EXTENSIBLE SYSTEM ACTION FOR SHARING WHILE REMAINING IN CONTEXT
First Claim
1. One or more computer-readable storage media containing instructions which, when executed by one or more processors disposed in an electronic device, implement an operating system that performs a method comprising the steps of:
- instantiating a share action as one of a set of workflow entry points, the workflow entry points being consistently implemented by applications executing on the device, the applications including source applications for providing shareable content and further including target applications for receiving the shareable content and for uploading the shareable content to sharing endpoints; and
responsively to invocation of the share action in the workflow entry points by a user of the device, determining a type for content selected by the user device for sharing.displaying a list of target applications to a user of the device in a share UI, the list including target applications installed on the electronic device.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An operating system provides an extensible share action to broker content sharing between applications executing on a computing platform such as a personal computer, tablet computer, or smartphone. The share action enables a consistent user experience for content sharing to be implemented across all applications and eliminates users having to switch from the current application they are using to some other functionality in order to share content. Applications can participate with the operating system share action as source applications and/or target applications. Source applications may describe what content is shareable given the current state of their application when the user chooses to invoke the share action. Target applications can be configured to receive the shared content from the source application according to content type, and will expose a companion view of their application to the user that is specifically tailored to facilitate sharing.
75 Citations
20 Claims
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1. One or more computer-readable storage media containing instructions which, when executed by one or more processors disposed in an electronic device, implement an operating system that performs a method comprising the steps of:
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instantiating a share action as one of a set of workflow entry points, the workflow entry points being consistently implemented by applications executing on the device, the applications including source applications for providing shareable content and further including target applications for receiving the shareable content and for uploading the shareable content to sharing endpoints; and responsively to invocation of the share action in the workflow entry points by a user of the device, determining a type for content selected by the user device for sharing. displaying a list of target applications to a user of the device in a share UI, the list including target applications installed on the electronic device. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
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14. A computer-implemented method for brokering shareable content between source applications and target applications executing on a computing platform for sharing content between a computing platform and a sharing endpoint over a network, the method comprising the steps of:
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accepting registrations from the target applications, the registrations including descriptions of shareable content types that can be accepted by the target applications; providing a UI to a user of the computing platform that displays target applications according to the types of shareable content that the target applications may accept; and receiving at the UI, a selection from the user that indicates which of the displayed target applications is to be used to transfer the content to the sharing endpoint. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16)
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17. A method for facilitating content sharing between a computing platform and a sharing endpoint, the method comprising the steps of:
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providing an application that executes on the computing platform, the computing platform supporting an operating system that provides a system share action; providing a registration to the operating system to designate a type of shareable content that the application can support; and developing a companion view for the application that draws a UI within a window provided by the operating system, the UI being usable by a computing platform user to complete the content sharing, the content sharing being initiated through invocation of the system share action. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20)
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Specification