Routing applications for navigation

• US 9,043,150 B2
• Filed: 09/30/2012
• Issued: 05/26/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 06/05/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Original Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Inventors: Forstall, Scott, van Os, Marcel, Moore, Bradford A., Law, Brady A.
• Primary Examiner(s): Nguyen, John Q
• Assistant Examiner(s): SMITH, AARON C
• Application Number:
  US13/632,080
• Publication Number:
  US 20130325340A1
• Time in Patent Office: 968 Days
• Field of Search: 707/723, 707/722, 701/425, 701/533, 701/71, 701/423
• US Class Current: 701/533
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/362 received from an external device or application, e.g. PDA, mobile phone or calendar application
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3667 Display of a road map G01C21/3614 takes precedence; guidance using 3D or perspective road maps G01C21/3635
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0482 Interaction with lists of selectable items, e.g. menus
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04842 Selection of displayed objects or displayed text elements G06F3/0482 takes precedence

Abstract

Some embodiments provide a mapping application that provides routing information to third-party applications on a device. The mapping application receives route data that includes first and second locations. Based on the route data, the mapping application provides a set of routing applications that provide navigation information. The mapping application receives a selection of a routing application in the set of routing applications. The mapping application passes the route data to the selected routing application in order for the routing application to provide navigation information.

Claims

1. A non-transitory machine readable medium storing a mapping application which when executed on a device by at least one processing unit provides routing information to third-party applications on the device, the mapping application comprising sets of instructions for:

receiving route data comprising first and second locations;

identifying, based on the received route data, a set of routing applications from said third party applications, wherein each routing application in the set of routing applications provides navigation information from the first location to the second location in a different manner;

presenting for each routine application in the identified set of routing applications, a selectable icon that represents the routing application;

receiving a selection of a selectable icon corresponding to a routing application in the set of routing applications; and

passing, upon receiving the selection, the route data to the selected routing application in order for the routing application to provide navigation information from the first location to the second location.

2. The non-transitory machine readable medium of claim 1, wherein the mapping application further comprises a set of instructions for receiving a selection of a routing application option that enables the mapping application to provide the set of routing applications, wherein the set of instructions for providing the set of routing applications comprises a set of instructions for providing the set of routing applications when the routing application option is selected.

3. The non-transitory machine readable medium of claim 1, wherein the navigation information comprises a route direction from the first location to the second location.

4. The non-transitory machine readable medium of claim 1, wherein the route data further comprises names that are associated with the first and second locations.

5. The non-transitory machine readable medium of claim 1, wherein the set of instructions for identifying the set of routing applications that are installed on the device comprises a set of instructions for identifying at least one routing application that was previously installed on the device, wherein the routing application specifies a geographical area that includes at least one of the first and second locations.

6. The non-transitory machine readable medium of claim 5, wherein the other one of the first and second locations that is not included in the geographical area is within a defined distance from the geographical area.

7. The non-transitory machine readable medium of claim 5, wherein the geographical area includes both of the first and second locations.

8. The non-transitory machine readable medium of claim 1, wherein the set of instructions for identifying the set of routing applications comprises a set of instructions for sending the route data and a request to an application source that hosts a plurality of routing applications, wherein the application source provides routing applications that are relevant to the route data.

9. The non-transitory machine readable medium of claim 1, wherein the selected routing application is for providing navigation information via train.

10. The non-transitory machine readable medium of claim 1, wherein the selected routing application is for providing navigation information via bus.

11. The non-transitory machine readable medium of claim 1, wherein the selected routing application is for providing navigation information via trails.

12. The non-transitory machine readable medium of claim 1, wherein the selected routing application is for providing navigation information via taxi.

13. A method of providing a graphical user interface (GUI) for a mapping application running on a device, the method comprising:

providing a set of editable user interface (UI) controls for receiving input specifying first and second locations; and

providing a navigation tool for;

identifying a set of at least two routing applications that are installed on the device, each routing application providing navigation information from the first location to the second location in a different manner;

presenting a set of selectable UI items that represents the identified set of routing applications; and

receiving a selection of a selectable UI item in the set of selectable UI items, wherein the selection causes the mapping application to send the first and second locations'"'"' data to the routing application represented by the selected UI item in order for the routing application to provide navigation information from the first location to the second location.

14. The method of claim 13 further comprising providing a selectable UI item that when selected causes the navigation tool to display the set of selectable UI items.

15. The method of claim 13, wherein receiving the selection of the selectable UI item further causes the mapping application to execute the routing application on the device to display navigation information of the routing application between the first and second locations.

16. The method of claim 13, wherein the set of selectable UI items comprises a first set of selectable UI items that represents routing applications that are installed on the device, wherein the navigation tool displays the first set of selectable UI items in a display area.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the display area is a first display area and the identified set of routing applications is a first set of routing applications, wherein the navigation tool is further for selecting a second set of routing applications that are available but not installed on the device, wherein the set of selectable UI items further comprises a second set of selectable UI items that represents routing applications that are available for installation on the device, wherein the navigation tool displays the second set of selectable UI items in a second display area different than the first display area.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein the navigation tool is further for receiving a selection of a UI item in the second set of selectable UI items, wherein receiving the selection of the UI item further causes the mapping application to install the routing application represented by the UI item before sending the first and second locations'"'"' data to the routing application.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein receiving the selection of the UI item further causes the mapping application to display an application detail page associated with the routing application represented by the UI item before installing the routing application.

20. The method of claim 13, wherein the set of selectable UI items is a first set of selectable UI items, wherein the navigation tool is further for presenting a second set of selectable UI items that represents recent searched route directions.

21. The method of claim 20, wherein the second set of selectable UI items represents at least one recent searched route direction that was provided by a routing application represented by a selectable UI item in the first set.

22. The method of claim 20 further comprising providing an editable search field for receiving input for search operations, wherein the mapping application presents the second set of selectable UI items when the editable search field is selected.

23. The method of claim 13, wherein the set of editable UI controls comprises first and second editable text fields.

24. The method of claim 13, wherein the mapping application sends to the routing application additional information related to the first and second locations when the navigation tool receives the selection of the selectable UI item.

25. The method of claim 24, wherein the additional information comprises a name associated with one of the first and second locations.

26. The method of claim 24, wherein the additional information comprises a phone number associated with one of the first and second locations.