Mobile phone controls preprocessor

• US 8,843,122 B1
• Filed: 06/29/2012
• Issued: 09/23/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 06/29/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: T-Mobile Innovations LLC (Deutsche Telekom AG)
• Original Assignee: Sprint Communications Company LP (Deutsche Telekom AG)
• Inventors: Wick, Ryan A., Smith, Nathan R.
• Primary Examiner(s): Agosta, Steve D
• Application Number:
  US13/537,610
• Time in Patent Office: 816 Days
• Field of Search: 455/414.1, 455418-420, 455/550.1, 370/310.2, 709/229, 713/161
• US Class Current: 455/418
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/10 Protecting distributed programs or content, e.g. vending or licensing of copyrighted material protection in video systems or pay television H04N7/16 ; Digital rights management [DRM]
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/52 during program execution, e.g. stack integrity ; Preventing unwanted data erasure; Buffer overflow
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2221/2141 Access rights, e.g. capability lists, access control lists, access tables, access matrices
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/10 for controlling access to devices or network resources
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/08 Access security

Abstract

A method of policy management and control on a mobile phone. The method comprises receiving a user interface change request by a launcher application executing on the mobile phone, requesting permissions from an interface control application programming interface (API) by the launcher application, receiving a response from the interface control application programming interface by the launcher application, where the response indicates if the user interface change is permitted, and enforcing the received permission by the launcher application, where enforcing the received permission comprises executing the user interface change request when the user interface change is permitted, and where enforcing the received permissions comprises not executing the user interface change request and presenting a message to a user of the mobile phone when the user interface change is restricted.

Claims

1. A method of policy management and control on a mobile phone, comprising:

receiving a settings change request to change at least one setting of a plurality of settings of the mobile phone by a settings application executing on the mobile phone;

requesting settings change permissions from an interface control application programming interface (API) by the settings application;

receiving a response including the settings change permissions from the interface control application programming interface by the settings application, wherein the response indicates if the settings change is permitted and the response is based at least in part on a context of the settings change request including whether the settings change request is made during working hours or non-working hours;

enforcing the received settings change permissions by the settings application, wherein enforcing the received settings change permissions comprises executing the settings change request when the settings change is permitted, and wherein enforcing the received permissions comprises not executing the settings change request and presenting a message to a user of the mobile phone when the settings change is restricted;

evaluating, by the settings application, a state of the plurality of settings of the mobile phone during a context transition;

changing, by the settings application, at least one of the plurality of settings of the mobile phone based on context based permissions of an impending context;

remotely accessing, by a device administrator, the interface control application programming interface to configure one or more of the plurality of settings of the mobile phone;

pushing, by the device administrator, application updates or removing applications based on a current status of the mobile phone, a white list for applications and a black list for applications;

receiving an interface and applications pack change request to change an interface and applications pack on the mobile phone by an interface and applications pack installer application executing on the mobile phone; and

receiving and enforcing interface and applications pack change permissions from the interface control application programming interface by the interface and applications pack installer application, wherein the interface and applications pack change permissions for the interface and applications pack are defined by an owner of the interface and applications pack.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the settings change comprises selecting an item in the settings application, and wherein the item is a list, a checkbox, or a dropdown.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein remotely accessing the interface control application programming interface comprises interfacing with an application running on the mobile phone with permission to access the interface control application programming interface.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising querying the mobile phone for the current status, wherein the current status comprises the current settings and installed applications.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising configuring the white list for applications, wherein an installed application on the white list is approved, and wherein the application remains installed if it is approved.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising configuring the black list for applications, wherein an installed application on the black list is not approved, and wherein the application is deleted if it is not approved.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein a first set of settings change permissions defined by an enterprise is applicable and referenced by the settings application during the working hours, and when the mobile phone is used during the non-working hours by a user, a second set of settings change permissions defined by the enterprise is applicable and referenced by the settings application.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the context may be based on one or more of time of day, day of week, geographical location or relative location.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the settings change permissions are based at least in part on the context and relate to one or more of mobile phone parameters, applications, or settings.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the settings change permissions are based at least in part on the context and relate to one or more of settings for camera operability, GPS operability, or web browser limitations.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of settings based at least in part on a context at an earlier time are stored separately in the mobile phone to support automatic restoral of the plurality of settings based at least in part on the context of the earlier time when transitioning to a new context.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein at some of the plurality of settings are not subject to change based on the context.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein the context is at least in part based on whether the mobile phone is used in a company vehicle, embedded in the company vehicle, or removed from the company vehicle.

14. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving a user interface change request to change the user interface by a launcher application executing on the mobile phone, wherein the change to the user interface includes one or more of adding, deleting, or moving user interface elements, invoking a search, or opening a settings menu;

requesting user interface change permissions from the interface control application programming interface (API) by the launcher application;

receiving a response including the user interface change permissions from the interface control application programming interface by launcher application; and

enforcing the received user interface change permissions by the launcher application.

15. The method of claim 1, further comprising requesting the interface and applications pack change permissions from the interface control application programming interface (API) by the interface and applications pack installer application.

16. The method of claim 1, wherein the mobile phone comprises a plurality of interface and applications packs, and wherein each of the plurality of interface and applications packs is associated with corresponding interface and applications pack change permissions that are defined separately for each interface and applications pack.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the interface and applications pack change permissions for each interface and applications pack is initially configured when the corresponding interface and applications pack is installed on the mobile phone.