JP6050972B2 - Information processing apparatus, information notification method, and program - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to management of applications that provide functions by linking operations.

  As a technique for managing a plurality of software that are connected in operation, Patent Document 1 refers to a database that defines a dependency relationship between software, and when one piece of software in a dependency relationship is unavailable or available In other words, it is disclosed to deal with other software so as not to cause a malfunction in operation. Even in a system called a package management system or the like, software management may be performed according to the dependency relationship between software. Also, in the dynamic link library, when a componentized program referenced from a plurality of software is to be deleted, a message is displayed that warns the occurrence of an operational failure due to the deletion of the program.

JP 2005-44011 A

In any of the above-described techniques, the method of dealing with each software is determined by the mutual relationship between the software. On the other hand, application software (hereinafter abbreviated as “application”) includes one that operates and functions independently, and two or more applications that cooperate to operate and provide functions. When a mail application for creating an e-mail and a camera application for taking a picture taken with a camera are linked and operated, for example, the camera application is operated during the creation of an e-mail. A function of attaching a photographic image obtained by photographing to an e-mail is provided. When this type of application cannot be used or is changed to be usable (for example, uninstall or install), the handling of other applications that operate in conjunction with the application (for example, uninstall or install at the same time) is uniform. It is conceivable that a function necessary for the user cannot be used without the user's knowledge, or that an application having a function not necessary for the user remains, for example, wastefully consumes memory.
Therefore, an object of the present invention is to notify information on another application that operates in association with the necessity of a function for a user when an application is unavailable or changed to usable.

In order to solve the above-described problems, an information processing apparatus according to the present invention has an application operation unit that operates an application that can be used by the apparatus, and a function that is provided by the application operation unit operating two or more applications in association with each other. the use history acquisition unit that acquires utilization history by the user of the apparatus, when changing the first application unavailable or available to the own device, the usage history obtaining unit for the first application has obtained And a notification unit configured to notify a user of information on a second application that operates in conjunction with the first application based on the usage history.

In the present invention, the notification unit may set the second application that has been linked with the first application on its own device as a notification target.
In the present invention, the notifying unit includes the second application in which the timing of the linked operation with the first application is included in a predetermined period, the second application in which the number of linked operations is equal to or greater than the predetermined number, or The second application that has finally operated in association with the first application program may be a notification target.

  Further, in the present invention, a response reception unit that receives a user response to the notification by the notification unit, and a process execution unit that executes a process according to the response received by the response reception unit, the notification unit includes the second Notification may be made to inquire the user whether the application is unusable or usable on the own device.

Further, in the present invention, the application that performs the linkage operation may not include information indicating another application that performs the linkage operation with itself.
Further, in the present invention, in accordance with an operation request designating the operation of the application used for the linkage operation, a specifying unit that specifies an application capable of the operation is provided, and the application operation unit includes the first application. when unavailable or available changed by the own apparatus, to perform the operation request to the first application, the notification unit is specified by the specifying unit in response to the operation request by the first application the second application may be notified was.

In the present invention, the notification unit may notify different information depending on whether or not the second application can be operated independently when the first application is changed to unavailable. .
In the present invention, the notification unit may notify a user of information of a third application that does not link with the first application and operates with the second application. .

The information notification method of the present invention may an information processing apparatus, the functions provided by two or more applications to cooperative operation available in the own apparatus, preparative use history to get the usage history of the user of the apparatus And when the information processing apparatus changes the first application to be unusable or usable on the own apparatus , the information processing apparatus performs the first application based on the use history acquired in the use history acquisition step. A notification step of notifying a user of information on a second application that operates in conjunction with the first application.

The program of the present invention causes a computer of an information processing apparatus for operating the applications available in the own apparatus, the functions provided by the information processing apparatus to cooperative operation of the associated operation of the two or more applications, the information A usage history acquisition step of acquiring a usage history by a user of the processing device, and when the first application is changed to unavailable or usable in the information processing device, the first application is acquired in the usage history acquisition step. This is a program for executing a notification step of notifying the user of information of the second application that operates in association with the first application based on the usage history.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, when changing an application to unusable or usable, the need of the function for a user can be considered and the information of the other application which cooperates can be notified.

The block diagram which shows the hardware constitutions of a user terminal. The figure which shows the structural example of usage history DB. The figure which shows an email creation screen. The functional block diagram which shows the function structure of the control part of a user terminal. The flowchart which shows the flow of a process in a user terminal. The figure which shows the notification screen which notifies an application. The functional block diagram which shows the function structure of the control part of a user terminal (modification 2). The flowchart which shows the flow of a process in a user terminal (modification 2). The figure which shows the notification screen which notifies an application (modification 3). The figure which shows the notification screen which notifies an application (modification 4). The flowchart which shows the flow of a process in a user terminal (modification 6). The figure which shows the notification screen which notifies an application (modification 6).

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a hardware configuration of the user terminal 10. As shown in FIG. 1, the user terminal 10 includes a control unit 11, an operation unit 12, a communication unit 13, a display unit 14, and a storage unit 15.
The control unit 11 includes a microcomputer having a central processing unit (CPU), a read only memory (ROM), and a random access memory (RAM). The CPU controls each unit of the user terminal 10 by reading the program stored in the ROM or the storage unit 15 into the RAM and executing it. The operation unit 12 includes a touch screen and hard buttons provided on the display surface of the display unit 14 and accepts user operations. The communication unit 13 has a wireless communication circuit and an antenna, and is an interface for connecting to a network for communication. The display unit 14 has a display surface for displaying an image, and displays various screens on the display surface.

  The storage unit 15 includes a storage device such as an EEPROM (Electronically Erasable and Programmable ROM) and a flash memory, and stores various programs including applications executed by the control unit 11, the usage history DB 151, and application management information 152. The application of this embodiment includes, for example, an application that operates in association with another application, but is a loosely coupled application that does not include information indicating the other application associated with itself.

The usage history DB 151 is a database that stores usage histories by users for functions provided by two or more applications linked to each other. The linked operation means that two or more applications operate in a connected manner in order to provide a function that is different from a function provided by an application operating alone. The application linkage operation is, for example, an operation realized by operating (for example, starting) another application while operating one application. In the following description, an application that works as a linkage operation is referred to as a “link source app”, and an application that operates in response to this work is referred to as a “link destination app”.
In addition, the linked operation is an operation in which two or more applications operate simultaneously or operate using a common parameter, thereby providing a function different from that when the application operates alone. If it is. Therefore, there are various modes of operation connection between applications.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of the usage history DB 151. As shown in FIG. 2, the usage history DB 151 is a database that stores information associated with “link source app”, “link destination app”, and “use history” in association with each other.
The “link source app” indicates an application that can be a link source app in the user terminal 10. 2 is an application that can be used on the user terminal 10. Specifically, the usable application is an application that has been installed in the storage unit 15 of the user terminal 10 and is allowed to operate on the user terminal 10. Such an application is referred to as an application validated in the user terminal 10. On the other hand, although not shown in FIG. 2, an application that cannot be used is an application that cannot be used at the user terminal 10 at this time, and is not specifically installed in the storage unit 15 of the user terminal 10. (Including uninstalled) or an application that has been installed in the storage unit 15 but is not permitted to operate on the user terminal 10 (that is, an invalidated application). In this embodiment, it is assumed that the user can freely change the setting of permission or disapproval of the application operation in the user terminal 10. The invalidation of the application is set by the user when the application is temporarily disabled, for example, for the purpose of suppressing resource consumption due to the operation of the application in the background.

  In FIG. 2, “link destination application” indicates an application that can be a link destination application in the user terminal 10. The link source app and link destination app associated in the usage history DB 151 can be linked in the user terminal 10. “Usage history” indicates a usage history by a user of a function provided by an application linkage operation. The “use history” of the present embodiment includes “use date and time” and “use count”. “Use date and time” indicates the date and time when the function was used, for example, the date and time when the operation of the link destination application was instructed by the user (in FIG. 2, the new use date and time is shown on the right side in the figure). “Use count” indicates the number of times the function has been used, and here indicates the total number of times the function has been used by the user. In the user terminal 10, the usage history of the usage history DB 151 is updated every time the function provided by the linkage operation is used.

The application management information 152 is information related to application management in the user terminal 10. The application management information 152 includes information indicating an application installed in the storage unit 15, information indicating a setting for enabling or disabling for each application, and the like.
The user terminal 10 having the above configuration is a smartphone here, and in addition to the configuration shown in FIG. 1, the user terminal 10 is common to ordinary smartphones such as a camera for shooting, a microphone and a speaker for inputting and outputting audio. It has a configuration. The user terminal 10 may be an information processing apparatus such as a tablet computer, a mobile phone, a personal computer, or a PDA (Personal Digital Assistant) other than a smartphone.
Next, the configuration of the usage history DB 151 will be described.
Here, the application shown in FIG. 2 will be briefly described.

The “mail application” provides a function as a mailer, and is an application for performing processing related to electronic mail such as creation and transmission of an electronic mail. The “phone book application” provides a phone book function, and is an application for referring to information such as registered user names, e-mail addresses, and telephone numbers. The “phone application” is an application for making a call (that is, performing voice communication). “Camera application A” and “camera application B” are applications for providing a photographing function using the camera of the user terminal 10 and generating a photographic image indicating a photographing result. The “display application” is an application that provides a display function for displaying e-mails transmitted / received by the mail application in a specific display mode (for example, displaying a flow of e-mail exchange for each transmission / reception partner). . The “photo image processing application” is an application for processing a photographic image obtained using the camera application B.
In the present embodiment, it is assumed that the camera application B, the display application, and the photo image processing application are not linkage source applications. The camera application A, the display application, and the photographic image processing application are applications that are used only for the linkage operation with the mail application, without operating alone. The other applications mentioned above are applications that also operate independently.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a screen displayed on the display unit 14 during execution of the mail application. FIG. 3A is a diagram showing a mail creation screen sc1 displayed during creation of an email. The mail creation screen sc1 includes an area for displaying an electronic mail being created and an area in which a plurality of soft buttons for performing various operations are arranged. When the user operates the soft button b1 marked “APP” on the mail creation screen sc1, the mail creation screen sc1 changes to the display shown in FIG. This mail creation screen sc1 includes a window W1 that shows a list of applications that can operate in cooperation with the mail application as a linkage source application. Specifically, in the window W1, based on the application management information 152, “phone book application”, “phone application”, “camera application A”, which can be linked with the mail application among the available applications, Soft buttons b11 to b15 labeled “camera application B” and “display application” are arranged. The user selects any one of the soft buttons b11 to b15 by operating the operation unit 12 and selects a link destination application.
Here, functions provided by the linkage operation will be briefly described.

First, the linkage operation in which the linkage source application is the mail application will be described. When the link destination application is a phone book application, a function for setting an e-mail address of an e-mail transmission destination using the phone book application is provided. When the linking destination app is a phone app, a function is provided for making a call using the phone app to the other party specified as the destination of the e-mail (the necessary phone number can be obtained using, for example, the phone book function). ). When the link destination application is “camera application A”, a function of attaching a photographic image obtained by the camera application A to an e-mail being created is provided. When the link destination application is “camera application B”, a function of attaching a photographic image obtained by the camera application B to an e-mail being created is provided. When the link destination application is a display application, as described above, a display function for displaying e-mails transmitted and received by the mail application in a specific display mode is provided.
In addition to this, if the camera app A is a link source app and the link destination app is a photo image processing app, a function of processing a photo image obtained by the camera app A using the photo image processing app is provided. . Even when the phone book application or the phone application becomes the linkage source application, a function different from the case of the single operation is provided by linking with other applications.
Next, the functional configuration of the user terminal 10 will be described.

FIG. 4 is a functional block diagram illustrating a functional configuration of the control unit 11 of the user terminal 10. As shown in FIG. 4, the control unit 11 of the user terminal 10 includes an application operation unit 111, a usage history update unit 112, a usage history acquisition unit 113, a change instruction reception unit 114, a notification unit 115, and a response reception. Functions corresponding to the unit 116 and the process execution unit 117 are realized.
The application operation unit 111 reads an application that can be used by the user terminal 10 from the storage unit 15 and operates the read application. The application operation unit 111 may cause the application to operate alone, or may cause two or more applications to operate in an associated manner.
The usage history update unit 112 updates the usage history DB 151 based on the application linkage operation performed by the application operation unit 111. The usage history update unit 112 stores the usage date and time in the usage history DB 151 and updates (increases) the usage count in association with the linkage source application and the linkage destination application for which the linkage operation has been performed.

The usage history acquisition unit 113 acquires the usage history of the linkage operation stored in the usage history DB 151.
The change instruction receiving unit 114 receives a change instruction for changing the first application to be unusable or usable on the user terminal 10 by operating the operation unit 12.

  Based on the usage history acquired by the usage history acquisition unit 113 for the first application, the notification unit 115 displays information on the second application that operates in conjunction with the first application by displaying the display unit 14 on the display unit 14. Notify For example, the notification unit 115 sets a second application that has been linked to the first application on the user terminal 10 as a notification target. Here, when the change instruction receiving unit 114 has received a change instruction for making the first application unusable (that is, uninstalling or invalidating), the notification unit 115 displays the second application on the user terminal 10. A notification for inquiring to the user whether to be unavailable or available is sent.

The response receiving unit 116 receives a user response to the notification from the notification unit 115 by an operation of the user operation unit 12.
The process execution unit 117 executes the process according to the response from the user received by the response reception unit 116. For example, the process execution unit 117 updates the application management information 152 so that the second application that is not instructed to be directly disabled cannot be used or can be used as it is according to the user's response. Or uninstall applications.

  Next, the operation of the user terminal 10 will be described. Below, although the operation | movement of the user terminal 10 when a user is instruct | indicated that an application cannot be used is demonstrated, the control part 11 of the user terminal 10 of the function provided by cooperation operation | movement separate from this is demonstrated. The usage history DB 151 is updated or the application management information 152 is updated according to usage.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the flow of processing in the user terminal 10 when the user is instructed to disable the application.
The control unit 11 of the user terminal 10 receives a change instruction for changing the application to unavailable from the user by operating the operation unit 12 (step SA1). Here, it is assumed that the control unit 11 has received a change instruction to uninstall the mail application (hereinafter referred to as “uninstall instruction”).

Next, the control unit 11 determines whether there is a link destination application when the application that has received the change instruction is the link source application (step SA2). The control unit 11 refers to the application management information 152 to determine the presence / absence of a link destination application. Here, since the mail application uninstall instruction has been accepted, the control unit 11 determines “YES” in the process of step SA2, and proceeds to the process of step SA3.
Next, the control part 11 acquires the usage history about the application which received the change instruction from the usage history DB 151 (step SA3). Here, the control unit 11 acquires a use history of a phone book application, a phone application, a camera application A, a camera application B, and a display application that can be linked to the mail application.

  Next, based on the usage history acquired in step SA3, the control unit 11 notifies the user of a link destination app that is a candidate that cannot be used together with the link source app by displaying a notification screen on the display unit 14 ( Step SA4). Here, the control unit 11 (I) uses the function provided by the linkage operation more than a threshold (for example, 10 times), and (II) within a predetermined period (for example, the past two weeks) from the current date and time. And (III) the application that last linked with the link source application is set as the notification target as the link destination application. Here, the application that satisfies the conditions (I), (II), and (III) is “camera application B”. By using the conditions (I), (II), and (III) as notification conditions, the function of providing the linkage source application as the mail application and the linkage destination application as the camera application B is linked operation using the mail application. It can be assumed that the function provided by is the function most frequently used recently by the user. On the other hand, since the phone book application, the phone application, the camera application A, and the display application do not satisfy any of the conditions (I), (II), and (III), they are not subject to notification here.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a notification screen sc2 when there is an instruction to uninstall the mail application.
As illustrated in FIG. 6, the notification screen sc2 includes a list of applications that are candidates for uninstallation, and is a screen for inquiring the user as to whether or not each application can be used. Specifically, the notification screen sc2 displays the message “Delete the mail application only. The camera application B cannot be used. Please select a countermeasure from the following.” "Soft button b21 marked"", soft button b22 marked" Delete both mail application and camera application B ", and software marked" Do not delete both mail application and camera application B " A window W2 including the button b23 is included.

  The reason why the user terminal 10 notifies the information of the link destination application is that the function based on the link operation that is often used cannot be used without the user's knowledge by uninstalling the application that has received the change instruction. This is for avoiding that the application used for the linkage operation remains in the storage unit 15 in vain. On the other hand, as for other functions, even if the function due to the linked operation that is not often used by the user becomes unavailable, it is unlikely that the user will be disturbed. I have to. As described above, the link destination application that is not used by the user or rarely used is not a notification target. As a result, it is possible to avoid an enormous amount of information to be notified to the user or an excessive amount of operation that the user should respond to.

  Here, when the user intends to uninstall only the application designated by the user, the user selects the soft button b <b> 21 marked “Delete only the mail application”. In addition to the mail application, the user who tried to uninstall the mail application and the application that was frequently used for the linked operation at the same time selects the soft button b22 marked “Delete both mail application and camera application B”. To do. A user who tries to uninstall the mail application but wants to use the function based on this linked operation in the future selects the soft button b23 marked "Do not delete both mail application and camera application B".

Returning to FIG.
The control unit 11 waits until any one of the soft buttons b21 to b23 on the notification screen sc2 is selected, and upon receiving an operation for selecting one, receives a response from the user to the notification in step SA4 (step SA5). .
Next, the control part 11 performs the process according to the response from the user using the notification screen sc2 (step SA6). Here, the control part 11 performs a process according to the button selected among soft buttons b21-b23. When the soft button b21 is selected, the control unit 11 uninstalls the mail application stored in the storage unit 15. When the soft button b22 is selected, the control unit 11 uninstalls the mail application and the camera application stored in the storage unit 15, and here, the application that is not the notification target is not the linkage source application. In addition, an application that does not operate independently (here, a display application) is also uninstalled. When the soft button b23 is selected, the control unit 11 does not uninstall the application including the mail application and the camera application.

Here, when the soft button b22 is selected, the control unit 11 voluntarily uninstalls the display application that is not the notification target. Since the display application is rarely used in linkage operation, when the user thinks that the mail application and the camera application B are uninstalled, there is relatively little inconvenience due to the function using the display application being unavailable. Because it can be guessed. On the other hand, the reason why the application that becomes the linkage source app or that operates independently is not subject to uninstallation is that it may be used for other than the linkage operation with the linkage source application that is uninstalled this time. This is to prevent a necessary application from being uninstalled without the user's knowledge.
By the way, in the process of step SA2, when the control unit 11 determines that there is no link destination application (step SA2; NO), only the application that has received the uninstall instruction is uninstalled (step SA7).
The operation of the user terminal 10 has been described above. In the above description, the procedure of uninstalling the link source application and the link destination application when the user terminal 10 receives an application uninstall instruction has been described. On the other hand, when the user terminal 10 receives a change instruction for invalidating the application, it can be explained by replacing “uninstallation” and “deletion” in the above description with “invalidation”. In addition, when the change instruction is an uninstall instruction, the user terminal 10 uninstalls the link source app, but changes the link destination app to invalidation. The processing mode for disabling use may be varied.

  In the above-described embodiment, when the user terminal 10 is instructed to disable the link source app, the user terminal 10 determines the link destination app according to the usage history of the link destination app that operates in cooperation with the link source app. Ask the user about how to deal with it. As a result, for example, it is possible to suppress a possibility that a function provided by a linkage operation frequently used by a user is forgotten and an application related to the linkage operation used in the future is erroneously disabled. Further, according to the user terminal 10, when the link destination application can be used only in the link operation, only the link source application remains unintended by the user, and the storage capacity of the storage unit 15 is wasted. It can also be prevented. In addition, since the user terminal 10 does not make a notification about applications that are not frequently used by the user, the operation burden imposed on the user on the notification screen does not become excessive.

[Modification]
The present invention can be implemented in a form different from the above-described embodiment. The present invention can also be implemented in the following forms, for example. Further, the following modifications may be combined as appropriate.
(Modification 1)
In the above-described embodiment, the user terminal 10 uses (I) the number of times of use of the function provided in the linkage operation is equal to or greater than the threshold, (II) uses this function within a predetermined period retroactively from the current date and time, and (III) Although the application that last linked with the link source application is the notification target, the link destination application to be notified may be determined based on other conditions.
For example, the user terminal 10 may be conditional on satisfying any one or two of (I) to (III). For example, the user terminal 10 has been used by the user at least recently, even if the number of times of use is at least as long as the condition is that the user terminal 10 has been linked and operated within a predetermined period (for example, within the past week). Information on the link destination application is notified (in this case, the display application is a notification target). Further, if only the number of times of use is set as the notification condition, the user terminal 10 notifies the function information frequently used in the past (in this case, the phone book application is a notification target). Moreover, even if the last linked operation is performed, the user terminal 10 can notify the information of the linked destination application used at the closest time for each application even if the number of times of use is at least (in this case, the camera application B is a notification target).

Further, the user terminal 10 may determine a notification target by weighting calculation using a plurality of conditions related to (I) to (III). For example, the user terminal 10 increases the weight as the time of the linked operation is closer, increases the weight as the number of times of the linked operation is larger, and increases the weight when the application is used at a closer time for each application. The result of the weighting operation is calculated using a predetermined operation. And the user terminal 10 notifies the application according to this calculation result.
In addition to the above-described usage history, the user terminal 10 may use a usage history that indicates the level of usage of the function provided by the user's linkage operation, such as the usage frequency of the application.

(Modification 2)
In the embodiment described above, the user terminal 10 holds the relationship between the linkage source app and the linkage destination app in the application management information 152, but does not hold the relationship between the linkage source app and the linkage destination app in the storage unit 15. It may be a configuration. The user terminal 10 may specify the relationship between the linking source application and the linking destination application using a technique called an implicit intent, for example. In short, the user terminal 10 makes a request to the link destination application in the link operation such as “take a picture” or “make a call” instead of directly specifying the link destination application as in the above-described embodiment. An operation is instructed (that is, an application is indirectly specified). In this case, the control unit 11 searches for an application that can be operated according to the operation request by the linkage source application, and presents the user with application options. The user can call and operate an application on the spot if there is a function to be executed from among the presented functions.
In the present embodiment, the user terminal 10 may not hold data that defines the correspondence relationship between the linkage source application and the linkage destination application.

FIG. 7 is a functional block diagram illustrating a functional configuration of the control unit 11 of the user terminal 10 according to the present modification. As shown in FIG. 7, the control unit 11 of the user terminal 10 includes an application operation unit 111, a usage history update unit 112, a usage history acquisition unit 113, a change instruction reception unit 114, a notification unit 115, and a response reception. Functions corresponding to the unit 116, the processing execution unit 117, and the specifying unit 118 are realized.
The specifying unit 118 specifies the second application that operates in conjunction with the first application based on the request for the cooperative operation by the first application.
When changing the first application to be unusable by the own device, the application operation unit 111 causes the first application to request a linked operation.
The notification unit 115 notifies the information on the second application specified by the specification unit 118.
The function of the control unit 11 not described here may be basically the same as that of the above-described embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing the flow of processing in the user terminal 10 when the user is instructed to disable the application. In the following description, since the same processing is executed in the processing steps denoted by the same reference numerals as those in FIG. 5, the description thereof is omitted here.
When the control unit 11 of the user terminal 10 receives a change instruction for disabling the application (step SA1), the control unit 11 causes the application to request a linked operation (step SA8). Then, the control unit 11 specifies an application capable of the linkage operation requested in the process of Step SA8 (Step SA9). When the application is installed, the user terminal 10 holds information on operations that can be realized by the application using, for example, an OS (Operating System) function. And the control part 11 specifies the application which can be cooperated based on this information. The control unit 11 executes the processes after step SA2 in the same manner as in the above-described embodiment based on the link destination application corresponding to the identification result.

  According to this modification, the user terminal 10 does not hold the application management information 152 that defines the correspondence relationship between the linkage source application and the linkage destination application, and does not refer to information corresponding to the application management information 152. Also good.

(Modification 3)
In the above-described embodiment, the user terminal 10 may vary the information to be notified depending on whether or not the cooperation destination application can be operated independently. For example, if the cooperation destination application can be operated independently, the user may use the application independently even if the application is not used in the cooperation operation, which may affect the user's handling method for the cooperation destination application. . Therefore, the control unit 11 displays the notification screen sc3 shown in FIG. 9 in the process of step SA4. A notification screen sc3 illustrated in FIG. 9 is a notification screen when the change instruction is an uninstall instruction.
As shown in FIG. 9, the notification screen sc3 is “If you delete the email application, you cannot use the camera app B, but you can also use the camera app B alone. ”Message, a soft button b31 marked“ Delete only mail app ”, a soft button b32 marked“ Delete all apps ”, and“ Delete all apps ” A window W3 including a soft button b33 marked "No" is included. Here, when the user thinks that the camera application B will be used alone in the future and tries to uninstall only the application that he / she has instructed, the user selects the soft button b31 marked “Delete only the mail application”. To do. In addition to the mail application, a user who intends to uninstall the mail application alone without using the camera application B alone selects the soft button b32 marked “Delete both mail application and camera application B”. . A user who tries to uninstall the mail application but wants to use the function based on the linked operation in the future selects the soft button b <b> 33 marked “Do not delete all applications”.
Also in this modification, the control unit 11 may change the application that cannot be a notification target to an application that cannot be a linkage source application so that it cannot be used.

According to this modified example, it is possible to suppress the possibility that the user accidentally disables the application without knowing that the user can operate the link destination application alone.
Further, in this modification, the user terminal 10 manages the usage history of the single operation of the application in the usage history DB 151 or the like, and when the recent usage degree is a certain level or more according to the usage history, the single operation is performed. Notification may be made. Moreover, if the user terminal 10 can perform the independent operation of the link destination application, the user terminal 10 may notify the user terminal 10 including the notification to that effect.

(Modification 4)
In the above-described embodiment, the user terminal 10 is not limited to the link destination app that operates in cooperation with the link source app for which the change instruction has been issued, but also the link destination app (third application) when this link destination app is the link source app. ) Information may also be notified. For example, the photo image processing application shown in FIG. 3 does not link with the mail application but operates with the camera application A. Therefore, when the camera application A is uninstalled according to the mail application uninstall instruction, it can be considered that it is preferable to uninstall the camera application A as well.

Therefore, in the process of step SA4, the control unit 11 treats the link destination application when the link destination application satisfying the notification condition is set as the link source application as the notification target, as the notification target. In this case, the control part 11 will display the notification screen shown in FIG. 10 by the process of step SA4. A notification screen sc4 illustrated in FIG. 10 is a notification screen when the change instruction is an uninstall instruction.
As shown in FIG. 10, the notification screen sc4 shows that “If you delete the mail application, you cannot use the camera application B and the photo image processing application that can be used with the camera application B. Select a countermeasure from the following: ”, A soft button b <b> 41 marked“ Delete only mail app ”, a soft button b <b> 42 marked“ Delete all apps ”, and“ Do not delete all apps ” And a window W4 including a soft button b43 marked with. Here, when the user intends to uninstall only the application designated by the user, the user selects the soft button b41 in which “delete only the mail application” is selected. In addition to the mail application, the user who intends to simultaneously uninstall the mail application and the application frequently used for the linkage operation selects the soft button b <b> 42 marked “Delete all applications”. A user who wants to uninstall the mail application, but wants to use the function based on the linked operation in the future, selects the soft button b43 marked “Do not delete all applications”.
Also in the present modification, the user terminal 10 may change the application that cannot be a notification target and cannot be used as a link source application and cannot be activated independently, so that it cannot be used.
According to the user terminal 10 of this modified example, it is possible to suppress the possibility that unnecessary applications such as the link destination of the link destination remain in the storage unit 15.

(Modification 5)
In addition, the user terminal 10 is not limited to the number of link destination applications to be notified, but may be a plurality. For example, the user terminal 10 is not limited to the last used one, but may be a plurality of linked destination application notification targets that have been linked and operated at a recent predetermined number of times, or notify all applications used within a predetermined period. It may be a target. In this case, the notification screen corresponding to the notification screen sc4 shown in FIGS. 6, 9, and 10 is a content for inquiring the user about how to deal with each application to be notified.
In addition, the user terminal 10 may notify all the link destination applications instead of only a part of the link destination applications for each link source application.
As described above, the user terminal 10 may adopt any condition as the notification condition of the link destination application, but the link destination application that has been linked with the link source application that has been instructed to change the use of the link destination application. Is preferably a notification target.

(Modification 6)
In the above-described embodiment, when the user terminal 10 receives the change instruction for disabling the application, the user terminal 10 notifies the link destination application information. However, the user terminal 10 changes the application to be usable (that is, installed or enabled). When the change instruction is received, information on the link destination application may be notified. The specific operation of the user terminal 10 of this modification is as shown in FIG.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing the flow of processing in the user terminal 10 when the user is instructed to make the application available.
The control unit 11 of the user terminal 10 receives a change instruction for changing the application to be usable from the user by operating the operation unit 12 (step SB1). Here, it is assumed that the control unit 11 has received a change instruction (hereinafter referred to as “installation instruction”) for installing the mail application.

Next, the control unit 11 determines whether there is a link destination application when the application that has received the change instruction is the link source application (step SB2). For example, the control unit 11 refers to the usage history DB 151 to determine the presence / absence of the link destination application. Here, since the installation instruction to install the mail application has been received, the control unit 11 determines “YES” in the process of step SB2, and proceeds to the process of step SB3.
Next, the control part 11 acquires the usage history about the application which received the change instruction from the usage history DB 151 (step SB3). Here, the control unit 11 acquires a use history of a phone book application, a phone application, a camera application A, a camera application B, and a display application that can be linked to the mail application.

  Next, based on the usage history acquired in step SB3, the control unit 11 notifies the user of a link destination application that can be used together with the link source application by displaying a notification screen on the display unit 14 ( Step SB4). Here, the control unit 11 (I) uses the function provided by the linkage operation more than a threshold (here, 10 times) and (II) within a predetermined period (for example, the past 3) (III) The application that last linked with the link source application is used as the notification target as the link destination application.

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing a notification screen when the mail application is made available.
As illustrated in FIG. 12, the notification screen sc5 includes a list of candidate applications to be changed to be usable, and is a screen for inquiring the user whether each application is usable or not usable. Specifically, the notification screen sc5 includes the message “Add mail app” in addition to the message “Camera app B can be used by adding a mail app. Please select a solution from the following.” A window W5 including a soft button b51 and a soft button b52 labeled “add a mail application and enable a camera application B”.

  Here, the reason for notifying the information of the link destination application that satisfies the conditions (I) to (III) is that the user can use the function based on the link operation that was frequently used before by installing this application. This is to notify in advance. On the other hand, the reason for not reporting an application whose usage count is less than a threshold, an application that is not used within a predetermined period retroactively from the current date and time, or an application that is not linked to the application that is changed to be usable at the end is as follows. This is because even if functions that are not used much can be used, there are few merits for the user and there is a possibility that information to be notified becomes enormous. As described above, the user terminal 10 does not make a notification about a link destination application that is not used by the user or is rarely used.

Returning to FIG.
The control unit 11 waits until either the soft button b51 or b52 on the notification screen sc5 is selected, and upon receiving an operation for selecting one, receives a response from the user to the notification in step SB4 (step SB5). .
Next, the control part 11 performs the process according to the response from the user via a notification screen (step SB6). Here, the control part 11 performs a process according to the selected button of the soft buttons b51-b52. When the soft button b51 is selected, the control unit 11 installs the mail application stored in the storage unit 15. When the soft button b52 is selected, the control unit 11 installs the mail application and validates the camera application B that has been invalidated.

By the way, when the control unit 11 determines in step SB2 that there is no link destination application (step SB2; NO), the application that has received the installation instruction is installed (step SB7).
In the above description of the operation, the procedure for installing the linkage source application and the linkage destination application when the user terminal 10 receives an application installation instruction has been described. However, the change instruction for the user terminal 10 to change the application to activation is provided. Can be explained by replacing “addition” or “installation” of the application with “validation” in the above description. Further, in the above description of the operation, when the user terminal 10 makes the application available, the linkage destination application when this application is set as the linkage source application is changed from invalidation to validation. In addition to this, if the user terminal 10 can install this linkage destination application, for example, by accessing a predetermined server, the user terminal 10 is activated after the linkage destination application is installed in the storage unit 16. Also good.
Also in this modified example, the user terminal 10 may determine the link destination application to be notified by various methods as described in the modified example (1), or as in the modified example (2). The link destination application may be specified using a simple operation request, and a process for changing to an unusable state can be appropriately adopted.

(Modification 7)
In the above-described embodiment, the user terminal 10 may be a link source application (for example, a phone book application or a phone application) among link destination applications, or a link destination application (for example, a camera application B) capable of independent operation. May not be a notification target when the linkage source application is changed to unavailable. Because apps that can be used for other than linked operation may be used for various purposes, it is not always preferable to disable the linked app when it is disabled. It is. In this way, it is possible to suppress an increase in notifications about applications that the user needs.
Further, the user terminal 10 may determine the presence / absence of this notification based on the usage history as the link source application or the usage history in the single operation with reference to the usage history DB 151.

(Modification 8)
In the above-described embodiment, the user terminal 10 stores the application management information 152. However, the external device stores information corresponding to the application management information 152. The user terminal 10 communicates with the communication unit 13 from the external device. Application management information may be acquired.
For example, if the external device is a server device provided by selling an application, information on the provided application may be held for each user. Therefore, the user terminal 10 may acquire application management information by communicating with the server device. Further, the user terminal 10 may not store the usage history DB 151 in its own device, and may be stored in an external device. In this case, every time the user terminal 10 uses the function based on the linkage operation, the user terminal 10 may notify the external device to that effect and update the usage history DB.

(Modification 9)
In the above-described embodiment, the user terminal 10 changes the availability or non-usability according to the change instruction from the user. However, the user terminal 10 may change the opportunity other than accepting the change instruction. For example, the user terminal 10 may automatically determine an application that is not used so much and change the application to unavailable. The user terminal 10 may change the application to be usable when recommending a recommended application from functions frequently used by the user. At such an opportunity, the user terminal 10 may notify the information of the link destination application based on the usage history as described above.

(Modification 10)
The information on the application (link source application or link destination application) notified by the user terminal 10 is not limited to inquiring the user as to whether the application is unusable or usable. For example, the user terminal 10 may only display the application name, or may notify how much the user is using the function according to the usage history. As described above, the user terminal 10 may perform notification for informing the user of the presence of the linkage operation using the application that has received the change instruction.

(Modification 11)
In the above-described embodiment, the usage history DB 151 stores the usage history in association with the linkage source application and the linkage destination application, but “attachment of a photographic image obtained by shooting during creation of an email” The usage history may be stored in association with a function provided by a linkage operation such as “setting an e-mail address of an e-mail transmission destination using a telephone directory application”. In this way, even when there are a plurality of types of linkage operations (in other words, combinations of applications) in which a common function is provided, the user terminal 10 uses the usage history for each function provided by the linkage operation. Can be referred to.

(Modification 12)
In the above-described embodiment, the application that operates in cooperation is a so-called loosely coupled application. However, the application that operates in association with the present invention is provided with a function by operating in cooperation with at least another application. That's fine.
Each function realized by the control unit 11 of the user terminal 10 can be realized by a combination of a plurality of programs, or can be realized by cooperation of a plurality of hardware resources.
The information processing apparatus of the present invention can also be understood as a program executed by the computer or the control unit 11 or an information notification method.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... User terminal, 11 ... Control part, 111 ... Application operation part, 112 ... Usage history update part, 113 ... Usage history acquisition part, 114 ... Change instruction reception part, 115 ... Notification part, 116 ... Response reception part, 117 ... Process execution unit, 118 ... identification unit, 12 ... operation unit, 13 ... communication unit, 14 ... display unit, 15 ... storage unit, 151 ... usage history DB, 152 ... application management information

Claims (10)

An application operating unit that operates an application that can be used in the device;
A usage history acquisition unit that acquires a usage history by a user of the own device for a function provided by the application operation unit linking two or more applications.
To change the first application unavailable or available to the own device, based on the first use history said usage history obtaining unit for application acquired, the cooperating operation with the first application 2 An information processing apparatus comprising: a notification unit that notifies the user of information on the application. The notification unit
The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the second application that has operated in cooperation with the first application on the own apparatus is a notification target. The notification unit
The second application in which the timing of linked operation with the first application is included within a predetermined period, the second application in which the number of linked operations is equal to or greater than the predetermined number, or the first application program and the last The information processing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the second application that operates in conjunction with the target is a notification target. A response receiving unit that receives a user response to the notification by the notification unit;
A process execution unit that executes a process according to the response received by the response reception unit,
The notification unit
The information processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein a notification is made to inquire a user whether the second application is unusable or usable by the own apparatus. The information processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the application that performs the linked operation does not include information indicating another application that performs the linked operation with the application. In response to an operation request that specifies an operation of an application used for the linkage operation, a specifying unit that specifies an application capable of the operation,
The application operation unit
To change the first application unavailable or available in the own apparatus, to perform the operation request to the first application,
The notification unit
The information processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that the notification is the second application specified by the specifying unit in response to the operation request by the first application . The notification unit
When changing the first application to be unusable, different information is notified depending on whether or not the second application can be operated independently. 7. The information processing apparatus described. The notification unit
The information of the 3rd application which does not link-operate with said 1st application and link | links with said 2nd application is notified to a user. Any one of Claim 1 to 7 characterized by the above-mentioned. The information processing apparatus described. The information processing apparatus, the functions provided by two or more applications to cooperative operation available in the own apparatus, the obtained step preparative use history acquiring the usage history of the user of the apparatus,
When the information processing apparatus changes the first application to be unusable or usable on its own apparatus, the first application is based on the usage history acquired in the usage history acquisition step for the first application. A notification step of notifying a user of information on a second application that operates in conjunction with the information notification method. To the computer of the information processing device that runs the application that can be used on its own device,
A usage history acquisition step for acquiring a usage history by a user of the information processing device for a function provided by the information processing device linking two or more applications in association with each other;
To change the first application unavailable or available in at the information processing apparatus, based on the usage log acquired by the usage history obtaining step for the first application, to cooperative operation with the first application And a notification step of notifying the user of information of the second application.

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