Context sensitive actions

• US 9,110,561 B2
• Filed: 08/12/2013
• Issued: 08/18/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 08/12/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Original Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Inventors: Moore, Christopher D., Van Os, Marcel, Moore, Bradford A., Piemonte, Patrick S., Wachsman, Eleanor C.
• Primary Examiner(s): MARINELLI, PATRICK
• Application Number:
  US13/964,967
• Publication Number:
  US 20150046867A1
• Time in Patent Office: 736 Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/1694 the I/O peripheral being a single or a set of motion sensors for pointer control or gesture input obtained by sensing movements of the portable computer
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2203/0381 Multimodal input, i.e. interface arrangements enabling the user to issue commands by simultaneous use of input devices of different nature, e.g. voice plus gesture on digitizer
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0346 with detection of the device orientation or free movement in a 3D space, e.g. 3D mice, 6-DOF [six degrees of freedom] pointers using gyroscopes, accelerometers or tilt-sensors
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0416 Control or interface arrangements specially adapted for digitisers
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0481 based on specific properties of the displayed interaction object or a metaphor-based environment, e.g. interaction with desktop elements like windows or icons, or assisted by a cursor's changing behaviour or appearance
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0484 for the control of specific functions or operations, e.g. selecting or manipulating an object, an image or a displayed text element, setting a parameter value or selecting a range
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0485 Scrolling or panning
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04883 for inputting data by handwriting, e.g. gesture or text

Abstract

Techniques for performing context-sensitive actions in response to touch input are provided. A user interface of an application can be displayed. Touch input can be received in a region of the displayed user interface, and a context can be determined. A first action may be performed if the context is a first context and a second action may instead be performed if the context is a second context different from the first context. In some embodiments, an action may be performed if the context is a first context and the touch input is a first touch input, and may also be performed if the context is a second context and the touch input is a second touch input.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

at an electronic device with a touch-sensitive display;

displaying, on the touch-sensitive display, a user interface;

detecting a touch input in a region of the displayed user interface;

determining whether the electronic device is in motion or stationary while the touch input is detected;

in accordance with a determination that the electronic device is stationary while the touch input is detected and that the touch input matches a respective set of finger gestures, performing a predefined action; and

,

in accordance with a determination that the electronic device is in motion while the touch input is detected and that the touch input matches a subset of the respective set of finger gestures, performing the predefined action.

2. The method of claim 1, including:

in accordance with a determination that the electronic device is in motion while the touch input is detected, displaying a prompt to enter characters that correspond to only a subset of the respective set of finger gestures.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the respective set of finger gestures is a predetermined sequence of finger gestures.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the respective set of finger gestures corresponds to a passcode.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the subset of the respective set of finger gestures includes finger gestures that correspond to any combination of characters in the passcode.

6. The method of claim 4, wherein the subset of the respective set of finger gestures includes finger gestures that correspond to a consecutive subset of characters in the passcode.

7. The method of claim 4, wherein the subset of the respective set of finger gestures includes finger gestures that correspond to a first character and a last character in the passcode.

8. The method of claim 4, including:

in accordance with a determination that the electronic device is in motion while the touch input is detected, displaying a prompt to select only a reduced number of passcode characters that correspond to a subset of the passcode.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the predefined action unlocks the electronic device.

10. An electronic device, comprising:

a touch-sensitive display;

one or more processors;

memory; and

one or more programs, wherein the one or more programs are stored in the memory and configured to be executed by the one or more processors, the one or more programs including instructions for;

displaying, on the touch-sensitive display, a user interface;

detecting a touch input in a region of the displayed user interface;

determining whether the electronic device is in motion or stationary while the touch input is detected;

in accordance with a determination that the electronic device is stationary while the touch input is detected and that the touch input matches a respective set of finger gestures, performing a predefined action; and

,

in accordance with a determination that the electronic device is in motion while the touch input is detected and that the touch input matches a subset of the respective set of finger gestures, performing the predefined action.

11. The device of claim 10, including instructions for:

in accordance with a determination that the electronic device is in motion while the touch input is detected, displaying a prompt to enter characters that correspond to only a subset of the respective set of finger gestures.

12. The device of claim 10, wherein the respective set of finger gestures is a predetermined sequence of finger gestures.

13. The device of claim 10, wherein the respective set of finger gestures corresponds to a passcode.

14. The device of claim 13, wherein the subset of the respective set of finger gestures includes finger gestures that correspond to any combination of characters in the passcode.

15. The device of claim 13, wherein the subset of the respective set of finger gestures includes finger gestures that correspond to a consecutive subset of characters in the passcode.

16. The device of claim 13, wherein the subset of the respective set of finger gestures includes finger gestures that correspond to a first character and a last character in the passcode.

17. The device of claim 13, including instructions for:

in accordance with a determination that the electronic device is in motion while the touch input is detected, displaying a prompt to select only a reduced number of passcode characters that correspond to a subset of the passcode.

18. The device of claim 10, wherein the predefined action unlocks the electronic device.

19. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium storing one or more programs, the one or more programs comprising instructions, which when executed by an electronic device with a touch-sensitive display, cause the device to:

display, on the touch-sensitive display, a user interface;

detect a touch input in a region of the displayed user interface;

determine whether the electronic device is in motion or stationary while the touch input is detected;

in accordance with a determination that the electronic device is stationary while the touch input is detected and that the touch input matches a respective set of finger gestures, perform a predefined action; and

,

in accordance with a determination that the electronic device is in motion while the touch input is detected and that the touch input matches a subset of the respective set of finger gestures, perform the predefined action.

20. The computer readable storage medium of claim 19, including instructions, which when executed by the electronic device with the touch-sensitive display, cause the device to:

in accordance with a determination that the electronic device is in motion while the touch input is detected, display a prompt to enter characters that correspond to only a subset of the respective set of finger gestures.

21. The computer readable storage medium of claim 19, wherein the respective set of finger gestures is a predetermined sequence of finger gestures.

22. The computer readable storage medium of claim 19, wherein the respective set of finger gestures corresponds to a passcode.

23. The computer readable storage medium of claim 22, wherein the subset of the respective set of finger gestures includes finger gestures that correspond to any combination of characters in the passcode.

24. The computer readable storage medium of claim 22, wherein the subset of the respective set of finger gestures includes finger gestures that correspond to a consecutive subset of characters in the passcode.

25. The computer readable storage medium of claim 22, wherein the subset of the respective set of finger gestures includes finger gestures that correspond to a first character and a last character in the passcode.

26. The computer readable storage medium of claim 22, including instructions, which when executed by the electronic device with the touch-sensitive display, cause the device to:

in accordance with a determination that the electronic device is in motion while the touch input is detected, display a prompt to select only a reduced number of passcode characters that correspond to a subset of the passcode.

27. The computer readable storage medium of claim 19, wherein the predefined action unlocks the electronic device.