DEVICE, METHOD, AND GRAPHICAL USER INTERFACE FOR ENABLING CONVERSATION PERSISTENCE ACROSS TWO OR MORE INSTANCES OF A DIGITAL ASSISTANT

• US 20140365885A1
• Filed: 06/06/2014
• Published: 12/11/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 06/09/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Original Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Inventors: SADDLER, Harry J., LEMAY, Stephen O., PITSCHEL, Donald W., GRUBER, Thomas R., CARSON, David A., KEEN, Daniel, DIBIASE, Evan, IACONO, Marco
• Granted Patent: US 10,185,542 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 715/708
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/3344 using natural language analysis
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04842 Selection of displayed objects or displayed text elements G06F3/0482 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/167 Audio in a user interface, e.g. using voice commands for navigating, audio feedback

Abstract

An electronic device with one or more processors and memory includes a procedure for enabling conversation persistence across two or more instances of a digital assistant. In some embodiments, the device displays a first dialogue in a first instance of a digital assistant user interface. In response to a request to display a user interface different from the digital assistant user interface, the device displays the user interface different from the digital assistant user interface. In response to a request to invoke the digital assistant, the device displays a second instance of the digital assistant user interface, including displaying a second dialogue in the second instance of the digital assistant user interface, where the first dialogue remains available for display in the second instance of the digital assistant user interface.

Claims

1. A method of operating a digital assistant, performed at an electronic device having a display, one or more processors and memory storing one or more programs for execution by the one or more processors, the method comprising:

displaying a first dialogue in a first instance of a digital assistant user interface;

in response to a request to display a user interface different from the digital assistant user interface, displaying the user interface different from the digital assistant user interface; and

in response to a request to invoke the digital assistant, displaying a second instance of the digital assistant user interface, including displaying a second dialogue in the second instance of the digital assistant user interface, wherein the first dialogue remains available for display in the second instance of the digital assistant user interface.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising, prior to displaying the first instance of the digital assistant user interface:

detecting a prior request to invoke the digital assistant;

detecting a speech input; and

providing a transcription of the speech input, wherein the first dialogue includes the transcription of the speech input.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising, in response to the request to display the user interface different from the digital assistant user interface, ceasing to display the digital assistant user interface.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

displaying a first affordance in the second instance of the digital assistant user interface;

detecting a user selection of the first affordance; and

in response to the user selection of the first affordance, displaying at least a portion of the first dialogue in the second instance of the digital assistant user interface.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising, displaying at least a portion of the first dialogue in the second instance of the digital assistant user interface.

6. The method of claim 4, further comprising:

displaying a second affordance corresponding to a respective sub-portion of the first dialogue;

detecting a user selection of the second affordance; and

in response to the user selection of the second affordance, ceasing to display at least some of the respective sub-portion of the first dialogue.

7. The method of claim 6, further comprising, in response to the user selection of the second affordance, excluding context data associated with the sub-portion of the first dialogue from a context history of the digital assistant.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

storing context data associated with the first dialogue in a context history of the digital assistant;

determining whether the request to invoke the digital assistant satisfies a first predetermined condition; and

in accordance with a determination that the request to invoke the digital assistant satisfies the first predetermined condition, using the stored context data while displaying the second instance of the digital assistant user interface.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the first predetermined condition is satisfied when the request to invoke the digital assistant is received within a predetermined context expiration time period.

10. The method of claim 9, further comprising, deleting the context data associated with the first dialogue from the context history upon expiration of the predetermined context expiration time period.

11. The method of claim 8, wherein the first predetermined condition is not satisfied when the electronic device is locked.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the second dialogue includes a user query to the digital assistant, and the method further comprising:

storing context data associated with the first dialogue in a context history of the digital assistant; and

while displaying the second instance of the digital assistant user interface, responding to the user query to the digital assistant, in accordance with a determination that a predetermined context condition has been satisfied, using the stored context data while determining a response to the user query.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the predetermined context condition is satisfied when, in response to a user action performed during display of the second instance of the digital assistant user interface, at least a portion of the first dialogue is displayed in the second instance of the digital assistant user interface.

14. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining whether the request to invoke the digital assistant satisfies a second predetermined condition;

in accordance with a determination that the request to invoke the digital assistant satisfies the second predetermined condition, displaying the second instance of the digital assistant user interface, including displaying the second dialogue in the second instance of the digital assistant user interface, wherein the first dialogue remains available for display in the second instance of the digital assistant user interface; and

in accordance with a determination that the request to invoke the digital assistant does not satisfy the second predetermined condition, displaying the second instance of the digital assistant user interface without making the first dialogue available for display in the second instance of the digital assistant user interface.

19. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 16, further comprising instructions to cause the processors to perform operations comprising:

displaying a first affordance in the second instance of the digital assistant user interface;

detecting a user selection of the first affordance; and

in response to the user selection of the first affordance, displaying at least a portion of the first dialogue in the second instance of the digital assistant user interface.

The method of claim 1, further comprising, displaying at least a portion of the first dialogue in the second instance of the digital assistant user interface.

23. The electronic device of claim 20, further comprising instructions to cause the processors to perform operations comprising:

displaying a first affordance in the second instance of the digital assistant user interface;

detecting a user selection of the first affordance; and

in response to the user selection of the first affordance, displaying at least a portion of the first dialogue in the second instance of the digital assistant user interface.

The method of claim 1, further comprising, displaying at least a portion of the first dialogue in the second instance of the digital assistant user interface.

15. A method of operating a digital assistant, performed at two or more electronic devices each having a display, one or more processors, and memory storing one or more programs for execution by the one or more processors, the method comprising:

at a first device, displaying a first dialogue in a first user interface of a digital assistant; and

at a second device different from the first device;

in response to a request to invoke the digital assistant on the second device, displaying a second dialogue in a second user interface of the digital assistant, wherein the first dialogue is available for display in the second user interface.

16. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions for operating a digital assistant, the instructions, when executed by one or more processors, cause the processors to perform operations comprising:

displaying a first dialogue in a first instance of a digital assistant user interface;

in response to a request to display a user interface different from the digital assistant user interface, displaying the user interface different from the digital assistant user interface; and

in response to a request to invoke the digital assistant, displaying a second instance of the digital assistant user interface, including displaying a second dialogue in the second instance of the digital assistant user interface, wherein the first dialogue remains available for display in the second instance of the digital assistant user interface.

17. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 16, further comprising instructions to cause the processors to perform operations comprising, prior to displaying the first instance of the digital assistant user interface:

detecting a prior request to invoke the digital assistant;

detecting a speech input; and

providing a transcription of the speech input, wherein the first dialogue includes the transcription of the speech input.

18. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 16, further comprising instructions to cause the processors to perform operations comprising, in response to the request to display the user interface different from the digital assistant user interface, ceasing to display the digital assistant user interface.

20. An electronic device, comprising:

one or more processors; and

memory storing instructions for operating a digital assistant, the instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the processors to perform operations comprising;

displaying a first dialogue in a first instance of a digital assistant user interface;

in response to a request to display a user interface different from the digital assistant user interface, displaying the user interface different from the digital assistant user interface; and

in response to a request to invoke the digital assistant, displaying a second instance of the digital assistant user interface, including displaying a second dialogue in the second instance of the digital assistant user interface, wherein the first dialogue remains available for display in the second instance of the digital assistant user interface.

21. The electronic device of claim 20, further comprising instructions to cause the processors to perform operations comprising, prior to displaying the first instance of the digital assistant user interface:

detecting a prior request to invoke the digital assistant;

detecting a speech input; and

providing a transcription of the speech input, wherein the first dialogue includes the transcription of the speech input.

22. The electronic device of claim 20, further comprising instructions to cause the processors to perform operations comprising, in response to the request to display the user interface different from the digital assistant user interface, ceasing to display the digital assistant user interface.

24. A graphical user interface on an electronic device with a display, a memory, and one or more processors to execute one or more programs stored in the memory, the graphical user interface comprising:

a first dialogue is displayed in a first instance of a digital assistant user interface;

a user interface different from the digital assistant user interface is displayed in response to a request to display a user interface different from the digital assistant user interface; and

a second instance of the digital assistant user interface is displayed in response to a request to invoke the digital assistant, including displaying a second dialogue in the second instance of the digital assistant user interface, wherein the first dialogue remains available for display in the second instance of the digital assistant user interface.

25. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions for operating a digital assistant, the instructions, when executed by one or more processors, cause the processors to perform operations comprising:

at a first device, displaying a first dialogue in a first user interface of a digital assistant; and

at a second device different from the first device;

in response to a request to invoke the digital assistant on the second device, displaying a second dialogue in a second user interface of the digital assistant, wherein the first dialogue is available for display in the second user interface.