Mapping Application with Automatic Stepping Capabilities

• US 20130324164A1
• Filed: 09/30/2012
• Published: 12/05/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 06/05/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Original Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Inventors: Vulcano, Emanuele
• Granted Patent: US 9,319,831 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/457
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/34 Route searching; Route guidance
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3626 Details of the output of route guidance instructions traffic control systems for road vehicles involving transmission of navigation instructions to the vehicle G08G1/0968
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/367 Details, e.g. road map scale, orientation, zooming, illumination, level of detail, scrolling of road map or positioning of current position marker
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/02 Services making use of location information

Abstract

For a mobile device having a display area, a method of displaying instructional signs of a route in the display area is described. The method receives selection of a route having several junctures. The route includes several displayable signs for showing a set of maneuver instructions for at least some of junctures of the route. The method tracks the current location of the device as the device is moving. The method displays different signs by sliding the signs in and out of the display area based on the current location of the device.

Claims

1. A non-transitory machine readable medium storing a program for execution by at least one processing unit of a device, the program comprising sets of instructions for:

identifying a calculated route including a plurality of user interface (UI) items for providing maneuver instructions;

tracking a location of the device that is moving; and

displaying in a display area the UI items based on the location of the device.

2. The machine readable medium of claim 1, the program further comprises sets of instructions for:

receiving a starting location and a destination location; and

calculating a set of routes between the starting location and the destination location.

3. The machine readable medium of claim 2, wherein the set of instructions for calculating the set of routes comprises sets of instructions for:

identifying, for each route, a plurality of junctures in the route each of which has a maneuver instruction to display; and

generating a plurality of UI items for providing the maneuver instructions.

4. The machine readable medium of claim 1, wherein the set of instructions for displaying the UI items in the display area comprises a set of instructions for displaying one UI item for providing a maneuver instruction in the display area at a time.

5. The machine readable medium of claim 4, wherein the set of instructions for displaying one UI item comprises a set of instructions for identifying a UI item to display based on a current location of the device.

6. The machine readable medium of claim 5, wherein the set of instructions for identifying the UI item to display comprises a set of instructions for identifying a juncture of the route that has a maneuver instruction and is closest to the current location of the device.

7. The machine readable medium of claim 1, wherein the set of instructions for displaying the UI items in the display area further comprises a set of instructions for sliding out a first UI item and sliding in a second UI item.

8. The machine readable medium of claim 1, wherein the set of instructions for displaying the UI items comprises sets of instructions for:

identifying a level of accuracy of the tracked location of the device; and

using the identified accuracy level to identify a UI item to display in the display area.

9. For a mobile device having a display area, a method of stepping through a set of user interface (UI) items for providing maneuver instructions, the method comprising:

receiving a selection of a route having a plurality of junctures, the route including a set of UI items for showing a set of maneuver instructions for a set of junctures of the route;

identifying location information of the device as the device moves; and

sliding the UI items in and out of the display area based on the location information.

10. The method of claim 9 further comprising:

displaying a map in the display area; and

overlaying a portion of the map with a set of the UI items.

11. The method of claim 10 further comprising displaying a UI item for marking a juncture of route that is associated with a displayed UI item for showing a maneuver instruction.

12. The method of claim 11 further comprising moving the UI item for marking a juncture of a route from a first juncture to another juncture of the route based on proximity of the device to a juncture.

13. The method of claim 9, wherein the device is a smartphone.

14. The method of claim 9, wherein the device is a tablet computer.

15. A method of providing a multi-mode mapping program for execution by at least one processing unit of a device, the method comprising:

defining a set of operations for operating in a route inspection mode;

defining a set of operations for operating in an automatic stepping mode; and

providing at least one selectable UI item for causing a switch from operating in the route inspection mode to operating in the automatic stepping mode.

16. The method of claim 15 further comprising providing at least one selectable UI item for causing a switch from operating in the automatic stepping mode to operating in the route inspection mode.

17. The method of claim 15 further comprising:

defining a set of operations for operating in a map browsing mode; and

providing at least one selectable UI item for causing a switch from operating in the automatic stepping mode to operating in the map browsing mode.

18. The method of claim 17 further comprising providing at least one selectable UI item for causing a switch from operating in the route inspection mode to operating in the map browsing mode.

19. The method of claim 15, wherein the selectable UI item is further for enabling to track the location of the device.

20. The method of claim 15 further comprising defining a set of operations for operating in a navigation mode.