METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR FACILITATING PUSH NOTIFICATION

• US 20130144974A1
• Filed: 11/30/2012
• Published: 06/06/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 12/02/2011
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Notice Software, LLC
• Original Assignee: Notice Software, LLC
• Inventors: Haakenson, Casey Anderson, Miller, Burton Thomas Edward, Vore, Leonard Wayne
• Application Number:
  US13/691,153
• Publication Number:
  US 20130144974A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/217
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/10 Multimedia information
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/58 Message adaptation for wireless communication
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/55 Push-based network services

Abstract

Techniques for sending push notifications from Websites and consuming them in a browser on a mobile device are described. A native mobile component acts as a bridge during registration, receipt, and consumption of the push notifications. An Internet service acts as a registration and relaying mechanism to pass data to the native mobile component. When a push notification is consumed, the user is directed to the specified URL in a browser on the mobile device rather than a native application.

Claims

1. A method for facilitating delivery of notifications from a content provider to a mobile device, the method comprising:

installing a bridging component that is configured to receive notifications from multiple distinct content providers that each communicate notifications through a mobile notification facilitator service;

receiving from the mobile notification facilitator service a notification that originates from one of the multiple content providers, the notification including an indication of an action to be performed upon consumption of the notification, the action including invoking a code module that is distinct from the bridging component;

presenting the notification to a user of the mobile device; and

upon receiving an indication that the user consumes the notification, performing the action by invoking the distinct code module to obtain content from the content provider.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein performing the action includes at least one of:

accessing the content via a Web browser of the mobile device;

accessing a video via a video player of the mobile device;

initiating a telephone call via a telephony component of the mobile device;

accessing a map of a specified location via a map application of the mobile device; and

accessing the content via a custom application that is installed on the mobile device and that is provided by the content provider.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein installing the bridging component includes pre-configuring the bridging component, by:

prior to installing the bridging component, receiving and storing configuration information from the mobile notification facilitator service;

during an initial execution occurring after installation of the bridging component, providing the stored configuration information to the bridging component.

4. The method of claim 3,

wherein the bridging component is a native component that is distinct from and does not execute within a Web browser installed on the mobile device,

wherein receiving and storing configuration information includes:

receiving and storing an HTTP cookie that contains the configuration information, the cookie received from the mobile notification facilitator service, and

wherein providing the stored configuration information includes;

transmitting, via the Web browser, a request to the mobile notification facilitator service, the request including the configuration information from the stored cookie; and

receiving from the mobile notification facilitator service a redirect that includes a uniform resource locator specifying a custom uniform resource locator protocol that causes the Web browser to provide the configuration information to the bridging component.

5. The method of claim 3, wherein receiving and storing configuration information includes:

receiving from the content provider a uniform resource locator that identifies the mobile notification facilitator service and that identifies the configuration information; and

in response to a request based on the uniform resource locator, receiving an HTTP cookie that contains the configuration information and receiving a redirect to an application provider that hosts the bridging component.

6. The method of claim 3, further comprising:

receiving information that identifies an application provider and that includes a parameter that identifies the configuration information, wherein the application provider makes the bridging component available for download; and

receiving, by the bridging component, the parameter after installation of the native bridging component.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the application provider stores the parameter, and wherein receiving the parameter includes receiving the parameter from the application provider is via a native function call, native function callback, and/or a Web service.

8. The method of claim 6, wherein the parameter is a uniform resource locator that includes configuration arguments, and wherein receiving the parameter includes receiving the uniform resource locator from a Web browser that is installed on the mobile device and that renders a Web page that includes the information that identifies the application provider and that includes the parameter.

9. The method of claim 3, wherein the bridging component is a component that executes within a Web browser installed on the mobile device, and wherein pre-configuring the bridging component is performed without control leaving the Web browser.

10. The method of claim 3, after installation and configuration of the bridging component, automatically returning to a Web site hosted by the content provider.

11. The method of claim 3, wherein the configuration includes a device token or identifier that is unique to the mobile device, an identifier of the content provider, and extended notification data including an alias and one or more tags.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the mobile device includes a Web browser that is configured to register to receive push notifications based on Web news feeds accessed via Web sites by:

in response to viewing a page that includes or references a Web news feed, presenting a control configured to initiate registration to the Web news feed; and

in response to a user selection of the control, initiating a registration process that includes installing and pre-configuring the bridging component.

13. A method in a mobile notification facilitator service, the method comprising:

providing a bridging component configured for installation on mobile devices, the bridging component configured to facilitate delivery of push notifications transmitted from multiple distinct content providers via the mobile notification facilitator service to the mobile device;

during installation of the bridging component on a mobile device, pre-configuring the bridging component by;

transmitting a cookie to a Web browser executing on the mobile device, the cookie containing configuration information that identifies one of the content providers;

causing the Web browser to provide the configuration information to the bridging component; and

in response to a received registration request from the bridging component, associating the mobile device with the content provider; and

transmitting a push notification from the content provider to the mobile device, based on the association of the mobile device with the content provider.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein transmitting the push notification includes receiving a notification that an entry has been added to a Web news feed of the content provider, that a notification has been provided via a user interface of the mobile notification facilitator service, and/or that a notification has been provided via a Web service of the mobile notification facilitator service.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein transmitting the push notification includes forwarding the notification to multiple platform services that are each configured to transmit notifications to a corresponding type of mobile device operating system.

16. The method of claim 13, wherein transmitting the push notification includes:

receiving the push notification from the content provider, wherein the push notification is represented in a first format;

translating the push notification into a second format according to one or more rules associated with a platform service that is configured to transmit notifications to a corresponding type of mobile device operating system; and

forwarding the push notification in the second format to the platform service.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein translating the push notification includes, for each entry in the push notification in the first format, including only one corresponding entry in the push notification in the second format, such that there are no duplicated entries in the push notification in the second format.

18. The method of claim 13, wherein causing the Web browser to provide the configuration information to the bridging component includes transmitting a redirect to the Web browser, the redirect including uniform resource locator that includes a custom protocol that causes the Web browser to provide the configuration information to the bridging component.

19. The method of claim 13, wherein the bridging component executes within the Web browser, and wherein the bridging component is configured to facilitate registration for push notifications without requiring installation of a native application or component separate from the Web browser.

20. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing a bridging component including instructions that are configured, when executed by a mobile computing device, to perform a method comprising:

during installation and first use of the bridging component,

receiving, from a Web browser of the mobile computing device, registration information for registering for push notifications provided by a content provider, the registration information provided to the Web browser as part of a uniform resource locator received from a mobile notification facilitator service, the uniform resource locator including a custom protocol that causes the Web browser to pass the registration information to the bridging component; and

transmit the registration information along with an identifier of the mobile device to the mobile notification facilitator service to cause the mobile notification facilitator service to provide notifications from the content provider to the mobile device.

21. The computer-readable medium of claim 20, wherein the method further comprises:

installing the bridging component;

notifying the mobile notification facilitator service of an initial use of the bridging component; and

receiving from the mobile notification facilitator service a redirect that includes a uniform resource locator that causes the Web browser to pass registration information to the bridging component.

22. The computer-readable medium of claim 20, wherein the method further comprises:

determining whether the bridging component is already installed; and

if the bridging component is already installed, passing the registration information to the bridging component without first installing the bridging component.