Multiple household management

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11032617-B2
Application number	US-202016812638-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Mar 9, 2020
Priority date	Jan 23, 2013
Publication date	Jun 8, 2021
Grant date	Jun 8, 2021

Abstract

Embodiments described herein include systems and methods for providing a management interface for controlling multiple households. The management interface may be provided as an application on a mobile device or as an Internet webpage. An example implementation involves a device displaying representations of: a plurality of households; an indication of a selected household; one or more zones within the selected household; and a representation of media being played by a selected zone of the one or more zones. While displaying the representations, the device receives, from a server, data indicating updated information associated with the plurality of households; and, in response, updates the graphical display to display at least an updated representation of media being played by the selected zone.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A method to be performed by a computing system, the method comprising:
causing, via a network interface, display of a household management interface for multiple media playback systems that comprise one or more respective playback devices, wherein a first control interface of the household management interface comprises (i) respective representations of the multiple media playback systems and (ii) first status information comprising indications of one or more respective first statuses corresponding to each media playback system of the multiple media playback systems;
receiving, via a households control of the household management interface, input data representing a selection of a particular media playback system from among the multiple media playback systems, wherein the household management interface is switchable among a plurality of second control interfaces corresponding to each media playback system of the multiple media playback systems via the households control;
based on receiving the input data representing the selection of the particular media playback system, causing, via the network interface, display of a particular second control interface of the household management interface, the second control interface comprising (i) playback controls to control playback on playback devices of the particular media playback system and (ii) second status information comprising indications of two or more second statuses corresponding to respective parameters of the particular media playback system;
receiving, via the network interface, data representing updated status information for at least one media playback system of the multiple media playback systems; and
based on receiving the data representing updated status information for at least one media playback system, updating the household management interface to display the updated status information for at least one media playback system of the multiple media playback systems.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein causing display of the household management interface for multiple media playback systems comprises causing display of the household management interface in a web browser on a computing device.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein causing display of the household management interface for multiple media playback systems comprises causing display of the household management interface in a media playback system application on a mobile device.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the one or more first statuses corresponding to each media playback system of the multiple media playback systems comprise respective names of the multiple media playback systems, and wherein the household management interface comprises a household name control selectable to edit the respective names of the multiple media playback systems.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the two or more second statuses corresponding to respective parameters of the particular media playback system comprise (i) one or more playback statuses corresponding to respective groups of one or more playback devices in the particular media playback system and (ii) respective names of the groups of one or more playback devices in the particular media playback system.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the one or more first statuses corresponding to each media playback system of the multiple media playback systems comprise respective metadata indicating audio content currently playing on the corresponding media playback system of the multiple media playback systems.

7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
receiving, via a settings control of the household management interface, input data representing particular values of one or more settings; and
applying the particular values of the one or more settings to two or more media playback systems of the multiple media playback systems.

8. The method of claim 7 , wherein the one or more settings comprise a sharing setting.

9. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
applying values of the one or more settings of a first media playback system of the multiple media playback systems to a second media playback system of the multiple media playback systems.

10. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
receiving input data indicating a request to add an additional media playback system to the multiple media playback systems; and
based on receiving the input data, updating the household management interface to include the additional media playback system in the multiple media playback systems.

11. Tangible, non-transitory computer-readable media having stored thereon instructions that, when executed by one or more processors of a computing device, cause the computing device to perform functions comprising:
causing display of a household management interface for multiple media playback systems that comprise one or more respective playback devices, wherein a first control interface of the household management interface comprises (i) respective representations of the multiple media playback systems and (ii) first status information comprising indications of one or more respective first statuses corresponding to each media playback system of the multiple media playback systems;
receiving, via a households control of the household management interface, input data representing a selection of a particular media playback system from among the multiple media playback systems, wherein the household management interface is switchable among a plurality of second control interfaces corresponding to each media playback system of the multiple media playback systems via the households control;
based on receiving the input data representing the selection of the particular media playback system, causing, via a network interface, display of a particular second control interface of the household management interface, the second control interface comprising (i) playback controls to control playback on playback devices of the particular media playback system and (ii) second status information comprising indications of two or more second statuses corresponding to respective parameters of the particular media playback system;
receiving, via the network interface, data representing updated status information for at least one media playback system of the multiple media playback systems; and
based on receiving the data representing updated status information for at least one media playback system, updating the household management interface to display the updated status information for at least one media playback system of the multiple media playback systems.

12. The tangible, non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 11 , wherein causing display of the household management interface for multiple media playback systems comprises causing display of the household management interface in a web browser on the computing device.

13. The tangible, non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 11 , wherein causing display of the household management interface for multiple media playback systems comprises causing display of the household management interface in a media playback system application on the computing device.

14. The tangible, non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 11 , wherein the one or more first statuses corresponding to each media playback system of the multiple media playback systems comprise respective names of the multiple media playback systems, and wherein the household management interface comprises a household name control selectable to edit the respective names of the multiple media playback systems.

15. The tangible, non-transitor

Assignees

• Sonos Inc

Inventors

• Kuper Ron
• Coburn Iv Arthur L
• Meyer John
• Delaney Mike

Classifications

• H04N21/43615

  Interfacing a Home Network, e.g. for connecting the client to a plurality of peripherals (home Audio Video Interoperability [HAVI] data switching networks H04L12/2805) · CPC title

• G11B27/34

  Indicating arrangements  {(indicating means incorporated in magazine or cassette G11B23/046 and G11B23/0875; indicating measured values in general G01D)} · CPC title

• G06F3/0482

  Interaction with lists of selectable items, e.g. menus · CPC title

• H04N21/4825

  using a list of items to be played back in a given order, e.g. playlists · CPC title

• H04N21/4788 Primary

  communicating with other users, e.g. chatting {(arrangements for providing for computer conferences, e.g. chat rooms, to substation in data switching networks H04L12/1813; distributed application using peer-to-peer [P2P] networks H04L67/104)} · CPC title