Conversation merging for electronic devices

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11855975-B2
Application number	US-202217988708-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Nov 16, 2022
Priority date	May 29, 2018
Publication date	Dec 26, 2023
Grant date	Dec 26, 2023

Abstract

Aspects of subject technology provide systems and methods for generation and distribution of a stable identifier associated with multiple aliases of a user account. The stable identifier may be provided to various electronic devices by a server, responsive to requests associated with communications to those devices from one of the associated aliases. In this way, messaging applications can utilize the stable identifier to merge conversations from a single user having multiple aliases, and secure access to a secure device can be provided to an authorized user, even if the authorized user attempts access from an unauthorized account alias.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method comprising:
generating a messaging alias for a user account, the messaging alias different from a first account alias for the user account to prevent exposing account information of the user account to another user device;
storing the messaging alias in association with the user account; and
facilitating, based on at least the messaging alias, messaging between a user device associated with the user account and the other user device.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first account alias comprises a telephone number or an email address.

3. The method of claim 2 , further comprising storing, for the user account, an identifier of the user account, and the first account alias of the user account, wherein the identifier comprises a login identifier for login to the user account.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein generating the messaging alias comprises generating a pseudo-random number.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein the pseudo-random number is not based on the identifier or the first account alias.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the account information comprises at least an identifier for the user account.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein facilitating the messaging based at least on the messaging alias comprises facilitating the messaging based on the first account alias and the messaging alias.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein facilitating the messaging comprises:
receiving a query from the other user device corresponding to a message that was transmitted using the first account alias of the user account, the query indicating the first account alias and including a request for information associated with the message; and
providing the information and the messaging alias to the other user device responsive to the query.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the other user device is not associated with the user account.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein facilitating the messaging comprises:
receiving a first message from the user device for the other user device;
providing the first message to the other user device;
receiving a second message for the user device from the other user device; and
providing the second message to the user device.

11. The method of claim 10 , further comprising providing the messaging alias to the other user device.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein the messaging alias is a merge identifier.

13. The method of claim 1 , wherein the messaging alias is different from an identifier of the user account.

14. The method of claim 13 , further comprising:
storing the messaging alias in association with the identifier of the user account, the first account alias of the user account, and a public key.

15. A device, comprising:
a memory; and
one or more processors configured to:
generate a messaging alias for a user account, the messaging alias different from a first account alias for the user account to prevent exposing account information of the user account to another user device;
store the messaging alias in association with the user account; and
facilitate, based on at least the messaging alias, messaging between a user device associated with the user account and the other user device.

16. The device of claim 15 , wherein the first account alias comprises a telephone number or an email address.

17. The device of claim 16 , wherein the one or more processors are further configured to store, for the user account:
an identifier of the user account, and
the first account alias of the user account, wherein the identifier comprises a login identifier for login to the user account.

18. The device of claim 17 , wherein the one or more processors are configured to generate the messaging alias by generating a pseudo-random number.

19. The device of claim 18 , wherein the pseudo-random number is not based on the identifier or the first account alias.

20. The device of claim 15 , wherein the account information comprises at least an identifier for the user account.

21. The device of claim 15 , wherein the one or more processors are further configured to facilitate the messaging based on the first account alias and the messaging alias.

22. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions which, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to:
generate a messaging alias for a user account, the messaging alias different from a first account alias for the user account to prevent exposing account information of the user account to another user device;
store the messaging alias in association with the user account; and
facilitate, based on at least the messaging alias, messaging between a user device associated with the user account and the other user device.

23. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 22 , wherein the first account alias comprises a telephone number or an email address.

24. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 23 , wherein the instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, further cause the one or more processors to store, for the user account, an identifier of the user account and the first account alias of the user account, wherein the identifier comprises a login identifier for login to the user account.

25. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 24 , wherein the instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to generate the messaging alias by generating a pseudo-random number that is not based on the identifier or the first account alias.

26. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 22 , wherein the account information comprises at least an identifier for the user account.

27. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 22 , wherein the instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to facilitate the messaging based on the first account alias and the messaging alias.

Assignees

• Apple Inc

Inventors

• Circosta Nicholas Joseph
• Burns Patrick
• Sarma Bhaskar
• Pollack Daniel B
• Qu Liang
• Lindeman Kevin
• Garcia Roberto

Classifications

• H04L63/0815 Primary

  providing single-sign-on or federations · CPC title

• H04L9/3263

  involving certificates, e.g. public key certificate [PKC] or attribute certificate [AC]; Public key infrastructure [PKI] arrangements (network architectures or network communication protocols for supporting authentication of entities using certificates in a packet data network H04L63/0823) · CPC title

• H04L12/282

  based on user interaction within the home (receiver circuitry for displaying additional information being controlled by a remote control apparatus H04N21/42204) · CPC title

• H04L12/2814 Primary

  Exchanging control software or macros for controlling appliance services in a home automation network (arrangements for maintenance or administration involving configuration of the network and network elements H04L41/08) · CPC title

• H04L51/42

  Mailbox-related aspects, e.g. synchronisation of mailboxes · CPC title