METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR MANAGING AND DISPLAYING ACTIVITY ICONS ON A MOBILE DEVICE

• US 20140201681A1
• Filed: 01/16/2013
• Published: 07/17/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 01/16/2013
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Lookout Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Lookout Incorporated
• Inventors: Mahaffey, Kevin Patrick, Buck, Brian James
• Application Number:
  US13/742,933
• Publication Number:
  US 20140201681A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 715/846
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72454 according to context-related or environment-related conditions
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72472 wherein the items are sorted according to specific criteria, e.g. frequency of use

Abstract

Embodiments are directed to managing applications and displaying icons on a mobile device through processes that monitor usage of the applications by a user, alter a display of an application icon based on the usage of the application and a context of the mobile device, and suggest substitute or additional applications for installation based on the usage of the application. The context may comprise a location of the device, a time and/or frequency of usage of an application, and an activity associated with the usage of the application. The icon may be minimized or eliminated from display if the usage falls below a defined threshold for a context, or it may be maximized if the usage exceeds the defined threshold for the context.

Claims

1. A method for managing applications and displaying application icons on a mobile device, the method comprising:

monitoring usage of the applications by a user of the mobile device;

altering a display of an icon representing an application based on the usage of the application and a context of the mobile device; and

suggesting installation of one or more substitute or additional applications based on the usage of the application.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the context of the mobile device is selected from the group consisting of:

a location of the device, a time of the usage of an application, a frequency of usage of the application, and an activity associated with the usage of the application.

3. The method of claim 2 wherein the icon comprises a graphical element displayed through a graphical user interface on the visual display component of the mobile device, and wherein the icon represents at least one of:

an activity, an application program, a sub-application, a task, data content, and a parameterized activity.

4. The method of claim 2 further comprising:

defining a baseline measure for the usage of the application;

defining an average appearance of an icon representing the application;

defining a threshold value indicating a minimum amount of variation in usage to trigger an alteration in the appearance of the icon;

determining a likeliness that the application will be used to a greater or lesser extent relative to the baseline measure; and

altering the appearance of the icon from the average appearance if the likeliness exceeds the threshold value.

5. The method of claim 4 wherein the baseline measure is derived from at least one of an initialization process or an average historical usage of the application by the user or other users.

6. The method of claim 5 wherein the initialization process comprises one of:

migrating use history for the application by one or more other devices used by the user, deriving a profile of the application visibility based on profile information for the user and other users of the application, assigning a default initial usage measure, and measuring usage for a defined initial period of time.

7. The method of claim 4 wherein the threshold value comprises a minimum frequency value for the icon to be visible on the display, and a maximum frequency value for the icon to be non-visible on the display.

8. The method of claim 7 wherein minimum frequency value and maximum frequency value are one of:

an identical value or different values.

9. The method of claim 4 wherein altering the appearance of the icon comprises at least one of:

changing a size of the icon from an average size, changing a location of the icon on the display from an average or default location, changing a border element of the icon, changing a shape of the icon, changing a color of the icon, changing the opacity of the icon, and causing the icon to flash.

10. The method of claim 9 wherein the appearance of the icon is enhanced or maximized to be more prominent on the display relative to the average appearance if the likelihood of use exceeds the threshold.

11. The method of claim 9 wherein the appearance of the icon is de-emphasized or minimized to become less prominent on the display relative to the average appearance if the likelihood of use is less than the threshold.

12. The method of claim 9 further comprising grouping the altered icon with other altered icons using a grouping structure defined by the graphical user interface.

13. The method of claim 9 further comprising displaying a number with the icon to indicate a count measuring the usage of the application associated with the icon.

14. The method of claim 1 wherein suggesting installation of one or more substitute or additional applications is based at least in part on usage of the substitute or additional application by one or more other users in a context similar to the context of the mobile device.

15. The method of claim 14 further comprising:

automatically notifying the user of the availability of the substitute or additional application,

receiving a request from the user to install or not install the substitute or additional application onto the device; and

automatically installing the substitute or additional application onto the device upon receipt of a request to install from the user.

16. The method of claim 15 further comprising performing a persistent query on a periodic basis to identify the substitute or additional applications by querying databases of third party application providers.

17. The method of claim 15 further comprising analyzing data associated with at least one of the user, the one or more other users, present installed applications, and the context to identify the substitute or additional applications through one or more data mining techniques.

18. The method of claim 15 further comprising grouping icons for each of the substitute or additional applications together using a grouping structure defined by the graphical user interface.

19. A method of managing applications on a mobile device, comprising

monitoring usage of an application by a user of the mobile device;

monitoring usage of at least one other application related to the application by other users; and

suggesting usage of the at least one other application instead of or in addition to the application by the user of the mobile device.

20. The method of claim 19 further comprising:

automatically notifying the user of the availability of the at least one other application,

receiving a request from the user to install or not install the at least one other application onto the device; and

automatically installing the at least one other application onto the device upon receipt of a request to install from the user.

21. The method of claim 20 further comprising performing a persistent query on a periodic basis to identify the at least one other application by querying databases of third party application providers.

22. The method of claim 20 further comprising analyzing data associated with at least one of the user, the other users, present installed applications, and a context of the mobile device to identify the at least one other application through one or more data mining techniques.

23. The method of claim 20 further comprising grouping icons for the at least one other application together with other suggested application icons using a grouping structure defined by the graphical user interface.

24. The method of claim 20 wherein the context of the mobile device is selected from the group consisting of:

a location of the device, a time of the usage of an application, a frequency of usage of the application, and an activity associated with the usage of the application.

25. The method of claim 20 wherein the at least one other application is provided by an application store maintained by server coupled to the mobile device over a network.