Simplified message grouping and display

• US 9,913,114 B1
• Filed: 12/15/2015
• Issued: 03/06/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 12/15/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Snap, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Snap, Inc.
• Inventors: Wu, William, Murray, Michael Brian, Samaranayake, Chamal, Wagner, Erik
• Primary Examiner(s): Hammonds, Marcus
• Application Number:
  US14/969,841
• Time in Patent Office: 812 Days
• Field of Search: 455466
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/106 Display of layout of documents; Previewing
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/109 Font handling; Temporal or kinetic typography
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 11/60 Editing figures and text; Combining figures or text
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 13/80 2D [Two Dimensional] animation, e.g. using sprites
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/216 Handling conversation history, e.g. grouping of messages in sessions or threads
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/234 for tracking messages
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/14 Short messaging services, e.g. short message services [SMS] or unstructured supplementary service data [USSD]

Abstract

Systems and methods for simplified message grouping and display are provided. In example embodiments, a plurality of messages are received within a conversation which is accessible by a plurality of client devices. It is determined that respective messages of the plurality of messages are unread by a first client device. One or more of the unread messages are grouped into a first message group. A first overlaid card is generated by arranging the first message group on the first overlaid card, and the first overlaid card is caused to be displayed using the screen of the first client device.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

receiving, at a first client device comprising one or more processors and a memory, a plurality of messages within a conversation, wherein the conversation is accessible by a plurality of client devices;

determining that at least a portion of the plurality of messages comprises unread messages which are unread by the first client device;

grouping one or more of the unread messages into a first message group;

generating a first overlaid card by arranging the first message group on the first overlaid card;

causing display of the first overlaid card using a screen of the first client device;

storing a timestamp for respective messages of the plurality of messages, wherein the timestamp indicates a time at which a particular message was sent;

grouping at least one of the unread messages into a second message group, wherein all messages within the second message group have later timestamps than all messages within the first message group;

generating a second overlaid card by arranging the second message group on the second overlaid card;

displaying the second overlaid card using the screen of the user device; and

transitioning from displaying the first overlaid card to displaying the second overlaid card in response to a first user input via an interface of the user device, wherein the transition from displaying the first overlaid card to displaying the second overlaid card is accompanied by an animation.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining a base font size for a different arrangement of the plurality of messages, wherein the plurality of messages are not arranged on overlaid cards within the different arrangement of the plurality of messages;

determining a larger font size for the plurality of messages displayed on the first overlaid card and the second overlaid card, wherein the larger font size is a greater point size than the base font size.

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising:

ordering a set of overlaid cards, comprising all generated overlaid cards, into a display order;

transitioning through the set of overlaid cards in the display order until the overlaid card last in the display order is displayed; and

displaying the different arrangement of the plurality of messages.

4. The method of claim 2, further comprising:

ordering a set of overlaid cards, comprising all generated overlaid cards, into a display order;

transitioning through the set of overlaid cards in the display order;

detecting a second user input; and

displaying the different arrangement of the plurality of messages in response to detecting the second user input.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the messages are ordered by timestamp within each message group.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein a threshold amount of time passing between the sending of two messages will cause the messages to be displayed on different overlaid cards.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving an image within the conversation;

storing a timestamp when the image was received; and

displaying the image in a fullscreen view, after displaying all overlaid cards with messages having timestamps earlier than the timestamp when the image was received.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

detecting a media message sent by a user, wherein the media is accompanied by text messages which have timestamps within a threshold time period of the media message;

embedding a miniature preview of the media message into the first overlaid card containing the first set of messages; and

displaying the miniature preview of the media message on the first overlaid card in line with text messages displayed on the first media card.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

detecting a media message sent by a user, wherein the media is not accompanied by text messages which have timestamps within a threshold time period of the media message;

embedding an enlarged preview of the media message into a fullscreen media card; and

displaying the fullscreen media card separately from other overlaid cards.

10. The method of claim 9, further comprising:

displaying a selectable link to the media previewed, wherein the selectable link is displayed within the fullscreen media card.

11. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining which message marked as read within the plurality of messages has the latest timestamp; and

displaying the message with the latest timestamp that was marked within the first overlaid card.

12. A non-transitory machine-readable medium storing instructions that, when executed by at least one processor of a machine, cause the machine to perform operations comprising:

receiving a plurality of messages within a conversation which is accessible by a plurality of client devices;

determining that respective messages of the plurality of messages are unread by a first client device;

grouping one or more of the unread messages into a first set of messages;

generating a first overlaid card by arranging the first message group on the first overlaid card;

causing display of the first overlaid card using the screen of the first client device;

detecting a media message sent by a user, wherein the media is not accompanied by text messages which have timestamps within a threshold time period of the media message;

embedding an enlarged preview of the media message into a fullscreen media card; and

displaying the fullscreen media card separately from other overlaid cards.

13. The machine-readable medium of claim 12, further comprising:

storing a timestamp for respective messages of the plurality of messages, wherein the timestamp indicates a time at which a particular message was sent;

grouping at least one of the plurality of messages into a second message group, wherein all messages within the second message group have later timestamps than all messages within the first message group;

generating a second overlaid card by arranging the second message group on the second overlaid card; and

displaying the second overlaid card using the screen of the user device.

14. A system, comprising:

one or more hardware processors;

an electronic memory, electronically coupled to the one or more hardware processors, and storing instructions that when executed by the one or more hardware processors, configure the one or more hardware processors to;

receive, at a first client device, a plurality of messages within a conversation, wherein the conversation is accessible by a plurality of client devices;

determining that at least a portion of the plurality of messages comprises unread messages which are unread by the first client device;

grouping one or more of the unread messages into a first message group;

generating a first overlaid card by arranging the first message group on the first overlaid card;

causing display of the first overlaid card using a screen of the first client device;

storing a timestamp for respective messages of the plurality of messages, wherein the timestamp indicates a time at which a particular message was sent;

grouping at least one of the unread messages into a second message group, wherein all messages within the second message group have later timestamps than all messages within the first message group;

generating a second overlaid card by arranging the second message group on the second overlaid card;

displaying the second overlaid card using the screen of the user device; and

transitioning from displaying the first overlaid card to displaying the second overlaid card in response to a first user input via an interface of the user device, wherein the transition from displaying the first overlaid card to displaying the second overlaid card is accompanied by an animation.

15. The system of claim 14, wherein the memory stores further instructions that configure the one or more processors to:

determine a base font size for a different arrangement of the plurality of messages, wherein the plurality of messages are not arranged on overlaid cards within the different arrangement of the plurality of messages;

determine a larger font size for the plurality of messages displayed on the first overlaid card and the second overlaid card, wherein the larger font size is a greater point size than the base font size.

16. The system of claim 15, wherein the memory stores further instructions that configure the one or more processors to:

order a set of overlaid cards, comprising all generated overlaid cards, into a display order;

transition through the set of overlaid cards in the display order until the overlaid card last in the display order is displayed; and

display the different arrangement of the plurality of messages.

17. The system of claim 15, wherein the memory stores further instructions that configure the one or more processors to:

order a set of overlaid cards, comprising all generated overlaid cards, into a display order;

transition through the set of overlaid cards in the display order;

detect a second user input; and

display the different arrangement of the plurality of messages in response to detecting the second user input.

18. The system of claim 14, wherein the memory stores further instructions that configure the one or more processors to order the messages by timestamp within each message group.