US 7,490,295 B2
`(10) Patent No.:
`a2) United States Patent
`Chaudhri etal.
`(45) Date of Patent:
`Feb. 10, 2009
`
`
`US007490295B2
`
`(54) LAYER FOR ACCESSING USER INTERFACE
`ELEMENTS
`
`(75)
`
`Inventors:
`
`Imran A. Chaudhri, San Francisco, CA
`(US); John Louch, San Luis Obispo, CA
`(US); Andrew M. Grignon, Campbell,
`CA (US); Gregory N. Christie, San
`Jose, CA (US)
`
`(73) Assignee: Apple Inc., Cupertino, CA (US)
`
`(*) Notice:
`
`Subject to any disclaimer, the term ofthis
`patent is extended or adjusted under 35
`US.C. 154(b) by 440 days.
`(21) Appl. No.: 10/877,968
`
`(22)
`
`(65)
`
`Filed:
`
`Jun. 25, 2004
`
`Prior Publication Data
`US 2006/0015818 Al
`Jan. 19, 2006
`
`(51)
`
`58
`
`Field of Cl
`
`Int. Cl.
`GO6F 3/048
`(2006.01)
`GO6F 3/00
`(2006.01)
`(52) US. Ch cece 715/764; 715/767; 715/768;
`715/808; 715/810; 715/866; 715/802
`ificati
`S
`Wo
`coccccccceccceeeee 715/802
`Soc application ie forcomplete search history.
`(58)
`
`(56)
`
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`(Continued)
`
`Primary Examiner—Weilun Lo
`Assistant Examiner—Steven B Theriault
`(74) Attorney, Agent, or Firm—Fenwick & West LLP
`
`(57)
`
`ABSTRACT
`
`A user-activatable dashboard contains any number of user
`interface clement referred to herein as widgets,
`for quick
`access
`by a user.
`In response to a command
`from a user, the
`dashboard is invoked and the widgets are shown on the
`screen. The user can activate the dashboardat any time. Once
`the dashboard has been activated, the user can interact with
`anyorall ofthe widgets, and can configure the dashboard by
`adding, deleting, moving, or configuring individual widgets
`as desired. Whenthe user wishes to return to the normaluser
`interface he or she was working with, the user issues a com-
`mandcausing the dashboardto be dismissed. Once the dash-
`board has been dismissed, the previous user interfacestate is
`restored, allowing the user to resume normalinteractions with
`the operating system.
`
`54 Claims, 40 Drawing Sheets
`
`601
`
`G@_Finder File Edit View Go Window Help
`
`@FAo > Bae ©
`
`X Buy Widgets...
`
`|
`
`Sharks
`
`Calculator
`
`Stocks Weather
`
`TrafficCam iTunes Address Book News
`
`603
`
`602
`
`APPLE 1049
`
`APPLE 1049
`
`1
`
`

`

`US 7,490,295 B2
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`20031002 115902/www.babelfish.com/en/index. html>.
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`[Archived by
`Archive of www.movies.com, Jan. 2002,
`[online]
`http://archive.org on Jan. 18, 2002; Retrieved on Dec. 8, 2008]
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`
`* cited by examiner
`
`4
`
`

`

`U.S. Patent
`
`Feb. 10, 2009
`
`Sheet 1 of 40
`
`US 7,490,295 B2
`
`100
`
`
`102
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`Computer
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`
` 115
`Output
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`
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`113
`103
`Graphics
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`114
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`

`

`U.S. Patent
`
`Feb. 10, 2009
`
`Sheet 2 of 40
`
`US 7,490,295 B2
`
`201
`Start
`
`202
`User invokes dashboard
`
`layer
`
`208
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`dashboardlayer
`
`203
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`
`204
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`
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`dashboard layer
`
` 209
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`
`
`Restore UI in saved state
`
`210
`
`211
`End
`
`205
`Play animation to
`introduce dashboard layer
`
`206
`Display dashboard layer
`including widgets
`
`207
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`
`configures widgets
`
`FIG. 2
`
`6
`
`

`

`U.S. Patent
`
`Feb. 10, 2009
`
`Sheet 3 of 40
`
`US 7,490,295 B2
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`300
`
`302
`Dashboard
`client(s)
`
`303
`Widget(s)
`
`303
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`
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`
`304
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`configuration
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`
`301
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`302
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`
`302
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`client(s)
`
`109
`
`FIG. 3
`
`7
`
`

`

`U.S. Patent
`
`Feb. 10, 2009
`
`Sheet 4 of 40
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`US 7,490,295 B2
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`U.S. Patent
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`Feb. 10, 2009
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`Sheet 5 of 40
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`US 7,490,295 B2
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`U.S. Patent
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`Feb. 10, 2009
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`Feb. 10, 2009
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`Sheet 26 of 40
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`Feb. 10, 2009
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`Sheet 30 of 40
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`Feb. 10, 2009
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`Feb. 10, 2009
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`Sheet 40 of 40
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`US 7,490,295 B2
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`1
`LAYER FOR ACCESSING USER INTERFACE
`ELEMENTS
`
`CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED
`APPLICATIONS
`
`2
`difficult to navigate to a particular UI element or window,or
`to even locate a desired element, among a large number of
`onscreen elements. The problem is further compounded when
`user interfaces allow users to position the on-screen elements
`in any desired arrangement, including overlapping, minimiz-
`ing, maximizing, and thelike. Such flexibility may be useful
`to someusers but mayresult in chaos for other users. Having
`too many items on the screen simultaneously leads to infor-
`mation overload, and can act as an inhibiting factor in the
`effective use of the computer equipment.
`Some user interfaces dedicate certain areas of the screen
`for holding certain user interface elements that are commonly
`used (such as a menu bar, or icons that activate commonly-
`used programsorfiles). However, such areas are generally
`limited in size, so as not to occupy too much valuable screen
`realestate that could otherwise be devoted to the main work-
`space area of the display screen. Although small elements,
`such as a digital clock elementor taskbar, may be well suited
`for display in such dedicated screen areas, other types of
`elements cannot be usably presented in such a small screen
`area; thus they must be activated, or enlarged, before they can
`be used or viewed. This causes yet anotherlevel of confusion,
`since the items need to be activated and dismissed. Further-
`more, the items may overlap or otherwise add to the number
`ofonscreen elements that must be dealt with and organized by
`the user.
`
`These problems cause manyusersto fail to use their com-
`puters to their full potential, and can further result in frustra-
`tion or confusion, particularly in novice users.
`Whatis needed is amechanism for providing easy access to
`commonlyuseduserinterface elements, without introducing
`additional clutter or confusion. What is further needed is a
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`mechanism for providing such access in a user-configurable
`mannerthat allows the user to activate and dismiss the UI
`elements at will and with a minimum of confusion. Whatis
`
`further needed is a mechanism that allows users to easily
`activate and dismiss certain user interface elements regard-
`less of the number of open windowscurrently on the user’s
`screen, and without requiring the userto searchfor particular
`user interface elements among a set of open windows.
`Whatis further needed is a mechanism for addressing the
`above-stated problems in a convenient, easy-to-use manner
`thatis likely to be readily adopted by users, andthatfits within
`the frameworkof existing graphical user interfaces.
`
`SUMMARYOF THE INVENTION
`
`According to the techniques of the present invention, a
`user-activatable dashboard(also referred to as a unifiedinter-
`est layer) is provided. The dashboard can contain any number
`ofuser interface elements, referred to herein as “widgets,” for
`quick access by a user. In response to a commandfrom a user,
`the dashboard is invoked and the widgets are shown on the
`screen. In one aspect ofthe invention, the user can activate the
`dashboard at any time, causing the dashboard to temporarily
`replace or overlay the existing user interface display on the
`user’s screen.
`
`Oncethe dashboard has been activated, the user can inter-
`act with any or all of the widgets, and can configure the
`dashboard by adding, deleting, moving, or configuring indi-
`vidual widgets as desired. Whenthe user wishesto return to
`the normaluserinterface, the user issues a command causing
`the dashboard to be dismissed. Once the dashboard has been
`
`dismissed, the previoususerinterface state is restored, allow-
`ing the user to resume normalinteractions with the operating
`system.
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