Message push notification client improvements for multi-user devices

• US 8,924,489 B2
• Filed: 04/05/2011
• Issued: 12/30/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 01/05/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Original Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Inventors: Bleau, Darryl Neil, Vaughan, Gregory Bjorn, Davey, Jeffrey Thomas
• Primary Examiner(s): BARQADLE, YASIN M
• Application Number:
  US13/080,131
• Publication Number:
  US 20120173610A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,365 Days
• Field of Search: 709203-207
• US Class Current: 709/206
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/4625 Single bridge functionality, e.g. connection of two networks over a single bridge
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/10 in which an application is distributed across nodes in the network software deployment G06F8/60; multiprogramming arrangements G06F9/46
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/55 Push-based network services

Abstract

Methods and apparatuses that generate a subtopic identifier identifying a client application within a client device that can support multiple users are described. The client application may be associated with a server application hosted in one or more application servers. Notification services may be registered with the application servers from the client application to forward identifiers associated with the client application for one of the multiple users to the server application to enable the server application to push notification messages to the client device selectively for the client application for that user. When receiving a notification message from the application server, the notification message may be examined to forward the notification message directly to the client application for that user without invoking other applications in the client device if the notification message carries a subtopic identifier of the client application.

Claims

1. A machine implemented method for multi-user message notification, the method comprising:

hosting a plurality of operating system user accounts on a client device, wherein each of the plurality of operating system user accounts is an account that is used to customize the client device for a user corresponding to the account;

generating an alias for each of the plurality of user accounts, wherein each alias is used in combination with a subtopic identifier corresponding to a client application associated with a server application hosted in one or more application servers, a plurality of client applications are hosted in the client device, the subtopic identifier uniquely identifying the client application among the plurality of client applications;

sending a request to register a notification service using a user token with the one or more application servers for the client application and the alias to forward identifiers associated with the client application to the server application to enable the server application to push notification messages to the corresponding user account of the client device for the client application and the plurality of client applications are registered with the notification service, wherein the user token includes the alias and a client device identification;

in response to receiving a notification message from the one or more application servers, determining if the notification message carries the alias and the subtopic identifier of the client application, wherein the notification message includes the user token and the subtopic identifier; and

forwarding the notification message only to the client application for the corresponding user account using the user token and the subtopic identifier without forwarding the notification message to other applications of the plurality of applications in the client device.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the identifiers include the subtopic identifier.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein an alias is derived from a certificate associated with the corresponding user account.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more application servers are uniquely identified by a topic identifier and wherein the registration further comprising:

registering the client application for the topic identifier to listen to notifications from the one or more application servers, wherein more than one of the client applications are registered for the topic identifier.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

initiating a network connection with the one or more application servers; and

sending the identifiers over the network connection to the one or more application servers.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the determination comprises:

extracting the alias and the topic identifier from the notification message; and

forwarding the notification message to each client application and corresponding user registered for the topic string if the notification message does not carry the subtopic identifier.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the forwarding comprises invoking the client application if the client application is not currently active.

8. The machine implemented method of claim 1, wherein an operating system account is an account that is used to customize the multi-user device for a user corresponding to the account.

9. The machine implemented method of claim 8, wherein the operating system account is an account used to customize specific system settings for a user selected from the group consisting of a file system environment, desktop settings, and application settings.

10. The machine implemented method of claim 1, wherein the user token further includes zone information, wherein the zone information an identifier that associates the user to a particular zone of a notification system.

15. The method of claim 1, wherein the sending comprises:

establish a network connection with a push server in a push service; and

sending the notification messages over the network connection to the push server, wherein the notification messages are packaged with the server identifier.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the server identifier is received in a certificate from an authority of the push service, and wherein the server identifier uniquely identifies the application server sharing the push service.

11. A machine implemented method for providing message notification, the method comprising:

receiving, at a server application hosted in an application server, a registration request from a client application for a user of a client device for the message notification, the request having identifiers including a user token and a client application identifier identifying the client application, wherein the client device hosts multiple operating system user accounts that includes a corresponding user account for the user, and each of the plurality of operating system user accounts is an account that is used to customize the client device for a user corresponding to the account, a plurality of client applications are hosted in the client device, and the plurality of client applications are registered with the notification service, wherein the user token includes a client device identifier and an alias for the corresponding user account, wherein the alias is used in combination with a subtopic identifier corresponding to a client application associated with the server application hosted in one or more application servers, the subtopic identifier uniquely identifying the client application among the plurality of client applications;

sending a server identifier for the user to allow the client device to listen to messages pushed from the application server;

storing the received identifiers to register the user for the message notification; and

sending notification messages to the client device via the user token to notify the client application for that user, the notification messages identified by the server identifier and the notification messages embedding the client application identifier and the user token, wherein the client forwards the notification message only to the client application for the corresponding user account using the user token and the subtopic identifier without forwarding the notification message to other applications of the plurality of applications in the client device.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the registration request is received over a network connection initiated by the client device, and wherein the server identifier is sent over the network connection.

13. The method of claim 11, wherein the user token is stored associated with an opaque data including the client application identifier.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the notification messages include the user token to identify the user of the client device and wherein the opaque data is carried in payloads of the notification messages.

17. A machine-readable non-transitory medium having instructions, when executed by a machine, cause the machine to perform a method for message notification, the method comprising:

hosting a plurality of operating system user accounts on a client device, wherein each of the plurality of operating system user accounts is an account that is used to customize the client device for a user corresponding to the account;

generating an alias for each of the plurality of user accounts, wherein each alias is used in combination with a subtopic identifier corresponding to a client application associated with a server application hosted in one or more application servers, a plurality of client applications are hosted in the client device, and the subtopic identifier uniquely identifying the client application among the plurality of client applications;

sending a request to register a notification service using the user token with the one or more application servers for the client application and the alias to forward identifiers associated with the client application to the server application to enable the server application to push notification messages to the corresponding user account of the client device for the client application and the plurality of client applications are registered with the notification service, wherein the user token includes the alias and a client device identification;

in response to receiving a notification message from the one or more application servers, determining if the notification message carries the alias and the subtopic identifier of the client application, wherein the notification message includes the user token and the subtopic identifier; and

forwarding the notification message only to the client application for the corresponding user account using the user token and the subtopic identifier without forwarding the notification message to other applications of the plurality of applications in the client device.

18. A machine-readable non-transitory medium having instructions, when executed by a machine, cause the machine to perform a method for providing message notification, the method comprising:

receiving, at a server application hosted in an application server, a registration request from a client application for a user of a client device for the message notification, the request having identifiers including a user token and a client application identifier identifying the client application, wherein the client device hosts multiple operating system user accounts that include a corresponding user account for the user, and each of the plurality of operating system user accounts is an account that is used to customize the client device for a user corresponding to the account, a plurality of client applications are hosted in the client device, and the plurality of client applications are registered with the notification service, wherein the user token includes a client device identifier and an alias for the corresponding user account, wherein the alias is used in combination with a subtopic identifier corresponding to a client application associated with the server application hosted in one or more application servers, the subtopic identifier uniquely identifying the client application among the plurality of client applications;

sending a server identifier for the user to allow the client device to listen to messages pushed from the application server;

storing the received identifiers to register the user for the message notification; and

sending notification messages to the client device via the user token to notify the client application for that user, the notification messages identified by the server identifier and the notification messages embedding the client application identifier and the user token, wherein the client forwards the notification message only to the client application for the corresponding user account using the user token and the subtopic identifier without forwarding the notification message to other applications of the plurality of applications in the client device.

19. An apparatus, comprising:

a memory storing executable instructions including a server application;

a network interface coupled to a push network;

a processor coupled to the network interface and the memory to execute the executable instructions from the memory for the messaging services, the processor being configured to;

in response to an initiation from a client device, establishing a first network connection with the client device via the network interface,

receiving, at the server application, a registration request from the client application of a client device over the first network connection, the request having identifiers including a user token and a client application identifier identifying the client application, a plurality of client applications are hosted in the client device, the plurality of client applications are registered with the notification service, the corresponding user account is one of a plurality of operating system user accounts of the client device, each of the plurality of operating system user accounts is an account that is used to customize the client device for a user corresponding to the account, and the user token includes a client device identifier and an alias for the corresponding user account, wherein the alias is used in combination with a subtopic identifier corresponding to a client application associated with the server application hosted in one or more application servers, the subtopic identifier uniquely identifying the client application among the plurality of client applications,

sending a server identifier for the client device to allow the client device to listen to messages pushed from the application server, storing the received identifiers to register the user for the message notification,

sending notification messages to the client device over a second network connection to the push network via the network interface, the notification messages having the user token to notify the client application for the user, the notification messages identified by the server identifier and the notification messages embedding the client application identifier and the user token, wherein the client forwards the notification message only to the client application for the corresponding user account using the user token and the subtopic identifier without forwarding the notification message to other applications of the plurality of applications in the client device.