REVOCATION OF APPLICATION ON MOBILE DEVICE

• US 20100262959A1
• Filed: 04/13/2009
• Published: 10/14/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 04/13/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Zargahi, Kamran R., Clinton, Nathaniel, Bruno, John
• Granted Patent: US 9,665,729 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 717/171
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/6209 to a single file or object, e.g. in a secure envelope, encrypted and accessed using a key, or with access control rules appended to the object itself

Abstract

Embodiments related to the revocation of applications on mobile devices are disclosed. For example, one disclosed embodiment provides a method of revoking an application stored on a mobile device, wherein the method comprises receiving an application revocation request, the application revocation request comprising an instruction to revoke a selected application saved on one or more mobile devices, sending to a mobile device an application revocation instruction configured to revoke the selected application on the mobile device, and sending to another entity a request to roll back a previously-made transaction related to the selected application.

Claims

1. In a mobile device application server, a method of revoking an application stored on a mobile device, the method comprising:

receiving an application revocation request, the application revocation request comprising an instruction to revoke a selected application saved on one or more mobile devices;

sending to a mobile device an application revocation instruction configured to revoke the selected application on the mobile device; and

sending to another entity a request to roll back a previously-made transaction related to the selected application.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the application revocation request is received from one or more of a mobile operator, a system administrator, an application developer, and an application vendor.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the application revocation instruction comprises a value of an attribute in an XML updated application manifest.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising storing the application revocation request in a database upon receiving the application revocation request.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein sending the application revocation instruction to the mobile device comprises sending the application revocation instruction to the mobile device during a synchronization process.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein sending the application revocation instruction to the mobile device comprises pushing application revocation information to the mobile device after receiving the application revocation request.

7. The method of claim 6, further comprising, after sending the information to the mobile device regarding the revocation request, receiving an application manifest from the mobile device, and then forming the updated application manifest by modifying the application manifest to include the application revocation instruction.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein sending the updated application manifest to the mobile device comprises sending the updated application manifest to one of a mobile phone, a notebook computer, and a portable media player.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein sending the request to roll back comprises sending the request to roll back to a financial transaction processing company that previously processed a purchase of the selected application.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein sending the request to roll back comprises sending the request to roll back to a mobile operator that previously processed a purchase of the selected application.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the application revocation request specifies a sub-group of users to whom the revocation is to be applied such that the application is not revoked for other users not in the sub-group of users.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the sub-group of users is specified by one or more of a mobile operator used by the sub-group, a geographic region, a language, an operating system, an operating system version, and a mobile device type.

13. A mobile device application server, comprising:

a processor; and

memory comprising instructions stored thereon that are executable by the processor to perform a method of revoking an application stored on a mobile device by;

receiving an application revocation request, the application revocation request comprising an instruction to revoke a selected application saved on one or more mobile devices;

storing the application revocation request;

receiving from a mobile device a request for information regarding pending state changes related to applications saved on the mobile device;

sending to the mobile device information regarding state one or more changes that have occurred;

receiving from the mobile device an application manifest that comprises information regarding applications saved on the mobile device;

updating the application manifest to include an instruction to revoke the selected application, thereby forming an updated application manifest;

sending the updated application manifest to the mobile device; and

sending a request to roll back a previously-made transaction related to the selected application.

14. The mobile device application server of claim 13, wherein the application manifest comprises an XML document, and wherein the instructions are further executable to update the application manifest by changing a value of an attribute in the document.

15. The mobile device application server of claim 13, wherein the application revocation request specifies a sub-group of users to whom the revocation is to be applied such that the application is not revoked for other users not in the sub-group of users.

16. The mobile device application server of claim 13, wherein the sub-group of users is specified by one or more of a mobile operator used by the sub-group, a geographic region, a language preference, a software vendor identity, a currency, and a mobile device type.

17. The mobile device application server of claim 13, wherein sending a request to roll back comprises sending the request to roll back to one or more of a mobile operator and a financial transaction company that previously processed a purchase of the selected application.

18. A mobile device configured to run applications obtained from a mobile device application server, the mobile device comprising:

a processor; and

memory comprising instructions stored thereon that are executable by the processor to perform a method of revoking a selected application saved on the mobile device, wherein the method comprises;

receiving a notification from the mobile device server that a revocation request has been made for the selected application;

building an application manifest to send to the mobile device application server, wherein the application manifest comprises information regarding application saved on the mobile device;

sending the application manifest to the mobile device application server;

receiving an updated application manifest from the mobile device application server, the updated application manifest comprising an instruction to revoke the selected application; and

revoking the selected application based upon the instruction in the updated application manifest.

19. The mobile device of claim 18, wherein the mobile device comprises one of a mobile phone, a portable media player, and a notebook computer.

20. The mobile device of claim 18, wherein the application manifest and the updated application manifest each comprises an XML document, and wherein the instruction comprises a value of an attribute in the updated application manifest XML document.