Linked widgets

• US 20070101291A1
• Filed: 04/12/2006
• Published: 05/03/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 10/27/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Original Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Inventors: Louch, John, Chaudhri, Imran, Forstall, Scott, Peyton, Eric
• Granted Patent: US 9,104,294 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 715/805
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0481 based on specific properties of the displayed interaction object or a metaphor-based environment, e.g. interaction with desktop elements like windows or icons, or assisted by a cursor's changing behaviour or appearance
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0482 Interaction with lists of selectable items, e.g. menus

Abstract

Systems, methods, computer-readable mediums, user interfaces and other implementations are disclosed for manually or automatically linking widgets. The automatic linking of widgets includes detecting a trigger event associated with a first widget, and providing access to a second widget in response to the trigger event. The trigger event can be the downloading, previewing, installation, launching, updating, operating or any other interaction with one or more widgets. The trigger event can also be the exercise of a function or feature of a widget. In some implementations, a communication path or channel is established between widgets for sharing information. In other implementations, linked widgets are provided access to shared information. A widget link manager can be used to manually establish links between widgets and to designate shared information, restrictions, etc.

Claims

1. A method of linking widgets, comprising:

providing a first widget;

providing a second widget; and

linking the first and second widgets.

2. A method of linking widgets, comprising:

detecting a trigger event associated with a first widget; and

providing access to a second widget in response to the trigger event.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein providing access includes

displaying the second widget in a display area;

and

allowing interaction with the second widget.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein the display area is a dashboard layer disposed on a user interface.

5. The method of claim 2, wherein providing access includes installing the second widget.

6. The method of claim 2, wherein providing access includes launching the second widget.

7. The method of claim 2, providing access comprises:

determining if a second widget is available for linking; and

automatically linking the second widget to the first widget.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein determining includes:

searching a list of contextually relevant widgets; and

selecting the second widget from the list.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the list is a data structure of link information, including a field for indicating shared information.

10. The method of claim 2, wherein providing access includes establishing communication between the first and second widgets.

11. The method of claim 2, wherein providing access includes providing the first and second widgets with access to shared information.

12. A method of linking widgets, comprising:

interacting with a first widget;

generating a first output from the first widget in response to the interaction;

interacting with a second widget linked to the first widget; and

generating a second output from the second widget based at least in part on the first output from the first widget.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein interacting with the first widget includes exercising a functionality of the first widget.

14. The method of claim 12, wherein generating a first output includes storing the output at a shared storage location.

15. A method of linking widgets, comprising:

generating a list of link information for a plurality of widgets;

selecting a widget for linking;

determining a set of widgets available for linking with the selected widget based on the link information; and

linking the selected widget with at least one widget in the set of widgets.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein linking includes sharing information between the selected widget and the at least one widget in the set of widgets.

17. The method of claim 15, wherein the link information includes an identification of information that can be shared between the selected widget and the at least one widget in the set of widgets.

18. A method of linking widgets, comprising:

selecting a first widget;

determining a first set of information that can be shared by the first widget;

selecting a second widget;

determining a second set of information that can be shared by the second widget;

linking the first and second widgets; and

establishing communication between the first and second widgets for sharing the first and second sets of information.

19. A widget linking system, comprising:

a widget link manager for establishing available links between a first and a set of second widgets; and

a widget linker for linking the first widget with at least one second widget from the set of second widgets.

20. The system of claim 19, wherein the available links are determined from link information provided through a user interface of the widget link manager.

21. The system of claim 19, wherein information is shared between the first and second widgets.

22. A computer-readable medium having stored thereon instructions, which, when executed by a processor, causes the processor to perform the operations of:

providing a first widget;

providing a second widget; and

linking the first and second widgets.

23. A computer-readable medium having stored thereon instructions, which, when executed by a processor, causes the processor to perform the operations of:

detecting a trigger event associated with a first widget; and

providing access to a second widget in response to the trigger event.

24. A computer-readable medium having stored thereon instructions, which, when executed by a processor, causes the processor to perform the operations of:

linking a first and second widget;

generating a first output from the first widget; and

generating a second output from the second widget based at least in part on the first output from the first widget.

25. A computer-readable medium having stored thereon instructions, which, when executed by a processor, causes the processor to perform the operations of:

selecting a widget for linking;

determining a set of widgets available for linking with the selected widget based on the link information; and

linking the selected widget with at least one widget in the set of widgets.

26. A computer-readable medium having stored thereon instructions, which, when executed by a processor, causes the processor to perform the operations of:

selecting a first widget;

determining a first set of information that can be shared by the first widget;

selecting a second widget;

determining a second set of information that can be shared by the second widget;

linking the first and second widgets; and

establishing communication between the first and second widgets for sharing the first and second sets of information.

27. A system for linking widgets, comprising:

means for providing first and second widgets; and

means for linking the first and second widgets.