Accessing last-browsed information in a media playback system

• US 10,028,028 B2
• Filed: 09/30/2013
• Issued: 07/17/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 09/30/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Sonos, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Sonos, Inc.
• Inventors: Kumar, Abhishek
• Primary Examiner(s): KLICOS, NICHOLAS GEORGE
• Application Number:
  US14/042,174
• Publication Number:
  US 20140181659A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,751 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/44 Browsing; Visualisation therefor
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0482 Interaction with lists of selectable items, e.g. menus
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/42204 User interfaces specially adapted for controlling a client device through a remote control device; Remote control devices therefor constructive details of casings for the remote control device H01H9/0235; user interfaces for controlling a tuning device of a television receiver through a remote control H03J9/00; remote control of peripheral devices connected to a television receiver through the remote control device of the television receiver H04B1/205
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/44224 Monitoring of user activity on external systems, e.g. Internet browsing
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4725 using interactive regions of the image, e.g. hot spots details of information retrieval from the Internet by using URLs G06F16/955; processing chained hypermedia data for information retrieval G06F16/94
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/8113 comprising music, e.g. song in MP3 format

Abstract

Embodiments are discussed for providing an indication of information previously accessed, or “browsed,” by a user on a control device of a media playback system, irrespective of a prior graphical display on the control device. The embodiments may involve causing a graphical display to provide a visual indication of a selectable region, receiving selection data that indicates a selection of the selectable region, irrespective of a prior graphical display and in response to receiving the selection data, identifying browse data that was most-recently accessed by the control device, where the browse data includes an indication of one or more playable media items, and causing the graphical display to provide a visual indication of the one or more playable media items indicated by the identified browse data.

Claims

1. A tangible non-transitory computer readable medium having stored thereon instructions executable by a first control device to cause the first control device to perform a method comprising:

receiving, via a control interface for a playback device displayed by the first control device on a touchscreen display, a set of one or more inputs to access, via a first substantially full-screen graphical display of the control interface, a particular set of one or more media items from among a plurality of media items playable by the playback device, wherein accessing the particular set of one or more media items comprises at least one of;

(i) browsing to the particular set of one or more media items via the first graphical display of the control interface or (ii) searching for the particular set of one or more media items via the first graphical display of the control interface;

updating browse data to indicate that the particular set of one or more media items was accessed by the first control device;

after accessing the particular set of one or more media items via the first graphical display, causing the control interface to display one or more substantially full-screen second graphical displays of the control interface for the playback device on the touchscreen display;

while a given media item is playing back on the playback device, receiving, via the control interface displayed by the first control device, selection data that indicates a touch-selection of a particular selectable region within a given substantially full-screen second graphical display displayed on the touchscreen display, the given second substantially full-screen graphical display including (i) an indication of the given media item that is being played back on the playback device and (ii) transport controls selectable to control playback by the playback device;

in response to the touch-selection of the particular selectable region;

identifying within the updated browse data, irrespective of (i) the given media item that is playing back and (ii) the one or more substantially full-screen second graphical displays, a set of media items that was most recently accessed by the first control device, wherein the browse data indicates that the set of media items that was most recently accessed is the particular set of one or more media items; and

causing the control interface to display, on the touchscreen display, a third substantially full-screen graphical display that includes a list of the set of media items that was most recently accessed, wherein the set of media items that was most recently-accessed is the particular set of one or more media items;

receiving, via the control interface displayed by the first control device, selection data that indicates a touch-selection, within the third graphical display, of at least one media item from the set of media items that was most recently accessed; and

in response to the touch-selection of the at least one media item from the set of media items that was most recently accessed, causing, via a network interface of the first control device, the playback device to initiate playback of the selected at least one media item from the set of media items that was most recently accessed.

2. The tangible non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 1, the method further comprising:

causing the control interface to display the given substantially full-screen second graphical display including the indication of the given media item that is being played back on one or more playback devices including the playback device, wherein the one or more playback devices are different from the first control device.

3. The tangible non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 2, wherein the particular set of one or more media items comprises the given media item that is playing back.

4. The tangible non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 1, the method further comprising:

in response to the touch-selection of the particular selectable region, identifying, within browse data, a set of one or more media items that was most recently accessed by a second control device that is different from the first control device; and

causing an indication of the set of one or more media items that was most recently accessed by the second control device to be displayed.

5. The tangible non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 1, the method further comprising:

in response to the touch-selection of the particular selectable region, identifying, within browse data, a set of one or more media items that was most recently accessed by a second control device that is different from the first control device; and

identifying, as the set of one or more media items that was most-recently accessed, one of (a) the set of one or more media items that was most recently accessed by the first control device or (b) the set of one or more media items was most recently accessed by the second control device, wherein causing the control interface to display the indication of the set of media items that was most recently accessed comprises causing the control interface to display an indication of the identified one of the set of one or more media items that was most recently accessed by the first control device or the set of one or more media items that was most recently accessed by the second control device.

6. The tangible non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 5, wherein first browse data indicating the set of one or more media items that was most recently accessed by the first control device is stored at the first control device, and wherein second browse data indicating the set of one or more media items that was most-recently accessed by the second control device is stored at the playback device, and wherein identifying one of (a) the set of one or more media items that was most recently accessed by the first control device or (b) the set of one or more media items that was most recently accessed by the second control device comprises:

comparing the first browse data to the second browse data; and

determining, based on the comparison of the first browse data and the second browse data, which of (a) the set of one or more media items that was most recently accessed by the first control device or (b) the set of one or more media items that was most recently accessed by the second control device was most recently accessed.

7. The tangible non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 1, wherein the browse data is stored at the first control device, and wherein the browse data further comprises, for each media item of the particular set of one or more media items, (a) a respective song name of the media item, (b) a respective artist name of the media item, and (c) a respective play time of the media item.

8. The tangible non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 1, wherein the browse data is stored at the first control device, and wherein the browse data further comprises, for each media item of the particular set of one or more media items, a respective universal resource identifier (URI) indicating a source of the media item.

9. The tangible non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 1, the method further comprising:

before causing display of the particular selectable region within the given substantially full-screen second graphical display, causing the control interface to display an indication of the particular set of one or more media items in the first substantially full-screen graphical display; and

after causing the control interface to display the indication of the particular set of one or more media items and before causing display of the particular selectable region, causing the control interface to display, within another substantially full-screen second graphical display, an indication of a queue that includes at least one media item queued for playback at the playback device.

10. The tangible non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 1, the method further comprising:

before causing display of the particular selectable region within the given substantially full-screen second graphical display, causing the control interface to display an indication of the particular set of one or more media items in the first substantially full-screen graphical display; and

after causing the control interface to display the indication of the particular set of one or more media items and before causing display of the particular selectable region, causing the control interface to display, within another substantially full-screen second graphical display, an indication of a system setting associated with the first control device.

11. The tangible non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 1, wherein the particular set of one or more media items excludes the given media item that is playing back.

12. A method comprising:

receiving, via a control interface for a playback device displayed by a first control device on a touchscreen display, a set of one or more inputs to access, via a first substantially full-screen graphical display of a control interface, a particular set of one or more media items from among a plurality of media items playable by the playback device, wherein accessing the particular set of one or more media items comprises at least one of;

(i) browsing to the particular set of one or more media items via the first graphical display of the control interface or (ii) searching for the particular set of one or more media items via the first graphical display of the control interface;

updating, via the first control device, browse data to indicate that the particular set of one or more media items was accessed by the first control device;

after accessing the particular set of one or more media items via the first graphical display, causing, via the first control device, the control interface to display one or more substantially full-screen second graphical displays of the control interface for the playback device on the touchscreen display;

while a given media item is playing back on the playback device, receiving, via the control interface displayed by the first control device, selection data that indicates a touch-selection of a particular selectable region within a given substantially full-screen second graphical display displayed on the touchscreen display, the given second substantially full-screen graphical display including (i) an indication of the given media item that is being played back on the playback device and (ii) transport controls selectable to control playback by the playback device;

in response to the touch-selection of the particular selectable region;

identifying within the updated browse data, via the first control device irrespective of (i) the given media item that is playing back and (ii) the one or more substantially full-screen second graphical displays, a set of media items that was most-recently accessed by the first control device, wherein the browse data indicates that the set of media items that was most recently accessed is the particular set of one or more media items; and

causing, via the first control device, the control interface to display, on the touchscreen display, a third substantially full-screen graphical display that includes a list of the set of media items that was most recently accessed, wherein the set of media items that was most recently-accessed is the particular set of one or more media items;

receiving, via the control interface displayed by the first control device, selection data that indicates a touch-selection, within the third graphical display, of at least one media item from the set of media items that was most recently accessed; and

in response to the touch-selection of the at least one media item from the set of media items that was most recently accessed, causing, via a network interface of the first control device, the playback device to initiate playback of the selected at least one media item from the set of media items that was most recently accessed.

13. The method of claim 12, further comprising:

causing, via the first control device, the control interface to display the given substantially full-screen second graphical display including the indication of the given media item that is being played back on one or more playback devices including the playback device, wherein the one or more playback devices are different from the first control device.

14. The method of claim 12, wherein the first control device is a first control device, the method further comprising:

in response to the touch-selection of the particular selectable region, identifying, within browse data, a set of one or more media items that was most recently accessed by a second control device that is different from the first control device; and

causing an indication of the set of one or more media items that was most recently accessed by the second control device to be displayed.

15. The method of claim 12, the method further comprising:

in response to the touch-selection of the particular selectable region, identifying, within browse data, a second set of one or more media items that was most recently accessed by a second control device that is different from the first control device; and

identifying, as the set of one or more media items that was most recently accessed, one of (a) the first set of one or more media items that was most recently accessed by the first control device or (b) the second set of one or more media items that was most recently accessed by the second control device, wherein causing the control interface to display the indication of the set of media items that was most-recently accessed comprises causing, via the first control device, the control interface to display an indication of the identified one of the set of one or more media items that was most recently accessed by the first control device or the set of one or more media items that was most recently accessed by the second control device.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein first browse data indicating the set of one or more media items that was most recently accessed by the first control device is stored at the first control device, and wherein second browse data indicating the set of one or more media items that was most recently accessed by the second control device is stored at the playback device, and wherein identifying one of (a) the set of one or more media items that was most recently accessed by the first control device or (b) the set of one or more media items that was most recently accessed by the second control device comprises:

comparing the first browse data to the second browse data; and

determining, based on the comparison of the first browse data and the second browse data, which of (a) the set of one or more media items that was most recently accessed by the first control device or (b) the set of one or more media items that was most recently accessed by the second control device was more-recently accessed.

17. A first control device comprising:

a network interface;

a processor; and

a non-transitory computer-readable medium having stored thereon instructions executable by the processor to cause the first control device to perform functions comprising;

receiving, via a control interface for a playback device displayed by the first control device on a touchscreen display, a set of one or more inputs to access, via a first substantially full-screen graphical display of the control interface, a particular set of one or more media items from among a plurality of media items playable by the playback device, wherein accessing the particular set of one or more media items comprises at least one of;

(i) browsing to the particular set of one or more media items via the first graphical display of the control interface or (ii) searching for the particular set of one or more media items via the first graphical display of the control interface;

updating browse data to indicate that the particular set of one or more media items was accessed by the first control device;

after accessing the particular set of one or more media items via the first graphical display, causing the control interface to display one or more substantially full-screen second graphical displays of the control interface for the playback device on the touchscreen display;

while a given media item is playing back on the playback device, receiving, via the control interface displayed by the first control device, selection data that indicates a touch-selection of a particular selectable region within a given substantially full-screen second graphical display displayed on the touchscreen display, the given second substantially full-screen graphical display including (i) an indication of the given media item that is being played back on the playback device and (ii) transport controls selectable to control playback by the playback device;

in response to the touch-selection of the particular selectable region;

identifying within the updated browse data, irrespective of (i) the given media item that is playing back and (ii) the one or more substantially full-screen second graphical displays, a set of media items that was most recently accessed by the first control device, wherein the browse data indicates that the set of media items that was most recently accessed is the particular set of one or more media items; and

causing the control interface to display, on the touchscreen display, a third substantially full-screen graphical display that includes a list of the set of media items that was most recently accessed, wherein the set of media items that was most recently-accessed is the particular set of one or more media items;

receiving, via the control interface displayed by the first control device, selection data that indicates a touch-selection, within the third graphical display, of at least one media item from the set of media items that was most recently accessed; and

in response to the touch-selection of the at least one media item from the set of media items that was most recently accessed, causing, via the network interface of the first control device, the playback device to initiate playback of the selected at least one media item from the set of media items that was most recently accessed.

18. The first control device of claim 17, the instructions executable by the processor to cause the first control device to perform functions further comprising:

in response to the touch-selection of the particular selectable region, identifying, within browse data, a set of one or more media items that was most recently accessed by a second control device that is different from the first control device; and

causing an indication of the set of one or more media items that was most recently accessed by the second control device to be displayed.

19. The first control device of claim 17, wherein the particular set of one or more media items is a first set of one or more media items, the instructions executable by the processor to cause the first control device to perform functions further comprising:

in response to the touch-selection of the particular selectable region, identifying, within browse data, a set of one or more media items that was most recently accessed by a second control device, wherein the first control device is connected via the network interface to the second control device and the playback device; and

identifying, as the set of one or more media items that was most-recently accessed, one of (a) the set of one or more media items that was most recently accessed by the first control device or (b) the set of one or more media items was most recently accessed by the second control device, wherein causing the control interface to display the indication of the set of media items that was most recently accessed comprises causing the control interface to display an indication of the identified one of the set of one or more media items that was most recently accessed by the first control device or the set of one or more media items that was most recently accessed by the second control device.

20. The first control device of claim 19, wherein first browse data indicating the set of one or more media items that was most recently accessed by the first control device is stored at the first control device, and wherein second browse data indicating the set of one or more media items that was most-recently accessed by the second control device is stored at the playback device, and wherein identifying one of (a) the set of one or more media items that was most recently accessed by the first control device or (b) the set of one or more media items that was most recently accessed by the second control device comprises:

comparing the first browse data to the second browse data; and

determining, based on the comparison of the first browse data and the second browse data, which of (a) the set of one or more media items that was most recently accessed by the first control device or (b) the set of one or more media items that was most recently accessed by the second control device was most recently accessed.