Patent Application
20180260085
The subject technology is generally directed to user interfaces for mobile devices.
Some web browsers running on laptop or desktop computers store user information (e.g., a user's name, address, payment information, etc.) locally at the client computing device to allow a user to “autofill” forms on web pages. Typically, when a user selects a first input box (e.g., a first name box) in a form, autofill suggestion(s) for the input box are presented in a dropdown menu. When the user hovers the mouse over one of the autofill suggestion(s), autofill suggestion(s) for the other fields (e.g., last name, address, etc.) corresponding to the selected autofill suggestion may be presented for the user's review. For example, a web browser on a desktop computer that is shared by a husband and a wife may store the wife's name coupled with the wife's business address and the husband's name coupled with the husband's home address. The user may then accept the autofill suggestion by clicking the mouse over the autofill suggestion in the dropdown menu.
In some aspects, the disclosed subject matter relates to a method, implemented at a computing device, for providing an autofill user interface at the computing device. The method includes presenting a page at the computing device, the page including one or more input boxes for entering input responsive to one or more prompts. The method includes presenting one or more autofill suggestions for a first input box from the one or more input boxes, where the one or more autofill suggestions are presented in a position overlaying the page, and where the page does not include the one or more autofill suggestions.
In some aspects, the disclosed subject matter relates to a non-transitory computer-readable medium encoded with executable instructions for providing an autofill user interface at the computer. The instructions include code for receiving a selection of a first input box from one or more input boxes presented in a page displayed via the computer. The instructions include code for presenting, responsive to the selection of the first input box, one or more autofill suggestions for the first input box, where the one or more autofill suggestions are presented in a position overlaying the page, and where the page does not include the one or more autofill suggestions.
In some aspects, the disclosed subject matter relates to a computing device. The computing device includes a touchscreen, one or more processors, and a memory. The memory includes instructions. The instructions include code for presenting a page at the touchscreen, the page including one or more input boxes for entering input responsive to one or more prompts. The instructions include code for receiving, via the touchscreen, a selection of a first input box from the one or more input boxes. The instructions include code for presenting at the touchscreen, responsive to the selection of the first input box, one or more autofill suggestions for the first input box, where the one or more autofill suggestions are presented in a position overlaying the page, and where the page does not include the one or more autofill suggestions.
It is understood that other configurations of the subject technology will become readily apparent from the following detailed description, where various configurations of the subject technology are shown and described by way of illustration. As will be realized, the subject technology is capable of other and different configurations and its several details are capable of modification in various other respects, all without departing from the scope of the subject technology. Accordingly, the drawings and detailed description are to be regarded as illustrative in nature and not as restrictive.
Features of the subject technology are set forth in the appended claims. However, for purpose of explanation, several aspects of the disclosed subject matter are set forth in the following figures.
The detailed description set forth below is intended as a description of various configurations of the subject technology and is not intended to represent the only configurations in which the subject technology may be practiced. The appended drawings are incorporated herein and constitute a part of the detailed description. The detailed description includes specific details for the purpose of providing a thorough understanding of the subject technology. However, it will be clear and apparent that the subject technology is not limited to the specific details set forth herein and may be practiced without these specific details. In some instances, certain structures and components are shown in block diagram form in order to avoid obscuring the concepts of the subject technology.
The scheme described above relies on the user being able to view an entire form on a single screen (which is typically a large screen of a laptop or desktop computer) in order to review the autofill suggestion(s) for all of the input boxes, and a distinction between hovering a mouse (to review the autofill suggestion(s)) and clicking the mouse (to select the autofill suggestion corresponding to the position of the mouse). While the above scheme may be used on a desktop or laptop computer which provides the large screen size and a mouse, the above scheme may not be useful on some mobile devices, for example, mobile phones or tablet computers that lack large screen sizes and rely on touchscreen input rather than mouse input. As the foregoing illustrates, a new approach for an autofill user interface for a mobile device may be desirable.
The subject technology provides an autofill user interface for a mobile device. As used herein, the term “autofill” may refer to a feature that automatically inserts information (e.g., first name, last name, street address, email address, telephone number, etc.) into an input box in a page. The page may be displayed in a web browser or in any other application, for example, a shopping application or a social networking application. The phrase “autofill suggestion” may refer to a suggestion for the automatically inserted information which may be accepted or rejected by the user. For example, if a computing device stores that the user's telephone number is 212-555-1234 and an input box for “telephone number” is presented in a page, an autofill suggestion of the text “212-555-1234” may be provided for the input box for “telephone number.” The user may accept or reject the suggestion to autofill the text “212-555-1234” into the input box for “telephone number.”
As shown in
In some examples, the autofill buttons 110A and 112A may be presented on the screen overlaying the page (e.g., a webpage in a web browser or a page in an online banking application or online shopping application) but not within the page. As a result, the text in the autofill buttons 110A and 112A is not transmitted to a server associated with the page being displayed until one of the autofill buttons 110A or 112A is selected. (However, in some examples, autofill suggestion(s) may be generated via an autofill server. Alternatively, autofill suggestions may be generated based on information stored and processed locally at the mobile device 100A.) As shown, the autofill buttons 110A and 112A appear adjacent to the on-screen keyboard 118A. However, in an alternative implementation, the autofill buttons 110A and 112A may appear within the first name input box 104A.
In situations in which the systems discussed here collect personal information about users, or may make use of personal information, the users may be provided with an opportunity to control whether programs or features collect user information (e.g., information about a user's name, mailing address, telphone number, email address, etc.), or to control whether and/or how to receive content from the autofill server that may be more relevant to the user. Thus, the user may have control over how information is collected about the user and used by the autofill server.
As shown in
Similar to the autofill buttons 110A and 112A, the autofill buttons 114B and 116B may be presented overlaying the page rather than within the page. As a result, the text within the autofill buttons 114B and 116B may not be transmitted to the server associated with the page being displayed until one of the autofill buttons 114B or 116B is selected. Also, as shown, the autofill buttons 114B and 116B appear adjacent to the on-screen keyboard 118B. However, in an alternative implementation, the autofill buttons 114B and 116B may appear within the address input box 106B. As shown in
As illustrated in
As illustrated in
As shown, the mobile device 200 includes a processing unit 202, a network interface 204, a touchscreen 206, and a memory 208. The processing unit 202 includes one or more processors. The processing unit may include a central processing unit (CPU), a graphics processing unit (GPU), or any other processing unit. The processing unit 202 is configured to execute computer instructions that are stored in a computer-readable medium, for example, the memory 208. The network interface 204 is configured to allow the mobile device 200 to transmit and receive data in a network, e.g., the Internet, a cellular network, a local area network (LAN), a wide area network (WAN), a WiFi network, etc. The network interface 204 may include one or more network interface controllers (NICs). The touchscreen 206 is configured to display information, for example page(s) and information overlaying page(s) from the mobile device 200 to a user of the mobile device 200. For example, the touchscreen may correspond to one or more of the screens 102A, 102B, 102C, 102D, or 102E. The touchscreen 206 is also configured to receive input from the user, for example, by the user touching the touchscreen 206 with one or more fingers. The touchscreen 206 may be a component of the mobile device 200 or may be coupled to the mobile device 200 and reside externally to the mobile device 200. The touchscreen 206 may be a single touchscreen or a multi-touchscreen.
The memory 208 stores data and/or instructions. The memory 208 may be one or more of a cache unit, a storage unit, an internal memory unit, or an external memory unit. As illustrated, the memory 208 includes a touchscreen driver 210, application(s) 212.1-n, an autofill user interface module 214, and an autofill suggestion memory region 216.
The touchscreen driver 210 is coupled with the touchscreen 206. The touchscreen driver 210 is configured to transmit data to the touchscreen 206 for presentation at the touchscreen 206 and to receive input from the touchscreen 206 for processing using the processing unit 202 and the memory 208. For example, one or more applications 212.1-n may process data from the touchscreen driver. The application(s) 212.1-n may include any application(s) stored at the mobile device 200. For instance, the application(s) 212.1-n may include a web browser, a shopping application, a social networking application, a banking application, etc.
The autofill suggestion memory region 208 stores autofill suggestions that may be provided by the mobile device 200. Example autofill suggestions are illustrated in
The autofill user interface module 214 includes code which, when executed by the processing unit 202, causes the processing unit 202 to provide an autofill user interface, for example, as illustrated in
The process 300 begins at step 310, where a mobile device (e.g., mobile device 200, via operation of the autofill user interface module 214) presents a page (e.g., a webpage presented via a web browser or a page in an application other than a browser) at the mobile device at a touchscreen (e.g., touchscreen 206) of the mobile device. The page includes one or more input boxes (e.g., input boxes 104A and 106A) for entering inputs responsive to one or more prompts (e.g., the prompts “First Name” and “Address” illustrated in
In step 320, the mobile device receives, via the touchscreen, a selection of a first input box from the one or more input box. For example, the user may touch, using a finger or a stylus, the first input box.
In step 330, the mobile device presents at the touchscreen, responsive to the selection of the first input box, one or more autofill suggestions (e.g., autofill buttons 110A and 112A) for the first input box. The one or more autofill suggestions are presented in a position overlaying the page, rather than within the page. The page does not include the one or more autofill suggestions. As a result of the page not including the one or more autofill suggestions, the text of the one or more autofill suggestions is not transmitted to a web server hosting the page. According to some implementations, the mobile device stores one or more user profiles (e.g., in the autofill suggestion memory region 216) and the presented one or more autofill suggestions correspond to information stored in the one or more profiles.
As described herein in conjunction with steps 320-330, the autofill suggestion(s) are presented responsive to the selection of the first input box. However, in some implementations, autofill suggestion(s) may be presented automatically upon loading the page, without having the user select an input box, or upon the user pressing a button (e.g., “autofill form click to preview” button 110C of
In step 340, the mobile device receives a selection of a first autofill suggestion from among the presented one or more autofill suggestions. For example, the user may touch the first autofill suggestion or press a button (e.g., autofill button 110A or another button for accepting the first autofill suggestion on the touchscreen 206) indicating acceptance of the first autofill suggestion.
In step 350, the mobile device places the first autofill suggestion (e.g., the text “Angela”) into the first input box (e.g., input box 104B).
In step 360, the mobile device automatically causes a second input box (e.g., input box 106B) from the one or more input boxes to gain focus. As used herein, a user interface element, for example, an input box, is said to gain focus if the user interface element is displayed on a display device (e.g., the touchscreen 206) and is set to receive user input unless the user selects another user interface element to receive the input.
In step 370, the mobile device presents, via the touchscreen, one or more second autofill suggestions (e.g., autofill buttons 114B and 116B) for the second input box. The one or more second autofill suggestions are presented in a second position overlaying the page, which may be the same as or different from the position overlaying the page for the autofill suggestions for the first input box. The page does not include the one or more second autofill suggestions. According to some implementations, the mobile device stores one or more user profiles (e.g., in the autofill suggestion memory region 216) and the presented one or more second autofill suggestions correspond to information stored in the one or more profiles.
In some examples, the second autofill suggestion(s) are presented in a particular order. The particular order is determined based on the selected first autofill suggestion for the first input box. For example, the topmost or leftmost second autofill suggestion may be associated with the same user profile as the selected first autofill suggestion. For example, a computer may store a first name “Greg” associated with an address “28 State Street” and a first name “Kate” associated with an address “1870 Beacon Street.” If the autofill “Greg” is selected for the first name input box, the autofill suggestion “28 State Street” may be presented to the left of or above the autofill suggestion “1870 Beacon Street” for the address input box. After step 370, the process 300 ends.
As described above, the steps 310-370 of the process 300 are carried out in a predetermined order and in series. However, the steps 310-370 of the process 300 may be carried out in any order. In some implementations, two or more of the steps 310-350 of the process 300 are carried out in parallel. Also, in some cases, one or more of the steps 310-350 may be skipped or may not be implemented. For example, in some cases, step 320 may be skipped. In some cases, steps 340-370 may not be implemented.
As described herein in conjunction with the process 300, the autofill suggestion(s) for the first input box are presented before the second autofill suggestion(s) for the second input box. However, in some implementations, the second autofill suggestion(s) for the second input box may be presented simultaneously with presenting the autofill suggestion(s) for the first input box. In some implementations, the same user input (e.g., selecting the “autofill form click to preview” button 110C and the “fill form” button 110D) may be used to select the autofill suggestion for the first input box, the second autofill suggestion for the second input box, and/or an additional autofill suggestion for an additional input box. For instance, as illustrated in
The bus 405 collectively represents all system, peripheral, and chipset buses that communicatively connect the numerous internal devices of the electronic system 400. For instance, the bus 405 communicatively connects the processing unit(s) 410 with the read-only memory 420, the system memory 415, and the permanent storage device 425.
From these various memory units, the processing unit(s) 410 retrieves instructions to execute and data to process in order to execute the processes of the subject technology. The processing unit(s) can be a single processor or a multi-core processor in different implementations.
The read-only-memory (ROM) 420 stores static data and instructions that are needed by the processing unit(s) 410 and other modules of the electronic system. The permanent storage device 425, on the other hand, is a read-and-write memory device. This device is a non-volatile memory unit that stores instructions and data even when the electronic system 400 is off. Some implementations of the subject technology use a mass-storage device (for example a magnetic or optical disk and its corresponding disk drive) as the permanent storage device 425.
Other implementations use a removable storage device (for example a floppy disk, flash drive, and its corresponding disk drive) as the permanent storage device 425. Like the permanent storage device 425, the system memory 415 is a read-and-write memory device. However, unlike storage device 425, the system memory 415 is a volatile read-and-write memory, such a random access memory. The system memory 415 stores some of the instructions and data that the processor needs at runtime. In some implementations, the processes of the subject technology are stored in the system memory 415, the permanent storage device 425, or the read-only memory 420. For example, the various memory units include instructions for providing an autofill user interface in accordance with some implementations. From these various memory units, the processing unit(s) 410 retrieves instructions to execute and data to process in order to execute the processes of some implementations.
The bus 405 also connects to the input and output device interfaces 430 and 435. The input device interface 430 enables the user to communicate information and select commands to the electronic system. Input devices used with input device interface 430 include, for example, alphanumeric keyboards and pointing devices (also called “cursor control devices”). Output device interfaces 435 enables, for example, the display of images generated by the electronic system 400. Output devices used with output device interface 435 include, for example, printers and display devices, for example cathode ray tubes (CRT) or liquid crystal displays (LCD). Some implementations include devices for example a touch screen that functions as both input and output devices.
Finally, as shown in
The above-described features and applications can be implemented as software processes that are specified as a set of instructions recorded on a computer readable storage medium (also referred to as computer readable medium). When these instructions are executed by one or more processing unit(s) (e.g., one or more processors, cores of processors, or other processing units), they cause the processing unit(s) to perform the actions indicated in the instructions. Examples of computer readable media include, but are not limited to, CD-ROMs, flash drives, RAM chips, hard drives, EPROMs, etc. The computer readable media does not include carrier waves and electronic signals passing wirelessly or over wired connections.
In this specification, the term “software” is meant to include firmware residing in read-only memory or applications stored in magnetic storage or flash storage, for example, a solid-state drive, which can be read into memory for processing by a processor. Also, in some implementations, multiple software technologies can be implemented as sub-parts of a larger program while remaining distinct software technologies. In some implementations, multiple software technologies can also be implemented as separate programs. Finally, any combination of separate programs that together implement a software technology described here is within the scope of the subject technology. In some implementations, the software programs, when installed to operate on one or more electronic systems, define one or more specific machine implementations that execute and perform the operations of the software programs.
A computer program (also known as a program, software, software application, script, or code) can be written in any form of programming language, including compiled or interpreted languages, declarative or procedural languages, and it can be deployed in any form, including as a standalone program or as a module, component, subroutine, object, or other unit suitable for use in a computing environment. A computer program may, but need not, correspond to a file in a file system. A program can be stored in a portion of a file that holds other programs or data (e.g., one or more scripts stored in a markup language document), in a single file dedicated to the program in question, or in multiple coordinated files (e.g., files that store one or more modules, sub programs, or portions of code). A computer program can be deployed to be executed on one computer or on multiple computers that are located at one site or distributed across multiple sites and interconnected by a communication network.
These functions described above can be implemented in digital electronic circuitry, in computer software, firmware or hardware. The techniques can be implemented using one or more computer program products. Programmable processors and computers can be included in or packaged as mobile devices. The processes and logic flows can be performed by one or more programmable processors and by one or more programmable logic circuitry. General and special purpose computing devices and storage devices can be interconnected through communication networks.
Some implementations include electronic components, for example microprocessors, storage and memory that store computer program instructions in a machine-readable or computer-readable medium (alternatively referred to as computer-readable storage media, machine-readable media, or machine-readable storage media). Some examples of such computer-readable media include RAM, ROM, read-only compact discs (CD-ROM), recordable compact discs (CD-R), rewritable compact discs (CD-RW), read-only digital versatile discs (e.g., DVD-ROM, dual-layer DVD-ROM), a variety of recordable/rewritable DVDs (e.g., DVD-RAM, DVD-RW, DVD+RW, etc.), flash memory (e.g., SD cards, mini-SD cards, micro-SD cards, etc.), magnetic or solid state hard drives, read-only and recordable Blu-Ray® discs, ultra density optical discs, any other optical or magnetic media, and floppy disks. The computer-readable media can store a computer program that is executable by at least one processing unit and includes sets of instructions for performing various operations. Examples of computer programs or computer code include machine code, for example is produced by a compiler, and files including higher-level code that are executed by a computer, an electronic component, or a microprocessor using an interpreter.
While the above discussion primarily refers to microprocessor or multi-core processors that execute software, some implementations are performed by one or more integrated circuits, for example application specific integrated circuits (ASICs) or field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs). In some implementations, such integrated circuits execute instructions that are stored on the circuit itself.
As used in this specification and any claims of this application, the terms “computer”, “server”, “processor”, and “memory” all refer to electronic or other technological devices. These terms exclude people or groups of people. For the purposes of the specification, the terms display or displaying means displaying on an electronic device. As used in this specification and any claims of this application, the terms “computer readable medium” and “computer readable media” are entirely restricted to tangible, physical objects that store information in a form that is readable by a computer. These terms exclude any wireless signals, wired download signals, and any other ephemeral signals.
To provide for interaction with a user, implementations of the subject matter described in this specification can be implemented on a computer having a display device, e.g., a cathode ray tube (CRT) or liquid crystal display (LCD) monitor, for displaying information to the user and a keyboard and a pointing device, e.g., a mouse or a trackball, by which the user can provide input to the computer. Other kinds of devices can be used to provide for interaction with a user as well; for example, feedback provided to the user can be any form of sensory feedback, e.g., visual feedback, auditory feedback, or tactile feedback; and input from the user can be received in any form, including acoustic, speech, or tactile input. In addition, a computer can interact with a user by sending documents to and receiving documents from a device that is used by the user; for example, by sending web pages to a web browser on a user's client device in response to requests received from the web browser.
The subject matter described in this specification can be implemented in a computing system that includes a back end component, e.g., as a data server, or that includes a middleware component, e.g., an application server, or that includes a front end component, e.g., a client computer having a graphical user interface or a Web browser through which a user can interact with an implementation of the subject matter described in this specification, or any combination of one or more such back end, middleware, or front end components. The components of the system can be interconnected by any form or medium of digital data communication, e.g., a communication network. Examples of communication networks include a local area network (LAN) and a wide area network (WAN), an inter-network (e.g., the Internet), and peer-to-peer networks (e.g., ad hoc peer-to-peer networks).
The computing system can include clients and servers. A client and server are generally remote from each other and typically interact through a communication network. The relationship of client and server arises by virtue of computer programs running on the respective computers and having a client-server relationship to each other. In some aspects of the disclosed subject matter, a server transmits data (e.g., an HTML page) to a client device (e.g., for purposes of displaying data to and receiving user input from a user interacting with the client device). Data generated at the client device (e.g., a result of the user interaction) can be received from the client device at the server.
It is understood that any specific order or hierarchy of steps in the processes disclosed is an illustration of example approaches. Based upon design preferences, it is understood that the specific order or hierarchy of steps in the processes may be rearranged, or that all illustrated steps be performed. Some of the steps may be performed simultaneously. For example, in certain circumstances, multitasking and parallel processing may be advantageous. Moreover, the separation of various system components illustrated above should not be understood as requiring such separation, and it should be understood that the described program components and systems can generally be integrated together in a single software product or packaged into multiple software products.
Various modifications to these aspects will be readily apparent, and the generic principles defined herein may be applied to other aspects. Thus, the claims are not intended to be limited to the aspects shown herein, but is to be accorded the full scope consistent with the language claims, where reference to an element in the singular is not intended to mean “one and only one” unless specifically so stated, but rather “one or more.” Unless specifically stated otherwise, the term “some” refers to one or more. Pronouns in the masculine (e.g., his) include the feminine and neuter gender (e.g., her and its) and vice versa. Headings and subheadings, if any, are used for convenience only and do not limit the subject technology.
A phrase, for example, an “aspect” does not imply that the aspect is essential to the subject technology or that the aspect applies to all configurations of the subject technology. A disclosure relating to an aspect may apply to all configurations, or one or more configurations. A phrase, for example, an aspect may refer to one or more aspects and vice versa. A phrase, for example, a “configuration” does not imply that such configuration is essential to the subject technology or that such configuration applies to all configurations of the subject technology. A disclosure relating to a configuration may apply to all configurations, or one or more configurations. A phrase, for example, a configuration may refer to one or more configurations and vice versa.
