DEVICE INPUT MODES WITH CORRESPONDING USER INTERFACES

• US 20150026623A1
• Filed: 07/19/2013
• Published: 01/22/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 07/19/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Original Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Inventors: Horne, Stephen C.
• Granted Patent: US 9,645,721 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 715/771
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/1626 with a single-body enclosure integrating a flat display, e.g. Personal Digital Assistants [PDAs]
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/1677 for detecting open or closed state or particular intermediate positions assumed by movable parts of the enclosure, e.g. detection of display lid position with respect to main body in a laptop, detection of opening of the cover of battery compartment
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2200/1634 Integrated protective display lid, e.g. for touch-sensitive display in handheld computer
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2203/04803 Split screen, i.e. subdividing the display area or the window area into separate subareas
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0482 Interaction with lists of selectable items, e.g. menus
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04847 Interaction techniques to control parameter settings, e.g. interaction with sliders or dials
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04883 for inputting data by handwriting, e.g. gesture or text
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04886 by partitioning the display area of the touch-screen or the surface of the digitising tablet into independently controllable areas, e.g. virtual keyboards or menus

Abstract

A method performed by a tablet device having a touch screen display and at least one sensor coupled to a processor includes using the at least one sensor to determine that a cover attached to the tablet device is in a partially open configuration, receiving a touch input gesture from an uncovered portion of the touch screen display when the cover is in the partially open configuration, identifying, based upon a type of the input gesture, an operating parameter of the device, determining, based upon the input gesture, a setting value for the operating parameter, and altering the operating parameter of the device based upon the setting value. For example, the gesture can be a swipe, the operating parameter can be a brightness of the display, and altering the operating parameter can include adjusting the brightness of the display based upon the value.

Claims

1-20. -20. (canceled)

21. A method of using an input gesture to adjust an operating parameter of a device having a touch screen display and at least one sensor coupled to a processor of the device, the method comprising:

by the processor;

determining, based on data provided by the at least one sensor, that a cover attached to the device is in a partially open configuration that exposes a portion of the touch screen display;

receiving the input gesture from the touch screen display when the cover is in the partially open configuration;

determining, based upon the input gesture, a setting value for the operating parameter of the device; and

altering the operating parameter of the device based upon the setting value.

22. The method of claim 21, further comprising:

identifying the operating parameter based upon a type of the input gesture.

23. The method of claim 22, wherein identifying the operating parameter comprises:

identifying an entry in a lookup table that associates the type of the input gesture with the operating parameter.

24. The method of claim 21, wherein the input gesture comprises a swipe, the operating parameter comprises a brightness of the touch screen display, and altering the operating parameter of the device comprises adjusting the brightness of the touch screen display based upon the setting value.

25. The method of claim 24, wherein the swipe is from a first point to a second point of the touch screen display, and the setting value is proportional to a distance between the first point and the second point.

26. The method of claim 25, wherein adjusting the brightness of the touch screen display comprises increasing the brightness of the touch screen display when the swipe is in a first direction, and decreasing the brightness of the touch screen display when the swipe is in a second direction opposite the first direction.

27. The method as in claim 21, wherein the input gesture comprises a vertical swipe, the operating parameter comprises a speaker volume, and altering the operating parameter of the device comprises adjusting the speaker volume based upon the setting value.

28. The method as in claim 21, wherein the input gesture comprises a circular swipe, the operating parameter comprises an orientation lock, and altering the operating parameter comprises toggling the orientation lock.

29. The method of claim 21, further comprising:

displaying a user interface in an exposed portion of the touch screen display, wherein the user interface includes at least one parameter adjustment control associated with at least one operating parameter, and the input gesture sets the at least one parameter adjustment control to the setting value.

30. The method as in claim 21, further comprising:

determining a time period that has elapsed since a detection of the partially open configuration of the cover; and

in response to the time period being greater than a threshold value, displaying a user interface in an exposed portion of the touch screen display, the user interface including at least one parameter adjustment control associated with at least one operating parameter, wherein the input gesture sets the at least one parameter adjustment control to the setting value.

31. The method of claim 21, wherein the at least one sensor includes a first sensor and a second sensor coupled to the processor, the cover is in the partially open configuration when the first sensor detects a first portion of the cover and the second sensor does not detect a second portion of the cover opposite the first portion, and the second portion corresponds to an exposed portion of the touch screen display.

32. The method of claim 31, wherein the cover is foldable and comprises a first segment and a second segment that include a first magnet and a second magnet, respectively, and

the first sensor detects the first portion of the cover when the first sensor detects the first magnet, and the second sensor does not detect the second portion of the cover when the second sensor does not detect the second magnet.

33. The method of claim 31, wherein the first sensor and the second sensor are Hall Effect sensors.

34. The method as in claim 31, wherein the first sensor is an ambient light sensor (ALS), and using the first sensor to determine that the cover is in the partially open configuration comprises using the ALS to detect a level of ambient light that is less than a threshold ambient light level.

35. The method as in claim 31, wherein the first sensor is a camera, and

using the first sensor to determine that the cover is in the partially open configuration comprises:

using the camera to capture an image;

determining an overall luminance value of the image; and

determining that the cover is in the partially open configuration when the overall luminance value is less than a threshold luminance value.

36. The method as in claim 21, further comprising:

determining the setting value of the operating parameter based on at least one tap, wherein the at least one tap is the input gesture on at least one point of the touch screen display.

37. The method as in claim 21, wherein altering the operating parameter includes altering the operating parameter of the device based upon the setting value when a first time at which a first portion of the input gesture is received is within a threshold time after a second time at which a sensor determines that the cover is in the partially open configuration.

38. A computing device, comprising:

a touch screen display;

a sensor configured to sense a magnet retained by the computing device;

a processor; and

a memory storing instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the computing device to perform the steps of;

determining, based on a signal from the at least one sensor, that a cover attached to the computing device is in a partially open configuration;

receiving an input gesture from an uncovered portion of the touch screen display when the cover is in the partially open configuration;

determining, based upon the input gesture, a setting value for an operating parameter; and

altering the operating parameter of the computing device based upon the setting value.

39. The computing device of claim 38, wherein the steps further include:

determining the operating parameter of the computing device based upon a type of input gesture.

40. The computing device of claim 39, wherein type of input gesture is a swipe, the operating parameter comprises a brightness of the touch screen display, and altering the operating parameter of the computing device comprises adjusting the brightness of the touch screen display based upon the setting value.

41. The computing device of claim 40, wherein the touch screen display includes a first region and a second region adjacent to the first region, and the steps further include:

receiving the input gesture at the first region when the cover is covering the second region and not covering the first region; and

receiving the input gesture at the second region when the cover is not covering the first region and the second region.

42. The computing device of claim 41, wherein the input gesture is a two-finger gesture that includes sliding two fingers across the touch screen display.