This disclosure relates generally to providing a means of generating a social network message from a mobile device.
Online social network platforms allow users to locate, establish social network relationships with, and communicate with other social network users. Using a social network identity (e.g., an identity associated with a social network account), a user can share information with family, friends, and other acquaintances with whom the user has established a social network relationship. Likewise, the user can receive information from social network users with whom the user has established a social network relationship. Based on the ability to share information with a group of people who would likely be most interested in such information, social networking platforms have become an extremely popular way for people to communicate and stay in touch.
As the functionality of mobile devices has increased, these devices have become a natural means of communicating using social network platforms. Mobile devices are often in the possession of a user, often include a digital camera for capturing still or video images, are often aware of their location (e.g., through GPS location information), and often have Internet connectivity. Based on these factors, mobile devices provide an efficient mechanism to communicate messages and digital media via a social network platform while a user is on the go.
There are, however, certain drawbacks to social network communications using mobile devices. For example, communicating via a social network account from a mobile device requires that a client-side social network application be installed on the device. Typically, a client-side social network application for a social network platform provides most, if not all, of the functionality available through a web interface of the social network platform. Therefore, in addition to allowing a user to create social network messages, a client-side social network application will also generally allow a user to view messages communicated by their social network friends, create and respond to friend requests, etc.
If a mobile device user simply wants to create a social network message, launching a client-side social network application and browsing through the application to utilize the desired functionality may be cumbersome. Moreover, a mobile device user may have social network accounts through multiple social network platforms. If the user wants to communicate a similar message using each of their social network accounts, the user would have to launch a client-side application for each of the social network platforms and compose a separate message from within each client-side application. This process may be more time consuming than the user is willing to accept.
In one embodiment, a program storage device includes mobile device operating system instructions to obtain access parameters for one or more social network accounts. The access parameters may be stored in an area of memory of the mobile device that is designated for use by the operating system. A message entered through an interface of the mobile device operating system may be communicated, using the access parameters, as a social network message via at least one of the one or more social network accounts.
In another embodiment, a method includes obtaining, by an operating system of a mobile device, credentials for a social network identity of a user of the mobile device. The credentials may be sent to a server-side social network application and, in response, a token that allows the mobile device to communicate with the server-side social network application on behalf of the user may be received. The token may be stored in a memory of the mobile device that is designated for use by the operating system. A message input through an interface of the mobile device operating system may be sent, along with the token, to the server-side social network application.
In still another embodiment, a program storage device includes instructions to display, on a mobile device, an operating system interface that includes one or more selectable icons that are each representative of one or more social network accounts of a user of the mobile device. In response to the receipt of a selection of one or more of the icons corresponding to multiple social network accounts, the instructions may cause the display of a text entry field on the mobile device. A message entered in the text entry field may be transmitted as a social network message via the multiple social network accounts that correspond to the one or more selected icons.
This disclosure pertains to systems, methods, and computer program products for providing a mobile device operating system interface that allows a user to communicate a social network message. In general, techniques are disclosed for obtaining and storing a user's social network credentials at the operating system level of a mobile device such that the credentials are accessible to the operating system when a user generates a social network message through the operating system interface.
In the following description, for purposes of explanation, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the inventive concept. As part of this description, some of this disclosure's drawings represent structures and devices in block diagram form in order to avoid obscuring the invention. In the interest of clarity, not all features of an actual implementation are described in this specification. Moreover, the language used in this disclosure has been principally selected for readability and instructional purposes, and may not have been selected to delineate or circumscribe the inventive subject matter, resort to the claims being necessary to determine such inventive subject matter. Reference in this disclosure to “one embodiment” or to “an embodiment” means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment is included in at least one embodiment of the invention, and multiple references to “one embodiment” or “an embodiment” should not be understood as necessarily all referring to the same embodiment.
It will be appreciated that in the development of any actual implementation (as in any development project), numerous decisions must be made to achieve the developers' specific goals (e.g., compliance with system- and business-related constraints), and that these goals will vary from one implementation to another. It will also be appreciated that such development efforts might be complex and time-consuming, but would nevertheless be a routine undertaking for those of ordinary skill in the design of mobile device operating systems having the benefit of this disclosure.
Referring to
The user's social network credentials may be obtained by the mobile device operating system in a variety of manners. In one embodiment, the user may provide the social network credentials as a direct input. The provision of social network credentials as a direct input may occur as a result of a prompt from the mobile device operating system. For example, the user may be prompted to provide their social network credentials a first time the mobile device is activated, when the user attempts to invoke operating system functionality that requires the social network credentials, etc. The user may also provide the social network credentials without being prompted. For example, the user may enter the social network credentials as a mobile device setting. The credentials entered as a mobile device setting may be stored in a memory of the mobile device that is designated for use only by the operating system. In another embodiment, the user's social network credentials may be obtained by the mobile device operating system automatically. For example, the operating system may request the social network credentials from a client-side social network application installed on the device. The client-side social network application may store the user's social network credentials, and, upon receiving an operating system request to share the credentials, the client-side social network application may prompt the user to allow the credentials to be provided to the operating system such that the user can generate social network messages directly through the operating system interface.
After obtaining the user's social network credentials, the operating system may send the credentials to a server-side social network application (block 110). In one embodiment, the social network credentials may be sent in an encrypted form. In the illustrated embodiment, the social network credentials may be presented to the server-side social network application as a request to obtain a token that will allow the device to communicate with the server-side social network application on behalf of the user. The server-side social network application may use the social network credentials to identify the user's social network account and to authenticate the request. In one embodiment, the server-side social network application may perform an external authentication operation to ensure that the user consents to the provision of a social network token that uniquely identifies the user's social network account and allows the device to communicate with the server-side social network application on behalf of the user. For example, after identifying the social network account associated with the provided credentials, the server-side social network application may generate an email message to an email address associated with the account that prompts the user to verify the request for the social network token.
If the user is properly authenticated, the mobile device operating system may receive the social network token from the server-side social network application (block 115). In one embodiment, the social network token may be sent in an encrypted form. The social network token may be a random series of bits generated by the server-side social network application. In still another embodiment, the social network token may be device-specific. In such an embodiment, the social network token may only provide access to the user's social network account when presented along with a unique identifier of the device that requested the token. If the token is successfully received by the operating system, the social network credentials may be discarded as the token may allow communications with the server-side social network application on behalf of the user. The social network credentials obtained from the user and the social network token obtained from the server-side social network application may each be described as access parameters that enable access to the user's social network account.
The social network token can be stored on the mobile device to be used when a user attempts to send a social network message (block 120). In one embodiment, the social network token may be stored in a memory location that is inaccessible to any application software that may run on the mobile device. In one embodiment, the social network token may be stored in a segregated kernel space established by the mobile device operating system. In one embodiment, the social network token may be stored in an encrypted form. The social network token may be accessible to the mobile device operating system to communicate social network messages on behalf of the user.
The mobile device operating system may subsequently receive a message entered by the user through a social network message interface of the operating system (block 125). In one embodiment, the message may contain text entered through the social network message interface of the operating system. Upon receiving the message entered through the operating system interface, the message may be sent by the mobile device operating system to the server-side social network application along with the social network token (block 130). In one embodiment, the message and the social network token may also be communicated with a unique identifier of the mobile device. The server-side social network application may utilize the social network token to identify the user's social network account. The message may then be communicated as a social network message via the user's social network identity. As such, a user may communicate a social network message from a mobile device through an interface built into an operating system of the mobile device without launching a client-side social network application or even having such an application on the device.
Referring to
A user may have a first social network account with first social network platform 225 and a second social network account with second social network platform 230. For example, the user may have a Facebook account and a Twitter account. Although
Referring to
Operating system 220 obtains a user's social network credentials for a social network account of the user (305). As described above with respect to
The first social network token may be stored in a memory of mobile device 205 for subsequent use in communicating social network messages via the first social network account on behalf of the user. In one embodiment, the social network token may be stored in a memory location that is designated for use only by operating system 220. In another embodiment, the social network token may be stored in a memory location that is only accessible to operating system 220.
In one embodiment, the social network token may be stored in a memory location that is dedicated to storing a social network token obtained from first social network platform 225. Presence of a social network token in the dedicated memory location for first social network platform 225 may enable operating system 220 to determine that the user has a social network account through first social network platform 225 and that the operating system interface should provide an option to communicate a social network message using that account.
After the passage of some time, the user may establish a second social network account with second social network platform 230 (or decide to provide credentials for an existing account with second social network platform 230). In a like manner to the process described above with respect to the user's first social network platform account, operating system 220 may obtain the credentials for the second social network platform account (320), request a second social network token from second social network platform 230 (325), and receive the requested token (330). The second social network token may also be stored in a memory of device 205 for subsequent use in communicating social network messages via the second social network account on behalf of the user. The second social network token may be stored in a memory location dedicated to storing a social network token obtained from second social network platform 230. Therefore, in one embodiment, presence of a token in the dedicated area of memory for each of the first social network platform account and the second social network platform account may indicate that the user has both a first social network platform account and a second social network platform account and that the operating system interface should provide an option to communicate a social network message using either or both accounts. It should be noted that although
At some point, the user navigates 335 to an operating system interface that supports the communication of social network messages through one or more social network accounts that have been set up on device 205. Navigation to the operating system interface by the user may occur based on a touch gesture performed on a touch screen of device 205, selection of an operating system icon, a keystroke from a user interface of device 205, etc. In response, operating system 220 displays the appropriate interface 340. Display of the appropriate interface may include determining which, if any, social network accounts have been set up on device 205. In one embodiment, the interface may only display an option to communicate a message via a certain social network platform if the user has set up an account for that platform. In another embodiment, the interface may display multiple social network platforms but only those for which the user has set up an account may be selectable. As set forth above, in one embodiment, operating system 220 may determine which social network accounts have been set up by the user based on the presence of social network tokens in a dedicated memory location of device 205. For example, presence of a social network token in a first dedicated area of memory may indicate that a user has set up an account for first social network platform 225 on device 205. In another embodiment, an operating system setting may indicate which social network accounts have been set up on device 205. These settings may be updated when operating system 220 receives a new token for a social network account or in the event a token is deleted or otherwise becomes inactive (e.g., after a specified amount of time).
Through the operating system interface, a user may create a social network message 345. In one embodiment, the operating system interface may display a text entry field in response to a user's selection of a particular social network account. In another embodiment, the operating system interface may additionally support the attachment of digital media (e.g., a photo, an audio file, a video file, etc.) to the message created by the user. In the illustrated embodiment, the user has selected to communicate a single message through both of the social network accounts that they have set up on device 205. Therefore, in response to the completion of the user's message (e.g., in response to the user selecting a transmit selector), operating system 220 retrieves the first social network token and sends 350 the user-created message along with the first social network token to first social network platform 225. Because the first social network token uniquely identifies the user's account, the message is communicated via the user's social network account just as if the user had created the message through a web interface of the first social network platform or through a client-side application for the first social network platform. In a similar manner, operating system 220 retrieves the second social network token and sends 355 the user-created message along with the second social network token to second social network platform 230. The same message is therefore communicated via the user's social network accounts with first social network platform 225 and second social network platform 230.
Referring to
Referring to
Processor 505 may execute instructions necessary to carry out or control the operation of many functions performed by device 500. Processor 505 may, for instance, drive display 510 and receive user input from user interface 515. For example, user interface 515 can take a variety of forms, such as a button, keypad, dial, a click wheel, keyboard, display screen and/or a touch screen. Processor 505 may also, for example, be a system-on-chip such as those found in mobile devices and include a dedicated graphics processing unit (GPU). Processor 505 may be based on reduced instruction-set computer (RISC) or complex instruction-set computer (CISC) architectures or any other suitable architecture and may include one or more processing cores. Graphics hardware 520 may be special purpose computational hardware for processing graphics and/or assisting processor 505 to process graphics information. In one embodiment, graphics hardware 520 may include a programmable graphics processing unit (GPU).
Sensor and camera circuitry 550 may capture still and video images that may be processed, at least in part, by video codec(s) 555 and/or processor 505 and/or graphics hardware 520, and/or a dedicated image processing unit incorporated within circuitry 550. Images so captured may be stored in memory 560 and/or storage 565. Memory 560 may include one or more different types of media used by processor 505 and graphics hardware 520 to perform device functions. For example, memory 560 may include memory cache, read-only memory (ROM), and/or random access memory (RAM). Storage 565 may store media (e.g., audio, image and video files), computer program instructions or software, preference information, device profile information, and any other suitable data. Storage 565 may include one or more non-transitory storage mediums including, for example, magnetic disks (fixed, floppy, and removable) and tape, optical media such as CD-ROMs and digital video disks (DVDs), and semiconductor memory devices such as Electrically Programmable Read-Only Memory (EPROM), and Electrically Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory (EEPROM). Memory 560 and storage 565 may be used to tangibly retain computer program instructions or code organized into one or more modules and written in any desired computer programming language. When executed by, for example, processor 505 such computer program code may implement one or more of the methods described herein.
It is to be understood that the above description is intended to be illustrative, and not restrictive. The material has been presented to enable any person skilled in the art to make and use the inventive concepts described herein, and is provided in the context of particular embodiments, variations of which will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art (e.g., some of the disclosed embodiments may be used in combination with each other). Many other embodiments will be apparent to those of skill in the art upon reviewing the above description. The scope of the invention therefore should be determined with reference to the appended claims, along with the full scope of equivalents to which such claims are entitled. In the appended claims, the terms “including” and “in which” are used as the plain-English equivalents of the respective terms “comprising” and “wherein.”
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