PORTABLE ELECTRONIC DEVICE HAVING TOUCH-SENSITIVE DISPLAY WITH VARIABLE REPEAT RATE

• US 20160196028A1
• Filed: 03/14/2016
• Published: 07/07/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 04/20/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Malikie Innovations Limited (Key Patent Innovations Limited)
• Original Assignee: Blackberry Limited
• Inventors: Kenney, Jeffrey Brent, Jain, Deepankar Banshilal
• Granted Patent: US 11,249,636 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04847 Interaction techniques to control parameter settings, e.g. interaction with sliders or dials
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0487 using specific features provided by the input device, e.g. functions controlled by the rotation of a mouse with dual sensing arrangements, or of the nature of the input device, e.g. tap gestures based on pressure sensed by a digitiser
• 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 of controlling a repeat rate of a button displayed on a touch-sensitive display of a portable electronic device is described. In accordance with one embodiment, there is provided a method of operating a touch-sensitive display, comprising: displaying on the touch-sensitive display a user interface screen including a user interface element, the user interface element being activatable by first control input to perform a single instance of an action; when a variable repeat control mode is activated: in response to receipt of a second control input, repeating the action associated with the user interface element at a rate dependent on the second control input; and when the variable repeat control mode is not activated: disabling ability of the second control input to cause the repeating of the action and enabling the first control input to cause a single instance of the action.

Claims

1. A method of operating a touch-sensitive display, comprising:

displaying on the touch-sensitive display a user interface screen including a user interface element, the user interface element being activatable by first control input to perform a single instance of an action;

when a variable repeat control mode is activated;

in response to receipt of a second control input, repeating the action associated with the user interface element at a rate dependent on the second control input; and

when the variable repeat control mode is not activated;

disabling ability of the second control input to cause the repeating of the action and enabling the first control input to cause a single instance of the action.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the user interface screen is a text editing user interface screen and the action is a text editing action.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the action is one of a backspace action of backspace button, space character entry of a space button, or delimiter input entry of an ENTER button.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the user interface screen is a keyboard and the user interface element is a button on the keyboard.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

monitoring for and detecting third control input for activating the variable repeat control mode;

activating the variable repeat control mode in response to receipt of the third control input.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the first control input is a tap, the second control input is a touch and hold gesture, and the third control input is a touch gesture.

7. The method of claim 5, wherein the third control input is input from a hardware element of the electronic device.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the rate is proportional to the second control input.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the second control input is a touch gesture detected by the touch-sensitive display, and the rate is dependent on a speed of the detected touch gesture or a travel distance of the detected touch gesture.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the action is repeated a defined number of times defined by a travel distance of the detected touch gesture, wherein the action is performed once for every length of a threshold distance traveled by a centroid of the touch gesture.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the threshold distance is 10 linear pixels, wherein the action is performed once for every length of 10 linear pixels traveled by the centroid of the touch gesture.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the second control input is a touch gesture detected by the touch-sensitive display, wherein the rate is proportional to a distance of a centroid of the touch gesture from a reference location, wherein the reference location is an edge or a center of the user interface element or a centroid of the second control input.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the rate is increased in response to movement of the centroid in a first direction and decreased in response to movement of the centroid in a second direction generally opposite to the first direction.

14. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

when the variable repeat control mode is activated, repeating the action at a default interval in the absence of the second control input.

15. The method of claim 1, wherein, when the variable repeat control mode is activated, the action is not repeated in the absence of the second control input.

16. The method of claim 1, wherein the user interface element is displayed in a first visual state when the variable repeat control mode is not activated, and wherein the user interface element is displayed in a second visual state different from the first visual state when the variable repeat control mode is activated.

17. The method of claim 1, wherein a visual indication of the second control input is displayed on the touch-sensitive display when the variable repeat control mode is activated.

18. The method of claim 1, wherein a variable repeat control mode area is defined for receiving the second control input.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein a visual indication of the variable repeat control mode area is displayed on the user interface screen when the variable repeat control mode is activated.

20. An electronic device, comprising:

a processor;

a touch-sensitive display having a touch-sensitive overlay coupled to the processor;

wherein the processor is configured for causing;

displaying on the touch-sensitive display a user interface screen including a user interface element, the user interface element being activatable by first control input to perform a single instance of an action;

when a variable repeat control mode is activated;

in response to receipt of a second control input, repeating the action associated with the user interface element at a rate dependent on the second control input; and

when the variable repeat control mode is not activated;

disabling ability of the second control input to cause the repeating of the action and enabling the first control input to cause a single instance of the action.

21. A non-transitory machine readable medium having instructions stored thereon, wherein the instructions, when executed by a processor of an electronic device having a touch-sensitive display, causes the electronic device to:

display on the touch-sensitive display a user interface screen including a user interface element, the user interface element being activatable by first control input to perform a single instance of an action;

when a variable repeat control mode is activated;

in response to receipt of a second control input, repeat the action associated with the user interface element at a rate dependent on the second control input; and

when the variable repeat control mode is not activated;

disable ability of the second control input to cause the repeat of the action and enable the first control input to cause a single instance of the action.