Mobile device status and notification

• US 10,225,399 B2
• Filed: 04/28/2017
• Issued: 03/05/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 03/25/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: WhatsApp LLC (Meta Platforms, Inc. (f/k/a Facebook, Inc.))
• Original Assignee: WhatsApp LLC (Meta Platforms, Inc. (f/k/a Facebook, Inc.))
• Inventors: Koum, Jan, Acton, Brian
• Primary Examiner(s): Hong, Dung
• Application Number:
  US15/582,365
• Publication Number:
  US 20170237854A1
• Time in Patent Office: 676 Days
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/08 Annexed information, e.g. attachments
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/10 Multimedia information
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/55 Push-based network services
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/2745 using static electronic memories, e.g. chips
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/27457 Management thereof, e.g. manual editing of data
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/56 Arrangements for indicating or recording the called number at the calling subscriber's set
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/66 with means for preventing unauthorised or fraudulent calling verifying user identity or authority in secret or secure digital communications H04L9/32
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72469 for operating the device by selecting functions from two or more displayed items, e.g. menus or icons
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/42 Systems providing special services or facilities to subscribers specially adapted for wireless communication networks H04W4/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/42153 by subscriber
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/42306 Number translation services, e.g. premium-rate, freephone or vanity number services
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/42365 Presence services providing information on the willingness to communicate or the ability to communicate in terms of media capability or network connectivity
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/42374 where the information is provided to a monitoring entity such as a potential calling party or a call processing server
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/42382 Text-based messaging services in telephone networks such as PSTN/ISDN, e.g. User-to-User Signalling or Short Message Service for fixed networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/08 Access security
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/12 Messaging; Mailboxes; Announcements
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/14 Short messaging services, e.g. short message services [SMS] or unstructured supplementary service data [USSD]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/183 Processing at user equipment or user record carrier
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/26 Network addressing or numbering for mobility support

Abstract

Aspects of the present invention confirm that a phone number is associated with a particular phone. The phone number is confirmed to be associated with the phone by causing the phone to transmit a verification message addressed to that phone number. Receipt by the phone of the verification message confirms that the number is associated with that phone. Another aspect of the invention concerns updating the status of phones in a status list of phone numbers on a phone by sending the status list and updated status of the phone to a network server. The server monitors the status of at least one of the phones in the status list and transmits that status to the phone, which updated status is then displayed in a display area of the phone.

Claims

1. A method, comprising the steps of:

receiving, by a synthetic communication server over a synthetic communication network, a message that is automatically transmitted from a target phone device when the status of the target phone device changes from a first status to a new status, the message including the new status of the target phone number and identifying the target phone device on the synthetic communication network using a normalized phone number of the target phone device that uniquely identifies the target phone on the synthetic communication network and has previously been confirmed to be associated with the first phone device as a result of receipt at the first phone device of a first verification message transmitted by the first phone device and addressed to the first phone number;

responsive to receiving the message, storing, by the synthetic communication server, an indication of the new status of the target phone device in a status area referenced by the normalized phone number of the target phone device;

identifying, by the synthetic communication server, a subset of phone devices from a set of other phone devices on the synthetic communication network that are interested in the status of the target phone device; and

pushing the new status of the target phone device to a status list area for each phone device in the subset.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the message with new status is received from a synthetic communication client executing on the target phone device.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the status list area further holds the status of a set of one or more other phone devices identified on the synthetic communication network by a corresponding set of normalized phone numbers.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the status list area comprises a graphical user interface.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the status list area includes at least one graphical element selected from the group including icons identifying the corresponding other phone devices and photographs identifying the users of the other phone devices.

6. The method of claim 4, wherein the status list in the status list display area includes audiovisual content.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein identifying the subset of phone devices that are interested in the status of the target phone device occurs through a comparison of the normalized phone number of the target phone device against a status list of normalized phone numbers from each of the phone devices in the subset.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the synthetic communication network may be used to transmit text messages combined with at least one other multimedia data type selected from a set of multimedia data types including images, video, voice, music and data files.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the target phone device and the other phone devices are selected from a set of devices having a phone number including:

a wireless phone, a wireless tablet computer, a wireless laptop and a wireless modem device.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the new status of the target phone device is entered by a user of the target phone device on a synthetic communication client executing on the target phone device prior to the message being automatically transmitted from the target phone device.

11. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving, by the synthetic communication server and while the target phone device is not connected to the synthetic communication network, an indication that an additional phone device in the set of other phone devices on the synthetic communication network is interested in the status of the target phone device; and

responsive to the received indication, pushing, by the synthetic communication server, the new status of the target phone device to a status list are for the additional phone device.

12. A computer program product stored on a non-transitory computer readable medium and including program code that, when executed by a processor, causes the processor to execute steps comprising:

receiving over a synthetic communication network, a message that is automatically transmitted from a target phone device when the status of the target phone device changes from a first status to a new status, the message including the new status of the target phone number and identifying the target phone device on the synthetic communication network using a normalized phone number of the target phone device that uniquely identifies the target phone on the synthetic communication network and has previously been confirmed to be associated with the first phone device as a result of receipt at the first phone device of a first verification message transmitted by the first phone device and addressed to the first phone number;

responsive to receiving the message, storing an indication of the new status of the target phone device in a status area referenced by the normalized phone number of the target phone device;

identifying a subset of phone devices from a set of other phone devices on the synthetic communication network that are interested in the status of the target phone device; and

pushing the new status of the target phone device to a status list area for each phone device in the subset.

13. The computer program product of claim 12, wherein the new status of the target phone device is entered by a user of the target phone device on a synthetic communication client executing on the target phone device prior to the message being automatically transmitted from the target phone device.

14. The computer program product of claim 12, further comprising:

receiving, by the synthetic communication server and while the target phone device is not connected to the synthetic communication network, an indication that an additional phone device in the set of other phone devices on the synthetic communication network is interested in the status of the target phone device; and

responsive to the received indication, pushing, by the synthetic communication server, the new status of the target phone device to a status list are for the additional phone device.

15. The computer program product of claim 12, wherein the status list area further holds the status of a set of one or more other phone devices identified on the synthetic communication network by a corresponding set of normalized phone numbers.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the status list area comprises a graphical user interface.

17. The computer program product of claim 16, wherein the status list area includes at least one graphical element selected from the group including icons identifying the corresponding other phone devices and photographs identifying the users of the other phone devices.