Displaying and updating workspaces in a user interface

• US 9,542,202 B2
• Filed: 10/19/2010
• Issued: 01/10/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 10/19/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Original Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Inventors: Ording, Bas, Louch, John O.
• Primary Examiner(s): To, Jennifer
• Assistant Examiner(s): Burwell, Joseph R
• Application Number:
  US12/907,982
• Publication Number:
  US 20120096397A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,275 Days
• Field of Search: 715/802
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2203/04802 3D-info-object: information is displayed on the internal or external surface of a three dimensional manipulable object, e.g. on the faces of a cube that can be rotated by the user
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04817 using icons graphical or visual programming using iconic symbols G06F8/34
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0482 Interaction with lists of selectable items, e.g. menus
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04883 for inputting data by handwriting, e.g. gesture or text
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/451 Execution arrangements for user interfaces

Abstract

Providing a bridge interface for managing virtual workspaces is disclosed. A plurality of workspace images is presented in a user interface, each workspace image corresponding to a different virtual workspace available to a user of a computer system. A user input indicating a selection of a presented workspace image is received. The user interface is updated to display a plurality of application windows associated with the selected virtual workspace in addition to displaying the plurality of workspace images.

Claims

1. A method performed by one or more processors executing on a computer system including a display device and a touch-sensitive surface, the method comprising:

concurrently displaying, in a user interface on the display device;

a plurality of workspace images that correspond to different virtual workspaces, including a first workspace image corresponding to a first virtual workspace, a second workspace image corresponding to a second virtual workspace, and a third workspace image corresponding to a third virtual workspace, that are available to a user of the computer system, and

a view of the first virtual workspace;

while concurrently displaying the plurality of workspace images and the view of the first virtual workspace, receiving user input comprising a swipe input in a respective direction on the touch-sensitive surface, wherein the swipe input is detected at a location that corresponds to a location in the user interface that is away from the plurality of workspace images; and

in response to the user input;

in accordance with a determination that the respective direction is a first direction, replacing the view of the first virtual workspace with a view of the second virtual workspace while maintaining display of the plurality of workspace images, including the first workspace image, the second workspace image, and the third workspace image; and

in accordance with a determination that the respective direction is a second direction that is different from the first direction, replacing the view of the first virtual workspace with a view of the third virtual workspace while maintaining display of the plurality of workspace images, including the first workspace image, the second workspace image, and the third workspace image.

2. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

in response to the user input;

in accordance with the determination that the respective direction is the first direction, changing an active virtual workspace designation from the first virtual workspace to the second virtual workspace; and

in accordance with a determination that the respective direction is the second direction that is different from the first direction, changing the active virtual workspace designation from the first virtual workspace to the third virtual workspace.

3. The method of claim 2 wherein the second workspace image is visually adjacent to the first workspace image and the third workspace image is visually adjacent to the first workspace image.

4. The method of claim 2 wherein the first direction is a direction from right to left and the second workspace image is visually to the right of the first workspace image.

5. The method of claim 2 wherein the second direction is a direction from left to right and the third workspace image is visually to the left of the first workspace image.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of workspace images are displayed in a row in a first region of the user interface, the view of the first virtual workspace is displayed in a second region of the user interface, adjacent to the first region, the view of the second virtual workspace is displayed in the second region, and the view of the third virtual workspace is displayed in the second region.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein before receiving the user input, the first workspace image corresponding to the first virtual workspace has a focus indicator, the method further comprising:

in response to receiving the user input;

in accordance with the determination that the respective direction is the first direction, moving the focus indicator from the first workspace image to the second workspace image corresponding to the second virtual workspace; and

in accordance with the determination that the respective direction is the second direction that is different from the first direction, moving the focus indicator from the first workspace image to the third workspace image corresponding to the third virtual workspace.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein maintaining the display of the plurality of workspace images comprises maintaining sizes and positions of the plurality of workspace images in the user interface.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of workspace images are arranged in an order in which the first workspace image is between the second workspace image and the third workspace image.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the first workspace image shows a spatial arrangement of windows in the first virtual workspace, the second workspace image shows a spatial arrangement of windows in the second virtual workspace, and the third workspace image shows a spatial arrangement of windows in the third virtual workspace.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the view of the first virtual workspace includes representations of windows in the first virtual workspace that are spatially rearranged with respect to an arrangement of the windows in the first virtual workspace.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the view of the first virtual workspace includes representations of windows in the first virtual workspace that are smaller than the corresponding windows in the first virtual workspace.

13. A computer program product tangibly embodied in a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, the computer program product including instructions that, when executed, generate on a display device of a computer system including a touch-sensitive surface a graphical user interface for presenting virtual workspaces and perform the following operations:

concurrently displaying, in a user interface on the display device;

a plurality of workspace images that correspond to different virtual workspaces, including a first workspace image corresponding to a first virtual workspace, a second workspace image corresponding to a second virtual workspace, and a third workspace image corresponding to a third virtual workspace, that are available to a user of the computer system, and

a view of the first virtual workspace;

while concurrently displaying the plurality of workspace images and the view of the first virtual workspace, receiving user input comprising a swipe input in a respective direction on the touch-sensitive surface, wherein the swipe input is detected at a location that corresponds to a location in the user interface that is away from the plurality of workspace images; and

in response to the user input;

in accordance with a determination that the respective direction is a first direction, replacing the view of the first virtual workspace with a view of the second virtual workspace while maintaining display of the plurality of workspace images, including the first workspace image, the second workspace image, and the third workspace image; and

in accordance with a determination that the respective direction is a second direction that is different from the first direction, replacing the view of the first virtual workspace with a view of the third virtual workspace while maintaining display of the plurality of workspace images, including the first workspace image, the second workspace image, and the third workspace image.

14. The computer program product of claim 13 including instructions that further perform:

in response to the user input;

in accordance with the determination that the respective direction is the first direction, changing an active virtual workspace designation from the first virtual workspace to the second virtual workspace; and

in accordance with the determination that the respective direction is the second direction that is different from the first direction, changing the active virtual workspace designation from the first virtual workspace to the third virtual workspace.

15. The computer program product of claim 14 wherein the second workspace image is visually adjacent to the first workspace image and the third workspace image is visually adjacent to the first workspace image.

16. The computer program product of claim 14 wherein the first direction is a direction from right to left and the second workspace image is visually to the right of the first workspace image.

17. The computer program product of claim 14 wherein the second direction is a direction from left to right and the third workspace image is visually to the left of the first workspace image.

18. The computer program product of claim 13, wherein the plurality of workspace images are displayed in a row in a first region of the user interface, the view of the first virtual workspace is displayed in a second region of the user interface, adjacent to the first region, the view of the second virtual workspace is displayed in the second region, and the view of the third virtual workspace is displayed in the second region.

19. The computer program product of claim 13, wherein before receiving the user input, the first workspace image corresponding to the first virtual workspace has a focus indicator, the instructions further performing:

in response to receiving the user input;

in accordance with the determination that the respective direction is the first direction, moving the focus indicator from the first workspace image to the second workspace image corresponding to the second virtual workspace; and

in accordance with the determination that the respective direction is the second direction that is different from the first direction, moving the focus indicator from the first workspace image to the third workspace image corresponding to the third virtual workspace.

20. The computer program product of claim 13, wherein maintaining the display of the plurality of workspace images comprises maintaining sizes and positions of the plurality of workspace images in the user interface.

21. The computer program product of claim 13, wherein the plurality of workspace images are arranged in an order in which the first workspace image is between the second workspace image and the third workspace image.

22. The computer program product of claim 13, wherein the first workspace image shows a spatial arrangement of windows in the first virtual workspace, the second workspace image shows a spatial arrangement of windows in the second virtual workspace, and the third workspace image shows a spatial arrangement of windows in the third virtual workspace.

23. The computer program product of claim 13, wherein the view of the first virtual workspace includes representations of windows in the first virtual workspace that are spatially rearranged with respect to an arrangement of the windows in the first virtual workspace.

24. The computer program product of claim 13, wherein the view of the first virtual workspace includes representations of windows in the first virtual workspace that are smaller than the corresponding windows in the first virtual workspace.

25. A system comprising:

a display device;

a touch-sensitive surface;

a computing device in communication with the display device and the one or more input devices,

wherein the computing device is configured to perform at least the following;

concurrently displaying, in a user interface on the display device;

a plurality of workspace images that correspond to different virtual workspaces, including a first workspace image corresponding to a first virtual workspace, a second workspace image corresponding to a second virtual workspace, and a third workspace image corresponding to a third virtual workspace, that are available to a user of the computing device, and

a view of the first virtual workspace;

while concurrently displaying the plurality of workspace images and the view of the first virtual workspace, receiving user input comprising a swipe input in a respective direction on the touch-sensitive surface, wherein the swipe input is detected at a location that corresponds to a location in the user interface that is away from the plurality of workspace images; and

in response to the user input;

in accordance with a determination that the respective direction is a first direction, replacing the view of the first virtual workspace with a view of the second virtual workspace while maintaining display of the plurality of workspace images, including the first workspace image, the second workspace image, and the third workspace image; and

in accordance with a determination that the respective direction is a second direction that is different from the first direction, replacing the view of the first virtual workspace with a view of the third virtual workspace while maintaining display of the plurality of workspace images, including the first workspace image, the second workspace image, and the third workspace image.

26. The system of claim 25, the computing device further configured to perform the following:

in response to the user input;

in accordance with the determination that the respective direction is the first direction, changing an active virtual workspace designation from the first virtual workspace to the second virtual workspace; and

in accordance with the determination that the respective direction is the second direction that is different from the first direction, changing the active virtual workspace designation from the first virtual workspace to the third virtual workspace.

27. The system of claim 26 wherein the second workspace image is visually adjacent to the first workspace image and the third workspace image is visually adjacent to the first workspace image.

28. The system of claim 26 wherein the first direction is a direction from right to left and the second workspace image is visually to the right of the first workspace image.

29. The system of claim 26 wherein the second direction is a direction from left to right and the third workspace image is visually to the left of the first workspace image.

30. The system of claim 25, wherein the plurality of workspace images are displayed in a row in a first region of the user interface, the view of the first virtual workspace is displayed in a second region of the user interface, adjacent to the first region, the view of the second virtual workspace is displayed in the second region, and the view of the third virtual workspace is displayed in the second region.

31. The system of claim 25, wherein before receiving the user input, the first workspace image corresponding to the first virtual workspace has a focus indicator, the computing device further configured to perform:

in response to receiving the user input;

in accordance with the determination that the respective direction is the first direction, moving the focus indicator from the first workspace image to the second workspace image corresponding to the second virtual workspace; and

in accordance with the determination that the respective direction is the second direction that is different from the first direction, moving the focus indicator from the first workspace image to the third workspace image corresponding to the third virtual workspace.

32. The system of claim 25, wherein maintaining the display of the plurality of workspace images comprises maintaining sizes and positions of the plurality of workspace images in the user interface.

33. The system of claim 25, wherein the plurality of workspace images are arranged in an order in which the first workspace image is between the second workspace image and the third workspace image.

34. The system of claim 25, wherein the first workspace image shows a spatial arrangement of windows in the first virtual workspace, the second workspace image shows a spatial arrangement of windows in the second virtual workspace, and the third workspace image shows a spatial arrangement of windows in the third virtual workspace.

35. The system of claim 25, wherein the view of the first virtual workspace includes representations of windows in the first virtual workspace that are spatially rearranged with respect to an arrangement of the windows in the first virtual workspace.

36. The system of claim 25, wherein the view of the first virtual workspace includes representations of windows in the first virtual workspace that are smaller than the corresponding windows in the first virtual workspace.