Direction list

• US 9,273,980 B2
• Filed: 10/17/2013
• Issued: 03/01/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 06/09/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Original Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Inventors: Carlhian, Alexandre, Godfrey, Edouard D., Drukman, Maxwell O.
• Primary Examiner(s): Nguyen, John Q
• Assistant Examiner(s): Fei, Jordan S
• Application Number:
  US14/056,443
• Publication Number:
  US 20140365123A1
• Time in Patent Office: 866 Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3626 Details of the output of route guidance instructions traffic control systems for road vehicles involving transmission of navigation instructions to the vehicle G08G1/0968
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3632 Guidance using simplified or iconic instructions, e.g. using arrows G01C21/365 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 19/42 Determining position

Abstract

A mapping application that intelligently places distance labels along a route in a map is disclosed. A distance label placed at a particular position of the route shows the distance to the particular location from the starting point of the route. Distance labels allow the user of the map to quickly appreciate the distances between the various points of interest (e.g., maneuvers) along the route. In some mapping applications that display the route as a list of driving directions, the distance labels are placed alongside the list of driving directions, and each distance label is associated with a maneuver in the list of directions.

Claims

1. A non-transitory computer readable medium storing a computer program for execution by at least one processor, the computer program comprising sets of instructions for:

displaying a route on a map, the route comprising a plurality of maneuvers for traveling from a starting location to an ending location;

providing a list of directions based on the route, the list of directions comprising a plurality of items, each item corresponding to a maneuver in the route;

receiving a selection of an item in the list of directions; and

changing a view of the map from a first view that includes a currently viewed position to a second view that includes a position of a maneuver that corresponds to the selected item by transitioning through a third view that encompasses both the currently viewed position and the position of the maneuver that corresponds to the selected item.

2. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 1, wherein the program further comprises a set of instructions for providing a plurality of distance labels along the route on the map.

3. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 1, wherein the set of instructions for changing the view of the map comprises a set of instructions for zooming out to encompass both the currently viewed position and the position of the selected maneuver.

4. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 1, wherein the set of instructions for changing the view of the map comprises a set of instructions for panning from the currently viewed position to the position of the selected maneuver if both the currently viewed position and the position of the selected maneuver can fit within a same view at a current zoom level.

5. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 1, wherein at least some of the items in the list of directions are associated with distance labels.

6. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 5, wherein at least some of the items in the list of directions are not associated with distance labels.

7. A method of providing a graphical user interface (GUI) for a mapping application, the method comprising:

providing a map viewing area for displaying a map and a route that comprises a plurality of maneuvers for traveling from a starting location to an ending location;

providing a list view area for displaying a list of directions based on the route, the list of directions comprising a plurality of items, each item corresponding to a maneuver in the route;

receiving a selection of an item in the list of directions; and

changing a view of the map in the map viewing area from a first view that includes a currently viewed position to a second view that includes a position of a maneuver that corresponds to the selected item by transitioning through a third view that encompasses both the currently viewed position and the position of the maneuver that corresponds to the selected item.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein changing the view of the map comprises zooming out to encompass both the currently viewed position and the position of the selected maneuver.

9. The method of claim 7, wherein changing the view of the map comprises panning from the currently viewed position to the position of the selected maneuver if both the currently viewed position and the position of the selected maneuver can fit within a same view at a current zoom level.

10. A method comprising:

displaying a route on a map, the route indicating a path from a starting location to an ending location;

generating a list of directions based on the route, wherein the list of directions comprises a plurality of steps for traveling on the route;

associating a plurality of distance labels with at least some of the steps in the plurality of steps, wherein each distance label indicates a traveling distance along the route; and

displaying the plurality of distance labels along the list of directions and along the route displayed on the map.

11. The method of claim 10 further comprising determining placement of the plurality of distance labels along the route.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein determining placement of the plurality of distance labels along the route comprises determining a segment unit value based on a set of numbers having two or less significant digits.

13. The method of claim 12 further comprising computing a lower bound value for the segment unit value based on a target number of distance labels and a length of the route.

14. The method of claim 13 further comprising computing a logarithmic value of the lower bound value.

15. The method of claim 11, wherein the placement of the distance labels along a particular section of the route is at least partially determined by the number of steps within that section of the route.

16. The method of claim 10, wherein associating the plurality of distance labels with the plurality of steps comprises distributing the distance labels evenly among the plurality of steps in the list of directions.

17. The method of claim 10, wherein the distance measure is measured from the starting location of the route.

18. The method of claim 10, wherein the number of distance labels in the plurality of distance labels is a predetermined number that is independent of an actual length of the route.

19. The method of claim 10, wherein at least some of the distance labels are placed near the beginning and the end of the route.

20. A non-transitory computer readable medium storing a computer program for execution by at least one processor, the computer program comprising sets of instructions for:

displaying a route on a map, the route indicating a path from a starting location to an ending location; and

;

displaying a list of directions based on the route, wherein the list of directions comprises a plurality of maneuvers along the route;

displaying a plurality of distance labels along the route on the map and along the list of directions, wherein each distance label indicates a distance measure for a point of interest in the route that indicates a traveling distance on the path, wherein each distance label is associated with one maneuver in the list of directions.

21. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 20 further comprising a set of instructions for displaying the list of directions and a set of instructions for displaying the distance labels along the list of directions.

22. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 21, wherein the list of directions is represented by a plurality of graphical items, each graphical item representing a maneuver from the plurality of maneuvers, wherein the set of instructions for displaying the plurality of distance labels comprises a set of instructions for displaying the distance labels within some but not all of the graphical items in the list of directions.

23. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 20 further comprising a set of instructions for printing the list of directions.

24. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 23 further comprising a set of instructions for printing the plurality of distance labels along the printed list of directions.

25. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 24, wherein the set of instructions for printing the plurality of distance labels comprises a set of instructions for printing the distance labels adjacent to some but not all of the entries in the list of directions.

26. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 20, wherein at least some of the points of interest along the route are maneuvers from the plurality of maneuvers.

27. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 20, wherein the number of distance labels in the plurality of distance labels is a predetermined number that is independent of a length of the route.

28. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 20, wherein each distance label indicates an expected travel time from the starting location.

29. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 20, wherein each distance label indicates an expected travel time to reach the ending location.