Complex handling of conditional messages

• US 9,059,957 B2
• Filed: 09/24/2012
• Issued: 06/16/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 09/24/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Original Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Inventors: Van Os, Marcel, Khoe, May-Li
• Primary Examiner(s): BAROT, BHARAT
• Application Number:
  US13/600,016
• Publication Number:
  US 20140089417A1
• Time in Patent Office: 995 Days
• Field of Search: 709204-207, 709217-219, 709227-229, 715740-741
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/00 User-to-user messaging in packet-switching networks, transmitted according to store-and-forward or real-time protocols, e.g. e-mail
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/224 providing notification on incoming messages, e.g. pushed notifications of received messages

Abstract

System, methods, and apparatuses are provided for outputting a notification of a conditional communication (e.g., a message) based on one or more conditions. The output can be controlled by a receiver'"'"'s device or by a server communicably coupled with the receiver'"'"'s device, on which a set of applications are loaded. For example, a filter can determine whether a communication has an associated condition. The condition can require specific values of a variable property associated with the receiver'"'"'s device. A selector module can determine a subset of application(s) that are used to obtain the variable property. When the condition is satisfied, a notification of the communication can be output.

Claims

1. An electronic device associated with a first user, wherein a set of applications are installed on the electronic device, the electronic device comprising:

an input for receiving a conditional communication that has a communication part; and

a processor configured to;

determine that the conditional communication has one or more associated conditions, including a first condition;

identify a variable property that is associated with the electronic device and that is used to evaluate the first condition;

select a subset of one or more applications from the set for obtaining the variable property associated with the electronic device, the one or more applications in the subset being dependent on the identified variable property;

obtain a value of the variable property at one or more times using the subset of applications;

determine whether the one or more conditions are satisfied, including determining whether the variable property satisfies the first condition; and

when the one or more conditions are satisfied, output a notification of the communication part.

2. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the processor is configured to:

provide user configuration of users allowed to submit conditional communications to the electronic device;

determine a sender of the conditional communication;

if the sender is allowed to submit conditional communications to the electronic device, proceeding to analyze the conditional communication to determine whether the one or more conditions are satisfied; and

if the sender is not allowed to submit conditional communications to the electronic device, not proceeding to analyze the conditional communication to determine whether the one or more conditions are satisfied.

3. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the electronic device is configured to output the notification via audio or visually on a display of the electronic device.

4. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the processor is configured to:

obtain the variable property at one or more times using the subset of applications in response to a trigger.

5. The electronic device of claim 4, wherein the trigger is a signal received at an input of the electronic device from a user or from another device.

6. The electronic device of claim 4, wherein the trigger is programmable by a user of the electronic device.

7. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the first condition is a string of words, wherein the processor is further configured to:

translate the first condition to one or more logical expressions that use a value of the variable property.

8. The electronic device of claim 7, wherein the first condition is that the first user is at a home, and wherein the processor is configured to:

translate home to a first location using a definition stored in the electronic device; and

determine whether the first user is at home by comparing a detected location of the electronic device and the first location.

9. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the processor is configured to:

assign an ID to the conditional communication;

store the communication part in a storage, the storage containing communication parts of other conditional communications;

link the one or more associated conditions to the ID; and

when the one or more conditions are satisfied, use the ID to determine which communication part to send the notification.

10. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the notification contains the communication part of the conditional communication.

11. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the notification is an alert that the conditional communication has been received and is awaiting review.

12. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the electronic device includes a server that is communication with a portable computer of the first user.

13. A method for providing a notification of a conditional communication, the method comprising:

receiving a conditional communication that has a communication part;

determining, with a computer system, that the conditional communication has one or more associated conditions, including a first condition;

identifying, with the computer system, a variable property that is associated with an electronic device and that is used to evaluate the first condition, wherein a set of applications are installed on the electronic device;

selecting, with the computer system, a subset of one or more applications from the set for obtaining the variable property associated with the electronic device, the one or more applications in the subset being dependent on the identified variable property;

obtaining, with the computer system, a value of the variable property at one or more times using the subset of applications;

determining, with the computer system, whether the one or more conditions are satisfied, including determining whether the variable property satisfies the first condition; and

when the one or more conditions are satisfied, output a notification of the communication part.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the electronic device is of a first user, wherein the computer system is the electronic device, and wherein the conditional communication is received from a second device of a second user.

15. The method of claim 13, wherein identifying the variable property includes:

using an identifier in the conditional communication, the identifier specifying the variable property, wherein the identifier is used to access one or more data structures to select the subset of applications corresponding to the identifier.

16. The method of claim 15, further comprising:

sending the identifier along with the value of the variable property to an evaluator;

using the identifier to determine where in a logical expression the value is to be inserted to evaluate the first condition.

17. The method of claim 13, further comprising:

assigning an ID to the conditional communication;

storing the communication part in a storage, the storage containing communication parts of other conditional communications;

linking the one or more associated conditions to the ID; and

when the one or more conditions are satisfied, using the ID to determine which communication part to send the notification.

18. The method of claim 13, wherein the electronic device is of a first user, and wherein the first user is associated with a plurality of electronic devices, the method further comprising:

determining which one or more of the electronic devices require obtaining information for determining whether the one or more conditions are satisfied, the variable property being associated with the one or more electronic devices;

obtaining, with the computer system, the value of the variable property at one or more times using the subset of applications for each of the one or more electronic devices;

using the one or more values of the variable property to determine whether the one or more conditions are satisfied.

19. The method of claim 13, further comprising:

transmitting the communication part to a first application so that the communication part is viewable by a user regardless of any conditions, wherein the notification is an alert that the conditional communication has been received and is awaiting review by the user.

20. The method of claim 13, wherein the computer system is a server, and wherein the electronic device is of a first user, the method further comprising:

identifying a plurality of devices of the first user;

determining a subset of one or more of the devices;

outputting the notification to the subset of devices, the subset including the electronic device, wherein the subset of devices is determined based on one or more capabilities of the devices.

21. A computer product comprising a non-transitory computer readable medium storing a plurality of instructions that when executed control a computer system to provide a notification of a conditional communication, the instructions comprising:

receiving a conditional communication that has a communication part;

determining that the conditional communication has one or more associated conditions, including a first condition;

identifying a variable property that is associated with an electronic device and that is used to evaluate the first condition, wherein a set of applications are installed on the electronic device;

selecting a subset of one or more applications from the set for obtaining the variable property associated with the electronic device, the one or more applications in the subset being dependent on the identified variable property;

obtaining a value of the variable property at one or more times using the subset of applications;

determining whether the one or more conditions are satisfied, including determining whether the variable property satisfies the first condition; and

when the one or more conditions are satisfied, output a notification of the communication part.

22. A method for providing a notification of a conditional communication, the method comprising:

receiving a conditional communication;

determining, with a computer system, that the conditional communication has one or more associated conditions, including a first condition;

identifying, with the computer system, a variable property that is associated with at least one electronic device and that is used to evaluate the first condition;

translating, with the computer system, the first condition to a plurality of logical expressions;

assigning each logical expression to a different notification of the conditional communication, wherein different notifications have different content;

obtaining, with the computer system, one or more values of the variable property;

determining, with the computer system, that a first logical expression of the plurality of logical expressions is satisfied by one of the values;

identifying, with the computer system, a first notification assigned to the first logical expression; and

output the first notification when the one or more associated conditions are satisfied.

23. The method of claim 22, wherein the at least one electronic device includes a first device of a first user and a second device of a second user, and wherein the first notification is associated with the first device and a second notification is associated with the second device.

24. The method of claim 22, wherein the at least one electronic device includes a first device of a first user, wherein each logical expression uses a different desired value for the variable property, and wherein the one of the values corresponds to the desired value of the first logical expression.

25. The method of claim 22, wherein the at least one electronic device is associated with a first user, the first user being associated with a plurality of devices, the method further comprising:

determining which one or more of the electronic devices are associated with the variable property;

obtaining a value of the variable property for each of the one or more electronic devices; and

using the one or more values of the variable property to determine whether the first condition is satisfied.

26. The method of claim 25, wherein each logical expression corresponds to a different electronic device.