Portable Electronic Device for Instant Messaging

• US 20080055269A1
• Filed: 08/30/2007
• Published: 03/06/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 09/06/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Original Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Inventors: Christie, Greg, Lemay, Stephen O., Van Os, Marcel, Herz, Scott
• Granted Patent: US 9,304,675 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 345/173
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/017 Gesture based interaction, e.g. based on a set of recognized hand gestures interaction based on gestures traced on a digitiser G06F3/04883
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04817 using icons graphical or visual programming using iconic symbols G06F8/34
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0482 Interaction with lists of selectable items, e.g. menus
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04842 Selection of displayed objects or displayed text elements G06F3/0482 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04847 Interaction techniques to control parameter settings, e.g. interaction with sliders or dials
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0485 Scrolling or panning
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04855 Interaction with scrollbars
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0487 using specific features provided by the input device, e.g. functions controlled by the rotation of a mouse with dual sensing arrangements, or of the nature of the input device, e.g. tap gestures based on pressure sensed by a digitiser
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0488 using a touch-screen or digitiser, e.g. input of commands through traced gestures
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/10 Office automation; Time management
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/04 Real-time or near real-time messaging, e.g. instant messaging [IM]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/043 using or handling presence information
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/216 Handling conversation history, e.g. grouping of messages in sessions or threads
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/2747 Scrolling on a display
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/27475 using interactive graphical means or pictorial representations
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72403 with means for local support of applications that increase the functionality
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72436 for text messaging, e.g. short messaging services [SMS] or e-mails
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72466 with selection means, e.g. keys, having functions defined by the mode or the status of the device
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2250/12 including a sensor for measuring a physical value, e.g. temperature or motion
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2250/22 including a touch pad, a touch sensor or a touch detector
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2250/70 : methods for entering alphabetical characters, e.g. multi-tap or dictionary disambiguation

Abstract

A portable electronic device for instant messaging is disclosed. One aspect of the invention involves a graphical user interface (GUI) on a portable electronic device with a touch screen display. The GUI has a set of messages exchanged between a user of the device and another person. The set of messages are displayed in a chronological order. In response to detecting a scrolling gesture comprising a substantially vertical movement of a user contact with the touch screen display, the display of messages are scrolled in accordance with a direction of the scrolling gesture. The detecting of the scrolling gesture is substantially independent of a horizontal position of the user contact with the touch screen display.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method, comprising:

at a portable electronic device with a touch screen display,

displaying a set of messages exchanged between a user of the device and another person in a chronological order;

detecting a scrolling gesture comprising a substantially vertical movement of a user contact with the touch screen display, wherein the detecting of the scrolling gesture is substantially independent of a horizontal position of the user contact with the touch screen display; and

responding to the scrolling gesture by scrolling the display of messages in accordance with a direction of the scrolling gesture.

2. The method of claim 1, including displaying messages sent by the user to the other person on a first side of the touch screen display and messages sent by the other person to the user on an opposite side of the touch screen display.

3. The method of claim 1, further including

displaying one or more timestamps adjacent one or more of the messages.

4. The method of claim 1, further including

displaying the messages sent by the user to the other person in a first color;

and

displaying the messages sent by the other person to the user in a second color, the second color different from the first color.

5. The method of claim 1, further including

displaying the messages sent by a first one of the user and the other person left justified on the touch screen display;

and

displaying the messages sent by the other one of the user and the other person right justified on the touch screen display.

6. The method of claim 1, further including

visually animating movement of a newly sent message, from the user to the other person, from a message compose region of the touch screen display to a message display region of the touch screen display.

7. The method of claim 1, further including

displaying the messages exchanged between the user and the other person in a message display region;

and

displaying a text box and a first set of keys in a message compose region.

8. The method of claim 7, further including

displaying a symbol in the text box upon detecting a user contact with one of the first set of keys.

9. The method of claim 7, further including

replacing at least a subset of the first set of keys with a second set of keys upon detecting a user contact with one of the first set of keys.

10. The method of claim 7, further including

displaying one or more text entry suggestions in the message compose region in accordance with text entered by the user;

and

upon detecting a predefined user gesture, adding a user selected text entry suggestion to the text box.

11. The method of claim 7, further including

displaying one or more text entry suggestions in the message compose region in accordance with text entered by the user;

and

upon detecting a predefined user gesture, replacing at least a portion of text in the text box with a user selected text entry suggestion.

12. A computer-implemented method, comprising:

at a portable electronic device with a touch screen display,

displaying a list of conversations, each conversation including a set of messages exchanged between a user of the device and a respective other person;

detecting a scrolling gesture comprising a substantially vertical movement of a user contact with the touch screen display; and

responding to the scrolling gesture by scrolling the list of conversations in accordance with a direction of the scrolling gesture, wherein the scrolling gesture is substantially independent of a horizontal position of the user contact with the touch screen display.

13. The method of claim 12, further including

displaying an edit icon in the touch screen display;

upon detecting a user selection of the edit icon, displaying a delete icon adjacent to each listed conversation and replacing the edit icon with a done icon;

upon detecting a user selection of one of the delete icons, deleting a conversation adjacent to the user selected delete icon; and

upon detecting a user selection of the done icon, deleting the delete icon adjacent to each listed conversation and replacing the done icon with the edit icon.

14. The method of claim 12, further including

displaying an edit icon in the touch screen display;

upon detecting a user selection of the edit icon, displaying a delete icon adjacent to each listed conversation;

upon detecting a user selection of one of the delete icons, deleting a conversation adjacent to the user selected delete icon; and

upon detecting a user selection of a portion of the touch screen display that is not occupied by any of the delete icons, deleting the delete icon adjacent to each listed conversation.

15. The method of claim 12, further including

displaying an edit icon in the touch screen display;

upon detecting a user selection of the edit icon, displaying a delete icon adjacent to each listed conversation and replacing the edit icon with a done icon;

upon detecting a user selection of one of the delete icons, displaying a confirmation icon adjacent to the conversation adjacent to the user selected delete icon; and

upon detecting a user selection of the confirmation icon, deleting the conversation adjacent to the user selected delete icon from the touch screen display.

16. A portable electronic device, comprising:

a touch screen display;

one or more processors;

memory; and

one or more programs, wherein the one or more programs are stored in the memory and configured to be executed by the one or more processors, the programs including;

instructions for displaying a set of messages exchanged between a user of the device and another person in a chronological order;

instructions for detecting a scrolling gesture comprising a substantially vertical movement of a user contact with the touch screen display, wherein the detecting of the scrolling gesture is substantially independent of a horizontal position of the user contact with the touch screen display; and

instructions for responding to the scrolling gesture by scrolling the display of messages in accordance with a direction of the scrolling gesture.

17. The device of claim 16, wherein messages sent by the user to the other person are displayed on a first side of the touch screen display and messages sent by the other person to the user are displayed on an opposite side of the touch screen display.

18. The device of claim 16, further including

instructions for displaying one or more timestamps adjacent one or more of the messages.

19. The device of claim 16, further including

instructions for displaying the messages sent by the user to the other person in a first color;

and

instructions for displaying the messages sent by the other person to the user in a second color, the second color different from the first color.

20. The device of claim 16, further including

instructions for displaying the messages sent by a first one of the user and the other person left justified on the touch screen display;

and

instructions for displaying the messages sent by the other one of the user and the other person right justified on the touch screen display.

21. The device of claim 16, further including

instructions for visually animating movement of a newly sent message, from the user to the other person, from a message compose region of the touch screen display to a message display region of the touch screen display.

22. The device of claim 16, further including

instructions for displaying the messages exchanged between the user and the other person in the message display region;

and

instructions for displaying a text box and a first set of keys in the message compose region.

23. The device of claim 22, further including

instructions for displaying a symbol in the text box upon detecting a user contact with one of the first set of keys.

24. The device of claim 22, further including

instructions for replacing at least a subset of the first set of keys with a second set of keys upon detecting a user contact with one of the first set of keys.

25. The device of claim 22, further including

instructions for displaying one or more text entry suggestions in the message compose region in accordance with text entered by the user;

and

instructions for, upon detecting a predefined user gesture, adding a user selected text entry suggestion to the text box.

26. The device of claim 22, further including

instructions for displaying one or more text entry suggestions in the message compose region in accordance with text entered by the user;

and

instructions for, upon detecting a predefined user gesture, replacing at least a portion of text in the text box with a user selected text entry suggestion.

27. A portable electronic device, comprising:

a touch screen display;

one or more processors;

memory; and

one or more programs, wherein the one or more programs are stored in the memory and configured to be executed by the one or more processors, the programs including;

instructions for displaying a list of conversations, each conversation including a set of messages exchanged between a user of the device and a respective other person;

instructions for detecting a scrolling gesture comprising a substantially vertical movement of a user contact with the touch screen display; and

instructions for responding to the scrolling gesture by scrolling the list of conversations in accordance with a direction of the scrolling gesture, wherein the scrolling gesture is substantially independent of a horizontal position of the user contact with the touch screen display.

28. The device of claim 27, further including

instructions for displaying an edit icon in the touch screen display;

instructions for, upon detecting a user selection of the edit icon, displaying a delete icon adjacent to each listed conversation and replacing the edit icon with a done icon;

instructions for, upon detecting a user selection of one of the delete icons, displaying a confirmation icon associated with the user selected delete icon;

instructions for, upon detecting a user selection of the confirmation icon, deleting a conversation associated with the user selected delete icon; and

instructions for, upon detecting a user selection of the done icon, deleting the delete icon adjacent to each listed conversation and replacing the done icon with the edit icon.

29. The device of claim 28, further including

instructions for displaying the confirmation icon and the user selected delete icon on opposite sides of the touch screen display.

30. A computer-program product, comprising:

a computer readable storage medium and a computer program mechanism embedded therein, the computer program mechanism comprising instructions, which when executed by a portable electronic device with a touch screen display, cause the device to;

display a set of messages exchanged between a user of the device and another person in a chronological order;

detect a scrolling gesture comprising a substantially vertical movement of a user contact with the touch screen display, wherein the detection of the scrolling gesture is substantially independent of a horizontal position of the user contact with the touch screen display; and

respond to the scrolling gesture by scrolling the display of messages in accordance with a direction of the scrolling gesture.

31. A computer-program product, comprising:

a computer readable storage medium and a computer program mechanism embedded therein, the computer program mechanism comprising instructions, which when executed by a portable electronic device with a touch screen display, cause the device to;

display a list of conversations, each including a set of messages exchanged between a user of the device and a respective other person;

detect a scrolling gesture comprising a substantially vertical movement of a user contact with the touch screen display; and

respond to the scrolling gesture by scrolling the list of conversations in accordance with a direction of the scrolling gesture, wherein the scrolling gesture is substantially independent of a horizontal position of the user contact with the touch screen display.

32. A graphical user interface on a portable electronic device with a touch screen display, comprising:

a set of messages exchanged between a user of the device and another person, wherein;

the set of messages are displayed in a chronological order,

in response to detecting a scrolling gesture comprising a substantially vertical movement of a user contact with the touch screen display, the display of messages are scrolled in accordance with a direction of the scrolling gesture, and

the detecting of the scrolling gesture is substantially independent of a horizontal position of the user contact with the touch screen display.

33. A graphical user interface on a portable electronic device with a touch screen display, comprising:

a list of conversations, each conversation including a set of messages exchanged between a user of the device and a respective other person, wherein;

in response to detecting a scrolling gesture comprising a substantially vertical movement of a user contact with the touch screen display, the list of conversations is scrolled in accordance with a direction of the scrolling gesture, and

the detecting of the scrolling gesture is substantially independent of a horizontal position of the user contact with the touch screen display.

34. A portable electronic device with a touch screen display, comprising:

means for displaying a set of messages exchanged between a user of the device and another person in a chronological order;

means for detecting a scrolling gesture comprising a substantially vertical movement of a user contact with the touch screen display, wherein the detecting of the scrolling gesture is substantially independent of a horizontal position of the user contact with the touch screen display; and

means for responding to the scrolling gesture by scrolling the display of messages in accordance with a direction of the scrolling gesture.

35. A portable electronic device with a touch screen display, comprising:

means for displaying a list of conversations, each conversation including a set of messages exchanged between a user of the device and a respective other person;

means for detecting a scrolling gesture comprising a substantially vertical movement of user contact with the touch screen display; and

means for responding to the scrolling gesture by scrolling the list of conversations in accordance with a direction of the scrolling gesture, wherein the scrolling gesture is substantially independent of a horizontal position of the user contact with the touch screen display.

36. A computer-implemented method, comprising:

at a portable electronic device with a touch screen display,

displaying a set of messages exchanged between a user of the device and another person in a chronological order;

wherein the messages sent by the other person include a first message sent from a first address associated with the other person and a second message sent from a second address associated with the other person that is different from the first address.

37. The method of claim 36, wherein the first address is a telephone number and the second address is an email address.

38. The method of claim 36, wherein the first and second addresses are two distinct telephone numbers.

39. The method of claim 36, wherein the first and second addresses are two distinct email addresses.

40. A portable electronic device, comprising:

a touch screen display;

one or more processors;

memory; and

one or more programs, wherein the one or more programs are stored in the memory and configured to be executed by the one or more processors, the programs including;

instructions for displaying a set of messages exchanged between a user of the device and another person in a chronological order;

wherein the messages sent by the other person include a first message sent from a first address associated with the other person and a second message sent from a second address associated with the other person that is different from the first address.

41. A computer-program product, comprising:

a computer readable storage medium and a computer program mechanism embedded therein, the computer program mechanism comprising instructions, which when executed by a portable electronic device with a touch screen display, cause the device to;

display a set of messages exchanged between a user of the device and another person in a chronological order;

wherein the messages sent by the other person include a first message sent from a first address associated with the other person and a second message sent from a second address associated with the other person that is different from the first address.

42. A graphical user interface on a portable electronic device with a touch screen display, comprising:

a set of messages exchanged between a user of the device and another person in a chronological order;

wherein the messages sent by the other person include a first message sent from a first address associated with the other person and a second message sent from a second address associated with the other person that is different from the first address.

43. A portable electronic device with a touch screen display, comprising:

means for displaying a set of messages exchanged between a user of the device and another person in a chronological order;

wherein the messages sent by the other person include a first message sent from a first address associated with the other person and a second message sent from a second address associated with the other person that is different from the first address.