US20100125811A1

Movatterモバイル変換

Info

Publication number: US20100125811A1
Application number: US12/365,888
Authority: US
Inventors: Bradford Allen Moore; Bas Ording; Elizabeth Caroline Furches; Stephen J. Chick; Kenneth L. Kocienda
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2008-11-19
Filing date: 2009-02-04
Publication date: 2010-05-20
Also published as: JP2017097911A; US20100123724A1; US12242718B2; US8584031B2; CN102265586A; JP2014002755A; US20220221985A1; KR101590457B1; US11307763B2; US8255810B2; KR20150084072A; KR101787035B1; CN104133589A; JP6584710B2; WO2010059306A2; CN104133589B; KR20160018816A; HK1203671A1; US20120319985A1; KR101317547B1

Abstract

In some embodiments, a computer-implemented method performed at a portable electronic device with a touch screen display includes simultaneously displaying a character input area operable to display text character input and emoji character input selected by a user, a keyboard display area, and a plurality of emoji category icons. In response to detecting a gesture on a respective emoji category icon, the method also includes simultaneously displaying: a first subset of emoji character keys for the respective emoji category in the keyboard display area and a plurality of subset-sequence-indicia icons for the respective emoji category. The method also includes detecting a gesture in the keyboard display area and, in response: replacing display of the first subset of emoji character keys with display of a second subset of emoji character keys for the respective emoji category, and updating the information provided by the subset-sequence-indicia icons.

Description

RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/274,346, filed Nov. 19, 2008, entitled “Portable Touch Screen Device, Method, and Graphical User Interface for Using Emoji Characters,” which application is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The disclosed embodiments relate generally to portable electronic devices that provide emoji characters for electronic messages and documents, and more particularly, to portable electronic devices with touch screen displays that provide emoji characters for electronic messages and documents.

BACKGROUND

As portable electronic devices become more compact, and the number of functions performed by a given device increase, it has become a significant challenge to design a user interface that allows users to easily interact with a multifunction device. This challenge is particularly significant for handheld portable devices with touch-sensitive displays, which have much smaller screens than desktop or laptop computers. This situation is unfortunate because the user interface is the gateway through which users receive not only content, but also responses to user actions or behaviors, including user attempts to access a device's features, tools, and functions. Some portable communication devices (e.g., mobile telephones, sometimes called mobile phones, cell phones, cellular telephones, and the like) have resorted to adding more pushbuttons, increasing the density of push buttons, overloading the functions of pushbuttons, or using complex menu systems to allow a user to access, store and manipulate data. These conventional user interfaces often result in complicated key sequences and menu hierarchies that must be memorized by the user.

Many conventional user interfaces, such as those that include physical pushbuttons, are also inflexible. This may prevent a user interface from being configured and/or adapted by either an application running on the portable device or by users. When coupled with the time consuming requirement to memorize multiple key sequences and menu hierarchies, and the difficulty in activating a desired pushbutton, such inflexibility is frustrating to most users.

Recently, portable electronic devices have been developed that support the use of emoji characters. Emoji characters are often used in web forums, email messages, instant messages (e.g., SMS text messages), notes, and on-line games. A large and growing number of emoji characters exist. But it is quite cumbersome to display, organize, and use a large number of emoji characters in existing portable electronic devices with small display screens.

Accordingly, there is a need for portable electronic devices with touch screen displays that have more transparent and efficient user interfaces for using emoji characters. Such interfaces allow tasks involving emoji characters to be performed faster and more efficiently by users, thereby conserving power and increasing the time between battery charges in portable electronic devices. In addition, such interfaces increase the effectiveness of and user satisfaction with portable electronic devices.

SUMMARY

The above deficiencies and other problems associated with user interfaces for providing and using emoji on portable devices are reduced by the disclosed portable multifunction device. In some embodiments, the device has a touch-sensitive display (also known as a “touch screen”) with a graphical user interface (GUI), one or more processors, memory and one or more modules, programs or sets of instructions stored in the memory for performing multiple functions. In some embodiments, the user interacts with the GUI primarily through finger contacts and gestures on the touch-sensitive display. In some embodiments, the functions may include telephoning, video conferencing, e-mailing, instant messaging, blogging, digital photographing, digital videoing, web browsing, digital music playing, and/or digital video playing. Instructions for performing these functions may be included in a computer program product configured for execution by one or more processors (e.g., a computer readable storage medium with instructions stored therein).

In accordance with some embodiments, a computer-implemented method is performed at a portable electronic device with a touch screen display while the portable electronic device is in a user-interface locked mode. The method includes: receiving an incoming message from a party to a user of the portable electronic device while the touch screen display is in a power-conserving state; and, in response to receiving the incoming message: powering up the touch screen display, and displaying at least part of the incoming message from the party to the user on the touch screen display. The method also includes: detecting one or more predefined finger gestures on the touch screen display that correspond to an emoji character; detecting a predefined user action to initiate sending a response to the incoming message; and, in response to detecting the predefined user action to initiate sending the response to the incoming message, sending the response to the incoming message. The response comprises the emoji character that corresponds to the one or more predefined finger gestures detected on the touch screen display.

In accordance with some embodiments, a portable electronic device includes: a touch screen display; one or more processors; memory; and one or more programs. The one or more programs are stored in the memory and configured to be executed by the one or more processors. The one or more programs include: instructions for, while the portable electronic device is in a user-interface locked mode: receiving an incoming message from a party to a user of the portable electronic device while the touch screen display is in a power-conserving state; in response to receiving the incoming message: powering up the touch screen display, and displaying at least part of the incoming message from the party to the user on the touch screen display; detecting one or more predefined finger gestures on the touch screen display that correspond to an emoji character; detecting a predefined user action to initiate sending a response to the incoming message; and, in response to detecting the predefined user action to initiate sending the response to the incoming message, sending the response to the incoming message. The response comprises the emoji character that corresponds to the one or more predefined finger gestures detected on the touch screen display.

In accordance with some embodiments, a computer readable storage medium has stored therein instructions, which when executed by a portable electronic device with a touch screen display, cause the device to, while the portable electronic device is in a user-interface locked mode: receive an incoming message from a party to a user of the portable electronic device while the touch screen display is in a power-conserving state. The instructions also cause the device, while the portable electronic device is in a user-interface locked mode, to: in response to receiving the incoming message: power up the touch screen display, and display at least part of the incoming message from the party to the user on the touch screen display; detect one or more predefined finger gestures on the touch screen display that correspond to an emoji character; detect a predefined user action to initiate sending a response to the incoming message; and, in response to detecting the predefined user action to initiate sending the response to the incoming message, send the response to the incoming message. The response comprises the emoji character that corresponds to the one or more predefined finger gestures detected on the touch screen display.

In accordance with some embodiments, a graphical user interface on a portable electronic device with a touch screen display includes at least part of an incoming message from a party to a user of the portable electronic device. While the portable electronic device is in a user-interface locked mode, in response to receiving the incoming message from the party to the user of the portable electronic device while the touch screen display is in a power-conserving state: the touch screen display is powered up, and at least part of the incoming message from the party to the user is displayed on the touch screen display. While the portable electronic device is in the user-interface locked mode, one or more predefined finger gestures on the touch screen display are detected that correspond to an emoji character. While the portable electronic device is in the user-interface locked mode, in response to detecting a predefined user action to initiate sending a response to the incoming message, the response to the incoming message is sent. The response comprises the emoji character that corresponds to the one or more predefined finger gestures detected on the touch screen display.

In accordance with some embodiments, a portable electronic device, includes: a touch screen display and, while the portable electronic device is in a user-interface locked mode: means for receiving an incoming message from a party to a user of the portable electronic device while the touch screen display is in a power-conserving state; in response to receiving the incoming message: means for powering up the touch screen display, and means for displaying at least part of the incoming message from the party to the user on the touch screen display; means for detecting one or more predefined finger gestures on the touch screen display that correspond to an emoji character; means for detecting a predefined user action to initiate sending a response to the incoming message; and, in response to detecting the predefined user action to initiate sending the response to the incoming message, means for sending the response to the incoming message. The response comprises the emoji character that corresponds to the one or more predefined finger gestures detected on the touch screen display.

In accordance with some embodiments, a computer-implemented method, includes: at a portable electronic device with a touch screen display, while the portable electronic device is in a user-interface locked mode: receiving an incoming message from a party to a user of the portable electronic device while the touch screen display is in a power-conserving state; in response to receiving the incoming message: powering up the touch screen display, displaying at least part of the incoming message from the party to the user on the touch screen display, and displaying a plurality of predefined responses to the incoming message, wherein the predefined responses include a plurality of emoji characters; detecting a predefined user action for selecting a predefined response in the plurality of predefined responses; detecting a predefined user action to initiate sending the selected predefined response to the incoming message; and, in response to detecting the predefined user action to initiate sending the selected predefined response to the incoming message, sending the selected predefined response to the incoming message. The selected predefined response comprises an emoji character in the plurality of emoji characters.

In accordance with some embodiments, a portable electronic device, includes: a touch screen display; one or more processors; memory; and one or more programs, wherein the one or more programs are stored in the memory and configured to be executed by the one or more processors. The one or more programs include instructions for, while the portable electronic device is in a user-interface locked mode: receiving an incoming message from a party to a user of the portable electronic device while the touch screen display is in a power-conserving state; in response to receiving the incoming message: powering up the touch screen display, displaying at least part of the incoming message from the party to the user on the touch screen display, and displaying a plurality of predefined responses to the incoming message, wherein the predefined responses include a plurality of emoji characters; detecting a predefined user action for selecting a predefined response in the plurality of predefined responses; detecting a predefined user action to initiate sending the selected predefined response to the incoming message; and, in response to detecting the predefined user action to initiate sending the selected predefined response to the incoming message, sending the selected predefined response to the incoming message. The selected predefined response comprises an emoji character in the plurality of emoji characters.

In accordance with some embodiments, a computer readable storage medium has stored therein instructions, which when executed by a portable electronic device with a touch screen display, cause the device to, while the portable electronic device is in a user-interface locked mode: receive an incoming message from a party to a user of the portable electronic device while the touch screen display is in a power-conserving state; in response to receiving the incoming message: power up the touch screen display, display at least part of the incoming message from the party to the user on the touch screen display, and display a plurality of predefined responses to the incoming message, wherein the predefined responses include a plurality of emoji characters; detect a predefined user action for selecting a predefined response in the plurality of predefined responses; detect a predefined user action to initiate sending the selected predefined response to the incoming message; and, in response to detecting the predefined user action to initiate sending the selected predefined response to the incoming message, send the selected predefined response to the incoming message. The selected predefined response comprises an emoji character in the plurality of emoji characters.

In accordance with some embodiments, a portable electronic device includes: a touch screen display; and, while the portable electronic device is in a user-interface locked mode: means for receiving an incoming message from a party to a user of the portable electronic device while the touch screen display is in a power-conserving state; in response to receiving the incoming message: means for powering up the touch screen display, means for displaying at least part of the incoming message from the party to the user on the touch screen display, and means for displaying a plurality of predefined responses to the incoming message, wherein the predefined responses includes a plurality of emoji characters; means for detecting a predefined user action for selecting a predefined response in the plurality of predefined responses; means for detecting a predefined user action to initiate sending a selected predefined response to the incoming message; and, in response to detecting the predefined user action to initiate sending the selected predefined response to the incoming message, means for sending the selected predefined response to the incoming message. The selected predefined response comprises an emoji character in the plurality of emoji characters.

In accordance with some embodiments, a portable electronic device, includes: a touch screen display; one or more processors; memory; and one or more programs, wherein the one or more programs are stored in the memory and configured to be executed by the one or more processors. The one or more programs include instructions for, while the portable electronic device is in a user-interface locked mode: receiving an incoming message from a party to a user of the portable electronic device while the touch screen display is in a power-conserving state; in response to receiving the incoming message: powering up the touch screen display, and displaying at least part of the incoming message from the party to the user on the touch screen display; detecting a predefined user action to initiate display of a plurality of predefined responses to the incoming message, wherein the predefined responses include a plurality of emoji characters; in response to detecting the predefined user action to initiate display of the plurality of predefined responses to the incoming message, displaying the plurality of predefined responses; detecting a predefined user action for selecting a predefined response in the plurality of predefined responses; detecting a predefined user action to initiate sending the selected predefined response to the incoming message; and, in response to detecting the predefined user action to initiate sending the selected predefined response to the incoming message, sending the selected predefined response to the incoming message. The selected predefined response comprises an emoji character in the plurality of emoji characters.

In accordance with some embodiments, a computer readable storage medium has stored therein instructions, which when executed by a portable electronic device with a touch screen display, cause the device to, while the portable electronic device is in a user-interface locked mode: receive an incoming message from a party to a user of the portable electronic device while the touch screen display is in a power-conserving state; in response to receiving the incoming message: power up the touch screen display, and display at least part of the incoming message from the party to the user on the touch screen display; detect a predefined user action to initiate display of a plurality of predefined responses to the incoming message, wherein the predefined responses include a plurality of emoji characters; in response to detecting the predefined user action to initiate display of the plurality of predefined responses to the incoming message, display the plurality of predefined responses; detect a predefined user action for selecting a predefined response in the plurality of predefined responses; detect a predefined user action to initiate sending the selected predefined response to the incoming message; and, in response to detecting the predefined user action to initiate sending the selected predefined response to the incoming message, send the selected predefined response to the incoming message. The selected predefined response comprises an emoji character in the plurality of emoji characters.

In accordance with some embodiments, a graphical user interface on a portable electronic device with a touch screen display includes at least part of an incoming message from a party to a user of the portable electronic device, and a plurality of predefined responses to the incoming message. The predefined responses include a plurality of emoji characters. While the portable electronic device is in a user-interface locked mode: in response to receiving the incoming message from the party to the user of the portable electronic device while the touch screen display is in a power-conserving state: the touch screen display is powered up, and at least part of the incoming message from the party to the user is displayed on the touch screen display; in response to detecting a predefined user action to initiate display of the plurality of predefined responses to the incoming message, the plurality of predefined responses are displayed; a predefined user action for selecting a predefined response in the plurality of predefined responses is detected; and, in response to detecting a predefined user action to initiate sending the selected predefined response to the incoming message, the selected predefined response to the incoming message is sent. The selected predefined response comprises an emoji character in the plurality of emoji characters.

In accordance with some embodiments, a portable electronic device, includes: a touch screen display, and while the portable electronic device is in a user-interface locked mode: means for receiving an incoming message from a party to a user of the portable electronic device while the touch screen display is in a power-conserving state; in response to receiving the incoming message: means for powering up the touch screen display, and means for displaying at least part of the incoming message from the party to the user on the touch screen display; means for detecting a predefined user action to initiate display of a plurality of predefined responses to the incoming message, wherein the predefined responses include a plurality of emoji characters; in response to detecting the predefined user action to initiate display of the plurality of predefined responses to the incoming message, means for displaying the plurality of predefined responses; means for detecting a predefined user action for selecting a predefined response in the plurality of predefined responses; means for detecting a predefined user action to initiate sending the selected predefined response to the incoming message; and, in response to detecting the predefined user action to initiate sending the selected predefined response to the incoming message, means for sending the selected predefined response to the incoming message. The selected predefined response comprises an emoji character in the plurality of emoji characters.

In accordance with some embodiments, a computer-implemented method at a portable electronic device with a touch screen display includes: detecting a user-defined gesture on the touch screen display while the portable electronic device is in a user-defined-gesture recording mode; creating a representation of the user-defined gesture; associating the representation of the user-defined gesture with an emoji character; and storing the representation of the user-defined gesture and the association of the representation of the user-defined gesture with the emoji character.

In accordance with some embodiments, a portable electronic device includes: a touch screen display; one or more processors; memory; and one or more programs, wherein the one or more programs are stored in the memory and configured to be executed by the one or more processors. The one or more programs include instructions for: detecting a user-defined gesture on the touch screen display while the portable electronic device is in a user-defined-gesture recording mode; creating a representation of the user-defined gesture; associating the representation of the user-defined gesture with an emoji character; and storing the representation of the user-defined gesture and the association of the representation of the user-defined gesture with the emoji character.

In accordance with some embodiments, a computer readable storage medium has stored therein instructions, which when executed by a portable electronic device with a touch screen display, cause a device to: detect a user-defined gesture on the touch screen display while the portable electronic device is in a user-defined-gesture recording mode; create a representation of the user-defined gesture; associate the representation of the user-defined gesture with an emoji character; and store the representation of the user-defined gesture and the association of the representation of the user-defined gesture with the emoji character.

In accordance with some embodiments, a portable electronic device includes: a touch screen display; means for detecting a user-defined gesture on the touch screen display while the portable electronic device is in a user-defined-gesture recording mode; means for creating a representation of the user-defined gesture; means for associating the representation of the user-defined gesture with an emoji character; and means for storing the representation of the user-defined gesture and the association of the representation of the user-defined gesture with the emoji character.

In accordance with some embodiments, a computer-implemented method at a portable electronic device with a touch screen display includes: receiving an electronic message. The electronic message includes: instructions for initiating a geographic mapping application, location data representing a location on a geographic map, and emoji data representing an emoji character. The emoji data is associated with the location data. The method also includes: displaying the electronic message on the touch screen display; detecting a predefined user action on the displayed electronic message to initiate the geographic mapping application; and, in response to detecting the predefined user action to initiate the geographic mapping application: displaying the geographic map in the geographic mapping application, and displaying the emoji character at the location on the geographic map that corresponds to the location data.

In accordance with some embodiments, a portable electronic device includes: a touch screen display; one or more processors; memory; and one or more programs, wherein the one or more programs are stored in the memory and configured to be executed by the one or more processors. The one or more programs include instructions for: receiving an electronic message, wherein the electronic message includes: instructions for initiating a geographic mapping application, location data representing a location on a geographic map, and emoji data representing an emoji character. The emoji data is associated with the location data. The one or more programs also include instructions for: displaying the electronic message on the touch screen display; detecting a predefined user action on the displayed electronic message to initiate the geographic mapping application; and, in response to detecting the predefined user action to initiate the geographic mapping application: displaying the geographic map in the geographic mapping application, and displaying the emoji character at the location on the geographic map that corresponds to the location data.

In accordance with some embodiments, a computer readable storage medium has stored therein instructions, which when executed by a portable electronic device with a touch screen display, cause a device to receive an electronic message. The electronic message includes: instructions for initiating a geographic mapping application, location data representing a location on a geographic map, and emoji data representing an emoji character. The emoji data is associated with the location data. The instructions also cause the device to: display the electronic message on the touch screen display; detect a predefined user action on the displayed electronic message to initiate the geographic mapping application; and, in response to detecting the predefined user action to initiate the geographic mapping application: display the geographic map in the geographic mapping application, and display the emoji character at the location on the geographic map that corresponds to the location data.

In accordance with some embodiments, a graphical user interface on a portable electronic device with a touch screen display includes: an electronic message, a geographic map, and an emoji character The electronic message is received by the portable electronic device. The electronic message includes: instructions for initiating a geographic mapping application, location data representing a location on the geographic map, and emoji data representing the emoji character. The emoji data is associated with the location data. The electronic message is displayed on the touch screen display. In response to detecting a predefined user action on the displayed electronic message to initiate the geographic mapping application: the geographic map is displayed in the geographic mapping application, and the emoji character is displayed at the location on the geographic map that corresponds to the location data.

In accordance with some embodiments, a portable electronic device includes: a touch screen display; means for receiving an electronic message, wherein the electronic message includes: instructions for initiating a geographic mapping application, location data representing a location on a geographic map, and emoji data representing an emoji character, wherein the emoji data is associated with the location data. The device also includes: means for displaying the electronic message on the touch screen display; means for detecting a predefined user action on the displayed electronic message to initiate the geographic mapping application; and, in response to detecting the predefined user action to initiate the geographic mapping application: means for displaying the geographic map in the geographic mapping application, and means for displaying the emoji character at the location on the geographic map that corresponds to the location data.

Thus, the invention provides simple, efficient, and easy-to-use interfaces for using emoji on portable electronic devices with a touch-sensitive display. Such interfaces conserve power by enabling a user to complete tasks faster, thereby increasing the time between battery charges. Such interfaces also increase user satisfaction with portable electronic devices.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

For a better understanding of the aforementioned embodiments of the invention as well as additional embodiments thereof, reference should be made to the Description of Embodiments below, in conjunction with the following drawings in which like reference numerals refer to corresponding parts throughout the figures.

FIGS. 1A and 1B are block diagrams illustrating portable multifunction devices with touch-sensitive displays in accordance with some embodiments.

FIG. 2 illustrates a portable multifunction device having a touch screen in accordance with some embodiments.

FIG. 3 illustrates an exemplary user interface for unlocking a portable electronic device in accordance with some embodiments.

FIGS. 4A-4B illustrate exemplary user interfaces for a menu of applications on a portable multifunction device in accordance with some embodiments.

FIGS. 5A-5G illustrate exemplary user interfaces for providing and organizing emoji character keys on a portable electronic device equipped with a touch-sensitive display in accordance with some embodiments.

FIGS. 6A-6E illustrate exemplary user interfaces for navigating between emoji character subsets in a particular emoji category and inputting an emoji character on a portable electronic device equipped with a touch-sensitive display in accordance with some embodiments.

FIGS. 7A-7E illustrate exemplary user interfaces for inputting an emoji character and sending an electronic message that includes the emoji character on a portable electronic device equipped with a touch-sensitive display in accordance with some embodiments.

FIGS. 8A-8C illustrate exemplary user interfaces for reconfiguring emoji character keys in a software keyboard on a portable electronic device equipped with a touch-sensitive display in accordance with some embodiments.

FIGS. 9A-9H illustrate exemplary user interfaces for responding to messages with emoji while a portable electronic device equipped with a touch-sensitive display is in a user-interface locked mode in accordance with some embodiments.

FIGS. 10A-10E illustrate exemplary user interfaces for assigning a user-defined gesture to an emoji character on a portable electronic device equipped with a touch-sensitive display in accordance with some embodiments.

FIGS. 11A-11B illustrate exemplary user interfaces for using an emoji character as a location indicator on a map via an electronic message in accordance with some embodiments.

FIGS. 12A-12F are flow diagrams illustrating a method of operating emoji character keyboards on a portable electronic device with a touch-sensitive display in accordance with some embodiments.

FIG. 13 is a flow diagram illustrating a method for responding to messages with emoji while a portable electronic device equipped with a touch-sensitive display is in a user-interface locked mode in accordance with some embodiments.

FIG. 14 is a flow diagram illustrating a method for responding to messages with emoji while a portable electronic device equipped with a touch-sensitive display is in a user-interface locked mode in accordance with some embodiments.

FIG. 15 is a flow diagram illustrating a method for responding to messages with emoji while a portable electronic device equipped with a touch-sensitive display is in a user-interface locked mode in accordance with some embodiments.

FIG. 16 is a flow diagram illustrating a method of assigning a user-defined gesture to an emoji on a portable electronic device equipped with a touch-sensitive display in accordance with some embodiments.

FIG. 17 is a flow diagram illustrating a method of using an emoji as a location indicator on a map via an electronic message in accordance with some embodiments.

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

Reference will now be made in detail to embodiments, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. In the following detailed description, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the present invention. However, it will be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art that the present invention may be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, well-known methods, procedures, components, circuits, and networks have not been described in detail so as not to unnecessarily obscure aspects of the embodiments.

It will also be understood that, although the terms first, second, etc. may be used herein to describe various elements, these elements should not be limited by these terms. These terms are only used to distinguish one element from another. For example, a first gesture could be termed a second gesture, and, similarly, a second gesture could be termed a first gesture, without departing from the scope of the present invention.

The terminology used in the description of the invention herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the invention. As used in the description of the invention and the appended claims, the singular forms “a”, “an” and “the” are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will also be understood that the term “and/or” as used herein refers to and encompasses any and all possible combinations of one or more of the associated listed items. It will be further understood that the terms “comprises” and/or “comprising,” when used in this specification, specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof.

As used herein, the term “if” may be construed to mean “when” or “upon” or “in response to determining” or “in response to detecting,” depending on the context. Similarly, the phrase “if it is determined” or “if [a stated condition or event] is detected” may be construed to mean “upon determining” or “in response to determining” or “upon detecting [the stated condition or event]” or “in response to detecting [the stated condition or event],” depending on the context.

Embodiments of a portable multifunction device, user interfaces for such devices, and associated processes for using such devices are described. In some embodiments, the device is a portable communications device such as a mobile telephone that also contains other functions, such as PDA, and/or music player functions. Exemplary embodiments of portable multifunction devices include, without limitation, the iPhone® and iPod Touch® devices from Apple Computer, Inc. of Cupertino, Calif.

The user interface may include a physical click wheel in addition to a touch screen or a virtual click wheel displayed on the touch screen. A click wheel is a user-interface device that may provide navigation commands based on an angular displacement of the wheel or a point of contact with the wheel by a user of the device. A click wheel may also be used to provide a user command corresponding to selection of one or more items, for example, when the user of the device presses down on at least a portion of the wheel or the center of the wheel. Alternatively, breaking contact with a click wheel image on a touch screen surface may indicate a user command corresponding to selection. For simplicity, in the discussion that follows, a portable multifunction device that includes a touch screen is used as an exemplary embodiment. It should be understood, however, that some of the user interfaces and associated processes may be applied to other portable devices.

The device may support a variety of applications, such as one or more of the following: a telephone application, a video conferencing application, an e-mail application, an instant messaging application, a blogging application, a photo management application, a digital camera application, a digital video camera application, a web browsing application, a digital music player application, and/or a digital video player application.

The various applications that may be executed on the device may use at least one common physical user-interface device, such as the touch screen. One or more functions of the touch screen as well as corresponding information displayed on the device may be adjusted and/or varied from one application to the next and/or within a respective application. In this way, a common physical architecture (such as the touch screen) of the device may support the variety of applications with user interfaces that are intuitive and transparent.

The user interfaces may include soft keyboard embodiments for inputting or operable to input text characters and emoji characters. The soft keyboard embodiments may include standard (QWERTY) and/or non-standard configurations of symbols on the displayed icons of the keyboard, such as those described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/459,606, “Keyboards For Portable Electronic Devices,” filed Jul. 24, 2006, and U.S. Pat. No. 11/459,615, “Touch Screen Keyboards For Portable Electronic Devices,” filed Jul. 24, 2006, the contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety. The keyboard embodiments may include a reduced number of icons (or soft keys) relative to the number of keys in existing physical keyboards, such as that for a typewriter. This may make it easier for users to select one or more icons in the keyboard, and thus, one or more corresponding symbols. The keyboard embodiments may be adaptive. For example, displayed icons may be modified in accordance with user actions, such as selecting one or more icons and/or one or more corresponding symbols. One or more applications on the portable device may utilize common and/or different keyboard embodiments. Thus, the keyboard embodiment used may be tailored to at least some of the applications. In some embodiments, one or more keyboard embodiments may be tailored to a respective user. For example, one or more keyboard embodiments may be tailored to a respective user based on a word usage history (lexicography, slang, individual usage) of the respective user. Some of the keyboard embodiments may be adjusted to reduce a probability of a user error when selecting one or more icons, and thus one or more symbols, when using the soft keyboard embodiments. Soft keyboards for inputting or operable to input emoji characters are discussed in more detail below.

Attention is now directed towards embodiments of the device.FIGS. 1A and 1B are block diagrams illustrating portablemultifunction devices100 with touch-sensitive displays112 in accordance with some embodiments. The touch-sensitive display112 is sometimes called a “touch screen” for convenience, and may also be known as or called a touch-sensitive display system. Thedevice100 may include a memory102 (which may include one or more computer readable storage mediums), amemory controller122, one or more processing units (CPU's)120, aperipherals interface118,RF circuitry108,audio circuitry110, aspeaker111, amicrophone113, an input/output (I/O)subsystem106, other input orcontrol devices116, and anexternal port124. Thedevice100 may include one or moreoptical sensors164. These components may communicate over one or more communication buses orsignal lines103.

It should be appreciated that thedevice100 is only one example of aportable multifunction device100, and that thedevice100 may have more or fewer components than shown, may combine two or more components, or a may have a different configuration or arrangement of the components. The various components shown inFIGS. 1A and 1B may be implemented in hardware, software, or a combination of both hardware and software, including one or more signal processing and/or application specific integrated circuits.

Memory

102 may include high-speed random access memory and may also include non-volatile memory, such as one or more magnetic disk storage devices, flash memory devices, or other non-volatile solid-state memory devices. Access tomemory102 by other components of thedevice100, such as theCPU120 and theperipherals interface118, may be controlled by thememory controller122.

The peripherals interface118 couples the input and output peripherals of the device to theCPU120 andmemory102. The one ormore processors120 run or execute various software programs and/or sets of instructions stored inmemory102 to perform various functions for thedevice100 and to process data.

In some embodiments, theperipherals interface118, theCPU120, and thememory controller122 may be implemented on a single chip, such as achip104. In some other embodiments, they may be implemented on separate chips.

The RF (radio frequency)circuitry108 receives and sends RF signals, also called electromagnetic signals. TheRF circuitry108 converts electrical signals to/from electromagnetic signals and communicates with communications networks and other communications devices via the electromagnetic signals. TheRF circuitry108 may include well-known circuitry for performing these functions, including but not limited to an antenna system, an RF transceiver, one or more amplifiers, a tuner, one or more oscillators, a digital signal processor, a CODEC chipset, a subscriber identity module (SIM) card, memory, and so forth. TheRF circuitry108 may communicate with networks, such as the Internet, also referred to as the World Wide Web (WWW), an intranet and/or a wireless network, such as a cellular telephone network, a wireless local area network (LAN) and/or a metropolitan area network (MAN), and other devices by wireless communication. The wireless communication may use any of a plurality of communications standards, protocols and technologies, including but not limited to Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), Enhanced Data GSM Environment (EDGE), high-speed downlink packet access (HSDPA), wideband code division multiple access (W-CDMA), code division multiple access (CDMA), time division multiple access (TDMA), Bluetooth, Wireless Fidelity (Wi-Fi) (e.g., IEEE 802.11a, IEEE 802.11b, IEEE 802.11g and/or IEEE 802.11n), voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), Wi-MAX, a protocol for email (e.g., Internet message access protocol (IMAP) and/or post office protocol (POP)), instant messaging (e.g., extensible messaging and presence protocol (XMPP), Session Initiation Protocol for Instant Messaging and Presence Leveraging Extensions (SIMPLE), Instant Messaging and Presence Service (IMPS)), and/or Short Message Service (SMS)), or any other suitable communication protocol, including communication protocols not yet developed as of the filing date of this document.

Theaudio circuitry110, thespeaker111, and themicrophone113 provide an audio interface between a user and thedevice100. Theaudio circuitry110 receives audio data from theperipherals interface118, converts the audio data to an electrical signal, and transmits the electrical signal to thespeaker111. Thespeaker111 converts the electrical signal to human-audible sound waves. Theaudio circuitry110 also receives electrical signals converted by themicrophone113 from sound waves. Theaudio circuitry110 converts the electrical signal to audio data and transmits the audio data to the peripherals interface118 for processing. Audio data may be retrieved from and/or transmitted tomemory102 and/or theRF circuitry108 by theperipherals interface118. In some embodiments, theaudio circuitry110 also includes a headset jack (e.g.212,FIG. 2). The headset jack provides an interface between theaudio circuitry110 and removable audio input/output peripherals, such as output-only headphones or a headset with both output (e.g., a headphone for one or both ears) and input (e.g., a microphone).

The I/O subsystem106 couples input/output peripherals on thedevice100, such as thetouch screen112 and other input/control devices116, to theperipherals interface118. The I/O subsystem106 may include adisplay controller156 and one ormore input controllers160 for other input or control devices. The one ormore input controllers160 receive/send electrical signals from/to other input orcontrol devices116. The other input/control devices116 may include physical buttons (e.g., push buttons, rocker buttons, etc.), dials, slider switches, joysticks, click wheels, and so forth. In some alternate embodiments, input controller(s)160 may be coupled to any (or none) of the following: a keyboard, infrared port, USB port, and a pointer device such as a mouse. The one or more buttons (e.g.,208,FIG. 2) may include an up/down button for volume control of thespeaker111 and/or themicrophone113. The one or more buttons may include a push button (e.g.,206,FIG. 2). A quick press of the push button may disengage a lock of thetouch screen112 or begin a process that uses gestures on the touch screen to unlock the device, as described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/322,549, “Unlocking a Device by Performing Gestures on an Unlock Image,” filed Dec. 23, 2005, which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety. A longer press of the push button (e.g.,206) may turn power to thedevice100 on or off. The user may be able to customize a functionality of one or more of the buttons. Thetouch screen112 is used to implement virtual or soft buttons and one or more soft keyboards.

The touch-sensitive touch screen112 provides an input interface and an output interface between the device and a user. Thedisplay controller156 receives and/or sends electrical signals from/to thetouch screen112. Thetouch screen112 displays visual output to the user. The visual output may include graphics, text, icons, video, and any combination thereof (collectively termed “graphics”). In some embodiments, some or all of the visual output may correspond to user-interface objects.

Atouch screen112 has a touch-sensitive surface, sensor or set of sensors that accepts input from the user based on haptic and/or tactile contact. Thetouch screen112 and the display controller156 (along with any associated modules and/or sets of instructions in memory102) detect contact (and any movement or breaking of the contact) on thetouch screen112 and converts the detected contact into interaction with user-interface objects (e.g., one or more soft keys, icons, web pages or images) that are displayed on the touch screen. In an exemplary embodiment, a point of contact between atouch screen112 and the user corresponds to a finger of the user.

Thetouch screen112 may use LCD (liquid crystal display) technology, or LPD (light emitting polymer display) technology, although other display technologies may be used in other embodiments. Thetouch screen112 and thedisplay controller156 may detect contact and any movement or breaking thereof using any of a plurality of touch sensing technologies now known or later developed, including but not limited to capacitive, resistive, infrared, and surface acoustic wave technologies, as well as other proximity sensor arrays or other elements for determining one or more points of contact with atouch screen112. In an exemplary embodiment, projected mutual capacitance sensing technology is used, such as that found in the iPhone® and iPod Touch® from Apple Computer, Inc. of Cupertino, Calif.

A touch-sensitive display in some embodiments of thetouch screen112 may be analogous to the multi-touch sensitive tablets described in the following U.S. Pat. No. 6,323,846 (Westerman et al.), U.S. Pat. No. 6,570,557 (Westerman et al.), and/or U.S. Pat. No. 6,677,932 (Westerman), and/or U.S. Patent Publication 2002/0015024A1, each of which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety. However, atouch screen112 displays visual output from theportable device100, whereas touch sensitive tablets do not provide visual output.

Thetouch screen112 may have a resolution in excess of 100 dpi. In an exemplary embodiment, the touch screen has a resolution of approximately 160 dpi. The user may make contact with thetouch screen112 using any suitable object or appendage, such as a stylus, a finger, and so forth. In some embodiments, the user interface is designed to work primarily with finger-based contacts and gestures, which are much less precise than stylus-based input due to the larger area of contact of a finger on the touch screen. In some embodiments, the device translates the rough finger-based input into a precise pointer/cursor position or command for performing the actions desired by the user.

In some embodiments, in addition to the touch screen, thedevice100 may include a touchpad (not shown) for activating or deactivating particular functions. In some embodiments, the touchpad is a touch-sensitive area of the device that, unlike the touch screen, does not display visual output. The touchpad may be a touch-sensitive surface that is separate from thetouch screen112 or an extension of the touch-sensitive surface formed by the touch screen.

In some embodiments, thedevice100 may include a physical or virtual click wheel as aninput control device116. A user may navigate among and interact with one or more graphical objects (henceforth referred to as icons) displayed in thetouch screen112 by rotating the click wheel or by moving a point of contact with the click wheel (e.g., where the amount of movement of the point of contact is measured by its angular displacement with respect to a center point of the click wheel). The click wheel may also be used to select one or more of the displayed icons. For example, the user may press down on at least a portion of the click wheel or an associated button. User commands and navigation commands provided by the user via the click wheel may be processed by aninput controller160 as well as one or more of the modules and/or sets of instructions inmemory102. For a virtual click wheel, the click wheel and click wheel controller may be part of thetouch screen112 and thedisplay controller156, respectively. For a virtual click wheel, the click wheel may be either an opaque or semitransparent object that appears and disappears on the touch screen display in response to user interaction with the device. In some embodiments, a virtual click wheel is displayed on the touch screen of a portable multifunction device and operated by user contact with the touch screen.

Thedevice100 also includes apower system162 for powering the various components. Thepower system162 may include a power management system, one or more power sources (e.g., battery, alternating current (AC)), a recharging system, a power failure detection circuit, a power converter or inverter, a power status indicator (e.g., a light-emitting diode (LED)) and any other components associated with the generation, management and distribution of power in portable devices.

Thedevice100 may also include one or moreoptical sensors164.FIGS. 1A and 1B show an optical sensor coupled to anoptical sensor controller158 in I/O subsystem106. Theoptical sensor164 may include charge-coupled device (CCD) or complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) phototransistors. Theoptical sensor164 receives light from the environment, projected through one or more lens, and converts the light to data representing an image. In conjunction with an imaging module143 (also called a camera module), theoptical sensor164 may capture still images or video. In some embodiments, an optical sensor is located on the back of thedevice100, opposite thetouch screen display112 on the front of the device, so that the touch screen display may be used as a viewfinder for still and/or video image acquisition. In some embodiments, an optical sensor is located on the front of the device so that the user's image may be obtained for videoconferencing while the user views the other video conference participants on the touch screen display. In some embodiments, the position of theoptical sensor164 can be changed by the user (e.g., by rotating the lens and the sensor in the device housing) so that a singleoptical sensor164 may be used along with the touch screen display for both video conferencing and still and/or video image acquisition.

Thedevice100 may also include one ormore proximity sensors166.FIGS. 1A and 1B show aproximity sensor166 coupled to theperipherals interface118. Alternately, theproximity sensor166 may be coupled to aninput controller160 in the I/O subsystem106. Theproximity sensor166 may perform as described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/241,839, “Proximity Detector In Handheld Device”; Ser. No. 11/240,788, “Proximity Detector In Handheld Device”; Ser. No. 11/620,702, “Using Ambient Light Sensor To Augment Proximity Sensor Output”; Ser. No. 11/586,862, “Automated Response To And Sensing Of User Activity In Portable Devices”; and Ser. No. 11/638,251, “Methods And Systems For Automatic Configuration Of Peripherals,” which are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety. In some embodiments, the proximity sensor turns off and disables thetouch screen112 when the multifunction device is placed near the user's ear (e.g., when the user is making a phone call). In some embodiments, the proximity sensor keeps the screen off when the device is in the user's pocket, purse, or other dark area to prevent unnecessary battery drainage when the device is a locked state.

Thedevice100 may also include one ormore accelerometers168.FIGS. 1A and 1B show anaccelerometer168 coupled to theperipherals interface118. Alternately, theaccelerometer168 may be coupled to aninput controller160 in the I/O subsystem106. Theaccelerometer168 may perform as described in U.S. Patent Publication No. 20050190059, “Acceleration-based Theft Detection System for Portable Electronic Devices,” and U.S. Patent Publication No. 20060017692, “Methods And Apparatuses For Operating A Portable Device Based On An Accelerometer,” both of which are which are incorporated by reference herein in their entirety. In some embodiments, information is displayed on the touch screen display in a portrait view or a landscape view based on an analysis of data received from the one or more accelerometers.

In some embodiments, the software components stored inmemory102 may include anoperating system126, a communication module (or set of instructions)128, a contact/motion module (or set of instructions)130, a graphics module (or set of instructions)132, a text input module (or set of instructions)134, a Global Positioning System (GPS) module (or set of instructions)135, and applications (or set of instructions)136.

The operating system126 (e.g., Darwin, RTXC, LINUX, UNIX, OS X, WINDOWS, or an embedded operating system such as VxWorks) includes various software components and/or drivers for controlling and managing general system tasks (e.g., memory management, storage device control, power management, etc.) and facilitates communication between various hardware and software components.

Thecommunication module128 facilitates communication with other devices over one or moreexternal ports124 and also includes various software components for handling data received by theRF circuitry108 and/or theexternal port124. The external port124 (e.g., Universal Serial Bus (USB), FIREWIRE, etc.) is adapted for coupling directly to other devices or indirectly over a network (e.g., the Internet, wireless LAN, etc.). In some embodiments, the external port is a multi-pin (e.g., 30-pin) connector that is the same as, or similar to and/or compatible with the 30-pin connector used on iPod (trademark of Apple Computer, Inc.) devices.

The contact/motion module130 may detect contact with the touch screen112 (in conjunction with the display controller156) and other touch sensitive devices (e.g., a touchpad or physical click wheel). The contact/motion module130 includes various software components for performing various operations related to detection of contact, such as determining if contact has occurred (e.g., detecting a finger-down event), determining if there is movement of the contact and tracking the movement across the touch screen112 (e.g., detecting one or more finger-dragging events), and determining if the contact has ceased (e.g., detecting a finger-up event or a break in contact). The contact/motion module130 receives contact data from thetouch screen112. Determining movement of the point of contact, which is represented by a series of contact data, may include determining speed (magnitude), velocity (magnitude and direction), and/or an acceleration (a change in magnitude and/or direction) of the point of contact. These operations may be applied to single contacts (e.g., one finger contacts) or to multiple simultaneous contacts (e.g., “multitouch”/multiple finger contacts). In some embodiments, the contact/motion module130 and thedisplay controller156 also detects contact on a touchpad. In some embodiments, the contact/motion module130 and thecontroller160 detects contact on a click wheel.

The contact/motion module130 may detect a gesture input by a user. Different gestures on thetouch screen112 have different contact patterns. Thus, a gesture may be detected by detecting a particular contact pattern. For example, detecting a finger tap gesture comprises detecting a finger-down event followed by detecting a finger-up event at the same position (or substantially the same position) as the finger-down event (e.g., at the position of a button-style user interface object such as a text character key or an emoji character key in a soft keyboard). As another example, detecting a finger swipe gesture on the touch screen comprises detecting a finger-down event followed by detecting one or more finger-dragging events, and subsequently followed by detecting a finger-up event. In some embodiments, the contact/motion module130 detects user-defined gestures.

Thegraphics module132 includes various known software components for rendering and displaying graphics on thetouch screen112, including components for changing the intensity of graphics that are displayed. As used herein, the term “graphics” includes any object that can be displayed to a user, including without limitation text, web pages, icons (such as user-interface objects including soft keys), digital images, videos, animations and the like.

In some embodiments, thegraphics module132 stores data representing graphics to be used. Each graphic may be assigned a corresponding code. Thegraphics module132 receives, from applications etc., one or more codes specifying graphics to be displayed along with, if necessary, coordinate data and other graphic property data, and then generates screen image data to output to displaycontroller156.

Thetext input module134, which may be a component ofgraphics module132, provides soft keyboards for entering text in various applications (e.g.,contacts137,e-mail140,IM141,browser147, and any other application that needs text input). Thetext input module134 is also configured to provide emoji soft keyboards for entering emoji characters in various applications (e.g.,e-mail140,IM141, and any other application that uses emoji character input). In some embodiments, thetext input module134 stores data representing soft keyboards for entering text and emoji soft keyboards.

TheGPS module135 determines the location of the device and provides this information for use in various applications (e.g., to telephone138 for use in location-based dialing, tocamera143 as picture/video metadata, and to applications that provide location-based services such as weather widgets, local yellow page widgets, and map/navigation widgets).

Theapplications136 may include the following modules (or sets of instructions), or a subset or superset thereof:

- a contacts module137 (sometimes called an address book or contact list);
- atelephone module138;
- avideo conferencing module139;
- ane-mail client module140;
- an instant messaging (IM)module141;
- aworkout support module142;
- acamera module143 for still and/or video images;
- animage management module144;
- avideo player module145;
- amusic player module146;
- abrowser module147;
- acalendar module148;
- widget modules149, which may include weather widget149-1, stocks widget149-2, calculator widget149-3, alarm clock widget149-4, dictionary widget149-5, and other widgets obtained by the user, as well as user-created widgets149-6;
- widget creator module150 for making user-created widgets149-6;
- search module151;
- video andmusic player module152, which mergesvideo player module145 andmusic player module146;
- notes module153;
- map module154; and/or
- online video module155.

Examples ofother applications136 that may be stored inmemory102 include other word processing applications, JAVA-enabled applications, encryption, digital rights management, voice recognition, and voice replication.

In conjunction withtouch screen112,display controller156,contact module130,graphics module132, andtext input module134, thecontacts module137 may be used to manage an address book or contact list, including: adding name(s) to the address book; deleting name(s) from the address book; associating telephone number(s), e-mail address(es), physical address(es) or other information with a name; associating an image with a name; categorizing and sorting names; providing telephone numbers or e-mail addresses to initiate and/or facilitate communications bytelephone138,video conference139,e-mail140, orIM141; and so forth.

In conjunction withRF circuitry108,audio circuitry110,speaker111,microphone113,touch screen112,display controller156,contact module130,graphics module132, andtext input module134, thetelephone module138 may be used to enter a sequence of characters corresponding to a telephone number, access one or more telephone numbers in theaddress book137, modify a telephone number that has been entered, dial a respective telephone number, conduct a conversation and disconnect or hang up when the conversation is completed. As noted above, the wireless communication may use any of a plurality of communications standards, protocols and technologies.

In conjunction withRF circuitry108,audio circuitry110,speaker111,microphone113,touch screen112,display controller156,optical sensor164,optical sensor controller158,contact module130,graphics module132,text input module134,contact list137, andtelephone module138, thevideoconferencing module139 may be used to initiate, conduct, and terminate a video conference between a user and one or more other participants.

In conjunction withRF circuitry108,touch screen112,display controller156,contact module130,graphics module132, andtext input module134, thee-mail client module140 may be used to create, send, receive, and manage e-mail. In conjunction withimage management module144, thee-mail module140 makes it very easy to create and send e-mails with still or video images taken withcamera module143. Further,text input module134 works in conjunction withe-mail client module140 to facilitate inserting emoji into e-mails.

In conjunction withRF circuitry108,touch screen112,display controller156,contact module130,graphics module132, andtext input module134, theinstant messaging module141 may be used to enter a sequence of characters corresponding to an instant message, to modify previously entered characters, to transmit a respective instant message (for example, using a Short Message Service (SMS) or Multimedia Message Service (MMS) protocol for telephony-based instant messages or using XMPP, SIMPLE, or IMPS for Internet-based instant messages), to receive instant messages and to view received instant messages. In some embodiments, transmitted and/or received instant messages may include graphics, photos, audio files, video files and/or other attachments as are supported in a MMS and/or an Enhanced Messaging Service (EMS). As used herein, “instant messaging” refers to both telephony-based messages (e.g., messages sent using SMS or MMS) and Internet-based messages (e.g., messages sent using XMPP, SIMPLE, or IMPS). Further,text input module134 works in conjunction withinstant messaging module141 to facilitate inserting emoji into a respective instant message.

In conjunction withRF circuitry108,touch screen112,display controller156,contact module130,graphics module132,text input module134,GPS module135,map module154, andmusic player module146, theworkout support module142 may be used to create workouts (e.g., with time, distance, and/or calorie burning goals); communicate with workout sensors (sports devices); receive workout sensor data; calibrate sensors used to monitor a workout; select and play music for a workout; and display, store and transmit workout data.

In conjunction withtouch screen112,display controller156, optical sensor(s)164,optical sensor controller158,contact module130,graphics module132, andimage management module144, thecamera module143 may be used to capture still images or video (including a video stream) and store them intomemory102, modify characteristics of a still image or video, or delete a still image or video frommemory102.

In conjunction withtouch screen112,display controller156,contact module130,graphics module132,text input module134, andcamera module143, theimage management module144 may be used to arrange, modify or otherwise manipulate, label, delete, present (e.g., in a digital slide show or album), and store still and/or video images.

In conjunction withtouch screen112,display controller156,contact module130,graphics module132,audio circuitry110, andspeaker111, thevideo player module145 may be used to display, present or otherwise play back videos (e.g., on the touch screen or on an external, connected display via external port124).

In conjunction withtouch screen112,display system controller156,contact module130,graphics module132,audio circuitry110,speaker111,RF circuitry108, andbrowser module147, themusic player module146 allows the user to download and play back recorded music and other sound files stored in one or more file formats, such as MP3 or AAC files. In some embodiments, thedevice100 may include the functionality of an MP3 player, such as an iPod (trademark of Apple Computer, Inc.).

In conjunction withRF circuitry108,touch screen112,display system controller156,contact module130,graphics module132, andtext input module134, thebrowser module147 may be used to browse the Internet, including searching, linking to, receiving, and displaying web pages or portions thereof, as well as attachments and other files linked to web pages.

In conjunction withRF circuitry108,touch screen112,display system controller156,contact module130,graphics module132,text input module134,e-mail module140, andbrowser module147, thecalendar module148 may be used to create, display, modify, and store calendars and data associated with calendars (e.g., calendar entries, to do lists, etc.). Further,text input module134 works in conjunction withcalendar module148 to facilitate inserting emoji into calendar entries, to do lists, etc.

In conjunction withRF circuitry108,touch screen112,display system controller156,contact module130,graphics module132,text input module134, andbrowser module147, thewidget modules149 are mini-applications that may be downloaded and used by a user (e.g., weather widget149-1, stocks widget149-2, calculator widget149-3, alarm clock widget149-4, and dictionary widget149-5) or created by the user (e.g., user-created widget149-6). In some embodiments, a widget includes an HTML (Hypertext Markup Language) file, a CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) file, and a JavaScript file. In some embodiments, a widget includes an XML (Extensible Markup Language) file and a JavaScript file (e.g., Yahoo! Widgets).

In conjunction withRF circuitry108,touch screen112,display system controller156,contact module130,graphics module132,text input module134, andbrowser module147, thewidget creator module150 may be used by a user to create widgets (e.g., turning a user-specified portion of a web page into a widget).

In conjunction withtouch screen112,display system controller156,contact module130,graphics module132, andtext input module134, thesearch module151 may be used to search for text, music, sound, image, video, and/or other files inmemory102 that match one or more search criteria (e.g., one or more user-specified search terms).

In conjunction withtouch screen112,display controller156,contact module130,graphics module132, andtext input module134, thenotes module153 may be used to create and manage notes, to do lists, and the like. Further,text input module134 works in conjunction withnotes module153 to facilitate inserting emoji into notes, to do lists, etc.

In conjunction withRF circuitry108,touch screen112,display system controller156,contact module130,graphics module132,text input module134,GPS module135, andbrowser module147, themap module154 may be used to receive, display, modify, and store maps and data associated with maps (e.g., driving directions; data on stores and other points of interest at or near a particular location; and other location-based data). Further,text input module134 works in conjunction withmap module154 to facilitate inserting emoji into maps.

In conjunction withtouch screen112,display system controller156,contact module130,graphics module132,audio circuitry110,speaker111,RF circuitry108,text input module134,e-mail client module140, andbrowser module147, theonline video module155 allows the user to access, browse, receive (e.g., by streaming and/or download), play back (e.g., on the touch screen or on an external, connected display via external port124), send an e-mail with a link to a particular online video, and otherwise manage online videos in one or more file formats, such as H.264. In some embodiments,instant messaging module141, rather thane-mail client module140, is used to send a link to a particular online video. Additional description of the online video application can be found in U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/936,562, “Portable Multifunction Device, Method, and Graphical User Interface for Playing Online Videos,” filed Jun. 20, 2007, and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/968,067, “Portable Multifunction Device, Method, and Graphical User Interface for Playing Online Videos,” filed Dec. 31, 2007, the content of which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.

Each of the above identified modules and applications correspond to a set of instructions for performing one or more functions described above. These modules (i.e., sets of instructions) need not be implemented as separate software programs, procedures or modules, and thus various subsets of these modules may be combined or otherwise re-arranged in various embodiments. For example,video player module145 may be combined withmusic player module146 into a single module (e.g., video andmusic player module152,FIG. 1B). In some embodiments,memory102 may store a subset of the modules and data structures identified above. Furthermore,memory102 may store additional modules and data structures not described above.

In some embodiments, thedevice100 is a device where operation of a predefined set of functions on the device is performed exclusively through atouch screen112 and/or a touchpad. By using a touch screen and/or a touchpad as the primary input/control device for operation of thedevice100, the number of physical input/control devices (such as push buttons, dials, and the like) on thedevice100 may be reduced.

The predefined set of functions that may be performed exclusively through a touch screen and/or a touchpad include navigation between user interfaces. In some embodiments, the touchpad, when touched by the user, navigates thedevice100 to a main, home, or root menu from any user interface that may be displayed on thedevice100. In such embodiments, the touchpad may be referred to as a “menu button.” In some other embodiments, the menu button may be a physical push button or other physical input/control device instead of a touchpad.

FIG. 2 illustrates aportable multifunction device100 having atouch screen112 in accordance with some embodiments. The touch screen may display one or more graphics within user interface (UI)200. In this embodiment, as well as others, a user may select one or more of the graphics by making contact or touching the graphics, for example, with one or more fingers202 (not drawn to scale in the figure). In some embodiments, selection of one or more graphics occurs when the user breaks contact with the one or more graphics. In some embodiments, the contact may include a gesture, such as one or more taps, one or more swipes (from left to right, right to left, upward and/or downward) and/or a rolling of a finger (from right to left, left to right, upward and/or downward) that has made contact with thedevice100. In some embodiments, inadvertent contact with a graphic may not select the graphic. For example, a swipe gesture that sweeps over an application icon may not select the corresponding application when the gesture corresponding to selection is a tap.

Thedevice100 may also include one or more physical buttons, such as “home” ormenu button204. As described previously, themenu button204 may be used to navigate to anyapplication136 in a set of applications that may be executed on thedevice100. Alternatively, in some embodiments, the menu button is implemented as a soft key in a GUI intouch screen112.

In one embodiment, thedevice100 includes atouch screen112, amenu button204, apush button206 for powering the device on/off and locking the device, volume adjustment button(s)208, a Subscriber Identity Module (SIM)card slot210, a head setjack212, and a docking/chargingexternal port124. Thepush button206 may be used to turn the power on/off on the device by depressing the button and holding the button in the depressed state for a predefined time interval; to lock the device by depressing the button and releasing the button before the predefined time interval has elapsed; and/or to unlock the device or initiate an unlock process. In an alternative embodiment, thedevice100 also may accept verbal input for activation or deactivation of some functions through themicrophone113.

FIG. 3 illustrates an exemplary user interface for unlocking a portable electronic device in accordance with some embodiments. In some embodiments,user interface300 includes the following elements, or a subset or superset thereof:

- Unlockimage302 that is moved with a finger gesture to unlock the device;
- Arrow304 that provides a visual cue to the unlock gesture;
- Channel306 that provides additional cues to the unlock gesture;
- Time308;
- Day310;
- Date312; and
- Wallpaper image314.

In some embodiments, the device detects contact with the touch-sensitive display (e.g., a user's finger making contact on or near the unlock image302) while the device is in a user-interface lock state. The device moves theunlock image302 in accordance with the contact. The device transitions to a user-interface unlock state if the detected contact corresponds to a predefined gesture, such as moving the unlock image acrosschannel306. Conversely, the device maintains the user-interface lock state if the detected contact does not correspond to the predefined gesture. As noted above, processes that use gestures on the touch screen to unlock the device are described in U.S. patent applications Ser. No. 11/322,549, “Unlocking A Device By Performing Gestures On An Unlock Image,” filed Dec. 23, 2005, and Ser. No. 11/322,550, “Indication Of Progress Towards Satisfaction Of A User Input Condition,” filed Dec. 23, 2005, which are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety.

FIGS. 4A and 4B illustrate exemplary user interfaces for a menu of applications on a portable multifunction device in accordance with some embodiments. In some embodiments,user interface400A includes the following elements, or a subset or superset thereof:

- Signal strength indicator(s)402 for wireless communication(s), such as cellular and Wi-Fi signals;
- Time404;
- Battery status indicator406;
- Tray408 with icons for frequently used applications, such as:
- Phone138, which may include anindicator414 of the number of missed calls or voicemail messages;
- E-mail client140, which may include anindicator410 of the number of unread e-mails;
- Browser147; and
- Music player146; and
- Icons for other applications, such as:
- IM141;
- Image management144;
- Camera143;
- Video player145;
- Weather149-1;
- Stocks149-2;
- Workout support142;
- Calendar148;
- Calculator149-3;
- Alarm clock149-4;
- Dictionary149-5; and
- User-created widget149-6.

In some embodiments,user interface400B includes the following elements, or a subset or superset thereof:

- 402,404,406,141,148,144,143,149-3,149-2,149-1,149-4,410,414,138,140, and147, as described above;
- Map154;
- Notes153;
- Settings412, which provides access to settings for thedevice100 and itsvarious applications136, as described further below;
- Video andmusic player module152, also referred to as iPod (trademark of Apple Computer, Inc.)module152; and
- Online video module155, also referred to as YouTube (trademark of Google, Inc.)module155.

In some embodiments,

UI

400A or400B provides integrated access to both widget-based applications and non-widget-based applications. In some embodiments, all of the widgets, whether user-created or not, are displayed in

UI

400A or400B. In other embodiments, activating the icon for user-created widget149-6 may lead to another UI that contains the user-created widgets or icons corresponding to the user-created widgets.

In some embodiments, a user may rearrange the icons in

UI

400A or400B, e.g., using processes described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/459,602, “Portable Electronic Device With Interface Reconfiguration Mode,” filed Jul. 24, 2006, which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety. For example, a user may move application icons in and out oftray408 using finger gestures.

FIGS. 5A-5G illustrate exemplary user interfaces for providing and organizing emoji character keys on a portableelectronic device100 equipped with a touch-sensitive display112 in accordance with some embodiments. An overview of these figures is provided here.

UI

500A also includes exemplary emoji character keys5015 within thekeyboard display area5005 for the respective emoji category being displayed. In theexample UI500A, the emoji character keys being displayed (i.e.,5015-1,5015-2, and5015-3) correspond to the emoji category ‘most recently and frequently used’ because emoji category icon5010-1, most recently and frequently used, is currently selected. The currently selected emoji category icon5010 is typically visually distinguished from the unselected emoji category icons, e.g., by highlighting or changing its background color relative to the unselected emoji category icons.

In some embodiments, the emoji character keys in the emoji category corresponding to emoji category icon5010-1, the most recent and frequently used emoji characters, are selected for display based on an algorithm that analyzes recency of use as well as frequency of use for emoji characters that have been used. The algorithm creates a historic list of emoji character usage. Each entry in the historic list is given a relative weight based on the position of the entry in the historic list. For example, the most recently used emoji character gets the highest weight, the second most recently used emoji character gets a weight that is less than the most recently used emoji character, the third most recently used emoji character gets a weight that is less than the second most recently used emoji character, and so on. Next, for each distinct emoji character, an overall score is determined by combining (e.g., summing) the relative weights for that emoji character. For example, for an emoji character that occupies the second, tenth, and twentieth positions in the historic list, the overall score for that emoji character is the sum of the relative weights given to the second, tenth, and twentieth positions in the historic list. The emoji characters with the highest overall scores are then displayed (e.g., in descending score order) in the emoji category ‘most recently and frequently used’.

In this exemplary embodiment,UI500A also includes akeyboard selection icon5020. In some embodiments, thekeyboard selection icon5020 is simultaneously displayed with the plurality of emoji category icons5010, e.g., in apredefined area5009 along the bottom of the touch screen display. Thekeyboard selection icon5020 is used in some embodiments to replace the display of emoji character keys with display of a text character input keyboard (e.g.,5055,FIG. 5G) in thekeyboard display area5005. Additionally,UI500A includes asend icon5025, which when activated (e.g., by a finger tap gesture) initiates sending of the electronic message input inarea5000.UI500A also includes adelete icon5011, which when activated (e.g., by a finger tap gesture) deletes one or more characters ininput area5000.

UI

500B (FIG. 5B) illustrates akeyboard display area5005 that includes subset-sequence-indicia icons5040 for the respective emoji category, here people, which is visually indicated as selected by the highlighting of emoji category icon5010-2. The subset-sequence-indicia icons5040 provide information about the number of subsets in the emoji category currently being displayed, as well as a position of a displayed subset in the sequence of subsets of emoji character keys in thekeyboard display area5005. Here, the subset-sequence-indicia icons5040 indicate that there are six subsets of emoji character keys in the people emoji category and that the first subset in the people emoji category is currently being displayed. As another example, see the discussion below of subset-sequence-indicia icons6000 inFIGS. 6A-6C.

UI

500C,UI500D,UI500E, andUI500F, which are depicted inFIGS. 5C through 5F, respectively, illustrate examples of user interfaces with other exemplary emoji categories and emoji character keyboards.

UI

500G (FIG. 5G) illustrates a textcharacter input keyboard5055 inkeyboard display area5005. In some embodiments,keyboard5055 includes a text character input category icon,5060, that when activated (e.g., by a finger tap gesture on the icon) results in the display of an alternate text character keyboard with numbers keys and other text character input keys. In some embodiments,keyboard5055 includes hybrid purpose key5062 that is operable to input space characters, and is also operable to confirm auto-completion and/or auto-corrections when entering text characters. For example, when entering Japanese language text, some embodiments permit using phonetic text. As the device evaluates text characters input by a user, a recommended completion candidate of one or more words is presented for the text already entered. For example, if the user types the characters “ra,” “rain” may be recommended as a completion candidate. Thereafter, while the “rain” completion candidate is displayed (not shown), activating hybrid purpose key5062 (e.g., by a finger tap gesture on key5062) will confirm “rain” is the intended text to be input, and the device will insert the string of characters “rain” intocharacter input area5000. In some embodiments, sinographs or Japanese kana characters may be presented as completion candidates. In some embodiments,keyboard5055 includes hybrid purpose key5063 that is operable to input a return character, and is also operable to confirm auto-completion for actions. For example, if the user types the characters “goo,” the device may recommend going to the Google search engine as an action completion candidate. Thereafter, activating hybrid purpose key5063 (e.g., by a finger tap gesture on key5063) will cause the device to open abrowsing module147 and display a Web page for the Google search engine.Keyboard5055 also includeskeyboard selection icon5020. Additionally,keyboard5055 includes text character input keys5065 such as5065-1 (“Q”),5065-2 (“A”), and5065-3 (“S”), among others.

FIGS. 6A-6E illustrate exemplary user interfaces for navigating between emoji character subsets in a particular emoji category and inputting an emoji character on a portableelectronic device100 equipped with a touch-sensitive display112 in accordance with some embodiments. An overview of these figures is provided here.

UI

600A (FIG. 6A) depicts subset-sequence-indicia icons6000-1,6000-2, and6000-3 for the currently displayed emoji category, here nature, which is visually indicated as selected by the highlighting of emoji category icon5010-3. The subset-sequence-indicia icons6000-1,6000-2, and6000-3 provide information about the number of subsets in the emoji category currently being displayed, as well as a position of a displayed subset in the sequence of subsets of emoji character keys in thekeyboard display area5005. For example, inUI600A, the number of indicia icons6000 indicate that there are three subsets in this emoji category (nature). In addition, the visual highlighting of icon6000-1 relative to icons6000-2 and6000-3 indicates that thefirst subset6015 in this category is being displayed.

In some embodiments, upon detecting a gesture in the keyboard display area5005 (e.g., gesture6010 (FIG. 6A), a horizontal or substantially horizontal finger swipe gesture), the first subset ofemoji character keys6015 is replaced with display of a second subset of emoji character keys6020 (FIG. 6B) in thekeyboard display area5005. Additionally, in some embodiments, the information provided by the subset-sequence-indicia icons is updated to reflect the replacement of the displayed first subset ofemoji character keys6015 by the second subset ofemoji character keys6020. In this example, subset-sequence-indicia icon6000-1 is highlighted inUI600A because the first subset ofemoji character keys6015 in the nature category is displayed. When the first subset ofemoji character keys6015 is replaced with the second subset of emoji character keys6020 (FIG. 6B), subset-sequence-indicia icon6000-2 is highlighted instead. In some embodiments, a subset-sequence-indicia icon that corresponds to a subset of emoji character keys currently being displayed is highlighted or otherwise visually distinguished, while ceasing to highlight or otherwise visually distinguish another subset-sequence-indicia icon that corresponds to the subset of emoji character keys that had been displayed.

UI

600B (FIG. 6B), already discussed to some extent above, shows detecting another gesture in the keyboard display area5005 (e.g.,gesture6025, a horizontal or substantially horizontal finger swipe gesture). In response to detectinggesture6025, the second subset ofemoji character keys6020 is replaced with a display of a third subset of emoji character keys6040 (FIG. 6C) in thekeyboard display area5005. Correspondingly, as depicted inUI600C (FIG. 6C), subset-sequence-indicia icon6000-3 is highlighted instead of subset-sequence-indicia icon6000-2.

UI

600C (FIG. 6C) shows detecting another gesture in the keyboard display area5005 (e.g.,gesture6030, a horizontal or substantially horizontal finger swipe gesture that is substantially opposite the direction of gesture6025). In response to detectinggesture6030, the third subset ofemoji character keys6040 is replaced with a display of the second subset of emoji character keys6020 (FIG. 6B) in thekeyboard display area5005. Correspondingly, subset-sequence-indicia icon6000-2 is highlighted instead of subset-sequence-indicia icon6000-3 (FIG. 6B).

UI

600C (FIG. 6C) also shows a user gesture6045 (e.g., a finger tap gesture) onemoji key6050.UI600D (FIG. 6D) shows akey selection icon6060 being displayed while the finger contact inuser gesture6045 is still on emoji key6050 (which was depicted inFIG. 6C).Key selection icon6060 shows the key that will be selected if the user's finger lifts off (ceases to contact) the touch screen display at the current position of the finger contact on the touch screen display. In some embodiments, animage6061 of the selected emoji character, in this case the emoji character that corresponds to emoji key6050, is displayed withinkey selection icon6060.

UI

600E (FIG. 6E) shows animage6070 of the selected emoji character, in this case the emoji character that corresponds to emoji key6050, displayed withincharacter input area5000 in response to detectinggesture6045.

FIGS. 7A-7E illustrate exemplary user interfaces for inputting an emoji character and sending an electronic message that includes the emoji character on a portableelectronic device100 equipped with a touch-sensitive display112 in accordance with some embodiments. An overview of these figures is provided here.

UI

700A throughUI700C illustrate user selection of an emoji character in a fashion analogous to that described above. InUI700A,emoji key7000 is selected in response to detecting user gesture7001 (e.g., a finger tap gesture).UI700B (FIG. 7B) shows akey selection icon7010 being displayed while the finger used forgesture7001 is still in contact with the area that corresponds to emoji key7000.

UI

700C (FIG. 7C) shows animage7025 of the selected emoji character displayed withincharacter input area5000 in response to detectinggesture7001. In response to detecting a user gesture (e.g.,finger tap gesture7026,FIG. 7D) on send icon5025 (FIG. 7D), the text characters and emoji characters input inarea5000 are sent as an electronic message to another party (e.g., to john appleseed,FIGS. 7D and 7E).

In this example, the emoji character is input and sent in an instant message. But one of ordinary skill in the art would understand that the emoji character can also be input and sent in other types of electronic messages and documents, such asemail140.

FIGS. 8A-8C illustrate exemplary user interfaces for reconfiguring emoji character keys in a software keyboard on a portableelectronic device100 equipped with a touch-sensitive display112 in accordance with some embodiments. This process provides a simple, efficient mechanism for a user to rearrange emoji character keys on a portable electronic device (e.g., to optimize the emoji character key positions for more efficient input by the user).

UI

800A (FIG. 8A) depicts akeyboard display area5005 with a plurality ofemoji character keys8002, including emoji keys8001-1 and8001-2. The user interface is configured to detect a predefined user action (e.g., pressing and holding afinger contact8005 on any emoji character key8001 for greater than a predetermined time period) for initiating a predefined user interface reconfiguration process.

UI

800B (FIG. 8B) illustrates that in some embodiments, upon detecting thepredefined user action8005, the emoji character keys8001 withinkeyboard display area5005 vibrate (e.g., vibrations8020-1,8020-2,8020-3, etc.) in a region substantially centered on the respective average position of each respective emoji character key. These vibrations provide a simple visual indicator that the device is now in an interface reconfiguration mode and that the vibrating icons may be rearranged.

UI

800B also depicts that, in some embodiments, the device detects the user making a point ofcontact8050 with thetouch screen display112 at a first position corresponding to a first emoji character key8001-2 in the plurality ofemoji character keys8002 and detects movement of the point ofcontact8050 to asecond position8025 on thetouch screen display112. In some embodiments, the user interface will display movement of the first emoji character key8001-2 to thesecond position8025 on thetouch screen display112 in accordance with the detected movement of the point ofcontact8050.

InUI800C (FIG. 8C), the user interface fixes a position of the first emoji character key8001-2 at the second position in response to detecting a second predefined user action for terminating the predefined user interface reconfiguration process (e.g., detecting activation of the home button204). In the example depicted, the net result is that emoji character keys8001-1 and8001-2 have swapped positions inUI800C when compared withUI800A.

FIGS. 9A-9H illustrate exemplary user interfaces for responding to messages with emoji while a portableelectronic device100 equipped with a touch-sensitive display112 is in a user-interface locked mode in accordance with some embodiments. An overview of these figures is provided here.

UI

900A (FIG. 9A) depicts an exemplary user interface that is in a user-interface locked mode. See also the description ofFIG. 3 above. In a user-interface unlocked mode, thedevice100 is in its normal operating state, detecting and responding to user input corresponding to interaction with the user interface. Adevice100 that is in the unlocked mode may be described as anunlocked device100. Anunlocked device100 detects and responds to user input for navigating between user interfaces, entry of data and activation or deactivation of functions. In contrast to the user-interface unlocked mode, in the user-interface locked mode, only a restricted subset of control icons are displayed and thedevice100 only responds to a restricted set of finger gestures. For example, just anunlock image302,arrow304, andchannel306 may be displayed (UI900A), along with awallpaper image314. In addition, as described below, a small number of predefined responses may be displayed that include emoji characters and/or a small number of gestures may be used to respond to messages received while in the user-interface locked mode.

UI

900B (FIG. 9B) illustrates receiving an incoming message from a party2210 (here “Jane Doe”) to a user of the portable electronic device while the user interface is in a user-interface locked mode, where at least part of theincoming message2212 from theparty2210 is displayed to the user on thetouch screen display112.

UI

900C (FIG. 9C) illustrates the user interface detecting one or more predefined finger gestures (e.g., tap gestures9100-1 and9100-2 and swipe gesture9100-3) on thetouch screen display112 that correspond to an emoji character. In some embodiments, the correspondence between these one or more predefined finger gestures and the emoji character is made by assigning the one or more predefined finger gestures to the emoji character, as described below with respect toFIGS. 10A-10E andFIG. 16. In some embodiments, the user interface also detects a predefined user action to initiate sending a response to the incoming message2212 (e.g., swipe gesture2213), and then sends a response to theincoming message2212, wherein the response comprises the emoji character that corresponds to the one or more predefined finger gestures (e.g.,9100-1,9100-2, and9100-3) detected on thetouch screen display112.

UI

900D (FIG. 9D) illustrates that in some embodiments, the user interface may display a plurality of predefined responses9110 to theincoming message2212, wherein the predefined responses (e.g.,9110-1,9110-2, and9110-3) include a plurality of emoji characters (e.g.,9111-1,9111-2, and9111-3). InUI900D, each predefined response9110 includes a single emoji character9111. More generally, other predefined responses9110 may contain more than one emoji character and some predefined responses9110 may not contain any emoji characters (not shown).

UI

900E (FIG. 9E) illustrates detecting a user action (e.g., tap gesture9120) to select a predefined response (e.g., response9110-1). A user can quickly choose from a list of predefined responses that include emoji characters and send the chosen response without unlocking the device. In some embodiments, detecting selection of a predefined response9110 also initiates sending of the predefined response, without detecting any further action by the user. In some embodiments, after detecting selection of a predefined response9110, a further predefined user action is detected to initiate sending the response, such as detecting activation of thehome button204, detecting activation of a “send” button (not shown), or detecting a slidingfinger gesture2213, which appears to move theunlock image302 across channel306 (in which case the “slide to view” message inchannel306 may be changed to a “slide to send response” message or a similar message,FIG. 9E).

UI

900F (FIG. 9F) illustrates a user interface in the messaging application after the device is subsequently unlocked, which shows the predefined response9110-1 that was sent while the device was in a locked state.

UI

900G andUI900H (FIGS. 9G and 9H, respectively) are similar toUI900E andUI900F (FIGS. 9E and 9F, respectively), except that predefined responses9110-4,9110-5, and9110-6 consist of just emoji characters, rather than a combination of text characters and emoji characters. Similarly, sent predefined response9110-4 inFIG. 9H corresponds to predefined response9110-4 inFIG. 9G, and consists of just anemoji character9225.

FIG. 10A-10E illustrate exemplary user interfaces for assigning a user-defined gesture to an emoji character on a portableelectronic device100 equipped with a touch-sensitive display112 in accordance with some embodiments. An overview of these figures is provided here.

UI

1000A (FIG. 10A) depicts an exemplary user interface for recording user-defined gestures.UI1000A includes arecord icon1001, anassociate icon1010, astore icon1015 and a cancelicon1016. Upon detecting auser gesture1020 on therecord icon1001, the user interface goes into a gesture-recording mode.UI1000B (FIG. 10B) illustrates a user-definedgesture1030 detected on thetouch screen112 while in the gesture-recording mode. In some embodiments, in response to detecting a gesture (e.g.,finger tap gesture1040,FIG. 10C) on theassociate icon1010, a process is initiated for associating a representation of the user-definedgesture1030 with an emoji character, which may include displaying one or more user interfaces with emoji character keys (e.g.,UI1000DFIG. 10D). In some embodiments, the user interfaces with emoji character keys are analogous toUIs500A-500F (FIGS. 5A-F), but the user interfaces are used here for associating an emoji with the user-definedgesture1030, rather than selecting an emoji character for input in an electronic message or document. In response to detecting a gesture on an emoji character key (e.g.,finger tap gesture1070 onemoji key1060,FIG. 10D), the representation of the user-definedgesture1030 is associated with (or tentatively associated with, pending user confirmation) the emoji character corresponding to emojicharacter key1060. In some embodiments, a confirmation UI (e.g.,UI1000E,FIG. 10E) displays theemoji character1075 that will be associated with the user-definedgesture1030 if activation of thestore icon1015 is detected (e.g., byfinger tap gesture1080,FIG. 10E). In response to activation of the cancel icon1016 (e.g., by finger tap gesture), the process of assigning a user-defined gesture to an emoji character is terminated.

FIGS. 11A-11B illustrate exemplary user interfaces for using an emoji character as a location indicator on a map via an electronic message in accordance with some embodiments. An overview of these figures is provided here.

UI

1100A (FIG. 11A) illustrates anelectronic message2216 displayed in aninstant messaging application141. The electronic message includes: instructions for initiating a geographic mapping application, location data representing a location on a geographic map, and emoji data representing an emoji character. The emoji data is associated with the location data. In response to detecting a predefined user action on the message (e.g., afinger tap gesture1105 on thelink2220 to Lake Tahoe), the device displays the geographic map (e.g.,map1115,FIG. 11B) in thegeographic mapping application154, and the device displays the emoji character1120 (FIG. 11B) at the location on thegeographic map1115 that corresponds to the location data.

Some of the user interfaces inFIGS. 5A-11C are used to illustrate the processes described inFIGS. 12A-12F andFIGS. 13-17 below.

FIGS. 12A-12F are flow diagrams illustrating a method of operating emoji character keyboards on a portable electronic device with a touch-sensitive display in accordance with some embodiments. The method1200 is performed on a portable electronic device having a touch screen display (e.g., portable multifunction device100). The method provides a more efficient way to organize and select emoji characters on a portable electronic device, thereby conserving power, increasing the time between battery charges, and increasing user satisfaction with the device.

The portable electronic device simultaneously displays (1202) a character input area (e.g.,area5000,FIG. 6A) a keyboard display area (e.g.,area5005,FIG. 6A), and a plurality of emoji category icons (e.g., icons5010,FIG. 6A). Thecharacter input area5005 is for displaying or is operable to display text character input and emoji character input selected by a user.

The emoji category icons correspond to a plurality of emoji categories (e.g.,5010-1 through5010-6,FIG. 6A). In some embodiments, the plurality of emoji category icons includes a recently and frequently used emoji category icon (1204) that corresponds to a plurality of emoji characters recently and frequently selected by the user (e.g., recently and frequently used emoji category icon5010-1,FIG. 6A). In some embodiments, the plurality of emoji category icons includes a seasonal emoji category icon (1206) that corresponds to a plurality of emoji characters that are associated with a particular season (e.g., spring, summer, fall, or winter). In some embodiments, the plurality of emoji category icons includes a holiday emoji category icon (1208) that corresponds to a plurality of emoji characters that are associated with a particular holiday (e.g., Christmas or New Years).

In some embodiments, the plurality of emoji category icons5010 is displayed (1210) in the keyboard display area5005 (FIG. 6A).

The device detects (1212) a gesture on a respective emoji category icon5010 in the plurality of emoji category icons. In some embodiments, the gesture may be a finger tap gesture (e.g., tapgesture5007 on category icon5010-3,FIG. 5A).

In response to detecting the gesture on the respective emoji category icon, the device simultaneously displays (1214) a first subset of emoji character keys (e.g.,subset6015,FIG. 6A) for the respective emoji category in thekeyboard display area5005 and a plurality of subset-sequence-indicia icons for the respective emoji category (e.g., subset-sequence-indicia icons6000,FIG. 6A).

The respective emoji category contains a number of subsets of emoji character keys that are configured to be separately displayed as a sequence of subsets of emoji character keys in the keyboard display area. For example, the nature emoji category inFIGS. 6A-6C contains three subsets of emoji character keys that are configured to be separately displayed as a sequence of subsets of emoji character keys in thekeyboard display area5005, namelyfirst subset6015 inFIG. 6A,second subset6020 inFIG. 6B, andthird subset6040 inFIG. 6C.

The subset-sequence-indicia icons provide information about the number of subsets in the respective emoji category, as well as a position of a displayed subset in the sequence of subsets of emoji character keys in the keyboard display area. For example, inFIGS. 6A-6C, subset-sequence-indicia icons6000-1,6000-2, and6000-3 indicate that are three subsets of emoji character keys in the nature emoji category5010-3. In addition, icon6000-1 is highlighted when thefirst subset6015 is displayed (FIG. 6A); icon6000-2 is highlighted when thesecond subset6020 is displayed (FIG. 6B); and icon6000-3 is highlighted when thethird subset6040 is displayed (FIG. 6C). In some embodiments, the subset-sequence-indicia icons have simple geometric shapes, such as circles, squares, rectangles, or stars.

In some embodiments, the emoji character keys in at least one emoji category are ordered (1216) in accordance with emoji character usage data. In some embodiments, the emoji character usage data includes emoji character usage data from software applications running on the portable electronic device (1218). In some embodiments, the emoji character usage data includes emoji character usage data received (e.g., downloaded) from a service provider of the portable electronic device (1220). In some embodiments, emoji character keys in at least one emoji category are ordered in accordance with emoji character popularity data (1222).

In some embodiments, the subset-sequence-indicia icons are displayed (1224) in the keyboard display area (e.g., subset-sequence-indicia icons6000 are displayed inarea5005,FIG. 6A).

While displaying the first subset of emoji character keys for the respective emoji category in the keyboard display area, the device detects (1226) a gesture in the keyboard display area. For example, the device detects a horizontal or substantially horizontalfinger swipe gesture6010 in area5005 (FIG. 6A).

In response to detecting the gesture in the keyboard display area, the device replaces the display of the first subset of emoji character keys for the respective emoji category with a display of a second subset of emoji character keys for the respective emoji category in the keyboard display area and updates the information provided by the subset-sequence-indicia icons to reflect the replacement of the displayed first subset of emoji character keys by the second subset of emoji character keys (1228). For example, in response to detecting horizontalfinger swipe gesture6010 in thekeyboard display area5005, the device replaces the display of the first subset of emoji character keys6015 (FIG. 6A) for the nature emoji category with a display of a second subset ofemoji character keys6020 for the nature emoji category (FIG. 6B) in thekeyboard display area5005 and updates the information provided by the subset-sequence-indicia icons6000 to reflect the replacement of the displayed first subset ofemoji character keys6015 by the second subset ofemoji character keys6020. Updating the information provided by the subset-sequence-indicia icons may include, without limitation, highlighting or otherwise visually distinguishing a subset-sequence-indicia icon that corresponds to the second subset of emoji character keys and ceasing to highlight or otherwise visually distinguish another subset-sequence-indicia icon that corresponds to the first subset of emoji character keys (e.g., highlighting icon6000-2 and ceasing to highlight icon6000-1 inFIG. 6B).

In some embodiments, replacing the display of the first subset of emoji character keys for the respective emoji category with a display of the second subset of emoji character keys for the respective emoji category in the keyboard display area comprises displaying (1230) an animation of the first subset of emoji character keys moving off the touch screen display. For example, betweenFIGS. 6A and 6B, an animation may be displayed ofsubset6015 moving off thetouch screen display112.

In some embodiments, replacing the display of the first subset of emoji character keys for the respective emoji category with a display of the second subset of emoji character keys for the respective emoji category in the keyboard display area comprises displaying (1232) an animation of the second subset of emoji character keys moving on the touch screen display. For example, betweenFIGS. 6A and 6B, an animation may be displayed ofsubset6020 moving on thetouch screen display112.

In some embodiments, replacing the display of the first subset of emoji character keys for the respective emoji category with a display of the second subset of emoji character keys for the respective emoji category in the keyboard display area comprises displaying an animation of the first subset of emoji character keys moving off the touch screen display and displaying an animation of the second subset of emoji character keys moving on the touch screen display (1234). For example, betweenFIGS. 6A and 6B, an animation may be displayed ofsubset6015 moving off thetouch screen display112 andsubset6020 moving on thetouch screen display112.

In some embodiments, the device displays a keyboard selection icon (e.g.,icon5020,FIG. 6B). In some embodiments, thekeyboard selection icon5020 is simultaneously displayed with the plurality of emoji category icons5010 (e.g., in apredefined area5009 along the bottom of the touch screen display). The device detects a gesture on the keyboard selection icon (e.g.,finger tap gesture6055,FIG. 6B). After detecting the gesture on the keyboard selection icon, the devices replaces display of the second subset of emoji character keys for the respective emoji category with display of a text character input keyboard in the keyboard display area (1240). For example, after detectingtap gesture6055 on thekeyboard selection icon5020, the device replaces display of the second subset of emoji character keys6020 (FIG. 6B) for the nature emoji category with display of a textcharacter input keyboard5055 in the keyboard display area5005 (FIG. 5G). In some embodiments, the second subset ofemoji character keys6020 is replaced by the textcharacter input keyboard5055 in response to detecting thegesture6055. In some embodiments, one or more intermediate text character input keyboard selection UIs are shown before a particular text character input keyboard (e.g., an alphanumeric keyboard, a kana keyboard, or a kanji keyboard) is selected and displayed inarea5005.

In some embodiments, the device receives one or more words input by the user with the text character input keyboard (e.g.,keyboard5055,FIG. 5G). The device displays the one or more words input by the user in thecharacter input area5000. In response to receiving the one or more words input by the user with the text character input keyboard, the device determines a recommended emoji character based at least in part on the one or more words input by the user, and the device displays the recommended emoji character on the touch screen display (1242). The determination of the recommended emoji character is based on words input by a user, not punctuation input by the user. For example, if the user types the word “rain,” an emoji character of an umbrella and/or raindrops may be recommended. Similarly, if the user types the word “fly,” an emoji character of an airplane may be recommended. In some embodiments, a single emoji character is recommended. In other embodiments, a plurality of emoji characters are recommended. In some embodiments, the device detects a gesture on the touch screen display (e.g., a tap gesture on a space bar in the text character input keyboard or a tap gesture on the recommended emoji character). In response to detecting that gesture, the device inserts and displays the recommended emoji character after the one or more words input by the user in the character input area (1244).

In some embodiments, the device displays thekeyboard selection icon5020 while the textcharacter input keyboard5055 is displayed in the keyboard display area5005 (FIG. 5G). Then, after detecting a gesture on thekeyboard selection icon5020, such as a finger tap gesture, the device replaces the display of the textcharacter input keyboard5055 with a simultaneous display of the second subset of emoji character keys6020 (FIG. 6B) for the respective emoji category in the keyboard display area and the corresponding subset-sequence-indicia icons6000 (1246). In some embodiments, the textcharacter input keyboard5055 is replaced by the second subset ofemoji character keys6020 in response to detecting the gesture. In some embodiments, one or more intermediate emoji keyboard selection UIs are shown before a particular subset of emoji character keys is selected and displayed inarea5005. In some embodiments, in response to detecting a gesture on thekeyboard selection icon5020, the device toggles between displaying a text character input keyboard and the most recently displayed subset of emoji character keys.

In some embodiments, the device detects a gesture on a respective emoji character key in the second subset of emoji character keys. In response to detecting the gesture on the respective emoji character key in the second subset of emoji character keys, the device inserts and displays a corresponding emoji character in the character input area (1248). For example, in response to detecting a tap gesture on an emoji character key in the second subset ofemoji character keys6020, the device inserts and displays a corresponding emoji character in thecharacter input area5000.FIGS. 6C-6E illustrate an analogous insertion and display of an emoji character ininput area5000 from the third subset ofemoji characters6040. Additional emoji characters may be inserted and displayed in thecharacter input area5000 in response to detecting gestures on additional emoji character keys.

In some embodiments, the device detects a predefined user action for initiating a predefined user interface reconfiguration process (e.g., pressing and holding a finger contact on an emoji character key for greater than a predetermined time period). In response to detecting the predefined user action, the device varies the positions of two or more emoji character keys in the second subset of emoji character keys. The varying includes varying the positions of each emoji character key of the two or more emoji character keys about a respective average position distinct from the respective average positions of other emoji character keys of the two or more emoji character keys (1249). For example, in response to detecting a finger contact on any emoji character key8001 (FIG. 8A) for greater than a predetermined time period (e.g.,1 second), the device varies the positions of all the emoji character keys in the subset of emoji character keys8002 (FIG. 8A, which corresponds tosubset6020 inFIG. 6B).

In some embodiments, each respective emoji character key of the two or more emoji character keys oscillates (1250) in a region substantially centered on the respective average position of the respective emoji character key (as illustrated inFIG. 8B).

In some embodiments, the device detects the user making a point of contact with the touch screen display at a first position corresponding to a first emoji character key in the second subset of emoji character keys, and also detects movement of the point of contact to a second position on the touch screen display. In response to these two detections, the device displays movement of the first emoji character key to the second position on the touch screen display in accordance with the detected movement of the point of contact (1252). For example, in response to detecting the user making a point of contact8050 (FIG. 8B) with the touch screen display at a position corresponding to emoji character key8001-2, and also detecting movement of the point ofcontact8050 to a second position825 on the touch screen display, the device displays movement of emoji character key8001-2 to the second position825 on the touch screen display in accordance with the detected movement of the point of contact.

In some embodiments, the device fixes (1254) a position of the first emoji character key (e.g.,8000-2,FIG. 8C) at the second position in response to detecting a second predefined user action for terminating the predefined user interface reconfiguration process (e.g., detecting activation of the home button204).

FIG. 13 is a flow diagram illustrating a method for responding to messages with emoji while a portableelectronic device100 equipped with a touch-sensitive display112 is in a user-interface locked mode in accordance with some embodiments. Themethod1300 provides a simple and intuitive way for a user to quickly respond to an incoming message while the device is in a locked state, thereby conserving power and increasing the time between battery charges.

Operations1302-1314 are performed while the portableelectronic device100 is in a user-interface locked mode (1301). The device receives (1302) an incoming message from a party to a user of the portable electronic device while the touch screen display is in a power-conserving state. In the power-conserving state, the touch screen is blank (nothing is displayed) and not touch sensitive.

In response to receiving the incoming message, the device powers up (1304) the touch screen display and displays at least part of the incoming message from the party to the user on the touch screen display (e.g.,message portion2212,FIG. 9B). The device detects (1306) one or more predefined finger gestures on the touch screen display that correspond to an emoji character (e.g., gestures9100-1,9100-2, and9100-3 inFIG. 9C). The device detects (1308) a predefined user action to initiate sending a response to the incoming message (e.g., such as detecting activation of thehome button204, detecting activation of a “send” button (not shown), or detectingswipe gesture2213,FIG. 9C). In response to detecting the predefined user action to initiate sending the response to the incoming message, the device sends (1310) the response to the incoming message. The response comprises the emoji character that corresponds to the one or more predefined finger gestures detected on the touch screen display. For example, the predefined finger gestures9100-1,9100-2, and9100-3 inFIG. 9C may correspond to a smiley face emoji character. One method of associating an emoji with one or more predefined finger gestures is described with respect toFIGS. 10A-10E andFIG. 16 below.

In some embodiments, in response to detecting the predefined user action to initiate sending the response to the incoming message, the device returns (1312) the touch screen display to the power-conserving state. In some embodiments, the device returns (1314) the touch screen display to the power-conserving state within a predetermined time period (e.g., 5-15 seconds) after the response to the incoming message is sent.

FIG. 14 is a flow diagram illustrating another method for responding to messages with emoji while a portableelectronic device100 equipped with a touch-sensitive display112 is in a user-interface locked mode in accordance with some embodiments. Themethod1400 provides a simple and intuitive way for a user to quickly respond to an incoming message while the device is in a locked state, thereby conserving power and increasing the time between battery charges.

Operations1402-1414 are performed while the portableelectronic device100 is in a user-interface locked mode (1401). The device receives (1402) an incoming message from a party to the user of the portable electronic device while the touch screen display is in a power-conserving state. In the power-conserving state, the touch screen is blank (nothing is displayed) and not touch sensitive.

In response to receiving the incoming message, the device powers up the touch screen display, displays at least part of the incoming message from the party to the user on the touch screen display (e.g.,message portion2212,FIG. 9D), and displays a plurality of predefined responses (e.g., responses9110 inFIG. 9D orFIG. 9G) to the incoming message (1404). The predefined responses9110 include a plurality of emoji characters (e.g., emoji characters9111 inFIG. 9D or just emoji characters in responses9110 inFIG. 9G).

The device detects (1406) a predefined user action for selecting a predefined response in the plurality of predefined responses (e.g.,finger tap gesture9120 on response9110-1 inFIG. 9E orfinger tap gesture9210 on response9110-4 inFIG. 9G). The device detects (1408) a predefined user action to initiate sending a response to the incoming message. In some embodiments, detecting selection of a predefined response9110 also initiates sending of the predefined response, without detecting any further action by the user. In some embodiments, after detecting selection of a predefined response9110, a further predefined user action is detected to initiate sending the response, such as detecting activation of thehome button204, detecting activation of a “send” button (not shown), or detecting a slidingfinger gesture2213, which appears to move theunlock image302 across channel306 (in which case the “slide to view” message inchannel306 may be changed to a “slide to send response” message or a similar message,FIG. 9E).

In response to detecting the predefined user action to initiate sending the response to the incoming message, the device sends (1410) the response to the incoming message. The selected predefined response9110 comprises an emoji character (e.g.,9111) in the plurality of emoji characters (1410).

In some embodiments, in response to detecting the predefined user action to initiate sending the selected predefined response to the incoming message, the device returns (1412) the touch screen display to the power-conserving state. In some embodiments, the device returns (1414) the touch screen display to the power-conserving state within a predetermined time period (e.g., 5-15 seconds) after the selected predefined response to the incoming message is sent.

FIG. 15 is a flow diagram illustrating another method for responding to messages with emoji while a portableelectronic device100 equipped with a touch-sensitive display112 is in a user-interface locked mode in accordance with some embodiments. Themethod1500 provides a simple and intuitive way for a user to quickly respond to an incoming message while the device is in a locked state, thereby conserving power and increasing the time between battery charges.

Operations1502-1518 are performed while the portableelectronic device100 is in a user-interface locked mode (1501). The device receives (1502) an incoming message from a party to the user of the portable electronic device while the touch screen display is in a power-conserving state. In the power-conserving state, the touch screen is blank (nothing is displayed) and not touch sensitive.

In response to receiving the incoming message, the device powers up (1504) the touch screen display and displays at least part of the incoming message from the party to the user on the touch screen display (e.g.,message portion2212,FIG. 9B).

The device detects (1506) a predefined user action to initiate display of a plurality of predefined responses9110 to the incoming message (e.g., a finger tap on a reply icon (not shown) or a double tap gesture on the touch screen112). The predefined responses include a plurality of emoji characters (e.g., emoji characters9111 inFIG. 9D and just emoji characters in responses9110 inFIG. 9G). In response to detecting the predefined user action to initiate display of the plurality of predefined responses to the incoming message, the device displays (1508) the plurality of predefined responses (e.g., responses9110 inFIG. 9D orFIG. 9G).

The device detects (1510) a predefined user action for selecting a predefined response in the plurality of predefined responses (e.g.,finger tap gesture9120 on response9110-1 inFIG. 9E orfinger tap gesture9210 on response9110-4 inFIG. 9G).

The device detects (1512) a predefined user action to initiate sending the selected predefined response to the incoming message. In some embodiments, detecting selection of a predefined response9110 also initiates sending of the predefined response, without detecting any further action by the user. In some embodiments, after detecting selection of a predefined response9110, a further predefined user action is detected to initiate sending the response, such as detecting activation of thehome button204, detecting activation of a “send” button (not shown), or detecting a slidingfinger gesture2213, which appears to move theunlock image302 across channel306 (in which case the “slide to view” message inchannel306 may be changed to a “slide to send response” message or a similar message,FIG. 9E).

In response to detecting the predefined user action to initiate sending the selected predefined response to the incoming message, the device sends (1514) the selected predefined response to the incoming message. The selected predefined response comprises an emoji character in the plurality of emoji characters.

In some embodiments, in response to detecting the predefined user action to initiate sending the selected predefined response to the incoming message, the device returns (1516) the touch screen display to the power-conserving state. In some embodiments, the device returns (1518) the touch screen display to the power-conserving state within a predetermined time period (e.g., 5-15 seconds) after the selected predefined response to the incoming message is sent.

FIG. 16 is a flow diagram illustrating a method of assigning a user-defined gesture to an emoji on a portableelectronic device100 equipped with a touch-sensitive display112 in accordance with some embodiments. Themethod1600 provides a simple and intuitive way for a user to associate a user-defined gesture with an emoji character for later recall, thereby enabling users to enter emoji characters (e.g., the user's frequently used emoji characters) on the device without having to use emoji keyboards.

The device detects (1602) a user-defined gesture on the touch screen display while the portable electronic device is in a user-defined-gesture recording mode (e.g. gesture1030,FIG. 10B). The device creates (1604) a representation of the user-defined gesture. The representation may include the absolute or relative positions of finger contacts in the gesture, and the relative or absolute movements of the finger contacts in the gesture. The device associates (1606) the representation of the user-defined gesture with an emoji character (e.g., as described above with respect toFIGS. 10C-10E). The device stores (1608) the representation of the user-defined gesture, as well as the association of the representation of the user-defined gesture with the emoji character.

In some embodiments, after storing the representation of the user-defined gesture and the association of the representation of the user-defined gesture with the emoji character, the device detects a gesture on the touch screen display, and determines whether the detected gesture corresponds to the stored representation of the user-defined gesture. If the detected gesture corresponds to the stored representation of the user-defined gesture, the device inserts the emoji character into an electronic message or document, such as an instant message (e.g., a text message) or an email message (1610).

FIG. 17 is a flow diagram illustrating a method of using an emoji as a location indicator on a map via an electronic message in accordance with some embodiments. Themethod1700 is a fast and simple way to provide location data with emoji on a map that augments information in a corresponding electronic message.

The device (e.g.,portable device100 or a desktop computing device) receives (1702) an electronic message that includes: instructions for initiating or operable to initiate ageographic mapping application154, location data representing a location on a geographic map, and emoji data representing an emoji character. The emoji data is associated with the location data (e.g., so that an emoji character that corresponds to the emoji data will be displayed on a map at a location that corresponds to the location data). In some embodiments, the electronic message is a text message with a link to open the geographic map application (1704).

The device displays (1706) the electronic message on the touch screen display (e.g.,message2216,FIG. 11A). The device detects (1708) a predefined user action on the displayed electronic message to initiate the geographic mapping application (e.g., tapgesture1105 on thelink2220 to Lake Tahoe inmessage2216,FIG. 11A). In response to detecting the predefined user action to initiate the geographic mapping application, the device displays (1710) the geographic map in the geographic mapping application154 (e.g. map1115,FIG. 11B), and displays the emoji character at the location on the geographic map that corresponds to the location data (e.g.,emoji character1120,FIG. 11B).

The foregoing description, for purpose of explanation, has been described with reference to specific embodiments. However, the illustrative discussions above are not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise forms disclosed. Many modifications and variations are possible in view of the above teachings. The embodiments were chosen and described in order to best explain the principles of the invention and its practical applications, to thereby enable others skilled in the art to best utilize the invention and various embodiments with various modifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated.