Control Selection Approximation

• US 20110307833A1
• Filed: 09/28/2010
• Published: 12/15/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 06/14/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Original Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Inventors: Dale, Thomas Andrew Cooke, Fleizach, Christopher Brian
• Granted Patent: US 10,216,408 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 715/835
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0488 using a touch-screen or digitiser, e.g. input of commands through traced gestures
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04886 by partitioning the display area of the touch-screen or the surface of the digitising tablet into independently controllable areas, e.g. virtual keyboards or menus

Abstract

A method includes displaying a user interface of an application on a device'"'"'s touch-sensitive display. The user interface includes a plurality of regions, including a respective region at a respective hierarchy level. The respective region has two or more child regions at a hierarchy level below the respective hierarchy level. The method includes detecting a first contact at a location that corresponds to the respective region and that does not correspond to any of the two or more child regions. When the application is configured to process the first contact, not in conjunction with the respective region, but in conjunction with at least one child region of the two or more child regions, the method includes identifying a respective child region in accordance with positions of the child regions relative to the location, and processing the first contact in conjunction with the identified respective child region using the application.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

at an electronic device with a touch-sensitive display;

displaying on the touch-sensitive display a web page including a plurality of activatable user interface objects;

detecting on the touch-sensitive display a first contact at a first location that corresponds to the displayed web page;

in response to detecting the first contact at the first location, determining whether the first location corresponds to at least one of the activatable user interface objects;

when the first location does not correspond to at least one of the activatable user interface objects;

identifying a user interface object, if any, that best satisfies a predefined rule with respect to the first location; and

performing an action corresponding to the identified user interface object.

2. The method of claim 1, including, when the first location corresponds to one of the activatable user interface objects, performing an action corresponding to an activatable user interface object that corresponds to the first location.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the predefined rule includes a proximity criterion with respect to the first location.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein identifying the user interface object includes determining respective distances from the first location to at least a subset of the activatable user interface objects.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein each of the respective distances comprises a weighted average of distances from the first location to a plurality of points of a respective activatable user interface object.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein performing the action comprises activating the identified user interface object.

7. An electronic device comprising a touch-sensitive display, one or more processors, and memory storing one or more programs for execution by the one or more processors, the one or more programs for execution by the one or more processors, the one or more programs including instructions for:

displaying on the touch-sensitive display a web page including a plurality of activatable user interface objects;

detecting on the touch-sensitive display a first contact at a first location that corresponds to the displayed web page;

in response to detecting the first contact at the first location, determining whether the first location corresponds to at least one of the activatable user interface objects;

when the first location does not correspond to at least one of the activatable user interface objects;

identifying a user interface object, if any, that best satisfies a predefined rule with respect to the first location; and

performing an action corresponding to the identified user interface object.

8. The electronic device of claim 7, wherein the one or more programs include instructions for, when the first location corresponds to one of the activatable user interface objects, performing an action corresponding to an activatable user interface object that corresponds to the first location.

9. The electronic device of claim 7, wherein the predefined rule includes a proximity criterion with respect to the first location.

10. The electronic device of claim 7, wherein the instructions for identifying the user interface object include instructions for determining respective distances from the first location to at least a subset of the activatable user interface objects.

11. The electronic device of claim 10, wherein each of the respective distances comprises a weighted average of distances from the first location to a plurality of points of a respective activatable user interface object.

12. The electronic device of claim 7, wherein the instructions for performing the action include instructions for activating the identified user interface object.

13. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium storing one or more programs for execution by one or more processors in an electronic device with a touch-sensitive display, the one or more programs including instructions for:

displaying on the touch-sensitive display a web page including a plurality of activatable user interface objects;

detecting on the touch-sensitive display a first contact at a first location that corresponds to the displayed web page;

in response to detecting the first contact at the first location, determining whether the first location corresponds to at least one of the activatable user interface objects;

when the first location does not correspond to at least one of the activatable user interface objects;

identifying a user interface object, if any, that best satisfies a predefined rule with respect to the first location; and

performing an action corresponding to the identified user interface object.

14. The computer readable storage medium of claim 13, wherein the one or more programs include instructions for, when the first location corresponds to one of the activatable user interface objects, performing an action corresponding to an activatable user interface object that corresponds to the first location.

15. The computer readable storage medium of claim 13, wherein the predefined rule includes a proximity criterion with respect to the first location.

16. The computer readable storage medium of claim 13, wherein the instructions for identifying the user interface object include instructions for determining respective distances from the first location to at least a subset of the activatable user interface objects.

17. The computer readable storage medium of claim 16, wherein each of the respective distances comprises a weighted average of distances from the first location to a plurality of points of a respective activatable user interface object.

18. The computer readable storage medium of claim 13, wherein the instructions for performing the action include instructions for activating the identified user interface object.