User interfaces for improving single-handed operation of devices

• US 10,671,275 B2
• Filed: 09/30/2014
• Issued: 06/02/2020
• Est. Priority Date: 09/04/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Original Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Inventors: Chaudhri, Imran, Kurtz, Daniel Tyler, Xiao, Jacob, Beaver, Jason C., Kain, Elisabeth J., Sarpeshkar, Balaji, Kocienda, Kenneth Luke, Anzures, Freddy Allen, Wadycki, Andrew, Shaffer, Joshua Hal
• Primary Examiner(s): Blaufeld, Justin R.
• Application Number:
  US14/502,275
• Publication Number:
  US 20160070466A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,072 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2203/04803 Split screen, i.e. subdividing the display area or the window area into separate subareas
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2203/04805 Virtual magnifying lens, i.e. window or frame movable on top of displayed information to enlarge it for better reading or selection
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2203/04806 Zoom, i.e. interaction techniques or interactors for controlling the zooming operation
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0216 Arrangements for ergonomically adjusting the disposition of keys of a keyboard for keyboards integrated in a laptop computer G06F1/1664
• 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 3/0488 using a touch-screen or digitiser, e.g. input of commands through traced gestures
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04883 for inputting data by handwriting, e.g. gesture or text
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04886 by partitioning the display area of the touch-screen or the surface of the digitising tablet into independently controllable areas, e.g. virtual keyboards or menus
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04897 Special input arrangements or commands for improving display capability
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/0281 for providing single handed use or left/right hand conversion
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/724 User interfaces specially adapted for cordless or mobile telephones

Abstract

The embodiments herein describe a mode of applications on the portable electronic device that improves single-handed operation of the devices. For example, the embodiments herein describe an ergonomic mode of an application that displays the graphical user interface (GUI) of the application in a bottom area of the display screen of the electronic device to allow the user to more easily interact with objects. The embodiments herein also describe an ergonomic mode of a keyboard displayed on the display screen of the portable electronic device. During the ergonomic mode of the keyboard, the keyboard is shifted towards a vertical edge of the display screen to allow a user to more easily reach keys of the keyboard that were previously unreachable without the user switching to two handed operation of the device or repositioning the electronic device in the user'"'"'s hand.

Claims

1. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium storing one or more programs, the one or more programs comprising instructions, which when executed by an electronic device with a touch screen display, cause the electronic device to:

display an application in a first mode, the application displayed with a first height while in the first mode, the application in the first mode including an icon;

while the application is displayed in the first mode, detect a first input;

responsive to detecting the first input;

in accordance with a determination that the first input corresponds to activation of the icon;

perform an operation associated with the icon without displaying the application in a second mode;

in accordance with a determination that the first input corresponds to a request to display the application in the second mode;

display the application in the second mode by shifting display of the application including the icon, wherein in the second mode the application is displayed in a bottom area of the touch screen display, the application displayed in the second mode with a second height that is less than the first height;

detect a second input at a location on the touch screen display, wherein the second input is received after detecting an end of the first input and wherein the second input is received while the application is displayed in the second mode; and

responsive to detecting the second input;

in accordance with a determination that the second input is a navigation input detected at a location on the touch screen display that corresponds to the application, scroll within the application without switching back to the first mode;

in accordance with a determination that the second input is an input on a blank area of the display or a background image of the display, switch from the second mode back to the first mode; and

in accordance with a determination that the second input is an activation of the icon detected at a location on the touch screen display that corresponds to the application, perform the operation and switch from the second mode back to the first mode.

2. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 1, wherein:

in the first mode, the application includes a user interface object that is outside of a reachable area of the touch screen display; and

in the second mode, the user interface object is within the reachable area of the touch screen display.

3. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 1, wherein in the first mode the application includes a user interface object located at a position greater than a predefined reach metric indicative that the user interface object is unreachable by a user'"'"'s finger unless the electronic device is repositioned in the user'"'"'s hand, and wherein in the second mode the user interface object is located at a position less than the predefined reach metric indicative that the user interface object is reachable by the user'"'"'s finger without the electronic device being repositioned in the user'"'"'s hand.

4. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 1, wherein the first mode comprises a full screen mode where the application occupies an entirety of the touch screen display excluding a region for a status bar of the electronic device and the application is displayed with the first height corresponding to a height of the touch screen display and a first width corresponding to a width of the touch screen display while in the full screen mode.

5. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 1, wherein the operation associated with the icon is a request to switch between different views of the application.

6. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 1, wherein detecting the first input comprises:

detecting a contact on the touch screen display at a first position adjacent to a vertical edge of the touch screen display; and

detecting a continuous movement of the contact to a second position adjacent to a horizontal edge of the touch screen display that intersects the vertical edge without the contact breaking contact with the touch screen display.

7. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 1, wherein detecting the first input comprises:

detecting a gesture on a button of the electronic device that corresponds to a request to display the application in the second mode, wherein a single press of the button is associated with performing a different function.

8. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 1, wherein the instructions when executed by the electronic device further cause the electronic device to:

while in the second mode, detect a repetition of the first input that corresponds to the request to display the application in the second mode; and

switch from the second mode back to the first mode in accordance with detecting the repetition of the first input while in the second mode.

9. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 1, wherein displaying the application in the second mode comprises:

automatically displaying a blank area in a top area of the touch screen display above the bottom area displaying the application.

10. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 1, wherein displaying the application in the second mode comprises:

automatically displaying an area of the application in a top area of the touch screen display above the bottom area displaying the application, the area of the application including a user interface element associated with displaying a notification view including one or more notifications for the user;

detecting a contact on the user interface element;

detecting continuous movement of the contact moving the user interface element in a direction of the continuous movement;

the continuous movement having a vertical component;

in accordance with detecting the vertical component is less than a threshold distance;

determining a magnitude of the vertical component of the continuous movement; and

displaying a portion of the notification view in the top area of the touch screen display above the bottom area displaying the application in the second mode, wherein a height of the portion of the notification view is proportional to the determined magnitude of the vertical component; and

in accordance with the detecting the vertical component is greater than the threshold distance, displaying the notification view in its entirety.

11. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 1, wherein displaying the application in the second mode comprises:

while the application is displayed in the second mode, automatically displaying an image of a home screen view of the electronic device in a top area of the touch screen display above the bottom area displaying the application.

12. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 1, wherein the first mode of the application includes a toolbar of the application displayed in the bottom area of the touch screen display;

the toolbar including a plurality of user interface elements each associated with a functionality of the application, and wherein displaying the application in the second mode comprises;

determining a view of the application displayed in the first mode with the first height, the view including a first portion displaying content of the application and a second portion displaying the toolbar of the application; and

shifting the view of the application in a vertical direction until the view is displayed in the bottom area of the touch screen display with the second height, the shifted view including the first portion displaying the content of the application and not including the second portion displaying the toolbar.

13. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 1, wherein the first mode of the application includes a toolbar of the application displayed in the bottom area of the touch screen display, the toolbar including a plurality of user interface elements each associated with a functionality of the application, and wherein displaying the application in the second mode comprises:

determining a first view of the application associated with the application in the first mode, the first view including the first portion displaying content of the application and the second portion displaying the toolbar of the application; and

determining a second view of the application associated with the application in the second mode, the second view including the first portion displaying content of the application resized in accordance with the second height and the second portion displaying the toolbar of the application resized in accordance with the second height.

14. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 1, wherein the instructions when executed by the electronic device further cause the device to:

while the application is displayed in the second mode, determine an amount of time since an input to the application was last received; and

in accordance with determining that the amount of time exceeds a threshold, automatically switch from the second mode back to the first mode.

15. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 1, wherein, after entering the second mode and prior to detecting the second input while in the second mode, the electronic device uses a first time threshold to determine whether to automatically switch back to the first mode, and wherein the instructions when executed by the electronic device further cause the electronic device to:

after detecting the second input, use a second time threshold, different from the first time threshold to determine whether to automatically switch back to the first mode.

16. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 1, wherein the instructions when executed by the electronic device further cause the device to:

receive a request to prevent switching from the second mode back to the first mode;

lock the application in the second mode;

while the application is locked in the second mode, receive an input to dismiss the application;

dismiss the application in accordance with the input to dismiss the application;

receive an input to open the application; and

display the application in the second mode in accordance with the input to open the application.

17. An electronic device comprising:

a touch screen display;

one or more processors;

memory; and

one or more programs, wherein the one or more programs are stored in the memory and configured and configured to be executed by the one or more processors, the one or more programs including instructions for;

displaying an application in a first mode, the application displayed with a first height while in the first mode, the application in the first mode including an icon;

while the application is displayed in the first mode, detecting a first-input;

responsive to detecting the first input;

in accordance with a determination that the first input corresponds to activation of the icon;

performing an operation associated with the icon without displaying the application in a second mode;

in accordance with a determination that the first input corresponds to a request to display the application in the second mode;

displaying the application in the second mode, wherein in the second mode the application is displayed in a bottom area of the touch screen display, the application displayed in the second mode with a second height that is less than the first height;

detecting a second input at a location on the touch screen display, wherein the second input is received after detecting an end of the first input and wherein the second input is received while the application is displayed in the second mode; and

responsive to detecting the second input;

in accordance with a determination that the second input is a navigation input detected at a location on the touch screen display that corresponds to the application, scrolling within the application without switching back to the first mode;

in accordance with a determination that the second input is an input on a blank area of the display or a background image of the display, switching from the second mode back to the first mode; and

in accordance with a determination that the second input is an activation of the icon detected at a location on the touch screen display that corresponds to the application, performing the operation and switch from the second mode back to the first mode.

18. The electronic device of claim 17, wherein:

in the first mode, the application includes a user interface object that is outside of a reachable area of the touch screen display; and

in the second mode, the user interface object is within the reachable area of the touch screen display.

19. The electronic device of claim 17, wherein in the first mode the application includes a user interface object located at a position greater than a predefined reach metric indicative that the user interface object is unreachable by a user'"'"'s finger unless the electronic device is repositioned in the user'"'"'s hand, and wherein in the second mode the user interface object is located at a position less than the predefined reach metric indicative that the user interface object is reachable by the user'"'"'s finger without the electronic device being repositioned in the user'"'"'s hand.

20. The electronic device of claim 17, wherein the first mode comprises a full screen mode where the application occupies an entirety of the touch screen display excluding a region for a status bar of the electronic device and the application is displayed with the first height corresponding to a height of the touch screen display and a first width corresponding to a width of the touch screen display while in the full screen mode.

21. The electronic device of claim 17, wherein the operation associated with the icon is a request to switch between different views of the application.

22. The electronic device of claim 17, wherein detecting the first input comprises:

detecting a contact on the touch screen display at a first position adjacent to a vertical edge of the touch screen display; and

detecting a continuous movement of the contact to a second position adjacent to a horizontal edge of the touch screen display that intersects the vertical edge without the contact breaking contact with the touch screen display.

23. The electronic device of claim 17, wherein detecting the first input comprises:

detecting a gesture on a button of the electronic device that corresponds to a request to display the application in the second mode, wherein a single press of the button is associated with performing a different function.

24. The electronic device of claim 17, the one or more programs further including instructions for:

while in the second mode, detecting a repetition of the first input that corresponds to the request to display the application in the second mode; and

switching from the second mode back to the first mode in accordance with detecting the repetition of the first input while in the second mode.

25. The electronic device of claim 17, wherein displaying the application in the second mode comprises:

automatically displaying a blank area in a top area of the touch screen display above the bottom area displaying the application.

26. The electronic device of claim 17, wherein displaying the application in the second mode comprises:

automatically displaying an area of the application in a top area of the touch screen display above the bottom area displaying the application, the area of the application including a user interface element associated with displaying a notification view including one or more notifications for the user;

detecting a contact on the user interface element;

detecting continuous movement of the contact moving the user interface element in a direction of the continuous movement, the continuous movement having a vertical component;

in accordance with detecting the vertical component is less than a threshold distance;

determining a magnitude of the vertical component of the continuous movement; and

displaying a portion of the notification view in the top area of the touch screen display above the bottom area displaying the application in the second mode, wherein a height of the portion of the notification view is proportional to the determined magnitude of the vertical component; and

in accordance with the detecting the vertical component is greater than the threshold distance, displaying the notification view in its entirety.

27. The electronic device of claim 17, wherein displaying the application in the second mode comprises:

while the application is displayed in the second mode, automatically displaying an image of a home screen view of the electronic device in a top area of the touch screen display above the bottom area displaying the application.

28. The electronic device of claim 17, wherein the first mode of the application includes a toolbar of the application displayed in the bottom area of the touch screen display, the toolbar including a plurality of user interface elements each associated with a functionality of the application, and wherein displaying the application in the second mode comprises:

determining a view of the application displayed in the first mode with the first height, the view including a first portion displaying content of the application and a second portion displaying the toolbar of the application; and

shifting the view of the application in a vertical direction until the view is displayed in the bottom area of the touch screen display with the second height, the shifted view including the first portion displaying the content of the application and not including the second portion displaying the toolbar.

29. The electronic device of claim 17, wherein the first mode of the application includes a toolbar of the application displayed in the bottom area of the touch screen display, the toolbar including a plurality of user interface elements each associated with a functionality of the application, and wherein displaying the application in the second mode comprises:

determining a first view of the application associated with the application in the first mode, the first view including the first portion displaying content of the application and the second portion displaying the toolbar of the application; and

determining a second view of the application associated with the application in the second mode, the second view including the first portion displaying content of the application resized in accordance with the second height and the second portion displaying the toolbar of the application resized in accordance with the second height.

30. The electronic device of claim 17, the one or more programs further including instructions for:

while the application is displayed in the second mode, determining an amount of time since an input to the application was last received; and

in accordance with determining that the amount of time exceeds a threshold, automatically switching from the second mode back to the first mode.

31. The electronic device of claim 17, wherein, after entering the second mode and prior to detecting the second input while in the second mode, the electronic device uses a first time threshold to determine whether to automatically switch back to the first mode, and the one or more programs further including instructions for:

after detecting the second input, using a second time threshold, different from the first time threshold to determine whether to automatically switch back to the first mode.

32. The electronic device of claim 17, the one or more programs further including instructions for:

receiving a request to prevent switching from the second mode back to the first mode;

locking the application in the second mode;

while the application is locked in the second mode, receiving an input to dismiss the application;

dismissing the application in accordance with the input to dismiss the application;

receiving an input to open the application; and

displaying the application in the second mode in accordance with the input to open the application.

33. A computer-implemented method comprising:

at an electronic device with a touch screen display;

displaying an application in a first mode, the application displayed with a first height while in the first mode, the application in the first mode including an icon;

while the application is displayed in the first mode, detecting a first input;

responsive to detecting the first input;

in accordance with a determination that the first input corresponds to activation of the icon;

performing an operation associated with the icon without displaying the application in a second mode;

determining that the first input corresponds to a request to display the application in the second mode;

in accordance with the determination that the first input corresponds to the request to display the application in the second mode;

displaying the application in the second mode, wherein in the second mode the application is displayed in a bottom area of the touch screen display, the application displayed in the second mode with a second height that is less than the first height;

after detecting an end of the first input and while the application is displayed in the second mode;

detecting a second input corresponding to a navigation input at a location on the touch screen display that corresponds to the application and

responsive to detecting the second input on the touch screen display corresponding to the navigation input, scrolling within the application without switching back to the first mode;

after detecting an end of the first input and while the application is displayed in the second mode;

detecting a third input on a blank area of the display or on a background image of the display;

responsive to detecting the third input on the blank area of the display or on the background image of the display, switching from the second mode back to the first mode;

detecting a request to display the application in the second mode; and

after detecting an end of the first input and while the application is displayed in the second mode;

detecting a fourth input corresponding to an activation of the icon detected at a location on the touch screen display that corresponds to the application; and

responsive to detecting the fourth input corresponding to the activation of the icon detected at the location on the touch screen display that corresponds to the application, performing the operation and switching from the second mode back to the first mode.

34. The computer-implemented method of claim 33, wherein:

in the first mode, the application includes a user interface object that is outside of a reachable area of the touch screen display; and

in the second mode, the user interface object is within the reachable area of the touch screen display.

35. The computer-implemented method of claim 33, wherein in the first mode the application includes a user interface object located at a position greater than a predefined reach metric indicative that the user interface object is unreachable by a user'"'"'s finger unless the electronic device is repositioned in the user'"'"'s hand, and wherein in the second mode the user interface object is located at a position less than the predefined reach metric indicative that the user interface object is reachable by the user'"'"'s finger without the electronic device being repositioned in the user'"'"'s hand.

36. The computer-implemented method of claim 33, wherein the first mode comprises a full screen mode where the application occupies an entirety of the touch screen display excluding a region for a status bar of the electronic device and the application is displayed with the first height corresponding to a height of the touch screen display and a first width corresponding to a width of the touch screen display while in the full screen mode.

37. The computer-implemented method of claim 33, wherein the operation associated with the icon is a request to switch between different views of the application.

38. The computer-implemented method of claim 33, wherein detecting the first input comprises:

detecting a contact on the touch screen display at a first position adjacent to a vertical edge of the touch screen display; and

detecting a continuous movement of the contact to a second position adjacent to a horizontal edge of the touch screen display that intersects the vertical edge without the contact breaking contact with the touch screen display.

39. The computer-implemented method of claim 33, wherein detecting the first input comprises:

detecting a gesture on a button of the electronic device that corresponds to a request to display the application in the second mode, wherein a single press of the button is associated with performing a different function.

40. The computer-implemented method of claim 33, further comprising:

while in the second mode, detecting a repetition of the first input that corresponds to the request to display the application in the second mode; and

switching from the second mode back to the first mode in accordance with detecting the repetition of the first input while in the second mode.

41. The computer-implemented method of claim 33, wherein displaying the application in the second mode comprises:

automatically displaying a blank area in a top area of the touch screen display above the bottom area displaying the application.

42. The computer-implemented method of claim 33, wherein displaying the application in the second mode comprises:

automatically displaying an area of the application in a top area of the touch screen display above the bottom area displaying the application, the area of the application including a user interface element associated with displaying a notification view including one or more notifications for the user;

detecting a contact on the user interface element;

detecting continuous movement of the contact moving the user interface element in a direction of the continuous movement, the continuous movement having a vertical component;

in accordance with detecting the vertical component is less than a threshold distance;

determining a magnitude of the vertical component of the continuous movement; and

displaying a portion of the notification view in the top area of the touch screen display above the bottom area displaying the application in the second mode, wherein a height of the portion of the notification view is proportional to the determined magnitude of the vertical component; and

in accordance with the detecting the vertical component is greater than the threshold distance, displaying the notification view in its entirety.

43. The computer-implemented method of claim 33, wherein displaying the application in the second mode comprises:

while the application is displayed in the second mode, automatically displaying an image of a home screen view of the electronic device in a top area of the touch screen display above the bottom area displaying the application.

44. The computer-implemented method of claim 33, wherein the first mode of the application includes a toolbar of the application displayed in the bottom area of the touch screen display, the toolbar including a plurality of user interface elements each associated with a functionality of the application, and wherein displaying the application in the second mode comprises:

determining a view of the application displayed in the first mode with the first height, the view including a first portion displaying content of the application and a second portion displaying the toolbar of the application; and

shifting the view of the application in a vertical direction until the view is displayed in the bottom area of the touch screen display with the second height, the shifted view including the first portion displaying the content of the application and not including the second portion displaying the toolbar.

45. The computer-implemented method of claim 33, wherein the first mode of the application includes a toolbar of the application displayed in the bottom area of the touch screen display, the toolbar including a plurality of user interface elements each associated with a functionality of the application, and wherein displaying the application in the second mode comprises:

determining a first view of the application associated with the application in the first mode, the first view including the first portion displaying content of the application and the second portion displaying the toolbar of the application; and

determining a second view of the application associated with the application in the second mode, the second view including the first portion displaying content of the application resized in accordance with the second height and the second portion displaying the toolbar of the application resized in accordance with the second height.

46. The computer-implemented method of claim 33, further comprising:

while the application is displayed in the second mode, determining an amount of time since an input to the application was last received; and

in accordance with determining that the amount of time exceeds a threshold, automatically switching from the second mode back to the first mode.

47. The computer-implemented method of claim 33, wherein, after entering the second mode and prior to detecting the second input while in the second mode, the electronic device uses a first time threshold to determine whether to automatically switch back to the first mode, and further comprising:

after detecting the second input, using a second time threshold, different from the first time threshold to determine whether to automatically switch back to the first mode.

48. The computer-implemented method of claim 33, further comprising:

receiving a request to prevent switching from the second mode back to the first mode;

locking the application in the second mode;

while the application is locked in the second mode, receiving an input to dismiss the application;

dismissing the application in accordance with the input to dismiss the application;

receiving an input to open the application; and

displaying the application in the second mode in accordance with the input to open the application.