WO2021169320A1

WO2021169320A1 - Method and system for transmitting third-party application information in message exchange sessions

Info

Publication number: WO2021169320A1
Application number: PCT/CN2020/121052
Authority: WO
Inventors: Xiaoqiang Ding; Qingsong Liu; Yao Sun
Original assignee: Tianjin yinben fruitful enterprise management consulting partnership (limited partnership)
Priority date: 2020-02-26
Filing date: 2020-10-15
Publication date: 2021-09-02
Also published as: CN111147363A; CN111147363B

Abstract

The present disclosure relates to a method and system for transmitting third-party application information in a message exchange application. The method includes the following steps: invocating an input method in a message exchange client on a first computing device; after a user activates an interface module of a third-party application in the input method, detecting whether an account associated with the user is an account authenticated by a server of the third-party application, and receiving account exchange data from the user in the interface module if the account is authenticated; and sending structured character string corresponding to the account exchange data to a second message exchange client at a second computing device, the structured character string being configured to be selectable by a second user at the second message exchange client to be sent to the server. According to the method, information exchange among different user accounts in a third-party application can be indirectly carried out through a message exchange session without launching or invocating a third-party application client on a computing device.

Description

METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR TRANSMITTING THIRD-PARTY APPLICATION INFORMATION IN MESSAGE EXCHANGE SESSIONS

Technical Field

The present disclosure relates to computer technologies for message exchange between different applications, in particular to a technology for constructing third-party application information for transmission in a session between message exchange clients via an input method.

Background

With the rapid development of computer technologies and communication technologies, instant messaging plays an increasingly important role in daily life, study and work. In the era of mobile communication, in the clients of various message exchange applications including instant messaging, how to conveniently transmit the data unique to third-party application software besides natural language communication between users has become a challenge.

In some existing practical applications, in order to send specific account exchange information related to a user account in a third-party software application (such as financial transactions related to the account) to other participants in a chat session through instant messaging software, it is necessary to have the third-party software application installed on the device of the initiator first, and the initiator is required to customize specific transaction information in the third-party software application. After the transaction data, which are usually structured character strings, are obtained from the third-party software application, the transaction data are transmitted to the session of the instant messaging software through the copy/paste function in the operating system, and then sent to other participants in the session. Other participants also need to extract these structured character strings through the paste/copy function of their device systems, open the corresponding third-party software application on their systems (if not installed, the third-party software application needs to be downloaded first and installed) , and finally log in to their own accounts in the third-party software application to complete the analysis of the structured character strings and corresponding account transactions.

In addition, for mobile devices, the application of input methods has also become broad. Even for various alphabetic languages, mobile devices without physical keyboards need to rely on the input method system to realize convenient input of various words and characters. However, besides providing rich input method functions, it is hard for current input method systems to help users, especially when they are engaged in instant messaging, transmit account transaction information from a third-party software application to other participants in the chat session.

Summary

In view of this, the embodiments of the present disclosure aim to provide various specific methods and systems for transmitting third-party application information in a message exchange application via an input method application. Particularly, a structured character string related to a third-party application is constructed through a specific function module of an input method, and the constructed structured character string is used for transmitting, in a client communication session of a message exchange application, data related to specific financial information in an account.

One aspect of the present disclosure relates to a computer-implemented method for transmitting third-party application information in a message exchange session, including: (a) invocating, by a first computing device, an input method in a text input field of a first message exchange client based on an input from a first user, the first message exchange client operating on the first computing device and communicating at least with a second message exchange client operating on a second computing device; (b) in response to the first user activating a representation of a third-party application in the input method, detecting whether a first account associated with the first user is an account authenticated by a server of the third-party application; (c) in response to determining that the first account associated with the first user has been authenticated by the server of the third-party application, receiving, in a third-party application interface module of the input method, account exchange data from the first user, the third-party application interface module communicating with the server of the third-party application, and the account exchange data being associated with account information registered by the first user at the server of the third-party application; and (d) sending, by the first computing device, a structured character string corresponding to the account exchange data to at least the second message exchange client operating at the second computing device via the first message exchange client, the structured character string displayed at the second message exchange client being configured to be selectable by a second user at the second message exchange client to be sent to the server of the third-party application.

The step of detecting whether the first account associated with the first user is an account authenticated by the server of the third-party application may include: submitting information of the first account associated with the first user to the server of the third-party application to determine whether the first account has been previously registered at the server of the third-party application and whether the first account is currently in a login status at the server of the third-party application.

In another aspect, the method may further include: marking the first account as a login status in the case where the first account has been previously registered at the server of the third-party application but is currently in a logout status.

In another aspect, the method may further include: in response to determining that the first account has not been previously registered at the server of the third-party application, presenting, via the third-party application interface module, a page to the first user for confirming the registration of the first account at the server of the third-party application .

The step of detecting whether the first account associated with the first user is an account authenticated by the server of the third-party application may include: detecting whether a client of the third-party application is installed on the first computing device, and displaying a prompt page to the first user to guide the first user to download and install the client of the third-party application in the case where the client of the third-party application is not installed on the first computing device.

The first account associated with the first user may be an account of the first user in the input method.

The representation of the third-party application may include an activatable icon displayed on an interface of the input method, a predefined character string submitted by the user in the input method, and a predefined gesture input by the user in the input method.

The message exchange application may include an instant messaging application, an email application, and a short message service application.

The structured character string corresponding to the account exchange data may be generated by the third-party application interface module, and the structured character string may be encoded with information of launching or installing the client of the third-party application.

In another aspect, the method may further include: after receiving the account exchange data from the first user and before sending the structured character string corresponding to the account exchange data to the second message exchange client, sending, by the third-party application interface module, the account exchange data to the server of the third-party application for account data processing associated with the first account, and receiving the processed structured character string corresponding to the account exchange data from the server of the third-party application, the structured character string being encoded with information of launching or installing the client of the third-party application.

In another aspect, the method may further include: (e) in response to the selection, by the second user, of the structured character string displayed at the second message exchange client, sending, by the second message exchange client operating at the second computing device, the structured character string to the server of the third-party application for account data exchange processing associated with the second account of the second user, including opening via a browser a url address, contained in the structured character string, pointing to the server of the third-party application for data exchange with the server of the third-party application.

In another aspect, the method may further include: (e) in response to the selection, by the second user, of the structured character string displayed at the second message exchange client, copying the structured character string, and transmitting, by activating a corresponding input method containing the interface module corresponding to the third-party application at the second computing device, the copied structured character string to the corresponding third-party application interface module in the corresponding input method, so that the structured character string may be transmitted to the server of the third-party application via the third-party application interface module for account data exchange processing associated with the second account of the second user.

The third-party application may include red envelope application, and the account exchange data received from the first user may include red envelope amount data sent by the first user using the first account registered at the red envelope application.

Another aspect of the present disclosure relates to a computing device for transmitting third-party application information in a message exchange application, an input method and a first message exchange client being installed on the device, the computing device including one or more processors and a memory storing computer executable instructions, the computer executable instructions performing operations when executed by the one or more processors, and the operations including: (a) invocating the input method in a text input field of the first message exchange client based on an input from a first user, the first message exchange client communicating at least with a second message exchange client operating on another computing device; (b) in response to the first user activating a representation of a third-party application in the input method, detecting whether a first account associated with the first user is an account authenticated by a server of the third-party application; (c) in response to determining that the first account associated with the first user has been authenticated by the server of the third-party application, receiving, in a third-party application interface module of the input method, account exchange data from the first user, the third-party application interface module communicating with the server of the third-party application, and the account exchange data being associated with account information registered by the first user at the server of the third-party application; and (d) sending a structured character string corresponding to the account exchange data to at least the second message exchange client operating at another computing device via the first message exchange client, the structured character string displayed at the second message exchange client being configured to be selectable by a second user at the second message exchange client to be sent to the server of the third-party application.

Another aspect of the present disclosure relates to a message passing system, including: a third-party application server; a first user device, an input method and a first message exchange client being installed on the first user device, the input method including a third-party application interface module, and the third-party application interface module being configured to be able to communicate with the third-party application server; and a second user device, a second message exchange client being installed on the second user device, and the second message exchange client being configured to communicate with the first message exchange client; wherein the first user device is configured to: (a) invocate the input method in a text input field of the first message exchange client based on an input from a first user; (b) in response to the first user activating a representation of a third-party application in the input method, detect whether a first account associated with the first user is an account authenticated by the third-party application server; (c) in response to determining that the first account associated with the first user has been authenticated by the third-party application server, receive, in the third-party application interface module of the input method, account exchange data from the first user, the account exchange data being associated with account information registered by the first user at the third-party application server; and (d) send a structured character string corresponding to the account exchange data to the second message exchange client operating at the second computing device via the first message exchange client, the structured character string displayed at the second message exchange client being configured to be selectable by a second user at the second message exchange client to be sent to the third-party application server.

According to yet another aspect of the embodiments of the present disclosure, a computer-readable storage medium is provided, having a computer program stored thereon, which, when executed by a processor, implements the method provided according to the embodiments of the present disclosure.

According to the method and system for transmitting third-party application information in a message exchange application provided in the present disclosure, information exchange among different user accounts in a third-party application can be indirectly carried out through a message exchange session without launching or invocating a third-party application client on a computing device, and all users participating in the message exchange session can easily download, install and register one or more specific third-party applications on corresponding computing devices.

Brief Description of the Drawings

One or more embodiments in the description will be further explained in an exemplary manner, and these exemplary embodiments will be described in detail in combination with the accompanying drawings. These embodiments are not limiting, and in these drawings, the same reference numerals refer to the same structures, wherein

Fig. 1 is a structure chart of an exemplary system in which some embodiments described in the description may be implemented;

Fig. 2 is an exemplary flowchart of a method for transmitting third-party application information in a message exchange application via an input method according to some embodiments of the description;

Fig. 3 is an exemplary flowchart of a processing method adopted when third-party application information is received in a message exchange application according to some embodiments of the description; and

Figs. 4A-4F are schematic screenshots of transmitting and receiving red envelope information via an input method according to some embodiments of the description.

Detailed Description of the Embodiments

Exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings, which include various details of the embodiments of the present disclosure to facilitate understanding, and should be considered as exemplary only. Therefore, those of ordinary skilled in the art will recognize that various changes and modifications can be made to the embodiments described herein without departing from the scope and spirit of the present disclosure. Also, for the sake of clarity and conciseness, descriptions of well-known functions and structures are omitted in the following description.

Generally speaking, a system involved in the present disclosure may at least include at least two user devices and a third-party application server. The same kind of message exchange applications which can communicate with each other are installed on the two user devices separately, and such message exchange application typically includes WeChat, QQ App, Facebook Messenger, whatsApp, Telegram, Line, Kakao Talk, Viber, Skype, Snapchat, LinkedIn, etc. Alternatively, such message exchange application may also be email application or short message service application, such as short message service application installed on smart phones. In some cases, such message exchange application may also be various browser-based web applications having a message exchange function. In addition, an input method editor (IME) is installed on at least one of the two user devices. Conventional input methods can assist a user in inputting rich character sets on an input interface of any application running on an operating system of the user device, and the input of the character sets generally cannot be directly provided by a physical keyboard associated with the computing device. Moreover, for some mobile devices, because they are basically not provided with a physical keyboard, it is particularly important to provide the rich character input by the input method.

In the input method, installed on a computing device in the system, disclosed in the present disclosure, a functional interface for interfacing with a third-party application is integrated, the functional interface enables a user to communicate with a server of the third-party application directly through the functional interface in the input method, and such communication includes verifying whether the user is a registered user or whether the user is in a login status. In addition, the functional interface also enables the user to send a data processing request to the server of the third-party application, including submitting specific data associated with an account of the user for processing by a server platform of the third-party application, and returning processed character string data having a specific format, which are submitted by the user to a message exchange session the user is currently participating in through the IME. In this way, the user can directly transmit a structured character string recognizable by a client and/or server of the third-party application to at least another participant in the message exchange session in which the user participates without launching or invocating the client of the third-party application in an operating system on the computing device, so that another participant may perform subsequent account data exchange operation with the server of the third-party application based on the structured character string received in the corresponding message exchange session.

In another embodiment, after the user activates a representation of the third-party application contained in the input method on the computing device, an interface function, integrated in the input method, corresponding to the representation of the third-party application does not need to directly communicate with a background server of the third-party application, and the interface function may directly authenticate the current account login status of the user in the third-party application based on a locally stored history of access to the interface function by the user. After the authentication, the interface function may further preliminarily check account exchange data provided by the user. For example, such preliminary check may include comparing a specific value contained in the account exchange data submitted by the user with threshold data. After checking, the interface function may further perform format conversion on the account exchange data to obtain the processed structured character string, and transmit the structured character string to at least another participant in the message exchange session in which the user participates.

Fig. 1 is a structure chart of an exemplary system in which some embodiments described in the description may be implemented. As shown in the figure, the exemplary system at least includes a first computing device 110, a second computing device 120 and a third-party application server 160. Alternatively, the system may also include a message exchange server 130 and an input method server 140. Various components in the system may communicate with each other through a network 150.

In the system of Fig. 1, an operating system 111 is installed on the first computing device 110, a message exchange client 114 and an input method 116 are installed on the operating system 111, and a third-party application interface module 118 capable of interfacing with a client or a server of a third-party application is integrated in the input method. The third-party application interface module 118 may be an SDK set embedded in an IME to invocate specific functions of the third-party application. In addition, a third-party application client 112 may be installed on the first computing device 110. In some embodiments, when the steps described in the present disclosure are first implemented, the first computing device 110 may not have the client of the third-party application installed yet, and a user may choose to install the third-party application client 112 during use. In addition, in the second computing device 120, a corresponding message exchange client 124 also runs on an operating system 121, and the users of the first computing device 110 and the second computing device 120 may chat with each other via instant messaging through the corresponding message exchange clients, such as WeChat or Line. Of course, these message exchanges are not limited to instant messaging. E-mail and short message service applications may also realize the related functions in the present disclosure. A third-party application client 122 may also be installed on the second computing device 120. In many embodiments, when the steps described in the present disclosure are first implemented, the client of the third-party application is not installed on the second computing device 120, and the user of the second computing device chooses to install the third-party application client 122 according to prompts during use. In addition, an input method 126 may or may not be installed on the second computing device 120, and the input method 126 may or may not include a third-party application interface module 128. In a word, the user of each computing device may choose to install and run the client of the related third-party application and/or the input method containing the third-party application according to the prompts of the system when executing each step of the present disclosure.

Fig. 2 is an exemplary flowchart of a method for transmitting third-party application information in a message exchange application via an input method according to some embodiments of the description. This process may be mainly implemented in, for example, the first computing device 110 in Fig. 1. At block 202, while participating in a message exchange session with other users, the user invocates an input method from an operating system of a user device by placing the focus in a text input field of a message exchange client, and the input method may be integrated with some front-end functions of at least one third-party application, such as part of financial processing functions in a personal banking application. At block 204, an interface module of the third-party application is activated in an input method interface based on a user input such as a user click. The user may also invocate a certain third-party application integrated in the input method by inputting a specific character combination in the input method, such as “: : %” and “%@%” . In addition, the interface function of the third-party application of the input method may be invocated by setting a specific gesture input on the input method function, such as a line with a specific trajectory or shape.

After the user activates the interface module of the third-party application in the input method, the interface module first checks whether an account of the user is authenticated in a server of the third-party application (block 206) . This checking action may first determine whether the user account associated with the user has logged in to the third-party application. If yes, it is determined that the user account has been authenticated by the server, and other service processing related to the third-party application may be continued. If the user has not logged in yet, a prompt page is provided, asking the user to provide account information to log in to the third-party application, so as to use the functions of the third-party application integrated in the input method (block 208) . If the user has not registered any user account at the third-party application, the user is first required to register an account at the third-party application, including providing new account information to the server of the third-party application. The registration of a new account at the server may be completed through the interface function of the third-party application integrated in the input method alone, or the user may be guided to open a client of the third-party application in an operating system of the device, and complete the registration independently at the client. If the client is not installed, the user may also be guided to download the client from a network address where the third-party application client is stored first, and then open the client and register a new account. In some embodiments, when a new account is registered, login information recorded by the user in an input method application on the device may be used to register the new account at the server of the third-party application. For example, the user name and password used by the user in the input method application may be directly used as the user name and password when the user registers an account at the third-party application. In some implementation modes, the account login information of the user at the input method may be associated with the account login information at the third-party application, so that when the user logs in to his/her user account of the input method in a single time, the user can also log in to his/her related user account of the third-party application in an associated mode. In this way, when the user opens the function interface of the third-party application in the input method subsequently, it can be directly determined that the user has already been authenticated at the server of the third-party application, so that the user can be directly engaged in operations associated with his/her account information in the interface module of the third-party application of the input method.

In some embodiments, if it is detected that the client of the third-party application is not installed on the user device, a prompt page may be displayed to the user at block 204 or block 206 first to guide the user to download the client from the specified network address and install the client on the device of the user (block 205) . However, as mentioned above, because some front-end functional modules of the third-party application have been integrated in the input method, the user can actually perform some operations on his/her user account of the third-party application directly in an input method interface, so the mentioned downloading and installation of the client are not necessary.

In some embodiments, if the interface module or a background server of the third-party application initially determines that there is no user account login information associated with the computing device when the user activates the interface function of the third-party application in the input method, information of one account associated with the user (such as account information of the user in the input method) is submitted to the server of the third-party application to determine whether the account has been previously registered at the server of the third-party application based on the information of the account. If the account has been registered, but the account is currently in a logout status, the status of the user account may be set as login, and operations under the user account from the user device are allowed. If the user account has not been registered, a page confirming the registration of the user account at the server of the third-party application may be presented to the user, so as to perform creation and association of user accounts in two different applications actually.

When it is confirmed that the user has logged in to the third-party application, specific account exchange data related to the user account then may be received in the interface module of the third-party application of the input method from the user. Such account exchange data may be, for example, data specifying a specific amount to be subtracted from the balance in a financial account opened by the user at the third-party application, or the increase or decrease of any virtual incentives related to the user account. Any substantial or virtual assets or other incentives that can freely flow between different user accounts in the third-party application based on the wishes of the user may be used as an object of such account exchange data. Of course, such account exchange data may also include other kinds of data exchange between different user accounts in the same application.

Then, based on the account exchange data received from the user, a structured character string corresponding to the account exchange data is generated by the interface module of the third-party application in the input method, and the structured character string is sent to a message exchange client used by another user at another device through a message exchange session (block 212) . The structured character string may be generated by the interface module of the third-party application included in the input method. Alternatively, after receiving the account exchange data from the user, the interface module of the third-party application in the input method may send the account exchange data to the server of the third-party application for data transaction processing associated with the user account of the user, which includes generating the structured character string based on the account exchange data and sending the structured character string back to the user device, and the structured character string is received by the interface module of the third-party application in the input method, and further the structured character string is submitted to an input field in the message exchange application client by the user and the structured character string is sent to another party participating in the session by the user. Alternatively, the generated structured character string may also be encoded with information of launching or installing the client of the third-party application. When being sent to another party in the message exchange session, the structured character string may be configured in advance, so that another user as a receiver may select the structured character string for subsequent operations.

Fig. 3 is an exemplary flowchart of a processing method adopted when third-party application information is received in a message exchange application according to some embodiments of the description. When a structured character string suitable for a third-party application is received from another participant in a message exchange session (block 302) , the user as another participant may select the structured character string by clicking on the structured character string in the message exchange session (block 304) . The selection of the structured character string by the user may trigger operations associated with the structured character string, including sending all or part of the structured character string to the network address, embedded in the structured character string, indicating a server of the third-party application (block 314) , for example, opening a url address, contained in the structured character string, pointing to the server of the third-party application through http or any other suitable protocol in a browser for data exchange with the server of the third-party application. Alternatively, if the user device as another participant has installed and enabled the same input method as the device at the sender of the structured character string, the user as the receiver can also directly copy the structured character string and transmit the copied structured character string to the corresponding third-party application interface module in the input method by activating the input method, so that the structured character string can be transmitted to the server of the third-party application via the third-party application interface module for further processing.

In some implementation modes, before sending the structured character string to the server for processing, based on an identifier, contained in the structured character string, that identifies the third-party application, whether the client of the third-party application has been installed on the user device is determined (block 306) . If the client is not installed on the user device, a prompt is provided to guide the user to download and install the client of the third-party application from a specified network address on the device. The specified network address may be embedded in the structured character string received in the message exchange session alone, or may be the same network address as the server of the third-party application. After downloading and installing the client, the user may be prompted to open the client of the third-party application and register a new account (block 308) . If the user has registered a user account at the server of the third-party application through other means, the user may also choose to log in to the user account.

If such client has already been installed on the user device, whether the third-party application client on the device is in a login status is further determined (block 310) . If not, the user is prompted to log in (block 312) . If yes, the structured character string received in the message exchange session is directly sent to the server of the third-party application for data exchange processing associated with the login account (block 314) . The server may parse the structured character string to extract the account information, transaction information, etc. of the original sender therefrom, record the relevant transaction information in the relevant account of the receiver, and finally complete whole account transaction processing related to two users at the server of the third-party application.

Figs. 4A-4F are schematic screenshots of transmitting and receiving red envelope information via an input method according to some embodiments of the description. As shown in Fig. 4A, the input method is invocated in an input interface field of an instant messaging session, the invocated input method includes a shortcut button of a red envelope function, and the user can easily click on the red envelope function on the interface of the input method, thereby invocating a function interface related to red envelope distribution. As these red envelope-related interface functions have been integrated in the input method interface, the user does not need to find and open a separate third-party application client supporting the red envelope function on a desktop under a system environment, thus avoiding complex switching and copying operations. Through a quick entry to red envelope set on the input method interface, the user can send red envelopes to friends conveniently while chatting with them. As shown in Fig. 4E and Fig. 4F, the red envelopes, in the form of format strings, will be sent to another party through a chat window, wherein Fig. 4E shows that the constructed structured character string has been submitted to a text editing field of an instant messaging application by the input method, while Fig. 4F shows that the structured character string has been submitted to the currently ongoing message session, so that other participants in the session can see the message in real time and take corresponding actions potentially, such as clicking on the structured character string to extract information therefrom, including a URL, pointing to a server processing interface of the third-party application, in the structured character string.

When the user clicks on the red envelope function on the input method interface, if the user of the input method has not logged in to the user account of the third-party application related to the red envelope application, the red envelope function prompts the user to log in first. This login may be a shortcut login realized with a mobile phone number of the user and a verification code, as shown in Fig. 4B. After the user successfully logs in, the user is further prompted to generate a red envelope, as shown in Fig. 4C. After verification, if the mobile phone number of the user is found not a currently registered user at the third-party application, the red envelope function may prompt the user to register at a server of the third-party application first, for example, prompt the user to download a client of the third-party application and register through the client.

Fig. 4D shows the generation of structured character string. After the user generates a red envelope by inputting a specific number, the red envelope function in the input method further converts the related information of the red envelope input by the user into a structured character string, which at least contains the amount of the red envelope, the relevant address of the server interface of the third-party application processing the red envelope data, and other characters. As mentioned above, the generation of the structured character string may be completed by a red envelope function module included in the input method on the user device, or the red envelope function module may send information such as the amount of the red envelope and the ID of the user generating the red envelope to the server of the third-party application, and the server of the third-party application returns the constructed structured character string corresponding to the submitted red envelope information, and the structured character string is submitted to the current going chat session of the user through the input method. In the case where the red envelope function module included in the input method generates the structured character string, the red envelope data information has not actually been processed by the server of the third-party application, that is, the corresponding financial account information of the user has not haven a deduction, and this step is postponed until the user receiving the red envelope clicks on the red envelope. Because there is no need to communicate with the server, in this case, although there is a risk of inconsistency in the financial account of the user to a certain extent, it allows the user to generate the red envelope more conveniently.

On the other hand, when another user participating in the chat session receives the above red envelope, he/she may click on the received red envelope link. If the third-party application capable of receiving the red envelope is not installed on the device of the user, the user may be prompted to install the client of such third-party application. If such client has been installed on the device of the user, the service function of the third-party application may be automatically invocated when the user clicks on the received structured character string, so that the client of the third-party application may automatically receive the red envelope and send the received red envelope data to the server of the third-party application, and the server automatically transmits the red envelope amount to the corresponding financial account of the user. If the user has not logged in to the third-party application when clicking on the red envelope link, the user may be prompted to log in first.

In a word, according to the input method system provided by various embodiments of the present disclosure, by simply embedding some main front-end functions of the third-party applications in the input method interface and alternatively utilizing some incentive mechanisms provided by these third-party applications, users of the input method can more easily access specific functions of such third-party applications and are willing to install the clients of such third-party applications, thus promoting the release of such third-party applications.

Particularly, according to the embodiments of the present disclosure, the processes described above with reference to the flowcharts may be implemented as computer software programs. For example, the embodiments of the present disclosure include a computer program product comprising a computer program carried by a computer-readable medium, and the computer program contains program codes for executing the method shown in the flowcharts. In such embodiment, the computer program can be downloaded and installed from a network through a communication interface, and/or installed from a removable medium. When the computer program is executed by a central processing unit (CPU) , the above functions defined in the system of the present disclosure are executed.

It should be noted that the computer-readable medium shown in the present disclosure may be a computer-readable signal medium or a computer-readable storage medium or any combination thereof. The computer-readable storage medium may be, for example, but not limited to, an electrical, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system, apparatus or device, or any combination thereof. More specific examples of the computer-readable storage medium may include, but are not limited to, an electrical connector with one or more wires, a portable computer disk, a hard disk, a random access memory (RAM) , a read-only memory (ROM) , an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or flash memory) , an optical fiber, a portable compact disk read-only memory (CD-ROM) , an optical storage device, a magnetic storage device, or any suitable combination thereof. In the present disclosure, the computer-readable storage medium may be any tangible medium containing or storing a program, which can be used by or in combination with an instruction execution system, apparatus or device. In the present disclosure, the computer-readable signal medium may include a data signal propagated in a baseband or as part of a carrier wave, in which computer-readable program codes are carried. This propagated data signal can take various forms, including but not limited to an electromagnetic signal, an optical signal or any suitable combination thereof. The computer-readable signal medium may also be any computer-readable medium other than the computer-readable storage medium, and the computer-readable medium can send, propagate or transmit the program for use by or in connection with the instruction execution system, apparatus or device. The program codes contained on the computer-readable medium may be transmitted by any suitable medium, including but not limited to wireless, electric wire, optical cable, RF or any suitable combination thereof.

The flowcharts and block diagrams in the drawings illustrate the architectures, functions and operations of possible implementations of systems, methods and computer program products according to various embodiments of the present disclosure. In this regard, each block in the flowcharts or block diagrams may represent a module, a program segment, or part of a code, and the module, the program segment, or part of the code contains one or more executable instructions for implementing specified logical functions. It should be noted that in some alternative implementations, the functions noted in the blocks may also occur in a different order from those noted in the drawings. For example, two blocks shown in succession may actually be executed in parallel substantially, or they may sometimes be executed in reverse order, depending on the functions involved. It should also be noted that each block in the block diagrams or flowcharts, and combinations of blocks in the block diagrams or flowcharts, may be implemented by dedicated hardware-based systems that perform specified functions or operations, or may be implemented by combinations of dedicated hardware and computer instructions.

The modules described in the embodiments of the present disclosure can be implemented by means of software or hardware. The described modules may also be arranged in a processor, for example, it can be described as: a processor comprises a determination module, a selection module, a presentation module and a display module. The names of these modules do not define the module itself in some cases. For example, the determination module may also be described as "the module for determining an online receiver list" .

The above specific embodiments do not limit the scope of protection in the appended claims. It should be understood by those skilled in the art that various modifications, combinations, sub-combinations and substitutions may occur depending on design requirements and other factors. Any modification, equivalent substitution and improvement made within the spirit and principle of the present disclosure shall be included in the protection scope of the technical solution involved in the present disclosure.

Claims

A computer-implemented method for transmitting third-party application information in a message exchange session, comprising:

(a) invocating, by a first computing device, an input method in a text input field of a first message exchange client based on an input from a first user, the first message exchange client operating on the first computing device and communicating at least with a second message exchange client operating on a second computing device;

(b) in response to the first user activating a representation of a third-party application in the input method, detecting whether a first account associated with the first user is an account authenticated by a server of the third-party application;

(c) in response to determining that the first account associated with the first user has been authenticated by the server of the third-party application, receiving, in a third-party application interface module of the input method, account exchange data from the first user, the third-party application interface module communicating with the server of the third-party application, and the account exchange data being associated with account information registered by the first user at the server of the third-party application; and

(d) sending, by the first computing device, a structured character string corresponding to the account exchange data to at least the second message exchange client operating at the second computing device via the first message exchange client, the structured character string displayed at the second message exchange client being configured to be selectable by a second user at the second message exchange client to be sent to the server of the third-party application.
The method according to claim 1, wherein the step of detecting whether the first account associated with the first user is an account authenticated by the server of the third-party application comprises:

submitting information of the first account associated with the first user to the server of the third-party application to determine whether the first account has been previously registered at the server of the third-party application and whether the first account is currently in a login status at the server of the third-party application.
The method according to claim 2, further comprising: marking the first account as a login status in a case where the first account has been previously registered at the server of the third-party application but is currently in a logout status.
The method according to claim 2, further comprising: in response to determining that the first account has not been previously registered at the server of the third-party application, presenting, via the third-party application interface module, a page to the first user for confirming registration of the first account at the server of the third-party application .
The method according to claim 1, wherein the step of detecting whether the first account associated with the first user is an account authenticated by the server of the third-party application comprises:

detecting whether a client of the third-party application is installed on the first computing device, and displaying a prompt page to the first user to guide the first user to download and install the client of the third-party application in a case where the client of the third-party application is not installed on the first computing device.
The method according to claim 1, wherein the first account associated with the first user is an account of the first user in the input method.
The method according to claim 1, wherein the representation of the third-party application includes an activatable icon displayed on an interface of the input method, a predefined character string submitted by the user in the input method, and a predefined gesture input by the user in the input method.
The method according to claim 1, wherein the message exchange application includes an instant messaging application, an email application, and a short message service application.
The method according to claim 1, wherein the structured character string corresponding to the account exchange data is generated by the third-party application interface module, and the structured character string is encoded with information of launching or installing a client of the third-party application.
The method according to claim 1, further comprising:

after receiving the account exchange data from the first user and before sending the structured character string corresponding to the account exchange data to the second message exchange client, sending, by the third-party application interface module, the account exchange data to the server of the third-party application for account data processing associated with the first account, and receiving the processed structured character string corresponding to the account exchange data from the server of the third-party application, the structured character string being encoded with information of launching or installing a client of the third-party application.
The method according to claim 1, further comprising:

(e) in response to selection, by the second user, of the structured character string displayed at the second message exchange client, sending, by the second message exchange client operating at the second computing device, the structured character string to the server of the third-party application for account data exchange processing associated with the second account of the second user, including opening via a browser a url address, contained in the structured character string, pointing to the server of the third-party application for data exchange with the server of the third-party application.
The method according to claim 1, further comprising:

(e) in response to selection, by the second user, of the structured character string displayed at the second message exchange client, copying the structured character string, and by activating a corresponding input method containing the interface module corresponding to the third-party application at the second computing device, transmitting the copied structured character string to the corresponding third-party application interface module in the corresponding input method, so that the structured character string is transmitted to the server of the third-party application via the third-party application interface module for account data exchange processing associated with the second account of the second user.
The method according to claim 1, wherein the third-party application comprises a red envelope application, and the account exchange data received from the first user comprise red envelope amount data sent by the first user using the first account registered at the red envelope application.
A computing device for transmitting third-party application information in a message exchange application, an input method and a first message exchange client being installed on the device, the computing device comprising one or more processors and a memory storing computer executable instructions, the computer executable instructions performing operations when executed by the one or more processors, and the operations comprising:

(a) invocating the input method in a text input field of the first message exchange client based on an input from a first user, the first message exchange client communicating at least with a second message exchange client operating on another computing device;

(b) in response to the first user activating a representation of a third-party application in the input method, detecting whether a first account associated with the first user is an account authenticated by a server of the third-party application;

(c) in response to determining that the first account associated with the first user has been authenticated by the server of the third-party application, receiving, in a third-party application interface module of the input method, account exchange data from the first user, the third-party application interface module communicating with the server of the third-party application, and the account exchange data being associated with account information registered by the first user at the server of the third-party application; and

(d) sending a structured character string corresponding to the account exchange data to at least the second message exchange client operating at the another computing device via the first message exchange client, the structured character string displayed at the second message exchange client being configured to be selectable by a second user at the second message exchange client to be sent to the server of the third-party application.
A message passing system, comprising:

a third-party application server;

a first user device, an input method and a first message exchange client being installed on the first user device, the input method comprising a third-party application interface module, and the third-party application interface module being configured to be able to communicate with the third-party application server; and

a second user device, a second message exchange client being installed on the second user device, and the second message exchange client being configured to communicate with the first message exchange client;

wherein the first user device is configured to:

(a) invocate the input method in a text input field of the first message exchange client based on an input from a first user;

(b) in response to the first user activating a representation of a third-party application in the input method, detect whether a first account associated with the first user is an account authenticated by the third-party application server;

(c) in response to determining that the first account associated with the first user has been authenticated by the third-party application server, receive, in the third-party application interface module of the input method, account exchange data from the first user, the account exchange data being associated with account information registered by the first user at the third-party application server; and

(d) send a structured character string corresponding to the account exchange data to the second message exchange client operating at the second computing device via the first message exchange client, the structured character string displayed at the second message exchange client being configured to be selectable by a second user at the second message exchange client to be sent to the third-party application server.
A non-volatile computer-readable storage medium storing instructions, the instructions, when executed by one or more processors, causing the one or more processors to perform the method according to any one of claims 1-13.