The present disclosure relates to electronic devices, including but not limited to, portable electronic devices having touch-sensitive displays and their control.
Electronic devices, including portable electronic devices, have gained widespread use and may provide a variety of functions including, for example, telephonic, electronic messaging and other personal information manager (PIM) application functions. Portable electronic devices include, for example, several types of mobile stations such as simple cellular telephones, smart telephones, wireless personal digital assistants (PDAs), and laptop computers with wireless 802.11 or Bluetooth capabilities.
Portable electronic devices such as PDAs or smart telephones are generally intended for handheld use and ease of portability. Smaller devices are generally desirable for portability. A touch-sensitive display, also known as a touchscreen display, is particularly useful on handheld devices, which are small and have limited space for user input and output. The information displayed on the touch-sensitive displays may be modified depending on the functions and operations being performed. With continued demand for decreased size of portable electronic devices, touch-sensitive displays continue to decrease in size.
Improvements in devices with touch-sensitive displays are desirable.
The following describes an apparatus for and method of displaying a text indicator and an optional movable handle for the text indicator. Movement of the movable handle is coordinated with a touch associated with the movable handle. Movement of the text indicator is moved at least some of the time in coordination with movement of the handle. Display of the text indicator is moved in coordination with movement of the touch at least along part of a path of the touch. The text indicator may at times move away from the location of an associated handle, although the location of the handle is maintained with the touch location as the touch moves. Various advantages are provided such that movement of one or more text indicators may be facilitated without having to move an input member from the touch-sensitive display among a wide variety of text conditions.
For simplicity and clarity of illustration, reference numerals may be repeated among the figures to indicate corresponding or analogous elements. Numerous details are set forth to provide an understanding of the embodiments described herein. The embodiments may be practiced without these details. In other instances, well-known methods, procedures, and components have not been described in detail to avoid obscuring the embodiments described. The description is not to be considered as limited to the scope of the embodiments described herein.
The disclosure generally relates to an electronic device, which is a portable electronic device in the embodiments described herein. Examples of portable electronic devices include mobile, or handheld, wireless communication devices such as pagers, cellular phones, cellular smart-phones, wireless organizers, personal digital assistants, wirelessly enabled notebook computers, tablet computers, and so forth. The portable electronic device may also be a portable electronic device without wireless communication capabilities, such as a handheld electronic game device, digital photograph album, digital camera, or other device.
A block diagram of an example of a portable electronic device 100 is shown in
The processor 102 interacts with other components, such as Random Access Memory (RAM) 108, memory 110, a display 112 with a touch-sensitive overlay 114 operably coupled to an electronic controller 116 that together comprise a touch-sensitive display 118, one or more actuators 120, one or more force sensors 122, an auxiliary input/output (I/O) subsystem 124, a data port 126, a speaker 128, a microphone 130, short-range communications 132, and other device subsystems 134. User-interaction with a graphical user interface is performed through the touch-sensitive overlay 114. The processor 102 interacts with the touch-sensitive overlay 114 via the electronic controller 116. Information, such as text, characters, symbols, images, icons, and other items that may be displayed or rendered on a portable electronic device, is displayed on the touch-sensitive display 118 via the processor 102. The processor 102 may interact with an accelerometer 136 that may be utilized to detect direction of gravitational forces or gravity-induced reaction forces.
To identify a subscriber for network access, the portable electronic device 100 uses a Subscriber Identity Module or a Removable User Identity Module (SIM/RUIM) card 138 for communication with a network, such as the wireless network 150. Alternatively, user identification information may be programmed into memory 110.
The portable electronic device 100 includes an operating system 146 and software programs or components 148 that are executed by the processor 102 and are typically stored in a persistent, updatable store such as the memory 110. Additional applications or programs may be loaded onto the portable electronic device 100 through the wireless network 150, the auxiliary I/O subsystem 124, the data port 126, the short-range communications subsystem 132, or any other suitable subsystem 134.
A received signal such as a text message, an e-mail message, or web page download is processed by the communication subsystem 104 and input to the processor 102. The processor 102 processes the received signal for output to the display 112 and/or to the auxiliary I/O subsystem 124. A subscriber may generate data items, for example e-mail messages, which may be transmitted over the wireless network 150 through the communication subsystem 104. For voice communications, the overall operation of the portable electronic device 100 is similar. The speaker 128 outputs audible information converted from electrical signals, and the microphone 130 converts audible information into electrical signals for processing.
The touch-sensitive display 118 may be any suitable touch-sensitive display, such as a capacitive, resistive, infrared, surface acoustic wave (SAW) touch-sensitive display, strain gauge, optical imaging, dispersive signal technology, acoustic pulse recognition, and so forth, as known in the art. A capacitive touch-sensitive display includes a capacitive touch-sensitive overlay 114. The overlay 114 may be an assembly of multiple layers in a stack including, for example, a substrate, a ground shield layer, a barrier layer, one or more capacitive touch sensor layers separated by a substrate or other barrier, and a cover. The capacitive touch sensor layers may be any suitable material, such as patterned indium tin oxide (ITO).
One or more touches, also known as touch contacts or touch events, may be detected by the touch-sensitive display 118. The processor 102 may determine attributes of the touch, including a location of a touch. Touch location data may include an area of contact or a single point of contact, such as a point at or near a center of the area of contact. The location of a detected touch may include x and y components, e.g., horizontal and vertical components, respectively, with respect to one's view of the touch-sensitive display 118. For example, the x location component may be determined by a signal generated from one touch sensor, and the y location component may be determined by a signal generated from another touch sensor. A signal is provided to the controller 116 in response to detection of a touch. A touch may be detected from any suitable input member, such as a finger, thumb, appendage, or other objects, for example, a stylus, pen, or other pointer, depending on the nature of the touch-sensitive display 118. Multiple simultaneous touches may be detected.
The actuator(s) 120 may be depressed or activated by applying sufficient force to the touch-sensitive display 118 to overcome the actuation force of the actuator 120. The actuator(s) 120 may be actuated by pressing anywhere on the touch-sensitive display 118. The actuator(s) 120 may provide input to the processor 102 when actuated. Actuation of the actuator(s) 120 may result in provision of tactile feedback. When force is applied, the touch-sensitive display 118 is depressible, pivotable, and/or movable. Such a force may actuate the actuator(s) 120. The touch-sensitive display 118 may, for example, float with respect to the housing of the portable electronic device, i.e., the touch-sensitive display 118 may not be fastened to the housing.
A mechanical dome switch actuator may be utilized. In this example, tactile feedback is provided when the dome collapses due to imparted force and when the dome returns to the rest position after release of the switch. Alternatively, the actuator 120 may comprise one or more piezoelectric (piezo) devices that provide tactile feedback for the touch-sensitive display 118. Optional force sensors 122 may be disposed in conjunction with the touch-sensitive display 118 to determine or react to forces applied to the touch-sensitive display 118. The force sensor 122 may be disposed in line with the piezo actuator 120. The force sensors 122 may be force-sensitive resistors, strain gauges, piezoelectric or piezoresistive devices, pressure sensors, quantum tunneling composites, force-sensitive switches, or other suitable devices.
A flowchart illustrating a method of moving a text indicator displayed on a touch-sensitive display is shown in
Text is displayed 202 on the touch-sensitive display 118. The text may be displayed by any software application, for example, email, web browser, word processing, calendar, contacts, and other types of applications. When an indicator, such as a text indicator, is engaged 204, the text indicator is displayed 206 at a position within the text. An example of an indicator 302 is shown at a position within the text displayed in
A handle that is movable along the display is optionally displayed 208. The handle may have a simple shape or a complex shape. An example of display of a handle 304 is shown in
When a touch is detected 210 at a location associated with the indicator is detected, the process continues at 212. A location associated with the indicator includes, for example, a touch at location at, on, or near the indicator when no handle is displayed and a touch at a location associated with the handle when a handle is displayed, e.g., a touch at a location at, on, or near the handle.
When movement of the touch is detected 212, the process continues at 214. Movement of the touch includes detection of a touch at a first location and a second location. Movement of the touch includes movement of a single continuous touch, movement of two or more discontinuous touches, including touches that release from the touch-sensitive display 118, e.g., touches that are no longer detected by the touch-sensitive display 118, and so forth.
Touches that control the position of a text indicator may result in undesirable display qualities, such as irregular or unexpected movement, such as jumping or bouncing from place to place, movement that appears to have been unintended, or other undesirable movement of the text indicator and/or handles. Such display qualities may distract or confuse the user. A touch that moves a handle may not necessarily be solely in the direction of the intended movement. For example, the path of touch that is intended to be horizontal only may not be purely horizontal, and the path of a touch that is intended to be vertical only may not be purely vertical. Jitter filters may eliminate undesired movement of displayed items due to slight movements of a touch location, but jitter filters do not address changes in touch location that are quick, such as when a user attempts to move a text indicator horizontally across a line of text.
In the example of
Similar issues may be present in the vertical direction. In the example of
In order to prevent unwanted movement such as jumping or jitter of the display of the text indicator, one or more thresholds are utilized to control movement of the text indicator. When the touch movement does not meet a threshold, the handle, if displayed, is moved 216 in coordination with movement of the touch, and the position of the text indicator is not moved, i.e., the text indicator remains at its current location, and the process continues at 210. When the touch movement meets a threshold, the text indicator is moved 218 in the direction that the threshold is met. Any displayed handle is also moved. For example, when the touch movement meets a horizontal threshold, the text indicator is moved horizontally, e.g., by one character horizontally in the text. In another example, when the touch movement meets a vertical threshold, the text indicator is moved vertically, e.g., by one character vertically in the text. Thus, when the distance between a first touch location and a second touch location meet a threshold, the indicator is moved to another position in the text. The distance may be, for example, a horizontal distance or a vertical distance between two locations of the touch. The horizontal distance may be the horizontal component of a touch. The vertical distance may be the vertical component of a touch. In an example utilizing x-y Cartesian coordinates, when the first touch location is (0,0), and the second touch location is (x,y), the horizontal distance is x, and the vertical distance is y.
The threshold(s) may be based on an aspect of the text. For example, the horizontal threshold may be related to a horizontal aspect of the text, such as the width of a character, average width of the characters, maximum character width, horizontal spacing between centers of characters such as h shown in
In another example, the vertical threshold may be related to a vertical aspect of the text, such as the height of a character, average height of the characters, maximum character height, vertical spacing between centers of characters, vertical line spacing, e.g., vertical distance between the bottom of similar characters on adjacent rows of text such as v shown in
Other thresholds or combinations of thresholds may be utilized. Optionally, only one threshold may be applied, e.g., only a vertical threshold or a horizontal threshold.
Anther undesired display affect of a text indicator and/or handle may occur when the location of the touch is beyond the end of a line of text. As shown in
As described herein, movement of the handle is coordinated with movement of the touch, such that the handle moves with the touch even when the text indicator moves away from the location, such as shown in the example of
This enhancement may also be applied to display of multiple indicators, such as shown in
As described herein, movement of the handle is coordinated with movement of the touch, such that the handle moves with the touch even when the text indicator moves away from the location, such as shown in the example of
A front view of an electronic device showing a text indicator and handle moving near an end of text displayed on a touch-sensitive display is shown in
This enhancement may also be applied to display of multiple indicators, such as shown in
The process of
Horizontal, vertical, up, down, right, and left are terms utilized herein to provide reference with respect to the displayed text and are not otherwise limiting. Meeting a threshold as described herein includes equaling and exceeding the threshold.
The present disclosure provides many text editing advantages for touch-sensitive displays. Applying thresholds gives the impression that the text indicator is moving along a horizontal or vertical rail. The movement of the text indicator is less jittery, does not jump or bounce from place to place unexpectedly, and flows more smoothly, for example, in the vertical and horizontal directions, e.g., when thresholds are applied before moving a text indicator. Movement of a touch associated with the handle tracks movement of the movable text indicator for some but not all of the movement of the touch. Movement of the handle sometimes controls movement of the text indicator and sometimes does not control movement of the text indicator. Avoiding flipping of handles at the bottom or top of text by adding space at the bottom or top of the text prevents the handle from being moved away from the current touch location or being displayed on toolbars, menus, or other input mechanisms. Control of the text indicator may be provided anywhere on the touch-sensitive display, whether or not text is displayed in association with the touch location, without moving a text indicator from the touch location. The electronic device facilitates the ability of the user to control the text indicator position anywhere on the touch-sensitive display without having to move their input member from its current location or the user perceiving that the user needs to move their input member from its current location. Because the handle moves in coordination or along with the touch movement, and not necessarily with the text indicator, a user is able to see when the position of the handle changes the position of the text indicator.
The present disclosure may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from its spirit or essential characteristics. The described embodiments are to be considered in all respects only as illustrative and not restrictive. The scope of the disclosure is, therefore, indicated by the appended claims rather than by the foregoing description. All changes that come within the meaning and range of equivalency of the claims are to be embraced within their scope.