DISABLING ACCESS TO APPLICATIONS AND CONTENT IN A PRIVACY MODE

• US 20140173747A1
• Filed: 12/13/2012
• Published: 06/19/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 12/13/2012
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Original Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Inventors: Govindaraju, Guru Prashanth
• Application Number:
  US13/714,325
• Publication Number:
  US 20140173747A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 726/27
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/53 by executing in a restricted environment, e.g. sandbox or secure virtual machine
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/629 to features or functions of an application

Abstract

Methods of disabling access to applications and content in a privacy mode are provided. One or more private applications can be selected on an electronic device. A privacy mode can be enabled, and access to the private applications can be disabled. Additionally, access from public applications to content associated with the private applications can be disabled. Such a feature makes for a more robust privacy mode that can maintain the privacy of content that may otherwise be accessible.

Claims

1. A method of a computing device, the method comprising:

selecting one or more private applications;

enabling a privacy mode; and

in response to enabling the privacy mode, disabling access to the one or more private applications and disabling access from one or more public applications to content associated with the one or more private applications.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more private applications are selected based on a category of private applications.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the category is a photos category and the one or more private applications include a photo gallery application and a camera application.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein enabling the privacy mode is based on a first gesture, the method further comprising:

disabling the privacy mode based on a second gesture.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the second gesture is the first gesture performed in reverse.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein disabling access to the one or more private applications includes removing an indication of the one or more private applications from a menu of applications.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein disabling access to the content includes marking the content as private in a content store.

8. An electronic device, comprising:

a processor to execute instructions; and

a memory coupled with the processor to store instructions, which when executed by the processor, cause the processor to perform operations to generate an application programming interface (API) that allows an API-calling component to perform the following operations;

selecting one or more private applications;

enabling a privacy mode; and

in response to enabling the privacy mode, disabling access to the one or more private applications and disabling access from one or more public applications to content associated with the one or more private applications.

9. The electronic device of claim 8, wherein the one or more private applications are selected based on a category of private applications.

10. The electronic device of claim 9, wherein the category is a photos category and the one or more private applications include a photo gallery application and a camera application.

11. The electronic device of claim 8, wherein enabling the privacy mode is based on a first gesture, the operations further comprising:

disabling the privacy mode based on a second gesture.

12. The electronic device of claim 11, wherein the second gesture is the first gesture performed in reverse.

13. The electronic device of claim 8, wherein disabling access to the one or more private applications includes removing an indication of the one or more private applications from a menu of applications.

14. The electronic device of claim 8, wherein disabling access to the content includes marking the content as private in a content store.

15. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium having stored therein instructions, which when executed by a mobile device, cause the device to perform a method comprising:

selecting one or more private applications;

enabling a privacy mode; and

in response to enabling the privacy mode, disabling access to the one or more private applications and disabling access from one or more public applications to content associated with the one or more private applications.

16. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 15, wherein the one or more private applications are selected based on a category of private applications.

17. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 16, wherein the category is a photos category and the one or more private applications include a photo gallery application and a camera application.

18. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 15, wherein enabling the privacy mode is based on a first gesture, the method further comprising:

disabling the privacy mode based on a second gesture.

19. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 18, wherein the second gesture is the first gesture performed in reverse.

20. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 15, wherein disabling access to the one or more private applications includes removing an indication of the one or more private applications from a menu of applications.

21. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 15, wherein disabling access to the content includes marking the content as private in a content store.