Hierarchy of Tools for Navigation

• US 20150300832A1
• Filed: 04/16/2014
• Published: 10/22/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 03/03/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Original Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Inventors: Moore, Bradford A., Fino, Jorge, Larus, Mark B., Barbour, Sarah G., Weinburg, Joshua C.
• Granted Patent: US 10,113,879 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/36 Input/output arrangements for on-board computers
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3611 using character input or menus, e.g. menus of POIs character input methods in general G06F3/0233
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3614 through interaction with a road map, e.g. selecting a POI icon on a road map
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3617 using user history, behaviour, conditions or preferences, e.g. predicted or inferred from previous use or current movement
• 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: G01C 21/3676 Overview of the route on the road map
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/243 Natural language query formulation
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/248 Presentation of query results
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/29 Geographical information databases
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9537 Spatial or temporal dependent retrieval, e.g. spatiotemporal queries
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0482 Interaction with lists of selectable items, e.g. menus
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/02 Services making use of location information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/024 Guidance services
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/12 Messaging; Mailboxes; Announcements

Abstract

Some embodiments provide a mapping application that provides a variety of UI elements for allowing a user to specify a location (e.g., for viewing or serving as route destinations). In some embodiments, these location-input UI elements appear in succession on a sequence of pages, according to a hierarchy that has the UI elements that require less user interaction appear on earlier pages in the sequence than the UI elements that require more user interaction. In some embodiments, the location-input UI elements that successively appear in the mapping application include (1) selectable predicted-destination notifications, (2) a list of selectable predicted destinations, (3) a selectable voice-based search affordance, and (4) a keyboard. In some of these embodiments, these UI elements appear successively on the following sequence of pages: (1) a default page for presenting the predicted-destination notifications, (2) a destination page for presenting the list of predicted destinations, (3) a search page for receiving voice-based search requests, and (4) a keyboard page for receiving character input.

Claims

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

presenting a first page for providing automatic predicted-location notifications and providing a first affordance for a list of predicted locations;

presenting a second page for providing the list of predicted location when the first affordance is selected, and providing a second affordance for a verbal search query; and

presenting a third page for receiving the verbal search query and providing a third affordance for displaying alphanumeric characters for entering a search query through character input.

2. The non-transitory machine readable medium of claim 1, wherein the first page does not provide an affordance for receiving a search query.

3. The non-transitory machine readable medium of claim 2, wherein the second page does not provide an affordance for displaying alphanumeric characters for entering a search query through character input.

4. The non-transitory machine readable medium of claim 3, wherein the mapping application further comprises a set of instructions for displaying alphanumeric characters for entering the search query through character input upon the selection of the third affordance.

5. The non-transitory machine readable medium of claim 4,

wherein the mapping application is for presentation on a screen in a vehicle;

and

wherein the successive presentation of the first, second, and third pages and sequential providing of the first, second, and third affordances represent hierarchal arrangements of the pages and affordances in which affordances that require less user input to specify a destination are presented before the affordances that require more user input to specify the destination.

6. The non-transitory machine readable medium of claim 1, wherein the second page does not provide an affordance for receiving a search query through character input.

7. The non-transitory machine readable medium of claim 1, wherein the mapping application further comprises a set of instructions for displaying alphanumeric characters for entering the search query through character input upon the selection of the third affordance.

8. The non-transitory machine readable medium of claim 1,

wherein the mapping application further comprises a set of instructions for providing an option to request a first navigation presentation or a second navigation presentation to a destination upon selection of an automatic predicted-location notification;

and

wherein the first navigation presentation provides maneuver instruction prompts at junctures along a route to the destination, while the second navigation presentation does not provide maneuver instruction prompts at the junctures along the route but provides distance information regarding the device'"'"'s distance to the destination as the device travels to the route.

9. The non-transitory machine readable medium of claim 8, wherein the selected automatic predicted-location notification presents the destination as a predicted destination.

10. A method of hierarchically arranging location-input user interface (UI) elements in a UI of a mapping application, the method comprising:

displaying a first map page for providing automatic predicted-location notifications and providing a first affordance for a list of predicted locations;

in response to a selection of the first affordance, displaying a second destination-list page for providing the list of predicted location when the first affordance is selected, and providing a second affordance for a verbal search query; and

in response to a selection of the second affordance, displaying a third voice-based search page for presenting a third page for receiving the verbal search query and providing a third affordance for displaying alphanumeric characters for entering a search query through character input;

in response to a selection of the third affordance, displaying alphanumeric characters for entering a character-input search query.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the first page does not provide an affordance for receiving a search query.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the second page does not provide an affordance for displaying alphanumeric characters for entering a search query through character input.

13. The method of claim 12 further comprising displaying alphanumeric characters for entering the search query through character input upon the selection of the third affordance.

14. The method of claim 13,

wherein the mapping application is for presentation on a screen in a vehicle;

and

wherein the successive presentation of the first, second, and third pages and sequential providing of the first, second, and third affordances represent hierarchal arrangements of the pages and affordances in which affordances that require less user input to specify a destination are presented before the affordances that require more user input to specify the destination.

15. The method of claim 10 further comprising displaying an option to request a first navigation presentation or a second navigation presentation to a destination upon selection of an automatic predicted-location notification, wherein the first navigation presentation provides maneuver instruction prompts at junctures along a route to the destination, while the second navigation presentation does not provide maneuver instruction prompts at the junctures along the route but provides distance information regarding the device'"'"'s distance to the destination as the device travels to the route.

16. An electronic device comprising

at least one processing unit;

a non-transitory machine readable medium storing a mapping application for execution by the processing unit, the mapping application comprising a user interface (UI) that comprises;

a first page for providing at least one predicted locations;

a second page for receiving a verbal search query;

a third page for displaying alphanumeric characters for entering a character-input search query;

the first page providing a first affordance for viewing the second page but not an affordance for viewing the third page;

the second page providing a second affordance for viewing the third page.

17. The electronic device of claim 16, wherein the UI further comprises a fourth page that is presented before the first page and that provides (i) automatic predicted-location notifications and (ii) a third affordance for viewing the first page to view a list of predicted locations;

18. The electronic device of claim 16,

wherein the mapping application is for presentation on a screen in a vehicle;

and

wherein the successive presentation of the first, second, and third pages and sequential providing of the first, second, and third affordances represent hierarchal arrangements of the pages and affordances in which affordances that require less user input to specify a destination are presented before the affordances that require more user input to specify the destination.

19. The electronic device of claim 16, wherein the first page does not provide an affordance for receiving a search query through character input.