Custom share sheet with shortcut controls to share a content item

• US 10,356,020 B2
• Filed: 02/29/2016
• Issued: 07/16/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 02/29/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Dropbox, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Dropbox, Inc.
• Inventors: Chao, Ed, Avron, Riley, Borowiec, Filip
• Primary Examiner(s): Alriyashi, Abdulkader M
• Application Number:
  US15/056,726
• Publication Number:
  US 20170250940A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,233 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/176 Support for shared access to files; File sharing support
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9562 Bookmark management
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/046 Interoperability with other network applications or services
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/18 Commands or executable codes
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/535 Tracking the activity of the user network monitoring arrangements H04L43/00; recording of computer activity G06F11/34

Abstract

Techniques are described herein to generate a custom share sheet. The custom share sheet comprises one or more shortcut controls to share a content item using one or more corresponding contact-avenue pairs. A contact-avenue pair includes a link sharing mechanism and contact information for one or more recipients within the application or application protocol that uses the link sharing mechanism. The contact-avenue pairs are generated based on the share history of the particular user sharing the content item. Shortcut controls to sharing a Content Item Are primarily generated based on local share history. These shortcut controls are ordered based on contact-avenue pairs that were most recently used to share a content item. Shortcut controls to sharing a Content Item Are secondarily generated based on cross-platform share history derived from content items stored in cloud storage. These shortcut controls are ordered based on contact-avenue pairs that were used to share the most content items.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

generating, at a first personal computing device, a plurality of contact-avenue pairs for a user to share a link to a content item;

wherein the user has a user account with a cloud storage application;

wherein the user account is associated with a plurality of personal computing devices of the user;

wherein the plurality of personal computing devices includes the first personal computing device;

wherein a first local content item sharing history of the user reflects one or more shares of one or more links to one or more content items by the user using the first personal computing device;

wherein a second local content item sharing history of the user reflects one or more shares of one or more links to one or more content items by the user using a second personal computing device, of the plurality of personal computing devices associated with the user account

wherein the cloud storage application is associated with a global content item sharing history of the user, the global content item sharing history of the user comprising the first local content item sharing history of the user and comprising the second local content item sharing history of the user, the first local content item sharing history uploaded to the cloud storage application from the first personal computing device, the second local content item sharing history uploaded to the cloud storage application from the second personal computing device;

wherein the generating the plurality of contact-avenue pairs for the user to share the link to the content item is based on;

responsive to determining that a number of contact-avenue pairs generated based on the first local content item sharing history of the user is less than a threshold number, then generating one or more contact-avenue pairs, of the plurality of contact-avenue pairs for the user to share the link to the content item, based on the global content item sharing history of the user;

wherein each contact-avenue pair of the plurality of contact-avenue pairs includes both;

(a) an avenue that indicates a respective link sharing mechanism for sharing the link to the content item, and

(b) contact information for a recipient with which to share the link to the content item via the avenue;

displaying, in a graphical user interface at the first personal computing device, a custom share sheet that provides a plurality of shortcut controls for the plurality of contact-avenue pairs;

wherein each shortcut control of the plurality of shortcut controls is provided in the custom share sheet for a corresponding contact-avenue pair of the plurality of contact-avenue pairs;

based on a user selection of a selected shortcut control of the plurality of shortcut controls corresponding to a particular contact-avenue pair of the plurality of contact-avenue pairs, causing the link to the content item to be shared with the recipient of the contact information of the particular contact-avenue pair via the avenue of the particular contact-avenue pair.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

using the plurality of contact-avenue pairs to generate the custom share sheet that displays two or more shortcut controls to share with two or more contact-avenue pairs, respectively, the two or more shortcut controls including selected shortcut control to share with the particular contact-avenue pair and a second shortcut control to share with a second contact-avenue pair.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the second contact-avenue pair includes a different avenue than the particular contact-avenue pair.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein the custom share sheet is configured to receive, in a single screen, multi-selection input of multiple shortcut controls to contact-avenue pairs of the two or more contact-avenue pairs.

5. The method of claim 4, further comprising:

based on a particular multi-selection input that selects both the shortcut control to share with the particular contact-avenue pair and the second shortcut control to share with the second contact-avenue pair, sending, to a second target contact through a second associated avenue of the second contact-avenue pair, a second link to the content item.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein at least some of the plurality of contact-avenue pairs are generated from sharing metadata created at the first personal computing device and stored locally on the first personal computing device.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

after generating the plurality of contact-avenue pairs, ranking, based on metadata, a set of contact-avenue pairs of the plurality of contact-avenue pairs in an order; and

using the order to generate the custom share sheet that displays a shortcut control to each contact-avenue pair in the set of contact-avenue pairs in that order.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein at least a portion of the ranking prioritizes contact-avenue pairs based on content items that were shared most recently.

9. The method of claim 7, wherein at least a portion of the ranking prioritizes contact-avenue pairs based on a count tracking how many content items have been shared, by a user account of the user, with each target contact associated with the set of contact-avenue pairs.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

identifying multiple contact-avenue pairs that are associated with a same target contact;

selecting a first contact-avenue pair of the multiple contact-avenue pairs; and

in response to selecting, generating the custom share sheet with the first contact-avenue pair but not a second contact-avenue pair of the multiple contact-avenue pairs.

11. One or more non-transitory computer-readable media storing instructions, said instructions, which, when executed by one or more hardware processors, cause:

generating, at a first personal computing device, a plurality of contact-avenue pairs for a user to share a link to a content item;

wherein the user has a user account with a cloud storage application;

wherein the user account is associated with a plurality of personal computing devices of the user;

wherein the plurality of personal computing devices includes the first personal computing device;

wherein a first local content item sharing history of the user reflects one or more shares of one or more links to one or more content items by the user using the first personal computing device;

wherein a second local content item sharing history of the user reflects one or more shares of one or more links to one or more content items by the user using a second personal computing device, of the plurality of personal computing devices associated with the user account;

wherein the cloud storage application is associated with a global content item sharing history of the user, the global content item sharing history of the user comprising the first local content item sharing history of the user and comprising the second local content item sharing history of the user, the first local content item sharing history uploaded to the cloud storage application from the first personal computing device, the second local content item sharing history uploaded to the cloud storage application from the second personal computing device;

wherein the generating the plurality of contact-avenue pairs for the user to share the link to the content item is based on;

responsive to determining that a number of contact-avenue pairs generated based on the first local content item sharing history of the user is less than a threshold number, then generating one or more contact-avenue pairs, of the plurality of contact-avenue pairs for the user to share the link to the content item, based on the global content item sharing history of the user;

wherein each contact-avenue pair of the plurality of contact-avenue pairs includes both;

(a) an avenue that indicates a respective link sharing mechanism for sharing the link to the content item, and

(b) contact information for a recipient with which to share the link to the content item via the avenue;

displaying, in a graphical user interface at the first personal computing device, a custom share sheet that provides a plurality of shortcut controls for the plurality of contact-avenue pairs;

wherein each shortcut control of the plurality of shortcut controls is provided in the custom share sheet for a corresponding contact-avenue pair of the plurality of contact-avenue pairs;

based on a user selection of a selected shortcut control of the plurality of shortcut controls corresponding to a particular contact-avenue pair of the plurality of contact-avenue pairs, causing the link to the content item to be shared with the recipient of the contact information of the particular contact-avenue pair via the avenue of the particular contact-avenue pair.

12. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 11, storing instructions, which, when executed by one or more hardware processors, further cause:

using the plurality of contact-avenue pairs to generate the custom share sheet that displays two or more shortcut controls to share with two or more contact-avenue pairs, respectively, the two or more shortcut controls including selected shortcut control to share with the particular contact-avenue pair and a second shortcut control to share with a second contact-avenue pair.

13. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 12, wherein the second contact-avenue pair includes a different avenue than the particular contact-avenue pair.

14. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 12, wherein the custom share sheet is configured to receive, in a single screen, multi-selection input of multiple shortcut controls to contact-avenue pairs of the two or more contact-avenue pairs.

15. A computing system comprising:

one or more processors;

storage media; and

one or more programs stored in the storage media for execution by the one or more processors, the one or more programs comprising instructions configured for;

generating, at a first personal computing device, a plurality of contact-avenue pairs for a user to share a link to a content item;

wherein the user has a user account with a cloud storage application;

wherein the user account is associated with a plurality of personal computing devices of the user;

wherein the plurality of personal computing devices includes the first personal computing device;

wherein a first local content item sharing history of the user reflects one or more shares of one or more links to one or more content items by the user using the first personal computing device;

wherein a second local content item sharing history of the user reflects one or more shares of one or more links to one or more content items by the user using a second personal computing device, of the plurality of personal computing devices associated with the user account;

wherein the cloud storage application is associated with a global content item sharing history of the user, the global content item sharing history of the user comprising the first local content item sharing history of the user and comprising the second local content item sharing history of the user, the first local content item sharing history uploaded to the cloud storage application from the first personal computing device, the second local content item sharing history uploaded to the cloud storage application from the second personal computing device;

wherein the generating the plurality of contact-avenue pairs for the user to share the link to the content item is based on;

responsive to determining that a number of contact-avenue pairs generated based on the first local content item sharing history of the user is less than a threshold number, then generating one or more contact-avenue pairs, of the plurality of contact-avenue pairs for the user to share the link to the content item, based on the global content item sharing history of the user;

wherein each contact-avenue pair of the plurality of contact-avenue pairs includes both;

(a) an avenue that indicates a respective link sharing mechanism for sharing the link to the content item, and

(b) contact information for a recipient with which to share the link to the content item via the avenue;

displaying, in a graphical user interface at the first personal computing device, a custom share sheet that provides a plurality of shortcut controls for the plurality of contact-avenue pairs;

wherein each shortcut control of the plurality of shortcut controls is provided in the custom share sheet for a corresponding contact-avenue pair of the plurality of contact-avenue pairs;

based on a user selection of a selected shortcut control of the plurality of shortcut controls corresponding to a particular contact-avenue pair of the plurality of contact-avenue pairs, causing the link to the content item to be shared with the recipient of the contact information of the particular contact-avenue pair via the avenue of the particular contact-avenue pair.

16. The computing system of claim 15, the instructions further configured for:

using the plurality of contact-avenue pairs to generate the custom share sheet that displays two or more shortcut controls to share with two or more contact-avenue pairs, respectively, the two or more shortcut controls including selected shortcut control to share with the particular contact-avenue pair and a second shortcut control to share with a second contact-avenue pair.

17. The computing system of claim 16, wherein the second contact-avenue pair includes a different avenue than the particular contact-avenue pair.