Creating a social network message from an interface of a mobile device operating system

• US 9,818,161 B2
• Filed: 06/05/2012
• Issued: 11/14/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 06/05/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Original Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Inventors: Voas, Edward, Lam, Justin
• Primary Examiner(s): Kabir, Jahangir
• Application Number:
  US13/488,647
• Publication Number:
  US 20130326368A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,988 Days
• Field of Search: 726 5, 726 3, 726 8- 9, 713168, 713185, 715753
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/01 Social networking
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/60 Business processes related to postal services shipping G06Q10/083; franking apparatus G07B17/00

Abstract

A mobile device operating system level routine obtains social network access parameters that allow access to one or more social network accounts of a user of the device. The access parameters are stored in operating system level memory of the mobile device. Through an operating system interface of the mobile device, a user can create a social network message to be communicated via the one or more social network accounts using the stored access parameters. A single social network message may be communicated via multiple social network accounts with multiple social network platforms. The uniform operating system interface allows a user to communicate messages via multiple social network accounts without using multiple user level applications.

Claims

1. At least one non-transitory program storage device, readable by at least one processor and comprising operating system instructions stored thereon to cause the at least one processor to:

obtain access parameters for one or more social network accounts through one or more user interfaces, the one or more user interfaces presented by one or more client-side social network applications, wherein the one or more client-side social network applications are associated with text message communication;

store, by an operating system, a mobile device identifier, the mobile device identifier being associated with a mobile device;

obtain, by the operating system, a permission to transfer the access parameters from the one or more client-side social network applications to a memory of the mobile device that is designated for use only by the operating system;

transfer, by the operating system, the obtained access parameters from the one or more client-side social network applications to the memory of the mobile device that is designated for use only by the operating system;

receive, by the operating system, a social network response message manually entered by a user through a second user interface, wherein the second user interface is directly presented by the operating system without accessing the one or more client-side social network applications; and

cause transmission, by the operating system, of the social network response message, the access parameters and the mobile device identifier directly to a first server-side social network application using at least one of the one or more social network accounts without intervention of the one or more client-side social network applications.

2. The at least one non-transitory program storage device of claim 1, wherein the access parameters are transmitted to the first server-side social network application in an encrypted format.

3. The at least one non-transitory program storage device of claim 1, wherein the operating system instructions to cause the at least one processor to obtain the social network credentials for the one or more social network accounts comprise operating system instructions to cause the at least one processor to prompt the user to enter each of the one or more social network credentials through one of the one or more user interfaces that correspond to the social network accounts.

4. The at least one non-transitory program storage device of claim 1, wherein the operating system instructions to cause the at least one processor to obtain the access parameters comprise operating system instructions to cause the at least one processor to:

obtain, from one of the one or more user interfaces, a social network credential corresponding to a first social network account;

send the social network credential to the first server-side social network application; and

receive, from the first server-side social network application and in response to the sent social network credential, a social network token corresponding to the first social network account.

5. The at least one non-transitory program storage device of claim 1, wherein the memory that is designated for use only by the operating system is further dedicated to storing the access parameters for the one or more social network accounts.

6. The at least one non-transitory program storage device of claim 1, wherein the operating system instructions to cause the processor to receive the social network response message through a second user interface of the operating system further comprise operating system instructions to cause the at least one processor to determine one or more social network platforms to which the one or more social network accounts correspond.

7. The at least one non-transitory program storage device of claim 6, further comprising operating system instructions to cause the at least one processor to display only the one or more social network platforms to which the one or more social network accounts correspond.

8. The at least one non-transitory program storage device of claim 1, wherein the operating system instructions to cause the at least one processor to cause transmission of the social network response message comprise operating system instructions to cause the at least one processor to cause transmission of the social network response message via a plurality of the one or more social network accounts.

9. A mobile electronic device, comprising:

a display;

a network communications circuit;

one or more processors connected to the display and the network communications circuit; and

a memory connected to the display, the network communications circuit and the one or more processors, wherein the memory includes operating system instructions and client application instructions, and further wherein the memory includes a first portion restricted to use by an operating system and a second portion of memory that the client application instructions can access, the operating system instructions configured to cause the one or more processors to;

obtain access parameters for one or more social network accounts through one or more user interfaces, the one or more user interfaces presented by one or more client-side social network applications, wherein the one or more client-side social network applications are associated with text message communication,

store a device identifier, the device identifier being associated with the mobile electronic device;

obtain a permission to transfer the access parameters from the one or more client-side social network applications to the first portion of the memory of the mobile electronic device that is designated for use only by the operating system;

transfer the obtained access parameters from the one or more client-side social network applications to the first portion of the memory that is designated for use only by the operating system,

receive, through a second user interface, a social network response message manually entered by a user, wherein the second user interface is directly presented by the operating system without accessing the one or more client-side social network applications, and

transmit the social network response message, the access parameters and the device identifier directly to a first server-side social network application through the network communication circuit using at least one of the one or more social network accounts, without intervention of the one or more client-side social network applications.

10. The mobile electronic device of claim 9, wherein the access parameters are transmitted to the first server-side social network application in an encrypted format.

11. The mobile electronic device of claim 9, wherein the operating system instructions configured to cause the one or more processors to obtain the social network credentials comprise operating system instructions configured to cause the one or more processors to:

prompt the user, through the one or more user interfaces, to enter a network credential for each of the one or more social network accounts;

transmit, through the network communications circuit, at least one of the one or more social network credentials to a corresponding server-side social network application; and

receive, through the network communications circuit and in response to the transmitted at least one of the one or more social network credentials, a social network token corresponding to each of the at least one or more social network accounts.

12. The mobile electronic device of claim 11, further comprising operating system instructions configured to cause the one or more processors to store each of the received social network tokens in the first portion of memory.

13. The mobile electronic device of claim 11, wherein the operating system instructions configured to transmit the social network response message comprise operating system instructions configured to transmit the social network response message through the network communication circuit to each of the one or more social network accounts.

14. The mobile electronic device of claim 9, wherein the network communications circuit comprises a wireless network communications circuit.

15. A method, comprising:

obtaining access parameters for one or more social network accounts through one or more user interfaces, the one or more user interfaces presented by one or more client-side social network applications, wherein the one or more client-side social network applications are associated with text message communication;

storing, by an operating system, a mobile device identifier, the mobile device identifier being associated with a mobile device;

obtain, by the operating system, a permission to transfer the access parameters from the one or more client-side social network applications to a memory of the mobile device that is designated for use only by the operating system;

transferring, by the operating system, the access parameters from the one or more client-side social network applications to the memory of the mobile device that is designated for use only by the operating system;

receiving, by the operating system, a social network response message manually entered by a user through a second user interface of the operating system, wherein the second user interface is directly presented by the operating system without accessing the one or more client-side social network applications; and

transmitting, by the operating system, each of the social network response message, the access parameters and the mobile device identifier directly with a first server-side social network application using at least one of the one or more social network accounts, without intervention of the one or more client-side social network applications.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the access parameters are transmitted to the first server-side social network application in an encrypted format.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein obtaining the social network credentials comprises prompting the user to enter each of the one or more social network credentials through one of the one or more user interfaces that corresponds to the social network accounts.

18. The method of claim 15, wherein obtaining the access parameters comprises:

obtaining, from one of the one or more user interfaces, a social network credential corresponding to a first social network account;

sending the social network credential to the first server-side social network application; and

receiving, from the first server-side social network application and in response to the sent social network credential, a social network token corresponding to the first social network account.

19. The method of claim 15, wherein the memory that is designated for use only by the operating system is further dedicated to storing the access parameters for the one or more social network accounts.

20. The method of claim 15, wherein receiving the social network response message through a second user interface of the operating system further comprises determining one or more social network platforms to which the one or more social network accounts correspond.

21. The method of claim 20, further comprising displaying only the one or more social network platforms to which the one or more social network accounts correspond.

22. The method of claim 15, wherein communicating the social network response message comprises communicating the social network response message via a plurality of the one or more social network accounts.