Management of user interface elements in a display environment

• US 7,707,514 B2
• Filed: 05/05/2006
• Issued: 04/27/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 11/18/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Original Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Inventors: Forstall, Scott, Chaudhri, Imran A., Louch, John O., Peyton, Eric Steven
• Primary Examiner(s): Lo; Weilun
• Assistant Examiner(s): Chuong; Truc T
• Application Number:
  US11/429,492
• Publication Number:
  US 20070118813A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,453 Days
• Field of Search: 715/714, 715/763, 715/764, 715/802, 715/731, 715/736, 715741-745, 715/789, 715809-811, 715/859
• US Class Current: 715/810
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04817 using icons graphical or visual programming using iconic symbols G06F8/34
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0482 Interaction with lists of selectable items, e.g. menus
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0486 Drag-and-drop
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0488 using a touch-screen or digitiser, e.g. input of commands through traced gestures
• 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
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/61 Installation
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/451 Execution arrangements for user interfaces
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/2477 for selecting a function from a menu display H04M1/2474 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72427 for supporting games or graphical animations
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72448 with means for adapting the functionality of the device according to specific conditions

Abstract

A widget manager facilitates management of widgets in a dashboard layer. Management functions can include enablement, preview, importation, exportation, organization, installation, deletion, acquisition, etc.

Claims

1. A widget manager comprising:

a management engine operable to present available widgets in a palette of a user interface display environment;

selectively enable or disable each of the available widgets; and

display enabled widgets in the display environment, where an enabled widget presently executes an associated function including providing a presentation aspect associated with the executing function, and where selectively enabling or disabling includes selecting a widget for enabling or disabling based on statistics for usage of a given widget by one or more users and criteria for evaluating the statistics,

wherein the statistics for usage including statistics for how often over a time period the given widget was enabled by the one or more users and when the respective widget was last enabled and wherein the usage criteria include information on how often the usage information is to be evaluated.

2. The widget manager of claim 1, wherein the management engine is further operable to locate widgets for installation in the display environment.

3. The widget manager of claim 1, wherein the management engine is further operable to install widgets into the display environment.

4. The widget manager of claim 3, wherein installing widgets includes previewing widgets in the display environment.

5. The widget manager of claim 1, wherein the display environment is a user interface of an electronic device.

6. A method of managing widgets for display in a display environment, comprising:

determining usage information for widgets when displayed in a display environment, the usage information including statistics for usage by one or more users of each respective widget, the statistics for usage including statistics for how often over a time period the respective widget was enabled by the one or more users and when the respective widget was last enabled;

determining usage criteria associated with the presentation of widgets in the display environment, the usage criteria defining how to evaluate the usage information in order to make a selection of one or more of the widgets for presentation in the display environment, the usage criteria include information on how often the usage information is to be evaluated;

selectively enabling at least one widget from available widgets based on the usage criteria and the usage information; and

displaying enabled widgets in the display environment.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein determining usage information includes determining usage information for more than one user.

8. The method of claim 6, wherein activation includes user interaction with the widget.

9. A method for managing widgets, comprising:

identifying available widgets for display in a display environment;

determining criteria for selecting ones of the available widgets, the criteria defining which widgets to select based on usage statistics of the widgets by one or more users, the usage statistics related to display of the widgets previously in a display environment and including statistics for how often over a time period a respective widget was displayed by the one or more users;

determining how often to evaluate the criteria including determining a time period;

after expiration of a time period, displaying and enabling selected ones of the available widgets, where an enabled widget presently executes an associated function including providing a presentation aspect associated with the executing function.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the criteria is a random selection.

11. The method of claim 9, wherein the criteria are based on usage data associated with the available widgets.

12. The method of claim 9, wherein the criteria are defined by the user.

13. A computer-readable storage medium having stored thereon instructions which, when executed by a processor, causes the processor to perform the operations of:

determining usage information for widgets when displayed in a display environment the usage information including statistics for usage by one or more users of each respective widget related to display of the widgets previously in a display environment and including statistics for how often over a time period a respective widget was displayed by the one or more users and when the respective widget was last displayed;

determining usage criteria associated with the presentation of widgets in the display environment, the usage criteria defining how to evaluate the usage information in order to make a selection of one or more of the widgets for presentation in the display environment, the usage criteria include information on how often the usage information is to be evaluated;

selectively enabling at least one widget from available widgets based on the usage criteria and the usage information; and

displaying enabled widgets in the display environment.

14. A computer-readable storage medium having stored thereon instructions which, when executed by a processor, causes the processor to perform the operations of:

identifying available widgets for display in a display environment;

determining information and criteria for selecting ones of the available widgets, the information defining which widgets to select based on usage statistics associated with the widgets, the usage statistics related to display of the widgets previously in a display environment by one or more users and including statistics for how often over a time period a respective widget was displayed by the one or more users and when the respective widget was last displayed, the criteria defining how to evaluate the information in order to make a selection of one or more of the widgets for presentation in the display environment, the criteria defining how often the information is to be evaluated;

displaying and enabling selected ones of the available widgets, where an enabled widget presently executes an associated function including providing a presentation aspect associated with the executing function.