Presenting visual indicators of hidden objects

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12026348-B2
Application number	US-201715650637-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 14, 2017
Priority date	Jan 14, 2011
Publication date	Jul 2, 2024
Grant date	Jul 2, 2024

Abstract

Generating for display an indicator of hidden objects in response to user input is disclosed. An input for moving a pointer presented in a user interface toward a first virtual boundary is received. The movement of the pointer toward the first virtual boundary is generated for display. An action is triggered in response to receiving input for movement of the pointer across the first virtual boundary after the pointer crosses the first virtual boundary. An object is generated for display in the user interface in response to receiving input for movement of the pointer across a second virtual boundary.

First claim

What is claimed:

1. A method, comprising
at an electronic device with a display and one or more input devices:
displaying a user interface on the display;
while displaying the user interface on the display, detecting, via the one or more input devices, an input that includes movement of an input in a first direction;
in response to detecting the input that includes the movement, in accordance with a determination that the movement of the input corresponds to crossing a first virtual boundary without crossing a second virtual boundary that is further from an edge of a visible area of the display than the first virtual boundary, displaying, on the display, a dock that includes a plurality of application icons for selecting applications to be displayed;
while displaying the dock on the display, detecting, via the one or more input devices, an additional input that includes additional movement of an input in the first direction; and
in response to detecting the additional input that includes the additional movement, in accordance with a determination that the additional movement of the additional input corresponds to crossing the second virtual boundary, updating the display to include the dock and additional affordances for further navigation that are associated with at least one different application that is different from applications associated with the plurality of application icons in the dock.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
in response to detecting the input that includes the movement:
in accordance with a determination that the movement of the input does not correspond to crossing the first virtual boundary and does not correspond to crossing the second virtual boundary, forgoing displaying the dock and the additional affordances on the display.

3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
prior to the movement of the input corresponding to crossing the first virtual boundary and in response to detecting the input that includes the movement, displaying, on the display, a portion of the dock that includes the plurality of application icons for selecting applications to be displayed.

4. The method of claim 3 , further comprising:
after displaying the portion of the dock, detecting withdrawal of the input from a respective region of the user interface associated with the display of the portion of the dock, wherein detecting withdrawal of the input includes detecting the input crossing a third virtual boundary that corresponds to an edge of the respective region of the user interface; and
in response to detecting the withdrawal of the input from the respective region of the user interface, ceasing to display the portion of the dock on the display.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the dock is displayed at a bottom of the display.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein displaying the dock on the display includes displaying an animation of the dock appearing to move onto the display from off of the display.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein the animation includes shifting the user interface upwards on the display as the dock moves upwards onto the display.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the second virtual boundary is outside of the visible area of the display.

9. The method of claim 8 , further comprising:
in response to detecting the input that includes the movement, displaying, on the display, movement of a cursor in the user interface in accordance with the movement of the input,
wherein movement of the cursor is not displayed in response to detecting the additional input.

10. An electronic device comprising:
one or more processors;
one or more input devices;
a display; and
memory storing instructions, which when executed by the one or more processors, cause the electronic device to perform a method comprising:
displaying a user interface on the display;
while displaying the user interface on the display, detecting, via the one or more input devices, an input that includes movement of an input in a first direction;
in response to detecting the input that includes the movement, in accordance with a determination that the movement of the input corresponds to crossing a first virtual boundary without crossing a second virtual boundary that is further from an edge of a visible area of the display than the first virtual boundary, displaying, on the display, a dock that includes a plurality of application icons for selecting applications to be displayed;
while displaying the dock on the display, detecting, via the one or more input devices, an additional input that includes additional movement of an input in the first direction; and
in response to detecting the additional input that includes the additional movement, in accordance with a determination that the additional movement of the additional input corresponds to crossing the second virtual boundary, updating the display to include the dock and additional affordances for further navigation that are associated with at least one different application that is different from applications associated with the plurality of application icons in the dock.

11. The electronic device of claim 10 , the method further comprising:
in response to detecting the input that includes the movement:
in accordance with a determination that the movement of the input does not correspond to crossing the first virtual boundary and does not correspond to crossing the second virtual boundary, forgoing displaying the dock and the additional affordances on the display.

12. The electronic device of claim 10 , the method further comprising:
prior to the movement of the input corresponding to crossing the first virtual boundary and in response to detecting the input that includes the movement, displaying, on the display, a portion of the dock that includes the plurality of application icons for selecting applications to be displayed.

13. The electronic device of claim 12 , the method further comprising:
after displaying the portion of the dock, detecting withdrawal of the input from a respective region of the user interface associated with the display of the portion of the dock, wherein detecting withdrawal of the input includes detecting the input crossing a third virtual boundary that corresponds to an edge of the respective region of the user interface; and
in response to detecting the withdrawal of the input from the respective region of the user interface, ceasing to display the portion of the dock on the display.

14. The electronic device of claim 10 , wherein the dock is displayed at a bottom of the display.

15. The electronic device of claim 10 , wherein displaying the dock on the display includes displaying an animation of the dock appearing to move onto the display from off of the display.

16. The electronic device of claim 15 , wherein the animation includes shifting the user interface upwards on the display as the dock moves upwards onto the display.

17. The electronic device of claim 10 , wherein the second virtual boundary is outside of the visible area of the display.

18. The electronic device of claim 17 , the method further comprising:
in response to detecting the input that includes the movement, displaying, on the display, movement of a cursor in the user interface in accordance with the movement of the input,
wherein movement of the cursor is not displayed in response to detecting the additional input.

19. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions, which when executed by one or more processors of an electronic device wit

Assignees

• Apple Inc

Inventors

• Louch John
• Sabatelli Alessandro

Classifications

• G06F3/04812 Primary

  Interaction techniques based on cursor appearance or behaviour, e.g. being affected by the presence of displayed objects · CPC title