Creating and viewing digital note cards

• US 9,275,028 B2
• Filed: 08/17/2012
• Issued: 03/01/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 08/19/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Original Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Inventors: Migos, Charles J., Capela, Jay Christopher, Hagele, Markus, MacLean, Alexander C., Emanuel, M. Frank, Murrett, Mac, Elseth, Paul, Smyth, Kevin
• Primary Examiner(s): Bashore, William
• Assistant Examiner(s): Sugent, James F
• Application Number:
  US13/588,257
• Publication Number:
  US 20130047115A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,292 Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/048 Interaction techniques based on graphical user interfaces [GUI]
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0483 Interaction with page-structured environments, e.g. book metaphor
• 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 3/04842 Selection of displayed objects or displayed text elements G06F3/0482 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04883 for inputting data by handwriting, e.g. gesture or text
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/169 Annotation, e.g. comment data or footnotes

Abstract

Systems, techniques, and methods are presented for creating digital note cards and presenting a graphical user interface for interacting with digital note cards. For example, content from an electronic book can be displayed in a graphical user interface. Input can be received in the graphical user interface highlighting a portion of the content and creating a note, the note including user generated content. A digital note card can be created where one side of the digital note card includes the highlighted text, and the other side of the digital note card includes the note. The digital note card can be displayed in the graphical user interface.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

displaying, by a processing device, content from an electronic book in a graphical user interface presented on an electronic display coupled to the processing device;

receiving first user input selecting a portion of the content;

based on receiving the first user input, determining whether the selected portion of the content exceeds a predetermined number of characters, wherein a first set of options for performing operations on the selected portion of the content is displayed if the selected portion of the content is less than the predetermined number of characters and a second set of options for performing operations on the selected portion of the content that includes an option for creating a digital note card is displayed if the selected portion of the content equals or exceeds the predetermined number of characters;

in response to determining that the selected portion of the content equals or exceeds the predetermined number of characters, displaying the second set of options for performing operations on the selected portion of the content;

receiving second user input selecting the option for creating a digital note card;

based on receiving the second user input, displaying an input field for adding a user-generated note to a digital note card; and

creating a first digital note card, where a first side of the first digital note card includes the selected portion of the content, and a second side of the first digital note card includes the user-generated note.

2. The method of claim 1, comprising:

displaying, in the graphical user interface, the first digital note card in a stack of digital note cards, where the first side of the first digital note card including the selected portion of the content is displayed on the top of the stack.

3. The method of claim 2, comprising:

receiving a user input requesting to flip the first digital note card over;

responsive to the received user input, visually flipping the first digital note card over in an animated sequence including a series of graphical transitions; and

displaying, in the graphical user interface, the second side of the first digital note card that includes the user-generated note.

4. The method of claim 2, comprising:

receiving a user input requesting to move the first digital note card to the bottom of the stack of digital note cards, the user input including repositioning the first digital note card in the graphical user interface;

responsive to the received user input, determining whether a position of the first digital note card reaches a predetermined location in the graphical user interface;

based on determining that the position of the first digital note card has reached the predetermined location in the graphical user interface, visually moving the first digital note card to the bottom of the stack in an animated sequence; and

displaying, in the graphical user interface, a front of a second digital note card on the top of the stack, and displaying at least a portion of the first digital note card at the bottom of the stack.

5. The method of claim 2, comprising:

receiving a user input requesting to move a second digital note card that is at the bottom of the stack of digital note cards to the top of the stack;

responsive to the received user input, visually moving the second digital note card to the top of the stack in an animated sequence including a series of graphical transitions; and

displaying, in the graphical user interface, a front of the second digital note card on the top of the stack, and displaying at least a portion of the first digital note card below the second digital note card.

6. The method of claim 2, comprising:

receiving user feedback indicating a level of comprehension of content included in a digital note card; and

based on the user feedback, dynamically filtering the digital note cards included in the stack of digital note cards, wherein a subset of digital note cards in the dynamically filtered stack are displayed more often compared to other digital note cards in the stack.

7. The method of claim 2, comprising:

filtering the digital note cards in the stack of digital note cards, the filtering based at least in part on a highlighting color associated with the selected portion of content included in the digital note cards.

8. The method of claim 2, wherein the digital note card stack includes a plurality of vocabulary digital note cards, where, for each vocabulary digital note card, front of the vocabulary digital note card includes a vocabulary word from a glossary of vocabulary words included with the electronic book and back of the vocabulary digital note card includes a corresponding definition of the vocabulary word.

9. The method of claim 2, comprising:

receiving a user input swiping the first digital note card in the graphical user interface; and

responsive to the received user input, repositioning the first digital note card such that a second digital note card that is below the first digital note card in the stack is at least partly visible on the graphical user interface.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein displaying options for performing an operation on the selected portion of the content comprises:

presenting a heads up display box in the graphical user interface, the heads up display box including the options for performing the operation on the selected portion of the content, and

wherein the heads up display box is presented as an overlay above the displayed content from the electronic book in the graphical user interface.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein displaying the input field for adding user-generated note to a digital note card comprises:

presenting, as an overlay above the displayed content from the electronic book in the graphical user interface, a heads up display box that includes the input field; and

displaying, on the graphical user interface in association with presenting the heads up display box, a virtual keyboard for inputting content corresponding to the user-generated note.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving first user input selecting a portion of the content further comprises:

determining whether the first user input matches predefined input criteria for highlighting the selected portion of the content; and

in response to determining that the first user input matches the predefined input criteria, automatically highlighting the selected portion of the content.

13. An electronic device comprising:

a processor configured to execute instructions stored in a non-transitory machine-readable medium;

an input/output subsystem, operatively coupled to the processor, including an electronic display with a touch sensitive surface for input and output; and

a memory serving the machine-readable medium and storing processor-executable instructions to cause the electronic device to perform operations comprising;

displaying, via the touch sensitive surface, content from an electronic book in a graphical user interface presented on the electronic display;

receiving, via the touch sensitive surface, first user input selecting a portion of the content;

based on receiving the first user input, determining whether the selected portion of the content exceeds a predetermined number of characters, wherein a first set of options for performing operations on the selected portion of the content is displayed if the selected portion of the content is less than the predetermined number of characters and a second set of options for performing operations on the selected portion of the content that includes an option for creating a digital note card is displayed if the selected portion of the content equals or exceeds the predetermined number of characters;

in response to determining that the selected portion of the content equals or exceeds the predetermined number of characters, displaying the second set of options for performing operations on the selected portion of the content;

receiving second user input selecting the option for creating a digital note card;

based on receiving the second user input, displaying an input field for adding a user-generated note to a digital note card; and

creating a first digital note card, where a first side of the first digital note card includes the selected portion of the content, and a second side of the first digital note card includes the user-generated note.

14. The electronic device of claim 13, wherein the instructions cause the electronic device to perform operations comprising:

displaying, in the graphical user interface, the first digital note card in a stack of digital note cards, where the first side of the first digital note card including the selected portion of the content is displayed on the top of the stack.

15. The electronic device of claim 14, wherein the instructions cause the electronic device to perform operations comprising:

receiving, via the touch sensitive surface, a user input requesting to flip the first digital note card over;

responsive to the received user input, visually flipping the first digital note card over in an animated sequence including a series of graphical transitions; and

displaying, in the graphical user interface, the second side of the first digital note card that includes the user-generated note.

16. The electronic device of claim 14, wherein the instructions cause the electronic device to perform operations comprising:

receiving, via the touch sensitive surface, a user input requesting to move the first digital note card to the bottom of the stack of digital note cards, the user input including repositioning the first digital note card in the graphical user interface;

responsive to the received user input, determining whether a position of the first digital note card reaches a predetermined location in the graphical user interface;

based on determining that the position of the first digital note card has reached the predetermined location in the graphical user interface, visually moving the first digital note card to the bottom of the stack in an animated sequence; and

displaying, in the graphical user interface, a front of a second digital note card on the top of the stack, and displaying at least a portion of the first digital note card at the bottom of the stack.

17. The electronic device of claim 14, wherein the instructions cause the electronic device to perform operations comprising:

receiving, via the touch sensitive surface, a user input requesting to move a second digital note card that is at the bottom of the stack of digital note cards to the top of the stack;

responsive to the received user input, visually moving the second digital note card to the top of the stack in an animated sequence including a series of graphical transitions; and

displaying, in the graphical user interface, a front of the second digital note card on the top of the stack, and displaying at least a portion of the first digital note card below the second digital note card.

18. The electronic device of claim 14, wherein the instructions cause the electronic device to perform operations comprising:

receiving user feedback indicating a level of comprehension of content included in a digital note card; and

based on the user feedback, dynamically filtering the digital note cards included in the stack of digital note cards, wherein a subset of digital note cards in the dynamically filtered stack are displayed more often compared to other digital note cards in the stack.

19. The electronic device of claim 14, wherein the instructions cause the electronic device to perform operations comprising:

filtering the digital note cards in the stack of digital note cards, the filtering based at least in part on a highlighting color associated with the selected portion of content included in the digital note cards.

20. The electronic device of claim 14, wherein the digital note card stack includes a plurality of vocabulary digital note cards, where, for each vocabulary digital note card, front of the vocabulary digital note card includes a vocabulary word from a glossary of vocabulary words included with the electronic book and back of the vocabulary digital note card includes a corresponding definition of the vocabulary word.

21. The electronic device of claim 14, comprising:

receiving a user input swiping the first digital note card in the graphical user interface; and

responsive to the received user input, repositioning the first digital note card such that a second digital note card that is below the first digital note card in the stack is at least partly visible on the graphical user interface.

22. The electronic device of claim 13, wherein displaying options for performing an operation on the selected portion of the content comprises:

presenting a heads up display box in the graphical user interface, the heads up display box including the options for performing the operation on the selected portion of the content, and

wherein the heads up display box is presented as an overlay above the displayed content from the electronic book in the graphical user interface.

23. The electronic device of claim 13, wherein displaying the input field for adding user-generated note to a digital note card comprises:

presenting, as an overlay above the displayed content from the electronic book in the graphical user interface, a heads up display box that includes the input field; and

displaying, on the graphical user interface in association with presenting the heads up display box, a virtual keyboard for inputting content corresponding to the user-generated note.

24. The electronic device of claim 13, wherein receiving first user input selecting a portion of the content further comprises:

determining whether the first user input matches predefined input criteria for highlighting the selected portion of the content; and

in response to determining that the first user input matches the predefined input criteria, automatically highlighting the selected portion of the content.

25. A computer program product, encoded in a non-transitory computer-readable medium and including instructions that are operable to cause a data processing apparatus to perform operations comprising:

displaying content from an electronic book in a graphical user interface presented on an electronic display coupled to the data processing apparatus;

receiving first user input selecting a portion of the content;

based on receiving the first user input, determining whether the selected portion of the content exceeds a predetermined number of characters, wherein a first set of options for performing operations on the selected portion of the content is displayed if the selected portion of the content is less than the predetermined number of characters and a second set of options for performing operations on the selected portion of the content that includes an option for creating a digital note card is displayed if the selected portion of the content equals or exceeds the predetermined number of characters;

in response to determining that the selected portion of the content equals or exceeds the predetermined number of characters, displaying the second set of options for performing operations on the selected portion of the content;

receiving second user input selecting the option for creating a digital note card;

based on receiving the second user input, displaying an input field for adding a user-generated note to a digital note card; and

creating a first digital note card, where a first side of the first digital note card includes the selected portion of the content, and a second side of the first digital note card includes the user-generated note.

26. The computer program product of claim 25, wherein the instructions cause the data processing apparatus to perform operations comprising:

displaying, in the graphical user interface, the first digital note card in a stack of digital note cards, where the first side of the first digital note card including the selected portion of the content is displayed on the top of the stack.

27. The computer program product of claim 26, wherein the instructions cause the data processing apparatus to perform operations comprising:

receiving a user input requesting to flip the first digital note card over;

responsive to the received user input, visually flipping the first digital note card over in an animated sequence including a series of graphical transitions; and

displaying, in the graphical user interface, the second side of the first digital note card that includes the user-generated note.

28. The computer program product of claim 26, wherein the instructions cause the data processing apparatus to perform operations comprising:

receiving a user input requesting to move the first digital note card to the bottom of the stack of digital note cards, the user input including repositioning the first digital note card in the graphical user interface;

responsive to the received user input, determining whether a position of the first digital note card reaches a predetermined location in the graphical user interface;

based on determining that the position of the first digital note card has reached the predetermined location in the graphical user interface, visually moving the first digital note card to the bottom of the stack in an animated sequence; and

displaying, in the graphical user interface, a front of a second digital note card on the top of the stack, and displaying at least a portion of the first digital note card at the bottom of the stack.

29. The computer program product of claim 26, wherein the instructions cause the data processing apparatus to perform operations comprising:

receiving a user input requesting to move a second digital note card that is at the bottom of the stack of digital note cards to the top of the stack;

responsive to the received user input, visually moving the second digital note card to the top of the stack in an animated sequence including a series of graphical transitions; and

displaying, in the graphical user interface, a front of the second digital note card on the top of the stack, and displaying at least a portion of the first digital note card below the second digital note card.

30. The computer program product of claim 26, wherein the instructions cause the data processing apparatus to perform operations comprising:

receiving user feedback indicating a level of comprehension of content included in a digital note card; and

based on the user feedback, dynamically filtering the digital note cards included in the stack of digital note cards, wherein a subset of digital note cards in the dynamically filtered stack are displayed more often compared to other digital note cards in the stack.

31. The computer program product of claim 26, wherein the instructions cause the data processing apparatus to perform operations comprising:

filtering the digital note cards in the stack of digital note cards, the filtering based at least in part on a highlighting color associated with the selected portion of content included in the digital note cards.

32. The computer program product of claim 26, wherein the digital note card stack includes a plurality of vocabulary digital note cards, where, for each vocabulary digital note card, front of the vocabulary digital note card includes a vocabulary word from a glossary of vocabulary words included with the electronic book and back of the vocabulary digital note card includes a corresponding definition of the vocabulary word.

33. The computer program product of claim 26, wherein receiving first user input selecting a portion of the content further comprises:

receiving a user input swiping the first digital note card in the graphical user interface; and

responsive to the received user input, repositioning the first digital note card such that a second digital note card that is below the first digital note card in the stack is at least partly visible on the graphical user interface.

34. The computer program product of claim 25, wherein displaying options for performing an operation on the selected portion of the content comprises:

presenting a heads up display box in the graphical user interface, the heads up display box including the options for performing the operation on the selected portion of the content, and

wherein the heads up display box is presented as an overlay above the displayed content from the electronic book in the graphical user interface.

35. The computer program product of claim 25, wherein displaying the input field for adding user-generated note to a digital note card comprises:

presenting, as an overlay above the displayed content from the electronic book in the graphical user interface, a heads up display box that includes the input field; and

displaying, on the graphical user interface in association with presenting the heads up display box, a virtual keyboard for inputting content corresponding to the user-generated note.

36. The computer program product of claim 25, wherein receiving first user input selecting a portion of the content further comprises:

determining whether the first user input matches predefined input criteria for highlighting the selected portion of the content; and

in response to determining that the first user input matches the predefined input criteria, automatically highlighting the selected portion of the content.