User interface for multi-user communication session

• US 10,372,298 B2
• Filed: 07/13/2018
• Issued: 08/06/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 09/29/2017
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Original Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Inventors: Anzures, Freddy Allen, King, Nicholas V., Lemay, Stephen O., Pham, Hoan, Yerkes, Giancarlo
• Primary Examiner(s): Ramakrishnaiah, Melur
• Application Number:
  US16/035,422
• Publication Number:
  US 20190102049A1
• Time in Patent Office: 389 Days
• Field of Search: 348 1401- 1416, 345 55
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0482 Interaction with lists of selectable items, e.g. menus
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0488 using a touch-screen or digitiser, e.g. input of commands through traced gestures
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/04 Real-time or near real-time messaging, e.g. instant messaging [IM]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/10 Multimedia information
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/27457 Management thereof, e.g. manual editing of data
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/27475 using interactive graphical means or pictorial representations
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/7243 with interactive means for internal management of messages
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72433 for voice messaging, e.g. dictaphones for answering incoming calls H04M1/64
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72439 for image or video messaging
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2250/62 user interface aspects of conference calls
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 2007/145 Handheld terminals
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/147 Communication arrangements, e.g. identifying the communication as a video-communication, intermediate storage of the signals selecting H04Q
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/15 Conference systems
• CPC Class Codes: H04S 2400/11 Positioning of individual sound objects, e.g. moving airplane, within a sound field H04S2420/13 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04S 2420/01 Enhancing the perception of the sound image or of the spatial distribution using head related transfer functions [HRTF's] or equivalents thereof, e.g. interaural time difference [ITD] or interaural level difference [ILD]
• CPC Class Codes: H04S 7/30 Control circuits for electronic adaptation of the sound field

Abstract

The present disclosure generally relates to user interfaces for multi-user communication sessions. In some examples, a device initiates a live stream in a communication session. In some examples, a device transitions between streaming live audio and live video. In some examples, a device enables synchronizing media playback during a live stream.

Claims

1. An electronic device, comprising:

a display;

one or more camera sensors;

one or more microphones;

one or more processors; and

memory storing one or more programs configured to be executed by the one or more processors, the one or more programs including instructions for;

receiving user input identifying one or more contacts to include as one or more participants in a communication session;

while in the communication session, concurrently displaying, on the display;

a first affordance for transmitting a live media stream that includes live audio and does not include live video, and

a second affordance for transmitting a live media stream that includes live audio and live video;

receiving user input activating one of the first affordance and the second affordance; and

in response to receiving user input activating one of the first affordance and the second affordance;

in accordance with receiving user input activating the first affordance, concurrently;

detecting, using the one or more microphones, audio; and

transmitting live audio in a live media stream to the one or more participants of the communication session, wherein transmitting the live audio occurs without transmission of live video;

in accordance with receiving user input activating the second affordance, concurrently;

detecting, using the one or more microphones, audio;

detecting, using the one or more camera sensors, a plurality of images for a video; and

transmitting the live audio and the live video in a live media stream to the one or more participants of the communication session; and

displaying one or more respective visual indicators for one or more participants of the communication session, wherein a characteristic of a respective visual indicator is indicative of whether a respective participant is currently transmitting a live media stream to participants of the communication session, and

 

wherein the characteristic of the respective visual indicator is a size of the respective visual indicator and the respective visual indicator of the respective participant varies in accordance with a volume of audio received from the respective participant.

2. The electronic device of claim 1, the one or more programs further including instructions for:

receiving user input for initiating a live streaming session,

wherein concurrently displaying the first and second affordances is in response to receiving the user input for initiating the live streaming session.

3. The electronic device of claim 2, the one or more programs further including instructions for:

in response to receiving user input activating one of the first affordance and the second affordance, initiating display of a countdown for initiating the live streaming session,

wherein transmitting the audio or video in the live media stream to the one or more participants of the communication session occurs subsequent to completion of the displayed countdown.

4. The electronic device of claim 1, the one or more programs further including instructions for:

in accordance with receiving the user input activating the first affordance;

displaying, in a transcript area of the communication session, an indication that live audio streaming has begun; and

in accordance with receiving the user input activating the second affordance;

displaying, in the transcript area of the communication session, an indication that live video streaming has begun.

5. The electronic device of claim 1, the one or more programs further including instructions for:

in response to receiving the user input identifying one or more contacts, transmitting requests to the one or more contacts to join the communication session.

6. The electronic device of claim 1, the one or more programs further including instructions for:

receiving a request to transmit media to participants of the communication session; and

in response to receiving the request to transmit media to participants of the communication session;

in accordance with a determination that the communication session does not currently include transmitting a live media stream, transmitting a first type of notification to one or more of the first participants without transmitting a second type of notification to the one or more of the first participants; and

in accordance with a determination that the communication session does currently include transmitting a live media stream, transmitting the second type of notification to one or more of the first participants without transmitting the first type of notification to the one or more of the first participants.

7. The electronic device of claim 1, the one or more programs further including instructions for:

displaying one or more respective avatars for one or more of the participants of the communication session.

8. The electronic device of claim 7, the one or more programs further including instructions for:

in response to detecting the first gesture, transitioning display of one or more avatars of one or more participants of the communication session by concurrently;

reducing sizes of the displayed one or more avatars of the one or more participants;

changing shapes of the displayed avatars of the one or more participants; and

changing locations of the displayed avatars of the one or more participants.

9. The electronic device of claim 1, the one or more programs further including instructions for:

displaying one or more respective status indicators for one or more of the participants of the communication session, wherein respective status indicators include respective indications of whether the respective participant is currently transmitting a live media stream to participants of the communication session.

10. The electronic device of claim 9, the one or more programs further including instructions for:

displaying respective avatars of participants of the communication session,

wherein a respective status indicator of the respective participant includes the respective visual indicator around a respective avatar of the respective participant.

11. The electronic device of claim 1, the one or more programs further including instructions for:

while in the communication session and not displaying a keyboard on the display;

detecting a first gesture; and

in response to detecting the first gesture, displaying a keyboard.

12. The electronic device of claim 1, the one or more programs further including instructions for:

subsequent to transitioning display of one or more avatars of one or more participants in response to the first gesture, detecting a second gesture; and

in response to detecting the second gesture, transitioning display of the one or more avatars of the one or more participants by concurrently;

enlarging sizes of the displayed one or more avatars of the one or more participants;

changing shapes of the displayed avatars of the one or more participants; and

changing locations of the displayed avatars of the one or more participants.

13. The electronic device of claim 1, the one or more programs further including instructions for:

detecting a third gesture at a location corresponding to a displayed avatar of a participant of the communication session; and

in response to detecting the third gesture, enlarging the respective avatar of the participant.

14. The electronic device of claim 1, the one or more programs further including instructions for:

detecting a user input for enabling captions; and

in response to detecting the user input for enabling captions, displaying captions of audio feeds of one or more participants of the communication session.

15. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing one or more programs configured to be executed by one or more processors of an electronic device with a display, one or more camera sensors, and one or more microphones, the one or more programs including instructions for:

receiving user input identifying one or more contacts to include as one or more participants in a communication session;

while in the communication session, concurrently displaying, on the display;

a first affordance for transmitting a live media stream that includes live audio and does not include live video, and

a second affordance for transmitting a live media stream that includes living audio and live video;

receiving user input activating one of the first affordance and the second affordance; and

in response to receiving user input activating one of the first affordance and the second affordance;

in accordance with receiving user input activating the first affordance, concurrently;

detecting, using the one or more microphones, audio; and

transmitting live audio in a live media stream to the one or more participants of the communication session, wherein transmitting the live audio occurs without transmission of live video;

in accordance with receiving user input activating the second affordance, concurrently;

detecting, using the one or more microphones, audio;

detecting, using the one or more camera sensors, a plurality of images for a video; and

transmitting the live audio and the live video in a live media stream to the one or more participants of the communication session; and

displaying one or more respective visual indicators for one or more participants of the communication session, wherein a characteristic of a respective visual indicator is indicative of whether a respective participant is currently transmitting a live media stream to participants of the communication session, and

wherein the characteristic of the respective visual indicator is a size of the respective visual indicator and the respective visual indicator of the respective participant varies in accordance with a volume of audio received from the respective participant.

16. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 15, the one or more programs further including instructions for:

receiving user input for initiating a live streaming session,

wherein concurrently displaying the first and second affordances is in response to receiving the user input for initiating the live streaming session.

17. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 16, the one or more programs further including instructions for:

in response to receiving user input activating one of the first affordance and the second affordance, initiating display of a countdown for initiating the live streaming session,

wherein transmitting the audio or video in the live media stream to the one or more participants of the communication session occurs subsequent to completion of the displayed countdown.

18. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 15, the one or more programs further including instructions for:

in accordance with receiving the user input activating the first affordance;

displaying, in a transcript area of the communication session, an indication that live audio streaming has begun; and

in accordance with receiving the user input activating the second affordance;

displaying, in the transcript area of the communication session, an indication that live video streaming has begun.

19. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 15, the one or more programs further including instructions for:

in response to receiving the user input identifying one or more contacts, transmitting requests to the one or more contacts to join the communication session.

20. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 15, the one or more programs further including instructions for:

receiving a request to transmit media to participants of the communication session; and

in response to receiving the request to transmit media to participants of the communication session;

in accordance with a determination that the communication session does not currently include transmitting a live media stream, transmitting a first type of notification to one or more of the first participants without transmitting a second type of notification to the one or more of the first participants; and

in accordance with a determination that the communication session does currently include transmitting a live media stream, transmitting the second type of notification to one or more of the first participants without transmitting the first type of notification to the one or more of the first participants.

21. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 15, the one or more programs further including instructions for:

displaying one or more respective avatars for one or more of the participants of the communication session.

22. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 21, the one or more programs further including instructions for:

in response to detecting the first gesture, transitioning display of one or more avatars of one or more participants of the communication session by concurrently;

reducing sizes of the displayed one or more avatars of the one or more participants;

changing shapes of the displayed avatars of the one or more participants; and

changing locations of the displayed avatars of the one or more participants.

23. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 15, the one or more programs further including instructions for:

displaying one or more respective status indicators for one or more of the participants of the communication session, wherein respective status indicators include respective indications of whether the respective participant is currently transmitting a live media stream to participants of the communication session.

24. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 23, the one or more programs further including instructions for:

displaying respective avatars of participants of the communication session,

wherein a respective status indicator of the respective participant includes the respective visual indicator around a respective avatar of the respective participant.

25. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 15, the one or more programs further including instructions for:

while in the communication session and not displaying a keyboard on the display, detecting a first gesture; and

in response to detecting the first gesture, displaying a keyboard.

26. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 15, the one or more programs further including instructions for:

subsequent to transitioning display of one or more avatars of one or more participants in response to the first gesture, detecting a second gesture; and

in response to detecting the second gesture, transitioning display of the one or more avatars of the one or more participants by concurrently;

enlarging sizes of the displayed one or more avatars of the one or more participants;

changing shapes of the displayed avatars of the one or more participants; and

changing locations of the displayed avatars of the one or more participants.

27. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 15, the one or more programs further including instructions for:

detecting a third gesture at a location corresponding to a displayed avatar of a participant of the communication session; and

in response to detecting the third gesture, enlarging the respective avatar of the participant.

28. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 15, the one or more programs further including instructions for:

detecting a user input for enabling captions; and

in response to detecting the user input for enabling captions, displaying captions of audio feeds of one or more participants of the communication session.

29. A method, comprising:

at an electronic device with a display, one or more camera sensors, and one or more microphones;

receiving user input identifying one or more contacts to include as one or more participants in a communication session;

while in the communication session, concurrently displaying, on the display;

a first affordance for transmitting a live media stream that includes live audio and does not include live video, and

a second affordance for transmitting a live media stream that includes live audio and live video;

receiving user input activating one of the first affordance and the second affordance; and

in response to receiving user input activating one of the first affordance and the second affordance;

in accordance with receiving user input activating the first affordance, concurrently;

detecting, using the one or more microphones, audio; and

transmitting live audio in a live media stream to the one or more participants of the communication session, wherein transmitting the live audio occurs without transmission of live video;

in accordance with receiving user input activating the second affordance, concurrently;

detecting, using the one or more microphones, audio;

detecting, using the one or more camera sensors, a plurality of images for a video; and

transmitting the live audio and the live video in a live media stream to the one or more participants of the communication session; and

displaying one or more respective visual indicators for one or more participants of the communication session, wherein a characteristic of a respective visual indicator is indicative of whether a respective participant is currently transmitting a live media stream to participants of the communication session, and

 

wherein the characteristic of the respective visual indicator is a size of the respective visual indicator and the respective visual indicator of the respective participant varies in accordance with a volume of audio received from the respective participant.

30. The method of claim 29, further comprising:

receiving user input for initiating a live streaming session,

wherein concurrently displaying the first and second affordances is in response to receiving the user input for initiating the live streaming session.

31. The method of claim 30, further comprising:

in response to receiving user input activating one of the first affordance and the second affordance, initiating display of a countdown for initiating the live streaming session,

wherein transmitting the audio or video in the live media stream to the one or more participants of the communication session occurs subsequent to completion of the displayed countdown.

32. The method of claim 29, further comprising:

in accordance with receiving the user input activating the first affordance;

displaying, in a transcript area of the communication session, an indication that live audio streaming has begun; and

in accordance with receiving the user input activating the second affordance;

displaying, in the transcript area of the communication session, an indication that live video streaming has begun.

33. The method of claim 29, further comprising:

in response to receiving the user input identifying one or more contacts, transmitting requests to the one or more contacts to join the communication session.

34. The method of claim 29, further comprising:

receiving a request to transmit media to participants of the communication session; and

in response to receiving the request to transmit media to participants of the communication session;

in accordance with a determination that the communication session does not currently include transmitting a live media stream, transmitting a first type of notification to one or more of the first participants without transmitting a second type of notification to the one or more of the first participants; and

in accordance with a determination that the communication session does currently include transmitting a live media stream, transmitting the second type of notification to one or more of the first participants without transmitting the first type of notification to the one or more of the first participants.

35. The method of claim 29, further comprising:

displaying one or more respective avatars for one or more of the participants of the communication session.

36. The method of claim 35, further comprising:

in response to detecting the first gesture, transitioning display of one or more avatars of one or more participants of the communication session by concurrently;

reducing sizes of the displayed one or more avatars of the one or more participants;

changing shapes of the displayed avatars of the one or more participants; and

changing locations of the displayed avatars of the one or more participants.

37. The method of claim 29, further comprising:

displaying one or more respective status indicators for one or more of the participants of the communication session, wherein respective status indicators include respective indications of whether the respective participant is currently transmitting a live media stream to participants of the communication session.

38. The method of claim 37, further comprising:

displaying respective avatars of participants of the communication session,

wherein a respective status indicator of the respective participant includes the respective visual indicator around a respective avatar of the respective participant.

39. The method of claim 29, further comprising:

while in the communication session and not displaying a keyboard on the display, detecting a first gesture; and

in response to detecting the first gesture, displaying a keyboard.

40. The method of claim 29, further comprising:

subsequent to transitioning display of one or more avatars of one or more participants in response to the first gesture, detecting a second gesture; and

in response to detecting the second gesture, transitioning display of the one or more avatars of the one or more participants by concurrently;

enlarging sizes of the displayed one or more avatars of the one or more participants;

changing shapes of the displayed avatars of the one or more participants; and

changing locations of the displayed avatars of the one or more participants.

41. The method of claim 29, further comprising:

detecting a third gesture at a location corresponding to a displayed avatar of a participant of the communication session; and

in response to detecting the third gesture, enlarging the respective avatar of the participant.

42. The method of claim 29, further comprising:

detecting a user input for enabling captions; and

in response to detecting the user input for enabling captions, displaying captions of audio feeds of one or more participants of the communication session.