Mobile application state identifier framework

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9621650-B2
Application number	US-201414501669-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 30, 2014
Priority date	Sep 30, 2014
Publication date	Apr 11, 2017
Grant date	Apr 11, 2017

Abstract

Systems and methods are provided for sharing or recreating a state from a mobile device. For example, a mobile application state identifier can include a protocol identifier, a target task component associated with a mobile application executing when the application state identifier is generated and a sub-task component related to a user-interface active in the mobile application when the application state identifier is generated. The application state identifier can also include a user input component reflecting actions taken by a user during execution of the mobile application. A method can include generating, on a first mobile device, an application state identifier and transmitting the application state identifier to a second mobile device, wherein the second mobile device opens a mobile application associated with the target task to a user-interface corresponding to the sub-task component in response to receiving the application state identifier.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A mobile device comprising:
an application state data store;
at least one processor;
a first mobile application executing on the mobile device; and
memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the mobile device to:
generate a first application state identifier that represents a state of the mobile device, the application state identifier being a string of characters in a standardized format, the standardized format including:
a prefix identifying the string of characters as an application state transfer protocol,
a target task component that follows the prefix, the target task component identifying a type of a mobile application executing at the time the application state identifier is generated, the type enabling transfer of the state to a different mobile application, and
a sub-task component that follows the prefix, the sub-task component relating to a user-interface active in the mobile application at the time the application state identifier is generated, wherein in the sub-task component, data items and respective values common to the type identified by the target task component appear ahead of any data items and respective values specific to the executing mobile application,

store the first application state identifier in the application state data store,
receive a second application state identifier from a second mobile device after exiting the mobile application, the second application state identifier being a string of characters in the standardized format, the second application state identifier being generated by a second mobile application that is a different mobile application than the first mobile application and the second mobile application being of the same type as the first mobile application, and
in response to recognition of the prefix of the second application state identifier, activate the state represented by the second application state identifier, including choosing the first mobile application based on the type identified by the target task component of the second application state identifier, and opening the first mobile application to a user-interface corresponding to a sub-task component of the second application state identifier using data items in the sub-task component, wherein the mobile device is configured to disregard remaining data items in the sub-task component after failing to interpret a data item in the sub-task component.

2. The mobile device of claim 1 , wherein the standardized format further includes:
a user input component that follows the sub-task component, the user input component representing actions taken by the user to arrive at the state represented by the first application state identifier.

3. The mobile device of claim 1 , wherein the standardized format further includes a device state component.

4. The mobile device of claim 1 , wherein the memory further stores instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the mobile device to:
capture an image of a display of the mobile device at the time the first application state identifier is generated; and
associate the image with the first application state identifier in the data store.

5. The mobile device of claim 1 , wherein the memory further stores instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the mobile device to:
receive a selection of the second mobile device from the user; and
transmit the first application state identifier to the second mobile device via a wireless communication channel, wherein the second mobile device chooses the second mobile application based on the type and opens the second mobile application to a user-interface corresponding to the sub-task component in response to receiving the application state identifier.

6. The mobile device of claim 5 , wherein the standardized format further includes a user input component and the memory further stores instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the mobile device to:
determine whether the second mobile device is associated with the user; and
remove at least a portion of the user input component responsive to determining the second mobile device is not associated with the user.

7. The mobile device of claim 1 , wherein the memory further stores instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the mobile device to:
capture an image of a display of the mobile device at the time the first application state identifier is generated;
perform recognition on the image to identify a key item in the image; and
associate the key item with the image and the first application state identifier in the data store.

8. The mobile device of claim 7 , further comprising:
receiving a query that includes the key item;
presenting at least a portion of the image to the user in response to the query;
receiving a selection of the portion of the image; and
activate a state represented by the first application state identifier.

9. The mobile device of claim 1 , wherein generating the sub-task component includes:
capturing environment variables of the mobile application;
determining a first portion of the environment variables that are based on user-input and a second portion of the environment variables that are not based on user-input;
determining, from the second portion, environment variables that are task-specific, the task-specific environment variables being common to the type identified in the task component; and
including the second portion of the environment variables in the sub-task component, the task-specific environment variables appearing ahead of the remainder of the environment variables in the second portion,
wherein activating the state includes setting up environment variables using information in the sub-task component.

10. A method comprising:
generating, on a first mobile device, an application state identifier for a first application currently executing on the first mobile device, the application state identifier being a string of characters including:
a prefix identifying the remaining characters of the string of characters as an application state transfer protocol,
a target task component identifying a type of mobile application executing on the mobile device at the time of the generating, the type enabling transfer of the state to a different mobile application, and
a sub-task component that follows the prefix, the sub-task component relating to a user-interface component active in the first application at the time of the generating, wherein in the sub-task component, data items and respective values common to the type identified by the target task component appear ahead of any data items and respective values specific to the first application executing on the mobile device;

receiving an identifier for a second mobile device; and
transmitting, via a wireless communication channel to the second mobile device, the application state identifier, wherein in response to recognition of the prefix, the second mobile device chooses a second mobile application of the type identified by the target task component and opens the second mobile application to a user-interface corresponding to the sub-task component using data items in the sub-task component in response to receiving the application state identifier, the second mobile application being a different mobile application than the first application, and the second mobile device being configured to disregard remaining data items in the sub-task component after failing to interpret a data item in the sub-task component.

11. The method of claim 10 , the application state identifier fur

Assignees

• Google Inc
• Google Inc

Inventors

• Raman Tiruvilwamalai Venkat
• Chan Chengling
• Tariq Mukarram
• Lafon Stefan

Classifications

• G06F2218/00

  Aspects of pattern recognition specially adapted for signal processing · CPC title

• G06F9/4862 Primary

  the task being a mobile agent, i.e. specifically designed to migrate · CPC title

• G06K9/00496

  Physics · mapped topic

• G06F3/04842

  Selection of displayed objects or displayed text elements (G06F3/0482 takes precedence) · CPC title

• H04W4/003

  Electricity · mapped topic