 224 includes a set of components that operate on a set of input data. The web-based application fragment system 224 includes a page access module 510, a web-based application module 520, an application fragment selection module 530, and an application fragment display module 540.

The page access module 510 may receive user input to navigate to a given page of the messaging client 104. For example, a user input selecting a map option from a user interface may be detected. In response, the page access module 510 initiates the map feature of the messaging client 104 and presents a map page depicting a map area corresponding to the current location of the messaging client 104. In one implementation, the page access module 510 obtains a map template corresponding to the map features and initiates the map based on the map template specifying one or more pieces of information to be included on the map (e.g., locations of places of business or places of friends' locations or vicinity). As another example, user input selecting an identifier of a given venue (e.g., a restaurant, stadium, theater, concert hall, university, point of interest (POI), or any other place of business) may be detected. In response, the page access module 510 accesses a venue template associated with a given venue and generates a venue profile including pieces of information about the venue (e.g., location, map, comments, tickets, traffic, one or more media items, etc.) for display.

In some cases, page access module 510 may determine that the template of the page currently being viewed includes identifiers of one or more web-based application fragments. In response, page access module 510 identifies a web-based application corresponding to the web-based application fragment and instructs web-based application module 520 to obtain parameters for generating one or more web-based application fragments. In some examples, the first web-based application may provide various types of definitions of web-based application fragments. Each type may include the same or different data fields and may have different visual characteristics. For example, a first type of web-based application fragment may be a circular icon or marker and a second type of web-based application fragment may be a box. In one implementation, the first web-based application may select which type of web-based application fragment to provide to the page access module 510. In another implementation, the templates of the pages may specify a particular type of web-based application fragment, and the page access module 510 obtains the appropriate type from the web-based application module 520.

In some examples, web-based application module 520 provides to application fragment selection module 530 various web-based application fragments obtained from web-based applications (associated with or identified by page templates of pages accessed by page access module 510). The application fragment selection module 530 may select a subset of application fragments based on the registration state of the user associated with the messaging client 104. For example, the application fragment selection module 530 may obtain a list of previously approved and registered web-based applications. The application fragment selection module 530 may select only those web-based application fragments that correspond to web-based applications on the previously approved list. If the corresponding web-based application was not previously approved by the user (e.g., if the web-based application was not previously connected to the messaging client 104 and is not authorized to share authentication information with the messaging client 104), the application fragment selection module 530 excludes any web-based application fragments from selection.

As another example, the application fragment selection module 530 may select a subset of application fragments based on the registration status of friends of the user associated with the messaging client 104. For example, the application fragment selection module 530 may obtain a list of previously approved and registered web-based applications of friends of the user. The application fragment selection module 530 may communicate with a server to identify a set of friends of the user and may request from the server a list of web-based applications that each of these friends has previously been authorized or registered. The application fragment selection module 530 may select only those web-based application fragments that correspond to web-based applications that have been previously registered by friends of the user, including even web-based applications that have not been registered by the user. The application fragment selection module 530 excludes any web-based application fragments from selection if the corresponding web-based application was not previously approved by the user and was not previously approved or registered by at least one of the user's friends (e.g., if the web-based application was not previously connected to the messaging client 104 and was not authorized to share authentication information with the messaging client 104).

The application fragment selection module 530 may then process each obtained application fragment selected to identify the data fields of each application fragment. For example, the application fragment selection module 530 may identify a first application fragment corresponding to a first web-based application (e.g., a restaurant reservation application). The application fragment selection module 530 may determine that the first web-based application fragment includes a data field (e.g., corresponding to a subscription). The application fragment selection module 530 may obtain instructions from the first application fragment that identify the corresponding first web-based application and specify one or more properties of the page being viewed. One or more attributes may be required to populate the data field. In the case where a venue profile page is being viewed, the one or more attributes may include a restaurant name and location. The application fragment selection module 530 may access metadata associated with the page being viewed to obtain the restaurant name and location and any other information corresponding to the one or more attributes.

In an example, the application fragment selection module 530 generates a communication or message that includes one or more attributes (e.g., name of restaurant and current time and location) and includes a request for available reservations corresponding to the data field. The application fragment selection module 530 sends the communication or message to the first web-based application. The first web-based application searches (without being navigated to or launched) for restaurants that match the one or more attributes and retrieves available reservations (e.g., data fields). The first web-based application generates a message or communication with the requested data fields (e.g., available subscriptions). The first web-based application sends a message or communication back to the application fragment selection module 530. The application fragment selection module 530 populates the data fields of the first web-based application fragment. In an example, the application fragment selection module 530 provides information corresponding to the first web-based application fragment to the application fragment display module 540. The application fragment display module 540 generates a visual identifier of the first web-based application fragment (from the specified type of visual identifier of the web-based application fragment). The application fragment display module 540 includes in the visual identifier content obtained from the first web-based application based on the current context displayed by the messaging client 104. The application fragment display module 540 may then present a display of the visual identifier within the page of the messaging client 104 being viewed at the location and placement specified by the template corresponding to the page.

The application fragment selection module 530 may determine that the template of the current page being viewed is also associated with a second web-based application fragment. The second web-based application fragment may be associated with a second web-based application. The second web-based application may correspond to a restaurant review and may include many different features. In an example, the application fragment selection module 530 may determine that the second web-based application fragment included in the template includes a data field (e.g., corresponding to a comment). The application fragment selection module 530 may obtain instructions from the second web-based application fragment that identify the corresponding second web-based application and specify one or more attributes of the page being viewed. One or more attributes may be required to populate the data field.

The application fragment selection module 530 generates a communication or message that includes one or more attributes (e.g., name and location of a restaurant) and includes a request for available comments corresponding to the data field. The application fragment selection module 530 sends the communication or message to the second web-based application. The second web-based application searches (without being navigated to or launched) for restaurants that match the one or more attributes and retrieves available reviews (e.g., data fields). The second web-based application generates a message or communication with the requested data fields (e.g., available comments). The second web-based application sends a message or communication back to the application fragment selection module 530. The application fragment selection module 530 populates the data fields of the second web-based application fragment.

The application fragment selection module 530 provides the second web-based application fragment and the populated data field to the application fragment display module 540. The application fragment display module 540 generates a second visual identifier for a second web-based application fragment that includes content obtained from the second web-based application based on the current context displayed by the messaging client 104. The application snippet display module 540 may present the second visual identifier of the second web-based application snippet (corresponding to the restaurant review) with or separate from the visual identifier of the first web-based application snippet (corresponding to the reservation time).

The application fragment display module 540 may detect an input selecting a given one of the visual identifiers. In response, the application fragment display module 540 communicates with the web-based application module 520 to launch the corresponding web-based application in the new page.

Fig. 6, 7, and 8 are graphical representations of the output of web-based application fragment system 224 according to some examples. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 6, the messaging client 104 receives a user request to navigate to a map page. In response, the messaging client 104 accesses the map template and presents the map interface 600. The map interface 600 includes a map region 610. The map interface 600 may be associated with one or more web-based application segments. In an example, the map interface 600 may include an identifier for a given web-based application fragment that includes an indication of a visual indicator or identifier type.

The messaging client 104 may retrieve the identifier of a given web-based application fragment and access the web-based application associated with the web-based application fragment. The messaging client 104 retrieves web-based application fragments from the corresponding web-based application. The messaging client 104 processes the web-based application fragment to determine that the web-based application fragment includes a given data field. The messaging client 104 may determine that a given data field is associated with or otherwise needs one or more properties or parameters of the map interface 600 in order to populate the given data field. For example, the messaging client 104 may determine that a given data field is associated with a GPS coordinate attribute. In response, the messaging client 104 sends a message to a web-based application (which may include media items associated with different locations). The message may identify a given data field (e.g., a media item placeholder) and GPS coordinate attributes, and a request for information or content corresponding to the given data field. The web-based application may search for one or more media items corresponding to the GPS coordinate attributes and provide a message with the one or more media items back to the messaging client 104.

The messaging client 104 may populate a given data field with one or more media items and generate a visual indicator 620 of a given web-based application segment. Visual indicator 620 may represent a web-based application and one or more media items (e.g., filled data fields) obtained from the web-based application.

In another example, as shown in fig. 7, the messaging client 104 receives a user request to navigate to a map page to display running information. In response, the messaging client 104 accesses the map template and presents the map interface 700. The map interface 700 includes a map region 710. Map interface 700 may be associated with one or more web-based application segments. In an example, the map interface 700 may include an identifier of the third web-based application fragment, the identifier including an indication of the visual indicator or the identifier type.

Messaging client 104 may retrieve an identifier of a third web-based application segment and access a third web-based application (e.g., a running application that provides a running path) associated with the third web-based application segment. The messaging client 104 retrieves a third web-based application fragment from the corresponding web-based application. The messaging client 104 processes the web-based application fragment to determine that the web-based application fragment includes a given data field. The messaging client 104 may determine that a given data field is associated with or otherwise needs one or more properties or parameters of the map interface 600 in order to populate the given data field. For example, the messaging client 104 may determine that a given data field is associated with GPS coordinate attributes and current speed information. In response, messaging client 104 sends a message to a third web-based application (which may include a jogging application that tracks the user's running path). The message may identify a given data field (e.g., running path placeholder) and GPS coordinates and speed information attributes, as well as a request for information or content corresponding to the given data field. The third web-based application may calculate the running path based on the GPS coordinates and the speed information attributes and provide a message with the running path back to the messaging client 104.

Messaging client 104 may populate a given data field with the running path and generate visual indicator 720 corresponding to the third web-based application segment. Visual indicator 720 may represent a third web-based application and a running path (e.g., filled data fields) obtained from the web-based application.

In another example, as shown in fig. 8, the messaging client 104 receives a user request to navigate to a venue (e.g., restaurant) page (e.g., venue profile page). In response, the messaging client 104 accesses the locale template and presents the locale interface 800. The venue interface 800 includes a venue profile area 810. The venue profile area 810 includes various information regarding the venue or restaurant, including addresses, hours of business, pictures, reviews, and various other content, some of which may be provided by the web-based application and presented as visual indicators of web-based application segments.

In an example, venue interface 800 can be associated with a plurality of web-based application segments (e.g., a food ordering application segment, a subscription ordering segment, a traffic segment, a menu segment, and/or a comment segment). In an implementation, venue interface 800 may include an identifier of a piece of a food ordering application that includes an indication of a visual indicator or type of identifier (e.g., a circular icon, a marker, a rectangular area, or any other visual format for an indicator). The messaging client 104 may retrieve the identifier of the food ordering application fragment and access the food ordering application associated with the food ordering application fragment.

The messaging client 104 retrieves the food ordering application fragment from the corresponding food ordering application. The messaging client 104 processes the food order application fragment to determine that the food order application fragment includes a given data field. The messaging client 104 may determine that a given data field is associated with or otherwise needs one or more properties or parameters of the venue interface 800 in order to populate the given data field. For example, the messaging client 104 may determine that a given data field is associated with a restaurant name and a current location of the messaging client 104 attribute. In response, messaging client 104 sends a message to the food ordering application. The message may identify a given data field (e.g., a distribution time) as well as a restaurant name and current location attribute and a request for information or content corresponding to the given data field. The food ordering application may calculate a delivery time based on the restaurant name and the current location attribute and provide a message with the calculated time back to the messaging client 104.

The messaging client 104 may populate a given data field with the calculated time and generate a first visual indicator 820 corresponding to the food ordering application fragment. The visual indicator 820 may represent a food ordering application fragment and a delivery time (e.g., a filled data field) obtained from a web-based application.

In an implementation, venue interface 800 may include an identifier of a restaurant reservation application fragment that includes an indication of a visual indicator or identifier type (e.g., a circular icon, a marker, a rectangular area, or any other visual format for an indicator). The messaging client 104 may retrieve the identifier of the restaurant reservation application fragment and access the restaurant reservation application associated with the restaurant reservation application fragment.

The messaging client 104 retrieves a restaurant reservation application fragment from the corresponding restaurant reservation application. The messaging client 104 processes the restaurant reservation application fragment to determine that the restaurant reservation application fragment includes the given data field. The messaging client 104 may determine that a given data field is associated with or otherwise needs one or more properties or parameters of the venue interface 800 in order to populate the given data field. For example, the messaging client 104 may determine that a given data field is associated with a restaurant name and a future meal time attribute. In response, the messaging client 104 sends a message to the restaurant reservation application. In an example, the messaging client 104 obtains a restaurant name from metadata associated with the venue interface 800 and requests input from the user to provide a future meal time. The messaging client 104 then provides this information in the transmitted message. The message may identify a given data field (e.g., available reservation time) as well as a restaurant name and future meal time attributes and a request for information or content corresponding to the given data field. The restaurant reservation application may determine available reservations based on the restaurant name and future meal time attributes and provide a message with the available times back to the messaging client 104.

The messaging client 104 can populate a given data field with the calculated time and generate a second visual indicator 830 corresponding to the restaurant reservation application fragment. The visual indicator 830 may represent a restaurant reservation application fragment and available reservations (e.g., filled data fields) obtained from a web-based application. The second visual indicator 830 may be presented with (e.g., alongside) the first visual indicator 820.

The messaging client 104 may similarly present a third visual indicator 840, the third visual indicator 840 including images and/or text representing menu items available at a restaurant or venue corresponding to the venue interface 800. Menu items may be obtained from a menu item application and provided as menu item fragments for presentation in venue interface 800. The messaging client 104 may similarly present a fourth visual indicator 850, the fourth visual indicator 850 including images and/or text representing comments corresponding to a restaurant or venue corresponding to the venue interface 800. Comments may be obtained from the restaurant comment application and provided as a restaurant comment snippet for presentation in the venue interface 800.

FIG. 9 is a flow diagram of a process 900 performed by web-based application fragment system 224 according to some examples. Although a flowchart may describe the operations as a sequential process, many of the operations can be performed in parallel or concurrently. In addition, the order of operations may be rearranged. When the operation of the process is completed, the process is terminated. The process may correspond to a method, procedure, etc. The steps of a method may be performed in whole or in part, may be performed in combination with some or all of the steps of other methods, and may be performed by any number of different systems or any portion thereof (e.g., a processor included in any of the systems).

At operation 901, as discussed above, the web-based application fragment system 224 (e.g., client device 102 or server) receives a request to access a page of a messaging application through a messaging application implemented on the client device. For example, the page access module 510 receives input from a user to navigate to a venue profile page or a map page or any other page that may be provided by the messaging client 104.

At operation 902, as discussed above, the web-based application fragment system 224 identifies a first web-based application linked to a page of the messaging application. For example, page access module 510 accesses a template of a page being displayed and identifies one or more application segments associated with or indicated on the template.

At operation 903, as discussed above, the web-based application fragment system 224 obtains a first application fragment corresponding to a first web-based application linked to a page of the messaging application. For example, the page access module 510 communicates with the web-based application module 520 to obtain one or more application fragments corresponding to each web-based application identified on the template.

At operation 904, as discussed above, the web-based application fragment system 224 identifies data fields of the first application fragment corresponding to information presented on a page of the messaging application. For example, the page access module 510 may determine that the application fragment includes a data field representing a reservation time in the event that the page being displayed corresponds to a venue profile page. The application fragment may also specify one or more parameters or attributes of the page being viewed that are required to populate the data field.

At operation 905, the web-based application fragment system 224 populates the data fields of the first application fragment by sending a message from the messaging application to the first web-based application, the message including a request for content corresponding to information presented on a page of the messaging application, as discussed above. For example, the application fragment selection module 530 obtains parameters or attributes of the page being viewed and transmits a request to the web-based application to retrieve information for populating the data fields based on the parameters or attributes of the page being viewed.

At operation 906, as discussed above, the web-based application fragment system 224 adds a visual representation of the first application fragment including the populated data field to a page of the messaging application. For example, the application fragment display module 540 presents a display that includes a visual identifier (e.g., icon or marker) representing a web-based application fragment and includes populated data fields (e.g., available reservations of restaurants).

Machine architecture

Fig. 10 is a diagrammatic representation of a machine 1000 within which instructions 1008 (e.g., software, programs, applications, applets, apps, or other executable code) for causing the machine 1000 to perform any one or more of the methods discussed herein may be executed. For example, the instructions 1008 may cause the machine 1000 to perform any one or more of the methods described herein. The instructions 1008 transform the generic, un-programmed machine 1000 into a particular machine 1000 that is programmed to perform the described and illustrated functions in the manner described. The machine 1000 may operate as a standalone device or may be coupled (e.g., networked) to other machines. In a networked deployment, the machine 1000 may operate in the capacity of a server machine or a client machine in server-client network environment, or as a peer machine in a peer-to-peer (or distributed) network environment. Machine 1000 may include, but is not limited to: a server computer, a client computer, a Personal Computer (PC), a tablet computer, a laptop computer, a netbook, a set-top box (STB), a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), an entertainment media system, a cellular telephone, a smart phone, a mobile device, a wearable device (e.g., a smart watch), a smart home device (e.g., a smart appliance), other smart device, a web appliance, a network router, a network switch, a network bridge, or any machine capable of executing instructions 1008 that specify actions to be taken by machine 1000, sequentially or otherwise. Furthermore, while only a single machine 1000 is illustrated, the term "machine" shall also be taken to include a collection of machines that individually or jointly execute instructions 1008 to perform any one or more of the methodologies discussed herein. For example, the machine 1000 may include the client device 102 or any one of several server devices that form part of the messaging server system 108. In some examples, machine 1000 may also include both a client system and a server system, where certain operations of a particular method or algorithm are performed on the server side and certain operations of the particular method or algorithm are performed on the client side.

The machine 1000 may include a processor 1002, a memory 1004, and input/output (I/O) components 1038, which may be configured to communicate with each other via a bus 1040. In an example, the processor 1002 (e.g., a Central Processing Unit (CPU), a Reduced Instruction Set Computing (RISC) processor, a Complex Instruction Set Computing (CISC) processor, a Graphics Processing Unit (GPU), a Digital Signal Processor (DSP), an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), a Radio Frequency Integrated Circuit (RFIC), another processor, or any suitable combination thereof) may include, for example, a processor 1006 and a processor 1010 that execute instructions 1008. The term "processor" is intended to include a multi-core processor, which may include two or more separate processors (sometimes referred to as "cores") that may execute instructions simultaneously. Although fig. 10 shows multiple processors 1002, machine 1000 may include a single processor with a single core, a single processor with multiple cores (e.g., a multi-core processor), multiple processors with a single core, multiple processors with multiple cores, or any combination thereof.

The memory 1004 includes a main memory 1012, a static memory 1014, and a storage unit 1016, all of which are accessible by the processor 1002 via the bus 1040. Main memory 1004, static memory 1014, and storage unit 1016 store instructions 1008 embodying any one or more of the methodologies or functions described herein. The instructions 1008 may also reside, completely or partially, within the main memory 1012, within the static memory 1014, within the machine-readable medium within the storage unit 1016, within at least one processor of the processors 1002 (e.g., within a cache memory of the processor), or within any suitable combination thereof, during execution thereof by the machine 1000.

The I/O component 1038 can include various components for receiving input, providing output, producing output, sending information, exchanging information, capturing measurement results, and the like. The particular I/O components 1038 included in a particular machine will depend on the type of machine. For example, a portable machine such as a mobile phone may include a touch input device or other such input mechanism, while a headless server machine will likely not include such a touch input device. It should be appreciated that I/O component 1038 can comprise many other components not shown in FIG. 10. In various examples, I/O components 1038 may include user output components 1024 and user input components 1026. The user output component 1024 can include visual components (e.g., a display such as a Plasma Display Panel (PDP), a Light Emitting Diode (LED) display, a Liquid Crystal Display (LCD), a projector, or a Cathode Ray Tube (CRT)), acoustic components (e.g., speakers), haptic components (e.g., vibration motor, resistance mechanism), other signal generators, and so forth. User input components 1026 may include alphanumeric input components (e.g., a keyboard, a touch screen configured to receive alphanumeric input, an optoelectronic keyboard, or other alphanumeric input components), point-based input components (e.g., a mouse, touchpad, trackball, joystick, motion sensor, or other pointing instrument), tactile input components (e.g., physical buttons, a touch screen providing the location and force of a touch or touch gesture, or other tactile input components), audio input components (e.g., a microphone), and the like.

In other examples, I/O components 1038 may include biometric components 1028, moving components 1030, environmental components 1032, or positioning components 1034, among various other components. For example, the biometric component 1028 includes components for detecting expressions (e.g., hand expressions, facial expressions, voice expressions, body gestures, or eye tracking), measuring biological signals (e.g., blood pressure, heart rate, body temperature, perspiration, or brain waves), identifying a person (e.g., voice recognition, retinal recognition, facial recognition, fingerprint recognition, or electroencephalogram-based recognition), and the like. The motion component 1030 includes an acceleration sensor component (e.g., accelerometer), a gravity sensor component, and a rotation sensor component (e.g., gyroscope).

Environmental component 1032 includes, for example, one or more cameras (with still image/photo and video capabilities), an illumination sensor component (e.g., a photometer), a temperature sensor component (e.g., one or more thermometers that detect ambient temperature), a humidity sensor component, a pressure sensor component (e.g., a barometer), an acoustic sensor component (e.g., one or more microphones that detect background noise), a proximity sensor component (e.g., an infrared sensor that detects nearby objects), a gas sensor (e.g., a gas detection sensor that detects the concentration of hazardous gases or measures contaminants in the atmosphere for safety), or other components that may provide an indication, measurement, or signal corresponding to the surrounding physical environment.

Regarding the camera, the client device 102 may have a camera system including, for example, a front camera on the front surface of the client device 102 and a rear camera on the rear surface of the client device 102. The front-facing camera may, for example, be used to capture still images and video (e.g., "self-timer") of the user of the client device 102, which may then be enhanced with the enhancement data (e.g., filters) described above. For example, a rear camera may be used to capture still images and video in a more conventional camera mode, where the images are similarly enhanced with enhancement data. In addition to front-facing cameras and rear-facing cameras, the client device 102 may also include 360 ° cameras for capturing 360 ° photos and videos.

Further, the camera system of the client device 102 may include dual rear-facing cameras (e.g., a main camera and a depth sensing camera), or even triple, quadruple or quintuple rear-facing camera configurations on the front-to-back side of the client device 102. For example, these multiple camera systems may include a wide-angle camera, an ultra-wide-angle camera, a tele camera, a macro camera, and a depth sensor.

The positioning component 1034 includes a position sensor component (e.g., a GPS receiver component), an altitude sensor component (e.g., an altimeter or barometer that detects barometric pressure from which altitude may be derived), an orientation sensor component (e.g., a magnetometer), and so forth.

Communication may be accomplished using a variety of techniques. The I/O components 1038 also include a communication component 1036, the communication component 1036 being operable to couple the machine 1000 to the network 1020 or the device 1022 via a corresponding coupling or connection. For example, communication components 1036 may include a network interface component or other suitable device to interface with network 1020. In a further example of this embodiment, the method comprises, the communication means 1036 may include wired communication means, wireless communication means cellular communication component, near Field Communication (NFC) component,Parts (e.g./>Low power consumption),/>Components, and other communication components that provide communication via other modalities. Device 1022 may be another machine or any of a variety of peripheral devices (e.g., a peripheral device coupled via USB).

Further, the communication component 1036 may detect an identifier or include components operable to detect an identifier. For example, the communication component 1036 may include a Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tag reader component, an NFC smart tag detection component, an optical reader component (e.g., an optical sensor for detecting one-dimensional bar codes such as Universal Product Code (UPC) bar codes, multi-dimensional bar codes such as Quick Response (QR) codes, aztec codes, data matrices, data symbols (Dataglyph), maximum codes (MaxiCode), PDF417, ultra codes (Ultra Code), UCC RSS-2D bar codes, and other optical codes), or an acoustic detection component (e.g., a microphone for identifying the marked audio signals). In addition, various information may be derived via the communication component 1036, e.g., location via Internet Protocol (IP) geographic location, viaSignal triangulation derives location, NFC beacon signals that can indicate a particular location via detection, etc.

The various memories (e.g., main memory 1012, static memory 1014, and memory of processor 1002) and storage unit 1016 may store one or more sets of instructions and data structures (e.g., software) implemented or used by any one or more of the methods or functions described herein. These instructions (e.g., instructions 1008), when executed by the processor 1002, cause various operations to implement the disclosed examples.

The instructions 1008 may be transmitted or received over the network 1020 using a transmission medium via a network interface device (e.g., a network interface component included in the communications component 1036) and using any one of a number of well-known transmission protocols (e.g., HTTP). Similarly, the instructions 1008 may be transmitted or received via a coupling (e.g., peer-to-peer coupling) with the device 1022 using a transmission medium.

Software architecture

Fig. 11 is a block diagram 1100 illustrating a software architecture 1104 that may be installed on any one or more of the devices described herein. The software architecture 1104 is supported by hardware, such as a machine 1102 that includes a processor 1120, memory 1126, and I/O components 1138. In this example, the software architecture 1104 may be conceptualized as a stack of layers, with each layer providing a particular function. The software architecture 1104 includes layers such as an operating system 1112, libraries 1110, frameworks 1108, and applications 1106. In operation, the application 1106 activates an API call 1150 through the software stack and receives a message 1152 in response to the API call 1150.

Operating system 1112 manages hardware resources and provides common services. Operating system 1112 includes, for example: core 1114, service 1116 and driver 1122. Core 1114 serves as an abstraction layer between hardware and other software layers. For example, core 1114 provides memory management, processor management (e.g., scheduling), component management, networking, and security settings, among other functions. Service 1116 may provide other common services for other software layers. The driver 1122 is responsible for controlling or interfacing with the underlying hardware. For example, the driver 1122 may include a display driver, an imaging device driver,Or/>Low power consumption drive, flash drive, serial communication drive (e.g., USB drive),/>, and the likeDrivers, audio drivers, power management drivers, etc.

Library 1110 provides a common low-level infrastructure used by applications 1106. The library 1110 may include a system library 1118 (e.g., a C-standard library) that provides functions such as memory allocation functions, string manipulation functions, mathematical functions, and the like. Further, libraries 1110 may include API libraries 1124, such as media libraries (e.g., libraries for supporting presentation and manipulation of various media formats, such as moving Picture experts group-4 (MPEG 4), advanced video coding (H.264 or AVC), moving Picture experts group layer-3 (MP 3), advanced Audio Coding (AAC), adaptive Multi-Rate (AMR) audio codec, joint Picture experts group (JPEG or JPG) or Portable Network Graphics (PNG)), graphics libraries (e.g., openGL framework for presentation in 2D and 3D in graphical content on a display), database libraries (e.g., SQLite providing various relational database functions), web libraries (e.g., webKit providing web browsing functions), and the like. The library 1110 may also include various other libraries 1128 to provide many other APIs to the application 1106.

Framework 1108 provides a common high-level infrastructure used by applications 1106. For example, framework 1108 provides various graphical user interface functions, advanced resource management, and advanced location services. Framework 1108 can provide a wide variety of other APIs that can be used by applications 1106, some of which can be specific to a particular operating system or platform.

In an example, applications 1106 can include a home application 1136, a contacts application 1130, a browser application 1132, a book reader application 1134, a location application 1142, a media application 1144, a messaging application 1146, a gaming application 1148, and a variety of other applications such as an external application 1140. The application 1106 is a program that performs functions defined in the program. One or more of the applications 1106 that are variously structured may be created using a variety of programming languages, such as an object oriented programming language (e.g., objective-C, java or C++) or a procedural programming language (e.g., C or assembly language). In particular examples, external applications 1140 (e.g., applications developed by entities other than the vendor of the particular platform using ANDROID ^TM or IOS ^TM SDK) may be implemented, for example, in IOS ^TM、ANDROID^TM,The Phone's mobile operating system or other mobile software running on the mobile operating system. In this example, external applications 1140 can activate API calls 1150 provided by operating system 1112 to facilitate the functionality described herein.

Vocabulary list

"Carrier wave signal" refers to any intangible medium capable of storing, encoding or carrying instructions for execution by a machine, and includes digital or analog communication signals or other intangible medium to facilitate communication of such instructions. The instructions may be transmitted or received over a network using a transmission medium via a network interface device.

"Client device" refers to any machine that interfaces with a communication network to obtain resources from one or more server systems or other client devices. The client device may be, but is not limited to, a mobile phone, desktop computer, laptop computer, portable Digital Assistant (PDA), smart phone, tablet computer, ultrabook, netbook, notebook computer, multiprocessor system, microprocessor-based or programmable consumer electronics, game console, set top box, or any other communication device that a user can use to access a network.

"Communication network" refers to one or more portions of a network, the network may be an ad hoc network, an intranet, an extranet, a Virtual Private Network (VPN), a Local Area Network (LAN), a Wireless LAN (WLAN), a Wide Area Network (WAN), a Wireless WAN (WWAN), a Metropolitan Area Network (MAN), a wireless network (WLAN) the Internet, a portion of the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) Plain Old Telephone Service (POTS) network, cellular telephone network, wireless network,A network, other type of network, or a combination of two or more such networks. For example, the network or portion of the network may comprise a wireless network or cellular network, and the coupling may be a Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) connection, a global system for mobile communications (GSM) connection, or other type of cellular or wireless coupling. In this example, the coupling may implement any of various types of data transmission technologies, such as single carrier radio transmission technology (1 xRTT), evolution data optimized (EVDO) technology, general Packet Radio Service (GPRS) technology, enhanced data rates for GSM evolution (EDGE) technology, third generation partnership project (3 GPP) including 3G, fourth generation wireless (4G) networks, universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS), high Speed Packet Access (HSPA), worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX), long Term Evolution (LTE) standards, other data transmission technologies defined by various standards setting organizations, other long distance protocols, or other data transmission technologies.

"Component" refers to a device, physical entity, or logic having boundaries defined by function or subroutine calls, branch points, APIs, or other techniques that provide partitioning or modularization of particular processing or control functions. The components may interface with other components via their interfaces to perform machine processes. A component may be a packaged functional hardware unit designed for use with other components and be part of a program that typically performs a particular one of the relevant functions.

The components may constitute software components (e.g., code embodied on a machine-readable medium) or hardware components. A "hardware component" is a tangible unit that is capable of performing certain operations and that may be configured or arranged in some physical manner. In various examples, one or more computer systems (e.g., stand-alone computer systems, client computer systems, or server computer systems) or one or more hardware components of a computer system (e.g., processors or groups of processors) may be configured by software (e.g., an application or application part) as hardware components that operate to perform certain operations described herein.

The hardware components may also be implemented mechanically, electronically, or any suitable combination thereof. For example, a hardware component may include specialized circuitry or logic permanently configured to perform certain operations. The hardware component may be a special purpose processor such as a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) or ASIC. The hardware components may also include programmable logic or circuitry that is temporarily configured by software to perform certain operations. For example, the hardware components may include software that is executed by a general purpose processor or other programmable processor. Once configured by such software, the hardware components become the specific machine (or specific component of a machine) that is uniquely customized to perform the configured functions, and are no longer general purpose processors. It will be appreciated that it may be decided, for cost and time considerations, to implement a hardware component mechanically in a dedicated and permanently configured circuit or in a temporarily configured (e.g., by software configuration) circuit. Thus, the phrase "hardware component" (or "hardware-implemented component") should be understood to include a tangible entity, i.e., an entity that is physically constructed, permanently configured (e.g., hardwired), or temporarily configured (e.g., programmed) to operate in some manner or perform certain operations described herein.

Considering the example where hardware components are temporarily configured (e.g., programmed), there is no need to configure or instantiate each of the hardware components at any one time. For example, in the case where the hardware components include general-purpose processors that are configured by software to become special-purpose processors, the general-purpose processors may be configured separately at different times into different special-purpose processors (e.g., including different hardware components). The software configures one or more particular processors accordingly, for example, to constitute particular hardware components at one time and different hardware components at different times.

A hardware component may provide information to and receive information from other hardware components. Thus, the described hardware components may be considered to be communicatively coupled. Where multiple hardware components are present at the same time, communication may be achieved by signal transmission (e.g., through appropriate circuitry and buses) between or among two or more of the hardware components. In examples where multiple hardware components are configured or instantiated at different times, communication between such hardware components may be achieved, for example, by storing information in a memory structure where the multiple hardware components have access to and retrieving information in the memory structure. For example, one hardware component may perform an operation and store an output of the operation in a memory device communicatively coupled thereto. Other hardware components may then access the memory device at a later time to retrieve the stored output and process it. The hardware component may also initiate communication with an input device or an output device, and may operate on a resource (e.g., a collection of information).

Various operations of the example methods described herein may be performed, at least in part, by one or more processors that are temporarily configured (e.g., via software) or permanently configured to perform the relevant operations. Whether temporarily configured or permanently configured, such a processor may constitute a processor-implemented component that operates to perform one or more operations or functions described herein. As used herein, "processor-implemented components" refers to hardware components implemented using one or more processors. Similarly, the methods described herein may be implemented, at least in part, by processors, with particular one or more processors being examples of hardware. For example, at least some operations of the method may be performed by one or more processors 1002 or processor-implemented components. In addition, one or more processors may also operate to support execution of related operations in a "cloud computing" environment or as "software as a service" (SaaS) operations. For example, at least some of the operations may be performed by a set of computers (as examples of machines including processors), where the operations may be accessed via a network (e.g., the internet) and via one or more suitable interfaces (e.g., APIs). The performance of certain operations may be distributed among processors, not residing within a single machine, but rather being deployed across several machines. In some examples, the processor or processor-implemented components may be located in a single geographic location (e.g., within a home environment, an office environment, or a server farm). In other examples, the processor or processor-implemented components may be distributed across several geographic locations.

"Computer-readable storage medium" refers to both machine storage media and transmission media. Thus, the term includes both storage devices/media and carrier wave/modulated data signals. The terms "machine-readable medium," "computer-readable medium," and "device-readable medium" mean the same thing and may be used interchangeably in this disclosure.

"Ephemeral message" refers to a message that is accessible for a limited duration. The transient message may be text, images, video, etc. The access time for the ephemeral message may be set by the message sender. Alternatively, the access time may be a default setting or a setting specified by the recipient. Regardless of the setup technique, the message is transient.

"Machine storage media" refers to single or multiple storage devices and media (e.g., centralized or distributed databases, as well as associated caches and servers) that store the executable instructions, routines, and data. Accordingly, the term should be taken to include, but is not limited to, solid-state memory, as well as optical and magnetic media, including memory internal or external to the processor. Specific examples of machine storage media, computer storage media, and device storage media include: nonvolatile memory including, for example, semiconductor memory devices such as erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), FPGA, and flash memory devices; magnetic disks, such as internal hard disks and removable disks; magneto-optical disk; CD-ROM and DVD-ROM discs. The terms "machine storage medium," "device storage medium," and "computer storage medium" mean the same and may be used interchangeably in this disclosure. The terms "machine storage medium," computer storage medium, "and" device storage medium "expressly exclude carrier waves, modulated data signals, and other such medium, and at least some of these are contained within the term" signal medium.

"Non-transitory computer-readable storage medium" refers to a tangible medium capable of storing, encoding or carrying instructions for execution by a machine.

"Signal medium" refers to any intangible medium capable of storing, encoding, or carrying instructions for execution by a machine, and includes digital or analog communications signals or other intangible medium to facilitate communication of software or data. The term "signal medium" shall be taken to include any form of modulated data signal, carrier wave, and the like. The term "modulated data signal" means a signal that has one or more of its characteristics set or changed in such a manner as to encode information in the signal. The terms "transmission medium" and "signal medium" refer to the same thing and may be used interchangeably in this disclosure.

Changes and modifications may be made to the disclosed examples without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. These and other changes or modifications are intended to be included within the scope of the present disclosure as expressed in the appended claims.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

receiving, by a messaging application implemented on a client device, a request to access a page of the messaging application;

identifying a first web-based application linked to a page of the messaging application;

obtaining a first application segment corresponding to the first web-based application linked to a page of the messaging application;

Identifying a data field of the first application segment corresponding to information presented on a page of the messaging application;

Populating the data field of the first application segment by sending a message from the messaging application to the first web-based application, the message including a request for content corresponding to information presented on a page of the messaging application; and

A visual representation of the first application fragment including the populated data field is added to a page of the messaging application.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the page of the messaging application comprises a map, the method further comprising:

Obtaining a map template associated with the map; and

Determining that the map template identifies the first web-based application as being linked to the map, wherein the data field of the first application segment includes a point of interest (POI), a profile page associated with the POI, or one or more media items associated with the POI.

3. The method of any of claims 1-2, further comprising:

Determining that the data field is associated with location information;

Determining the location information based on the map presented on the messaging application; and

The location information is sent to the first web-based application, wherein the request for the content identifies the data field of the first application segment, and wherein the first web-based application obtains the content corresponding to the data field and provides the obtained content to the messaging application.

4. A method according to claim 3, further comprising:

Selecting a type of visual representation from a plurality of types of visual representations for the first application segment; and

The visual representation is generated using the obtained content received from the first web-based application based on the selected type, the visual representation including the POI, a profile page associated with the POI, or one or more media items associated with the POI.

5. The method of any of claims 3 to 4, wherein the selected type comprises a running path or a navigation path along the map.

6. The method of any of claims 3-5, wherein the selected type includes a media item marker or icon representing the first web-based application.

7. The method of any of claims 3 to 6, wherein the type is selected based on a definition of the type stored in the map template.

8. The method of any of claims 3 to 7, wherein the type is selected based on a definition of the type specified in the first application fragment.

9. The method of any one of claims 1 to 8, further comprising:

receiving input selecting a visual representation of the first application segment; and

In response to the input, the first web-based application is launched in a new page of the messaging application.

10. The method of any of claims 1-9, wherein the page of the messaging application includes a venue profile, the method further comprising:

Obtaining a locale template associated with the locale profile; and

Determining that the venue template identifies the first web-based application as being linked to the venue profile, wherein the data field of the first application segment includes a first item including menu information, reservation information, traffic information, comment information, ticketing information, or one or more media items associated with a location associated with the venue profile.

11. The method of claim 10, further comprising:

determining that the locale template identifies a second web-based application as being linked to the locale profile;

obtaining a second application fragment corresponding to the second web-based application; and

A second data field of the first application segment corresponding to information presented on a page of the messaging application is identified, the second data field including a second item different from the first item, the second item including the menu information, the subscription information, the traffic information, the comment information, the ticketing information, or one or more media items associated with a location associated with the venue profile.

12. The method of any of claims 10 to 11, further comprising:

populating the second data field of the second application fragment by sending a second message from the messaging application to the second web-based application; and

A second visual representation of the second application fragment including the populated second data field is added to a page of the messaging application.

13. The method of any of claims 10 to 12, wherein the second visual representation of the second application segment is displayed with the visual representation of the first application segment.

14. The method of any of claims 10 to 13, wherein the venue profile corresponds to a restaurant, theater, stadium, or other business location.

15. The method of any of claims 1-14, wherein receiving a request to access the page comprises:

Receiving input to navigate to the page of the messaging application, wherein sending the message from the messaging application to the first web-based application is performed in response to receiving input to navigate to the page of the message processing application.

16. The method of any one of claims 1 to 15, further comprising:

Determining that a plurality of web-based applications are linked to pages of the messaging application;

receiving registration information corresponding to a user profile, the registration information identifying a list of previously registered web-based applications associated with the user profile;

Selecting a subset of the plurality of web-based applications based on the registration information identifying the list of previously registered web-based applications, the subset including the first web-based application; and

One or more visual representations of application segments associated with a subset of the plurality of web-based applications are presented within a page of the messaging application, the one or more visual representations including a visual representation of the first application segment.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein each of the application fragments comprises one or more fields populated based on messages exchanged between the messaging application and each of the subset of the plurality of web-based applications, the registration information comprising a list of web-based applications previously registered by one or more friends of the user.

18. A system, comprising:

A processor of the client device; and

A memory component having instructions stored thereon that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to perform operations comprising:

Receiving, by a messaging application implemented on the client device, a request to access a page of the messaging application;

19. The system of claim 18, wherein the page of the messaging application comprises a map or a venue profile.

20. A computer-readable storage medium having instructions stored thereon, which when executed by a processor of a client device, cause the processor to perform operations comprising: