Apparatuses and methods for web page sharing

• US 10,084,729 B2
• Filed: 05/29/2014
• Issued: 09/25/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 06/25/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Tencent Technology Company Limited (Tencent Holdings Limited)
• Original Assignee: Tencent Technology Company Limited (Tencent Holdings Limited)
• Inventors: Wang, Xi, Li, Wei, Tang, Tingyong, Wang, Zhipei, Tang, Hao, Zhang, Kai, Qing, Xin, Liu, Sirui, Yang, Huijiao, Huang, Ying, Liu, Yulei, Feng, Cheng, Hu, Bo, Zhou, Ruiyi, Guan, Lei, He, Bosen, Ma, Ning, Li, Yingge, Li, Yang
• Primary Examiner(s): Zong, Ruolei
• Application Number:
  US14/290,640
• Publication Number:
  US 20140379824A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,580 Days
• Field of Search: 709206, 709204, 709205, 709217-219
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/04 Real-time or near real-time messaging, e.g. instant messaging [IM]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/046 Interoperability with other network applications or services

Abstract

A method for web page sharing may include receiving, by at least one processor, a triggering operation executed on an interface of a current application running on a terminal device by a user of the terminal device; calling, by at least one processor, a sharing interface of a target application from the interface of the current application in response to the triggering operation; displaying, by at least one processor, a plurality of contacts of the user associated with the target application on the sharing interface of the target application; receiving, by at least one processor, a first selection operation from the user to select a contact of the user from the plurality of contacts; generating, by at least one processor, a sharing message in response to the first selection operation; and sending, by at least one processor, the sharing message to the selected contact through the server.

Claims

1. A method for sharing web pages, comprising:

running, concurrently, by at least one processor of a mobile device having a touch screen, a web browser application and a plurality of messaging applications, each of the messaging applications configured to communicate with a separate corresponding remote server;

displaying, by the at least one processor, a web page loaded by the web browser application at a first area of the touch screen of a device and an address bar in a second area of the touch screen of the device, the web browser including a sharing button in the second area of a display, the sharing button triggerable to load a candidate menu, the first area of the touch screen separate from the second area of the touch screen;

receiving, by the at least one processor, a first input signal directed to the sharing button from the touch screen of the device;

displaying, by the at least one processor, the candidate menu in response to the first input signal, the candidate menu including a plurality of candidate indicators corresponding to respective sharing interfaces in communication with messaging applications running on the mobile device, each of the respective sharing interfaces configured to communicate with a corresponding messaging application and load, from the corresponding messaging application, a corresponding set of contact options, the candidate menu loaded by the web browser application independent of the web page, a first portion of the candidate menu positioned over the sharing button in the second area of the touch screen and a second portion of the candidate menu positioned over the over the web page in the first area of the display;

receiving a second input signal from the touch screen of the device, the second input signal directed at a candidate indicator included in the candidate menu;

in response to receiving the second input signal directed at the candidate indicator;

displaying, by the at least one processor, in response to receipt of the second input signal, a sharing interface configured to independently communicate with a target messaging application included in the messaging applications, the sharing interface corresponding to the candidate indicator,

receiving, by the at least one processor, from the target messaging application running concurrently on the mobile device, a plurality of contact options, wherein each of the contact options are associated with an account in a remote server that communicates with the target messaging application, wherein the target messaging application previously received the contact options from the remote server, and

displaying, by the at least one processor, on the sharing interface, the contact options received from the target messaging application, each of the contact options responsive to user input and associated with a corresponding contact received from the target messaging application;

receiving, by the at least one processor, a contact selection operation indicative of a plurality of selected contact options from the contact options displayed on the sharing interface;

generating, by the at least one processor, a sharing message in response to the contact selection operation;

communicating, by the at least one processor, the sharing message to the target messaging application from the sharing interface, the sharing message including a link to a content of the web page, an abstract of the content, a preview image of the web page displayed via the touch screen, and a plurality of contacts identifiers corresponding to the selected contact options;

sending, by the at least one processor from the target messaging application, the sharing message to the remote server, the remote server configured to communicate the sharing message to the selected contact; and

closing, automatically in response to sending the sharing message, the sharing interface without closing the target messaging application.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of displaying of the contact options further comprises:

sending a request of obtaining user contacts to the remote server via the the target messaging application.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving, by the at least one processor, a sharing message from a contact associated with the target messaging application, the sharing message being received through the remote server based on an identifier of the contact;

retrieving, by the at least one processor, a sharing content from the sharing message; and

displaying, by the at least one processor, the sharing content on the device.

4. A method for sharing a web page, comprising:

displaying, by at least one processor of a terminal device, a web page loaded by a web browser in a first display area of a touch screen of the terminal device;

receiving, by the at least one processor, a first input signal received by the terminal device;

displaying, by the at least one processor, a candidate menu in response to the first input signal, at least a portion of the candidate menu included in a second display area of the touch screen separate from the first display area of the touch screen, the second display area including an address bar of the web browser, the candidate menu including a plurality of candidate icons associated with respective messaging applications executing on the terminal device concurrently with the web browser, each of the candidate icons triggerable to call a corresponding sharing interface in communication with a corresponding one of the messaging applications;

receiving, by the at least one processor, a second input signal directed toward one of the candidate icons, the one of the candidate icons associated with a target application included in the respective messaging applications;

calling, by the at least one processor, a sharing interface in communication with a target application in response to receipt of the second input signal;

in response to calling the sharing interface;

receiving, from the target application, a plurality of contact options, wherein each of the contact options are associated with an account on a remote server that communicates with the target application, wherein the target application previously received the contact options from the remote server, and

displaying, by the at least one processor, a plurality of contact options on the sharing interface of the target application, each of the contact options responsive to a third input signal and respectively associated with a corresponding contact, wherein the corresponding contact is associated with the target application and an account in a server configured to communicate with the terminal device through the target application;

triggering, by the at least one processor, a contact selection operation in response to the third input signal by selecting a plurality of the contact options;

generating, by the at least one processor, a sharing message in response to the contact selection operation, the sharing message comprising a preview image of the web page and a plurality of identifiers corresponding to the selected contacts options; and

sending, by the at least one processor, the sharing message to the selected contact through the remote server.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the displaying of the plurality of contact options further comprises:

sending a request of obtaining a plurality of contacts of the user to the remote server via the target application;

receiving a response to the request from the remote server including information of the plurality of contacts; and

displaying the plurality of contacts as the plurality of contact options on the sharing interface.

6. The method of claim 4, further comprising:

receiving, by the at least one processor, a sharing message from a contact associated with the target application through the remote server based on an identifier of the contact;

retrieving, by at least one processor, a sharing content from the sharing message; and

displaying, by at least one processor, the sharing content on the terminal device.

12. The method of claim 4, wherein the step of displaying the candidate menu further comprises:

displaying the candidate menu on an interface positioned over a portion of the web page without adjusting the web page.

7. An apparatus, comprising:

at least one non-transitory processor-readable storage medium including at least one set of instructions for content sharing; and

at least one processor in communication with the at least one non-transitory processor-readable storage medium configured to execute the at least one set of instructions to;

display, in a first area of a touch screen, a web page loaded by a web browser application running concurrent with a plurality of messaging applications separate from the web browser application;

display a sharing control and an address bar integrated in the web browser application in a second area of the touch screen, the second area of the touch screen separate from the first area of the touch screen;

receive a triggering operation executed on the sharing control from a first input signal detected on from the touch screen;

display a candidate menu of the web browser application in response to the triggering operation, a first portion of the candidate menu included in the first area of the touch screen and a second portion of the candidate menu included in the second area of the touch screen, the candidate menu including candidate icons provided by the candidate menu separate from the web page, the candidate icons corresponding to respective sharing interfaces, each of the respective sharing interfaces configured to independently communicate with a corresponding one of the messaging applications;

in response to detection of a second input on the touch screen directed at a candidate icon corresponding to a target application of the messaging applications;

receive, from the target application, a plurality of contact options, wherein each of the contact options are associated with an account in a remote server that communicates with the target application, wherein the target application previously received the contact options from the remote server, and

display a sharing interface configured to communicate with the target application of the messaging applications, the candidate icon included in the candidate icons, the sharing interface including a plurality of contact options, each of the plurality of contact options responsive to a user input and associated with a corresponding user contact, wherein the corresponding user contact is associated with the target application and has an account in a server configured to communicate with the apparatus through the target application;

receive a selection operation indicative of a plurality of selected contact options from the contact options displayed on the sharing interface;

generate a sharing message comprising a plurality of contacts identifiers corresponding to the selected contact options, and at least one of a link directing towards a content of the web page, an abstract of the content, and a preview image of an entirety of the web page displayed in the first area of the touch screens;

communicate the sharing message to the target application from the sharing interface;

send the sharing message from the target application to a user contact corresponding to the contact option through the remote server; and

close, automatically in response to sending the sharing message, the sharing interface without closing the target application.

8. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein

the target application includes an instant messaging application.

9. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein to display the sharing interface, the at least one processor is further configured to execute the at least one set of instructions to:

send, from the target application, a request of obtaining user contacts associated with the plurality of contact options to the remote server via the sharing interface of the target application;

receive a response to the request from the remote server including information of the user contacts; and

display the information of the user contacts as the contact options on the sharing interface of the target application.

10. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the sharing message is generated in response to detection of the selection operation.

11. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to execute the at least one set of instructions to:

receive a sharing message from a device associated with one of the plurality of contact options through the remote server based on an identifier of the device;

retrieve a sharing content from the sharing message; and

display the sharing content on the apparatus.

13. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the target application comprises an instant messaging application executed on the apparatus.