Method and system for facilitating real-time location sharing

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2016295384-A1
Application number	US-201615187587-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Jun 20, 2016
Priority date	Mar 17, 2014
Publication date	Oct 6, 2016
Grant date	—

Abstract

Methods and systems for facilitating real-time location sharing are disclosed herein. A computing device with processor(s) and memory displays a chat interface of a social networking platform for a conversation between two or more users including a first user and a second user associated with the computing device. The computing device receives a location-sharing request from the first user to join a real-time location sharing group and, in response, displays a message corresponding to the location sharing request from the first user among a set of messages in a first region of the chat interface and displays a location sharing status banner corresponding to the location-sharing request from the first user in a second region of the chat interface, where the location sharing status banner is displayed with a first display characteristic indicating that the second user has not yet joined the real-time location sharing group.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A method of facilitating real-time location sharing, the method comprising:
at a computing device with one or more processors and memory:
displaying a chat interface of a social networking platform for a conversation between two or more users including at least a first user and a second user, wherein the second user is associated with the computing device and the first user is associated with a device other than the computing device;
receiving a location-sharing request from the first user to the second user in the social networking platform to join a real-time location sharing group; and
in response to receiving the location-sharing request:
displaying a respective message from the first user among a first set of one or more messages in a first region of the chat interface, wherein the respective message corresponds to the location sharing request to join the real-time location sharing group; and
displaying a location sharing status banner corresponding to at least the location-sharing request from the first user in a second region of the chat interface, wherein the location sharing status banner is displayed with a first display characteristic indicating that the second user of the computing device has not yet joined the real-time location sharing group.

2 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
detecting a first user input from the second user of the computing device selecting one of the respective message corresponding to the location sharing request from the first user in the first region of the chat interface and the location sharing status banner in the second region of the chat interface; and in response to detecting the first user input:
causing the second user to join the real-time location sharing group; and
displaying a location interface of the social networking platform, wherein the location interface includes a map overlaid with a first indicator corresponding to a respective real-time location of the first user and a second indicator corresponding to a respective real-time location of the second user.

3 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
detecting a first user input from the second user of the computing device selecting a respective one of the respective message corresponding to the location sharing request and the location sharing status banner in the chat interface; and in response to detecting the first user input:
displaying a location interface of the social networking platform, wherein the location interface includes a map overlaid with a first indicator corresponding to a respective real-time location of the first user and a second indicator corresponding to a respective real-time location of the second user; and
displaying a location sharing affordance for enabling the second user to join the real-time location sharing group and sharing the respective real-time location of the second user to other users in the conversation.

4 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
in response to detecting a scrolling gesture, displaying a second set of one or more messages in the first region of the chat interface, wherein the second set of one or more messages includes at least one message not included in the first set of one or more messages and corresponding to a previous location sharing request from a respective one of the two or more users; detecting a first user input from the second user of the computing device selecting the at least one message in the second set of one or more messages displayed in the first region of the chat interface; and in response to detecting the first user input, displaying a location interface of the social networking platform, wherein the location interface includes a map overlaid with a first indicator corresponding to a respective real-time location of the respective one of the two or more users and a second indicator corresponding to a respective real-time location of the second user.

5 . The method of claim 4 , further comprising:
in response to detecting the first user input and prior to displaying the first indicator corresponding to the respective real-time location of the respective one of the two or more users and the second indicator corresponding to the respective real-time location of the second user on the map in the location interface of the social networking platform, displaying a previous location indicator on the map, wherein the previous location indicator corresponds to a previous location of the respective one of the two or more users corresponding to the selected at least one message in the second set of one or more messages.

6 . The method of claim 5 , further comprising:
in response to detecting the first user input and prior to displaying the first indicator corresponding to the respective real-time location of the respective one of the two or more users and the second indicator corresponding to the respective real-time location of the second user on the map in the location interface of the social networking platform, determining whether the respective one of the two or more users has exited the real-time location sharing group, and wherein displaying the previous location indicator on the map further comprises:
in accordance with a determination that the respective one of the two or more users has exited the real-time location sharing group, displaying the previous location indicator at a last-known location of the respective one of the two or more users in the map.

7 . The method of claim 5 , further comprising:
in response to detecting the first user input and prior to displaying the first indicator corresponding to the respective real-time location of the respective one of the two or more users and the second indicator corresponding to the respective real-time location of the second user on the map in the location interface of the social networking platform, determining whether the respective one of the two or more users has exited the real-time location sharing group, and wherein displaying the previous location indicator on the map further comprises:
in accordance with a determination that the respective one of the two or more users has not exited the real-time location sharing group, displaying an animation showing a movement of the previous location indicator from a last-viewed location to a current location of the respective one of the two or more users in the map.

8 . A computing device, comprising:
one or more processors; and memory storing one or more programs to be executed by the one or more processors, the one or more programs comprising instructions for:
displaying a chat interface of a social networking platform for a conversation between two or more users including at least a first user and a second user, wherein the second user is associated with the computing device and the first user is associated with a device other than the computing device;
receiving a location-sharing request from the first user to the second user in the social networking platform to join a real-time location sharing group; and
in response to receiving the location-sharing request:
displaying a respective message from the first user among a first set of one or more messages in a first region of the chat interface, wherein the respective message corresponds to the location sharing request to join the real-time location sharing group; and
displaying a location sharing status banner corresponding to at least the location-sharing request from the first user in a second region of the chat interface, wherein the location sharing status banner is displayed with a first display characteristic indicating that the second user of the computing device has not yet joined the real-time location sharing group.

Assignees

• Tencent Tech Shenzhen Co Ltd

Inventors

• Shan Yi
• Wang Jun
• Chen Pinlin
• Zhuo Dacheng
• Li Ling
• Wu Liang

Classifications

• H04W4/023

  using mutual or relative location information between multiple location based services [LBS] targets or of distance thresholds · CPC title

• H04W4/029

  Location-based management or tracking services · CPC title

• H04W4/21 Primary

  for social networking applications · CPC title

• H04W4/08

  User group management · CPC title

• H04L51/046

  Interoperability with other network applications or services · CPC title