JP2023018753A - Application program, information service system, application service device and information processing method - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide a high convenience to a user.SOLUTION: An application program generates, at a terminal device, a widget including a plurality of content blocks each of which is connected with an associated service of a plurality of services. Each of the plurality of content blocks is associated with any of a plurality of services providing a group of contents different from each other.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

The present invention relates to an application program, an information providing system, an application providing device, and an information processing method.

Conventionally, the steps of providing a web widget creation tool for creating a web widget to a device of a content provider and receiving web widget generation information used to create the web widget from the device of the content provider. , generating an installation file for the web widget based on the web widget generation information, and transferring the generated installation file for the web widget to the device of the content provider (see, for example, Patent Reference 1).

JP 2014-170545 A

However, there are cases where the conventional technology described above is not sufficiently convenient for the user.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide an application program, an information providing system, an application providing apparatus, and an information processing method that can improve user convenience. do.

One aspect of the present invention is an application program that causes a terminal device to generate a widget that includes a plurality of content blocks each connected to a corresponding service among a plurality of services, wherein each of the plurality of content blocks is an application program associated with one of a plurality of services that provide different groups of contents.

According to one aspect of the present invention, user convenience can be improved.

1 is a diagram showing an example of a functional configuration of an information processing system 1 including application programs; FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of a widget W1 displayed on the display unit of the terminal device 20; FIG. FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining a widget W1; FIG. It is a figure which shows an example of the screen displayed by operating a content block. 4 is a sequence diagram showing an example of the flow of processing executed by a widget control unit 26; FIG. 4 is a flow chart showing an example of the flow of processing executed by a widget control unit 26; It is a figure which shows an example of a functional structure of 20 A of terminal devices. FIG. 4 is a sequence diagram showing an example of the flow of processing executed by a widget application 32, a news application 34, and a news providing device 40-1; FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of a screen S1 for selecting content blocks; FIG. It is a figure which shows an example of Screen S2 displayed on a display part. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of content blocks corresponding to search; FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of a screen displayed when customizing content block candidates. FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of content block candidates with a photograph as the background. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of prepared content block candidates; FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of widget candidates in which a plurality of content block candidates are arranged; FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of a screen when widgets are arranged on the home screen;

Hereinafter, embodiments of an application program, an information providing system, an application providing apparatus, and an information processing method of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

[Outline (Part 1)]
An application program according to one aspect of the present embodiment causes a terminal device to generate a widget including a plurality of content blocks each connected to a corresponding service among a plurality of services. A “widget” is, for example, a graphical user interface that arranges information and contents related to a predetermined function on a predetermined screen. The predetermined screen is, for example, a home screen (standby screen). A "content block" is, for example, information or content related to a predetermined function. Each of the plurality of content blocks (or one or more or two or more) is associated with one of a plurality of services each providing a different group of content. A group of contents is, for example, a group of contents provided by the provider of the service. Note that the widget may include other content blocks that are not connected to the service (for example, a content block related to the function of completing the service within the terminal device) in addition to the plurality of contents.

"Each of them connects to a service" includes, for example, being connected via a network based on a predetermined operation or instruction, or being connectable via a network. "Create" means to create a widget that can be placed on the home screen, or to support the creation of a widget to be placed on the home screen (e.g., prepare a widget to be passed to the operating system that).

The application program causes the terminal device to receive a user's operation for each of a plurality of content blocks included in one widget displayed on the display unit of the terminal device.

The terminal device is caused to acquire content via a network from a service provider corresponding to the operated content block, and display a screen based on the acquired content on the display unit.

[Outline (Part 2)]
An application program according to another aspect of the present embodiment provides a terminal device with a plurality of content block candidates selected by a user from a plurality of content block candidates included in one widget displayed on a display unit of the terminal device. Settings are made to receive information on content block candidates and to arrange the one widget including the received plurality of content block candidates on the screen of the display unit. Setting means, for example, preparing a widget including a plurality of content blocks and a widget including the content blocks for display on the screen. Preparing means preparing, for example, a content block or a widget including a plurality of content blocks to be transferred to a functional unit (for example, an operating system) having a function of arranging these on the screen.

At least some of the plurality of content block candidates are associated with one of a plurality of services each providing a group of content different from each other, and are included in widgets arranged on the screen based on the setting. The content corresponding to the content block is content obtained via a network from a service provider corresponding to the content block. For example, providers of services corresponding to content blocks are different.

[Information processing system]
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of a functional configuration of an information processing system 1 including application programs. The information processing system 1 includes, for example, an application providing device 10, one or more user terminal devices 20, and an information providing device 40 that provides information. The terminal device 20 communicates with the application providing device 10 or the information providing device 40 via the network NW. The network NW includes the Internet, a LAN (Local Area Network), a WAN (Wide Area Network), a cellular network, and the like.

The application providing device 10 is an example of an "application providing device". The information providing device 40 (40-1-40-3) is an example of a "service providing device".

[Application providing device]
The application providing device 10 provides the terminal device 20 with a widget application (application program) 32, which will be described later.

[Terminal device]
The terminal device 20 is a computer device having a communication function and a display function, such as a smart phone, a personal computer, or a tablet terminal. The terminal device 20 includes, for example, a communication unit 22, a UA 24, a widget control unit 26, and a storage unit 30. The communication unit 22 is a communication interface for communicating with the application providing device 10 or the information providing device 40 .

In the terminal device 20, a processor such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit) executes a UA 24 such as a browser and application programs to realize various services.

The widget control unit 26 is implemented by a processor such as a CPU executing the widget application 32 provided by the application providing device 10 . The widget control unit 26 generates widgets to be arranged on the home screen of the terminal device 20, and performs processing according to user operations on the arranged widgets. Details of the processing will be described later.

The storage unit 30 is a storage device such as RAM (Random Access Memory) or flash memory. A widget application 32 is stored in the storage unit 30 .

[Information providing device]
The information providing device 40 is, for example, a device that provides information contained in or related to widgets. The information providing device 40 is, for example, a news providing device 40-1 that provides news, a weather information providing device 40-2 that provides information on weather, a fortune-telling information providing device 40-3 that provides information on fortune-telling, and the like. . In addition to the above, the information providing device 40 may include various devices such as a search device that provides search results for a query provided by the terminal device 20, a map information providing device that provides map information, and the like. Each of the plurality of services is, for example, a service provided by an administrator associated with the provider of the application program. Each of the information providing devices 40 is, for example, a device managed by an administrator associated with the provider of the application program.

[Show Widget]
FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of the widget W1 displayed on the display section of the terminal device 20. As shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 2, widget W1 is displayed at the top of the display, and other widgets such as widgets W2-W5 are displayed below it. A widget W1 is a widget generated by the widget control unit 26 (a widget whose generation is supported by the widget control unit 26).

FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining the widget W1. Widget W1 includes a plurality of content blocks B1-B3. A content block is a piece of content in a widget. This one content block corresponds to, for example, one information providing device 40 (service). Content presented in one content block is, for example, content provided to the corresponding information providing device 40 . Also, when an area corresponding to a content block is operated, the terminal device 20 accesses the corresponding information providing device 40 and causes the display unit to display the content provided by the corresponding information providing device 40 .

In the example of FIG. 3, the content block B1 corresponds to the news providing device 40-1, the content block B2 corresponds to the weather information providing device 40-2, and the content block B3 corresponds to the fortune-telling information providing device 40-3. handle. Content block B1 includes, for example, sub-content blocks B1a, B1b, and B1c.

The content included in the areas corresponding to the sub-content blocks B1a, B1b, and B1c is the content provided by the news providing device 40-1, and the content included in each of the sub-content blocks B1a, B1b, and B1c is different. It's content. A different news headline is displayed in each of the sub-content blocks B1a, B1b, and B1c.

For example, when the user operates the area corresponding to the content block B1a in FIG. 3, the image IM1 (B1a) in FIG. 4 is displayed on the display unit. The image IM1 (B1a) is content showing the details of the news included in the area corresponding to the sub-content block B1a provided by the news providing device 40-1.

For example, when the area corresponding to the content block B1b in FIG. 3 is operated by the user, the content showing the details of the news included in the area corresponding to the sub-content block B1b provided by the news information providing device 40-1 is displayed. When the user operates the area corresponding to the content block B1c shown in FIG. is displayed on the display (not shown).

As described above, for example, the area corresponding to the content block B1 in the plurality of content blocks includes a plurality of virtually set divided areas, and when the user operates a predetermined divided area, the widget control unit 26 selectively acquires content corresponding to the content indicated in the operated divided area from the information providing device 40 and displays the acquired content on the display unit.

For example, when the user operates the area corresponding to the content block B2 in FIG. 3, the image IM2 (B2) in FIG. 4 is displayed on the display unit. The image IM2 (B2) is content showing the details of the weather included in the area corresponding to the sub-content block B2 provided by the weather information providing device 40-2.

For example, when the user operates the area corresponding to the content block B3a in FIG. 3, the image IM3 (B3) in FIG. 4 is displayed on the display unit. The image IM3 (B3) is content showing the details of the fortune-telling included in the area corresponding to the sub-content block B3a provided by the fortune-telling information providing device 40-3.

Note that the content included in each content block in FIG. 3 is updated at predetermined intervals. For example, the widget control unit 26 acquires the latest content from the information providing device 40 corresponding to the content block at predetermined intervals, and updates the content included in the content block (see FIG. 5 for details).

As described above, the widget control unit 26 can help the user to easily obtain useful content by displaying a widget including a plurality of content blocks on the display unit. Furthermore, the widget control unit 26 can improve the user's convenience by providing more detailed content to the user according to the user's operation.

[sequence]
FIG. 5 is a sequence diagram showing an example of the flow of processing executed by the widget control unit 26. As shown in FIG. The processing of the sequence in FIG. 5 is processing related to updating the content included in the content block of the widget in FIG.

First, the widget control unit 26 (widget application 32) requests the news providing device 40-1 to provide content (S10), and acquires the content provided in response to the request from the news providing device 40-1 (S12). ). Then, the widget control unit 26 updates the content of the content block displaying news to the content acquired in S12 (S14). The widget control unit 26 acquires content using, for example, an API (Application Programming Interface) provided by the information providing device 40 . This makes it possible to easily acquire the content.

Next, the widget control unit 26 requests the weather information providing device 40-2 to provide content (S16), and acquires the content provided in response to the request from the weather information providing device 40-2 (S18). Then, the widget control unit 26 updates the content of the content block displaying the weather information to the content acquired in S18 (S20).

Next, the widget control unit 26 requests the fortune-telling information providing device 40-3 to provide content (S22), and acquires the content provided in response to the request from the fortune-telling information providing device 40-3 (S24). Then, the widget control unit 26 updates the content of the content block displaying the fortune-telling information to the content acquired in S24 (S26).

As described above, the widget control unit 26 obtains the content of the content block from the information providing device 40 and updates the content included in the widget at predetermined intervals, thereby providing useful content to the user. be able to. This improves user convenience.

[flowchart]
FIG. 6 is a flow chart showing an example of the flow of processing executed by the widget control unit 26. As shown in FIG. This flowchart shows a process in which a widget including a plurality of content blocks is displayed on the display unit of the terminal device 20 as shown in FIG. 2, a predetermined content block is operated, and the screen transitions as shown in FIG. It is about.

First, the widget control unit 26 determines whether or not a widget has been operated (S100). When the widget is operated, the widget control unit 26 identifies the content block of the operated widget (S102). Next, the widget control unit 26 requests the information providing device 40 corresponding to the specified content block to provide content (S104).

Next, the information providing device 40 provides the widget application 32 (widget control unit 26) with the content requested in S104 (S200). Next, the widget control unit 26 acquires content from the information providing device 40 (S106).

Next, the widget control unit 26 causes the display unit to display the content acquired in S106 using the browser (S108). A browser is a function realized by the widget application 32 . This completes the processing of this flowchart.

According to the processing described above, the widget control unit 26 can provide useful content to the user by providing the user with content corresponding to the operated content block. This improves user convenience.

In addition, since the provider of the widget application 32 and the administrator of the information providing device 40 are related, the widget control unit 26 can easily acquire the content using the API provided by the information providing device 40, for example. be able to. In other words, the widget application 32 acquires content from the provider of the service corresponding to the operated content block without going through an application related to the service corresponding to the content block, thereby improving user convenience. can be done.

[Another example of content acquisition]
In the processing described above, the widget control unit 26 uses the browser to display content on the display unit. The content may be displayed on the display unit by the function of .

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of the functional configuration of the terminal device 20A. The description will focus on the differences from the terminal device 20 . The terminal device 20A further includes a news providing unit 28 and a storage unit 30A instead of the storage unit 30. FIG. The news providing unit 28 is implemented by a processor such as a CPU executing the news application 34 . The news providing unit 28 cooperates with the news providing device 40 to provide the user with news and information provided by the news providing device 40-1. In addition to the widget application 32, the storage unit 30A stores a news application 34 that provides news to the user.

[Sequence Diagram]
FIG. 8 is a sequence diagram showing an example of the flow of processing executed by the widget application 32, the news application 34, and the news providing device 40-1. First, the widget control unit 26 determines whether or not a widget has been operated (S300). When the widget is operated, the widget control unit 26 identifies the content block of the operated widget (S302). In this example, it is assumed that a content block related to news has been manipulated.

Next, the widget control unit 26 determines whether an application corresponding to the operated content block is installed in the terminal device 20 (S304). The application corresponding to the operated content block is an application that provides content (service) to the user in cooperation with the information providing device 40 (service provider) that provides content included in the content block. In this example, the news application 34 cooperates with the news providing device 40 to provide content to the user. In S304, it is determined whether the news application 34 is installed.

If the news application 34 is installed, the widget control unit 26 sends an instruction to the news application 34 to activate the news application 34 (S306). Next, the news application 34 is activated according to the instruction of S306 (S308). Note that this process is omitted when the application is started. The news providing unit 28 implemented in response to the activation of the news application 34 requests the news providing device 40-1 to provide content (S310). Next, the news providing device 40-1 provides the content to the news application 34 (news providing unit 28) in response to the request of S312 (S312).

Next, the news providing unit 28 displays the provided content on the display unit (S314). In this case, the news providing unit 28 does not use the browser of the widget control unit 26, but uses, for example, the functions of the news application 34 (such as a news application browser) to provide content to the user. For example, the news providing unit 28 provides content to the user in the manner in which the news application 34 provides content. This completes the processing of this flowchart.

Note that unlike the present embodiment, when the news application 34 is not installed, the widget control unit 26 acquires content from the news providing device 40-1 and uses the browser, which is its own function, to display the acquired content. display on the display.

Also, the processing of S310 and S312 may be omitted. For example, if the news application 34 holds content corresponding to content included in the content block (stored in the storage unit 30), the news providing unit 28 does not access the news providing device 40-1. may be displayed on the display unit.

According to the above-described process, if an application program corresponding to the operated content block is installed, the widget control unit 26 provides the user with the content using this application program. can be provided.

[Widget generation support]
The process of generating a widget will be described below. When the user activates the widget application 32 and performs a predetermined operation, a screen S1 for selecting a content block is displayed on the display unit.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an example of a screen S1 for selecting content blocks. Screen S1 shows a list of content blocks (content block candidates) that can be included in the widget. This list includes, for example, content blocks related to news, content blocks related to weather, content blocks related to fortune-telling, content blocks related to searches, content blocks related to pedometers, and content blocks related to clocks. Note that the pedometer-related content block and the clock-related content block are content blocks corresponding to application programs installed in the terminal device 20 (for example, installed at the time of sale or shipment of the terminal device 20).

The contents of the content blocks included in the list are arbitrarily determined by the provider of the widget application 32, for example. The content blocks included in the list may be, for example, only content related to services related to the provider of the widget application 32, or may be installed at the time of shipment of the terminal device 20 or at the time of purchase by the user. It may also include an application program. The content blocks included in the list may or may not include, for example, content related to services unrelated to the widget application 32 provider. Being related means, for example, having an alliance relationship, having a capital relationship, or the like.

For example, when the user selects a content block, the widget control unit 26 provides a screen for selecting details of the content block. For example, when the user selects a content block corresponding to news, the widget control section 26 causes the display section to display a screen S2 shown in FIG. Screen S2 includes content block candidates C1 and C2 that can be included in widgets. Candidate C1 is a content block of M size, and candidate C2 is a content block of L size. The sizes of the content block candidates to be prepared are predetermined, for example, for each type of content block.

For example, in content blocks corresponding to search, S size and M size content block candidates (C3, C4) are prepared as shown in FIG. The widget control unit 26 may customize content block candidates of a prepared size among the prepared content block candidates, or customize content block candidates of a desired size specified by the user. may be the target of

The user can customize content block candidates according to a predetermined operation. The widget control unit 26 displays a screen S4 shown in FIG. 12 on the display unit. The widget control unit 26 sets the background and frame colors of the content block candidates, the background photo, the background brightness, the number of characters or the color of the text to be displayed, and the like, according to the user's operation. Items that can be customized may include various items in addition to the above.

For example, when the user performs an operation to change the background to a photograph in content block candidates for search, the widget control unit 26 generates content block candidates whose background is a photograph, as shown in FIG. .

As described above, the widget control unit 26 sets the content block candidates and customizes the content block candidates according to the user's operation, and prepares the content block candidates to be arranged on the home screen. FIG. 14 is a diagram illustrating an example of prepared content block candidates. In the example of FIG. 14, a screen including content block candidates corresponding to weather, fortune-telling, and search in S size, M size, and L size, and content block candidates corresponding to news in S size, M size, and L size. S5 is shown.

Further, when the user performs a predetermined operation to include content block candidates in one widget, the widget control unit 26 arranges the content block candidates within the widget in accordance with the operation.

FIG. 15 is a diagram illustrating an example of widget candidates in which a plurality of content block candidates are arranged. In the example of FIG. 15, one M size content block candidate and two S size content block candidates are arranged in one widget. For example, the size of the widget can be set arbitrarily. The number of content block candidates that can be included in one widget and the size of content block candidates are determined by a combination of the size of the widget, the number of content block candidates, and the size of the content block candidates. be done. For example, if the size of the widget is equal to or close to the size of the L-sized content block candidate, once the L-sized content block candidate is arranged, other content block candidates cannot be arranged.

As described above, the widget control unit 26 can customize the content block candidates, and can arrange a plurality of content block candidates in one widget according to the user's operation.

In the above process, content blocks that can be selected (or customized) by the user may be set according to the attributes of the user. For example, content blocks that can be selected by a given user may be set. A predetermined user is a user who has logged in to use a service related to a predetermined content block or a user who has predetermined authority to use the service. An authorized user is a registered user, a user having identification information given in advance, or the like. Authorized users can register to use services provided by administrators who manage Widget Apps and related parties (e.g., affiliates affiliated with administrators, group administrators belonging to groups managed by administrators). and users to whom identification information regarding the use of services has been issued. A user who has authority is a user who has registered as a member, or a user who has a predetermined authority among users who have registered as a member.

Further, in the above process, content block candidates presented to the user may be restricted according to the user's attribute. For example, the widget control unit 26 presents a predetermined content block as a candidate for inclusion in a widget to a predetermined user, and presents a predetermined content block to a user other than the predetermined user as a candidate for inclusion in a widget. need not be presented as

[Processing to set the widget on the home screen]
When the user performs an operation to set a widget on the home screen, the UA 24 of the terminal device 20 arranges the widget prepared by the widget control unit 26 on the home screen. FIG. 16 is a diagram showing an example of a screen when widgets are arranged on the home screen. For example, when the user performs an operation for setting a widget on the home screen and performs an operation for displaying a list of widgets prepared by the widget control unit 26 on the display unit, the UA 24 or the widget control unit 26 As shown in the left figure of 16, a list of widgets that can be arranged on the home screen is displayed on the display unit. When the user selects a widget to be arranged on the home screen, the UA 24 arranges the widget selected by the user on the home screen as shown in the right diagram of FIG. As described above, the UA 24 can arrange widgets prepared by the widget control unit 26 on the home screen (see FIG. 2).

In the above example, the UA 24 displays a list of prepared widgets on the display unit and arranges them on the home screen. Partial or full processing may be performed. For example, the UA 24 and the widget control unit 26 may work together to arrange widgets on the home screen.

In the above example, the widget control unit 26 prepares one widget including a plurality of content blocks. content blocks in one widget. In this case, for example, when setting widgets on the home screen, the UA 24 performs a process of including content blocks prepared by the widget control unit 26 and selected by the user into one widget.

Here, for example, consider a case in which an arbitrary application program among a plurality of application programs installed in the terminal device 20 can be included in the widget. In this case, for example, if the user wants to include a content block about news in the widget, and the application program for distributing news is not installed on the terminal device, the user needs to install the application program for distributing news. be. In the above case, the user's selection of content to be used as a content block in the widget is limited, and the user's convenience may be low.

On the other hand, the widget control unit 26 of the present embodiment provides the user with candidates that can be included in the widget as the content of the content block, even if the application program is not installed as described above. You can place the widget on the screen by including the content blocks in the widget. In this manner, the widget control unit 26 of the present embodiment can widen the range of selection of contents to be adopted as content blocks for widgets, and improve convenience for the user.

[others]
Widgets and content blocks generated by the widget control unit 26 may be shared with other terminal devices. For example, when the user performs a predetermined operation on the widget application 32, information on widgets and content blocks generated by the widget application 32 of the terminal device 20 is transferred to another terminal device (for example, the widget application 32 is installed). terminal). As a result, widgets and content blocks customized in the terminal device 20 can be used in other terminal devices as well. Widgets and content blocks may also be shared using SNS.

In the above embodiment, the information providing device 40 is prepared for each service, but instead (or in addition), one information providing device is prepared for a plurality of services. Alternatively, an information providing device for the widget application 32 that provides services in cooperation with the widget application 32 may be used. The information providing device for the widget application 32 provides users with multiple services. The multiple services are, for example, services provided by the news providing device 40-1, the weather information providing device 40-2, and the fortune-telling information providing device 40-3.

According to the embodiment described above, the widget control unit 26 can provide useful information to the user and generate widgets that suit the user's tastes through the various processes described above. This improves user convenience.

As described above, the mode for carrying out the present invention has been described using the embodiments, but the present invention is not limited to such embodiments at all, and various modifications and replacements can be made without departing from the scope of the present invention. can be added.

1... Information processing system 10... Application providing device 20... Terminal device 24... UA
26 --- Widget control unit 28 --- News providing unit 32 --- Widget application 34 --- News application 40 --- Information providing device

Claims (19)

to the terminal device,
An application program for generating a widget including a plurality of content blocks each connecting to a corresponding service among a plurality of services,
each of the plurality of content blocks is associated with one of a plurality of services each providing a group of mutually different content;
application program. to the terminal device,
accepting a user's operation for each of a plurality of content blocks included in one widget displayed on the display unit of the terminal device;
acquiring content via a network from a service provider corresponding to the operated content block;
causing the display unit to display a screen based on the acquired content;
The application program according to claim 1. each of the plurality of services is a service provided by an administrator associated with a provider of the application program;
The application program according to claim 2. The plurality of services include services that provide content other than news,
4. The application program according to claim 2 or 3. Content acquired in response to an operation on at least one content block among the plurality of content blocks is provided to the service corresponding to the one content block without using an application related to the service corresponding to the one content block. is content obtained from a source of
An application program according to any one of claims 1 to 4. to the terminal device,
Displaying information obtained from a service provider corresponding to the one content block on a display unit using a browser function within the application;
The application program according to claim 5. When an operation is performed on one content block included in the plurality of content blocks,
to the terminal device,
determining whether or not a service application that provides content to a user in cooperation with a provider of a service that provides content included in the operated one content block is installed;
When the service application is installed, using the service application to display on a display unit a screen based on content obtained via a network from a service provider corresponding to the operated content block. let it happen,
When the service application is not installed, using the application program to display on the display unit a screen based on content obtained via a network from a service provider corresponding to the operated content block. to do
Application program according to any one of claims 1 to 6. an area corresponding to a portion of the content blocks among the plurality of content blocks includes a plurality of virtually set divided areas;
When the user operates the predetermined divided area,
to the terminal device,
Selectively obtaining content corresponding to the information indicated in the operated divided area from a service provider;
Application program according to any one of claims 1 to 7. to the terminal device,
receiving information on a plurality of content block candidates selected by a user from among a plurality of content block candidates included in one widget displayed on the display unit of the terminal device;
making settings for arranging the one widget including the plurality of accepted content block candidates on the screen of the display unit;
at least some of the plurality of content block candidates are associated with one of a plurality of services each providing a group of mutually different content;
The content corresponding to the content block included in the widget arranged on the screen based on the setting is content acquired via a network from a service provider corresponding to the content block.
application program. each of the plurality of services is a service provided by an administrator associated with a provider of the application program;
The application program according to claim 9. The plurality of services include services that provide content other than news,
The application program according to claim 9 or 10. In addition to the terminal device,
When a widget containing multiple content blocks is placed on the screen of the display unit,
According to an operation on at least one content block among the plurality of content blocks, information included in the one content block is transferred to the one content block without using an application related to a service corresponding to the one content block. Acquired from the provider of the service corresponding to the content block,
Application program according to any one of claims 9 to 11. to the terminal device,
Displaying information obtained from a service provider corresponding to the one content block on a display unit using a browser function within the application;
Application program according to claim 12. to the terminal device,
presenting a predetermined content block to a predetermined user as a candidate for inclusion in the widget;
not presenting the predetermined content block as a candidate for inclusion in the widget to a user different from the predetermined user;
The predetermined user is a user who has logged in to use a service related to the predetermined content block or a user who has predetermined authority to use the service.
Application program according to any one of claims 9 to 13. to the terminal device,
Receiving selection of a predetermined user for a predetermined content block among the plurality of content blocks;
The predetermined user is a user who has logged in to use a service related to the predetermined content block or a user who has predetermined authority to use the service.
Application program according to any one of claims 9 to 13. an application program according to any one of claims 1 to 15;
a service providing device that provides services corresponding to each of the plurality of content blocks;
Information provision system. An application program providing apparatus for providing the application program according to any one of claims 1 to 15 to a user. A terminal device that executes an application program
An information processing method for generating a widget including a plurality of content blocks each connected to a corresponding service among a plurality of services, comprising:
each of the plurality of content blocks is associated with one of a plurality of services each providing a group of mutually different content;
Information processing methods. A terminal device that executes an application program
receiving information on a plurality of content block candidates selected by a user from among a plurality of content block candidates included in one widget displayed on the display unit of the terminal device;
making settings for arranging the one widget including the plurality of accepted content block candidates on the screen of the display unit;
at least some of the plurality of content block candidates are associated with one of a plurality of services each providing a group of mutually different content;
The content corresponding to the content block included in the widget arranged on the screen based on the setting is content acquired via a network from a service provider corresponding to the content block.
Information processing methods.

Images