AUTO GROUPING BROWSER TABS

• US 20170039172A1
• Filed: 03/30/2016
• Published: 02/09/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 08/04/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Caldas, Fabrizio N., Spano, Michael R. Sr., Broomhall, Matthew E., Dotson, Christopher R.
• Granted Patent: US 9,569,412 B1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/954 Navigation, e.g. using categorised browsing
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/955 using information identifiers, e.g. uniform resource locators [URL]
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9566 URL specific, e.g. using aliases, detecting broken or misspelled links
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/957 Browsing optimisation, e.g. caching or content distillation
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9577 Optimising the visualization of content, e.g. distillation of HTML documents
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/958 Organisation or management of web site content, e.g. publishing, maintaining pages or automatic linking
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0483 Interaction with page-structured environments, e.g. book metaphor
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/134 Hyperlinking
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/02 based on web technology, e.g. hypertext transfer protocol [HTTP]

Abstract

A computer implemented method and system for managing browser tabs includes identifying a plurality of URLs (Uniform Resource Locator(s)) in response to detecting the URLs in a web browser running on a computer. The plurality of URLs are organized based on each of the URLs, and each of the plurality of URLs correspond to a tab opened by the web browser. The tabs of the web browser are grouped based on the URLs.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method for managing browser tabs, comprising:

(a) identifying a plurality of URLs (Uniform Resource Locator(s)) in response to detecting the URLs used by a web browser running on a device including a computer, the URLs the URLs being selected from a group consisting of;

a website, an email program, and a document, the computer having a computer readable storage medium having program instructions embodied therewith, and the program instructions being executable by the computer, the device including one or more of;

a mobile device, a desktop computer, and a server, the device and the web browser connecting to the Internet to connect to and access web sites;

(b) organizing the plurality of URLs based on the URLs, each of the plurality of URLs corresponding to a tab opened by the web browser;

(c) grouping the tabs of the web browser based on the URLs, the grouped tabs including at least part of a same URL;

(d) identifying a source for each of the plurality of URLs in response to receiving the URLs in the web browser running on the device, the source of the URLs being selected from a group consisting of;

the website, the email program, and the document;

(e) organizing the plurality of URLs based on the source of each of the URLs;

(f) grouping the tabs based on the source of the URLs;

(g) determining a protocol type, a domain name, and a specific web page for each the plurality of URLs;

(h) grouping the tabs with the same domain name and the same protocol type;

(i) displaying the group of tabs along a top of a web browser display, for display on a display of the device, the group of tabs being grouped under a group tab;

detecting a pattern of usage including setting a frequency threshold for opening the tabs by a user;

grouping a plurality of open tabs together in response to the tabs being opened by the user an amount of times meeting or exceeding the frequency threshold;

detecting a length of time a tab is open, the tab being part of a group of open tabs;

moving the open tabs into a group in response to the tabs meeting or exceeding a threshold time open, the threshold time being a predetermined period of time;

detecting a pattern of manual movement by the user for the plurality of open tabs being opened by the user, including detecting when the user moves a link from a source from one tab to another tab, and when the user manually groups tabs together; and

grouping together another link from the source, and another tab related to previously grouped tabs, based on the pattern of manual movement.