Electronic device for controlling execution of software application based on state and method thereof

1 . A foldable electronic device comprising:

a housing including:

a first housing part;

a second housing part rotatably coupled to the first housing part; and

a third housing part rotatably coupled to the second housing part,

a first display including:

a first display area disposed on a front side of the first housing part;

a second display area disposed on a front side of the second housing part; and

a third display area disposed on a front side of the third housing part,

a second display including a fourth display area and disposed on a rear side of the first housing part or the second housing part,

at least one sensor configured to detect a first angle between the first housing part and the second housing part, and a second angle between the second housing part and the third housing part;

at least one processor comprising processing circuitry; and

memory, comprising one or more storage media, storing instructions,

wherein the instructions, when executed by at least one processor, individually or collectively, cause the foldable electronic device to:

detect a state of the foldable electronic device via the at least one sensor, wherein the state of the foldable electronic device includes;

a fully-folded state in which the first and third housing parts are overlappingly folded with respect to the second housing part,

a partially-folded state in which the first housing part of the third housing part is unfolded with respect to the second housing part and the first housing part or the third housing part is folded with respect to the second housing part, and

an unfolded state in which the first and third housing parts are unfolded with respect to the second housing part,

in response to identifying, via the at least one sensor, that a state of the foldable electronic device is changed from the fully-folded state to the partially-folded state, display, via the third display area, at least one user-selectable item corresponding to at least one application program;

receive an user input for selecting an item via the third display area from among the at east one user-selectable item;

in response to the user input, determine a first application program corresponding to the selected item as an application to be executed when a state of the foldable electronic device is changed to an unfolded state; and

in response to identifying, via the at least one sensor, that a state of the foldable electronic device is changed from the partially-folded state to the unfolded state, display, by executing the first application program, a screen via the first, second, and third display areas from among the first, second, third, and fourth display areas.

2 . The foldable electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the instructions, when executed by at least one processor, individually or collectively, cause the foldable electronic device to:

based on the first angle and the second angle indicated by sensor data from the at least one sensor, identify whether the state of the foldable electronic device corresponds to one of specified states, wherein the specified states include:

the fully folded state in which the second display area is covered by the third display area and the first display area face a rear side of the third housing part;

the partially folded state in which the second display area is covered by the third display area and the first display area is in a same horizontal plane with the second display area; and

the unfolded state in which the first display area, the second display area, and the third display area are in a same horizontal plane.

3 . The foldable electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the instructions, when executed by at least one processor, individually or collectively, cause the foldable electronic device to:

while the state of the foldable electronic device is in the fully-folded state, receive another user input for registering the at least one application program into a list; and

based on the another user input, register the at least one application program to be included in the list, wherein the list is used to display the at least one user-selectable item while the state of the foldable electronic device is in the partially-folded.

4 . The foldable electronic device of claim 3 , wherein the instructions, when executed by at least one processor, individually or collectively, cause the foldable electronic device to:

display a plurality of user-selectable items based on identifying that the list includes a plurality of application programs respectively registered by user inputs received while the state of the foldable electronic device is in the fully-folded state.

5 . The foldable electronic device of claim 3 , wherein the instructions, when executed by at least one processor, individually or collectively, cause the foldable electronic device to:

in response to the another input, store, in a queue arranged in the memory, at least one uniform resource indicator (URI) linked to the at least one application program.

6 . The foldable electronic device of claim 1 ,

wherein the instructions, when executed by at least one processor, individually or collectively, cause the foldable electronic device to:

display, while the state of the foldable electronic device is in the partially-folded state display a first screen via the fourth display area of the second display; and

in response to identifying, via the at least one sensor, that the state of the foldable electronic device is changed from the partially-folded state to the partially folded state and from the partially-folded state to the unfolded state without receiving the user input in the partially-folded state,

display, on the first, the second, and the third display areas, a second screen that is associated with the first screen.

7 . The foldable electronic device of claim 6 , wherein the instructions, when executed by at least one processor, individually or collectively, cause the foldable electronic device to:

display the second screen to display, through the first display, a content which was displayed through the second display.

8 . The foldable electronic device of claim 6 , wherein the instructions, when executed by at least one processor, individually or collectively, cause the foldable electronic device to:

in response to detecting the changing from the fully-folded state to the partially folded state, display items included in a list corresponding to application programs; and

in response to detecting changing from the unfolded state to the partially-folded state, display, on the first display area, other items included in another list corresponding to application programs independently determined with respect to the list.

9 . The foldable electronic device of claim 8 , wherein the instructions, when executed by at least one processor, individually or collectively, cause the foldable electronic device to:

while displaying the items on the first display area, receive another input to select at least one item among the other items; and

based on the received another input, display, on the fourth display area, an execution screen corresponding to an application selected by the another input.

10 . A method of a foldable electronic device comprising a housing including a first housing part, a second housing part rotatably coupled to the first housing part, and a third housing part rotatably coupled to the second housing part, a first display including a first display area disposed on a front side of the first housing part, a second display area disposed on a front side of the second housing part, and a third display area disposed on a front side of the third housing part, a second display including a fourth display area and disposed on a rear side of the first housing part of the second housing part, and at least one sensor configured to detect a first angle between the first housing part and the second housing part, and a second angle between the second housing part and the third housing part, the method comprising:

detecting a state of the foldable electronic device via the at least one sensor, wherein the state of the foldable electronic device includes;

a fully-folded state in which the first and third housing parts are overlappingly folded with respect to the second housing part,

a partially-folded state in which the first housing part of the third housing part is unfolded with respect to the second housing part and the first housing part of the third housing part is folded with respect to the second housing part, and

an unfolded state in which the first and third housing parts are unfolded with respect to the second housing part,

in response to identifying, via the at least one sensor, that a state of the foldable electronic device is changed from the fully-folded state to the partially folded state, displaying, via the third display area, at least one user-selectable item corresponding to at least one application program;

receiving an user input for selecting an item via the third display area from among the at least one user-selectable item;

in response to the user input, determining a first application program corresponding to the selected item as an application to be executed when a state of the foldable electronic device is changed to an unfolded state; and

in response to identifying, via the at least one sensor, that a state of the foldable electronic device is changed from the partially-folded state to the unfolded state, displaying, by executing the first application program, a screen via the first, second, and third display areas from among the first, second, third, and fourth display areas.

11 . The method of claim 10 , further comprising:

based on the first angle and the second angle indicated by sensor data from the at least one sensor, identifying whether the state of the foldable electronic device correspond to one of specified states, wherein the specified states include:

the fully folded state in which the second display area is covered by the third display area and the first display area face a rear side of the third housing part;

the partially folded state in which the second display area is covered by the third display area and the first display area is in a same horizontal plane with the second display area; and

the unfolded state in which the first display area, the second display area, and the third display area are in a same horizontal plane.

12 . The method of claim 10 , comprises:

while the state of the foldable electronic device is in the fully-folded state, receiving another user input for registering the at least one application program into a list; and

based on the another user input, registering the at least one application program to be included in the list, wherein the list is used to display the at least one user-selectable item while the state of the foldable electronic device is in the partially-folded state.

13 . The method of claim 12 , comprising:

displaying a plurality of user-selectable items based on identifying that the list includes a plurality of application programs respectively registered by user inputs received while the state of the foldable electronic device is in the fully-folded state.

14 . The method of claim 12 , comprising:

in response to the another input, storing, in a queue arranged in the memory, at least one uniform resource indicator (URI) corresponding to the at least one application program.

15 . The method of claim 10 , further comprising:

displaying, while the state of the foldable electronic device is in the partially-folded state, display a first screen via the fourth display area of the second display; and

in response to identifying, via the at least one sensor, that the state of the foldable electronic device is changed from the partially-folded state to the partially-folded state and from the partially-folded state to the unfolded state without receiving the user input in the partially-folded state,

displaying, on the first, the second, and the third display areas, a second screen associated with the first screen.

16 . The method of claim 15 , wherein the displaying the second screen comprises:

displaying the second screen to display, through the first display, a content which was displayed through the second display.

17 . The method of claim 15 , wherein the displaying the at least one user-selectable item comprises:

in response to detecting the changing from the fully-folded state to the partially folded state, displaying items included in a list corresponding to application programs; and

wherein the method comprises:

in response to detecting changing from the unfolded state to the partially-folded state, displaying, on the first display area, other items in another list corresponding to application programs independently determined with respect to the list.

18 . The method of claim 17 , further comprising:

while displaying the items on the first display area, receiving another input to select at least one item among the other items; and

based on the received another input, displaying, on the fourth display area, an execution screen corresponding to an application selected by the another input.

19 . A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing instructions, wherein the instructions, when executed by at least one processor, individually and/or collectively, of a foldable electronic device comprising a housing including a first housing part, a second housing part rotatably coupled to the first housing part, and a third housing part rotatably coupled to the second housing part, a first display including a first display area disposed on a front side of the first housing part, a second display area disposed on a front side of the second housing part, and a third display area disposed on a front side of the third housing part, a second display including a fourth display area and disposed on a rear side of the first housing part of the second housing part, and at least one sensor configured to detect an angle between the first housing part and the second housing part, and an angle between the second housing part and the third housing part, cause the foldable electronic device to:

in response to detecting changing, from a multi-folded state in which the second display area is covered by the third display area and the first display area face a rear side of the third housing part, to a single-folded state in which the second display area is covered by the third display area and the first display area is in a same horizontal plane with the second display area, display, on the first display area, one or more visual objects respectively corresponding to a first set of one or more software applications to be executed in an unfolded state in which the first, the second, and the third display areas are in a same horizontal plane; and

in response to detecting changing from the unfolded state to the single-folded state, display, on the first display area, other visual objects respectively corresponding to a second set of one or more software applications to be executed in the multi-folded state.

20 . The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 19 , wherein the instructions, when executed by at least one processor, individually and/or collectively, of the foldable electronic device, cause the foldable electronic device to:

while displaying the one or more visual objects on the first display area, receive an input to select at least one visual object among foldable; and

based on the received input, display, on the first, the second, and the third display areas, at least one execution screen corresponding to the at least one visual object selected by the input based on a state of the housing being changed from the single-folded state to the unfolded state.