Screen display in application switching
View Patent ↗An application-switching program displays representations of applications, for example icons, on a screen of a device. As a user of the device navigates between the representations, a screen of the application to a representation of which the user has currently navigated is shown in the background of the display.
1. A method for providing information about multiple applications running concurrently on a device having a display, the method comprising:
while a screen of a first application of the multiple applications is shown in the display, showing in the display a subscreen that includes precisely one representation for each of the multiple applications and enabling navigation through the representations without indicating to which application to switch, wherein the subscreen is smaller than the screen of the first application and obscures a portion of the screen of the first application; and
in response to navigation to a representation of a second application of the multiple applications without switching to the second application, ceasing to show in the display the screen of the first application and instead showing in the display a screen of the second application; wherein the subscreen obscures a portion of the screen of the second application, wherein the subscreen is smaller than the screen of the second application.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein showing the subscreen comprises:
determining a location for the subscreen in the display to reduce the amount of information in the screen of the first application that is obscured by the subscreen; and
showing the subscreen in the display at the location.
3. The method of claim 1 , wherein showing the subscreen comprises:
determining a location for the subscreen in the display to reduce the amount of information obscured by the subscreen in areas of the screen of the first application that are more important than other areas of the screen of the first application; and
showing the subscreen in the display at the location.
4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the representations are icons and the method further comprises:
in response to navigation to an icon of the second application, showing in the subscreen a caption for the icon.
5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising; in response to selection of the representation as an indication to switch to the second application, showing the portion of the screen of the second application instead of the subscreen, wherein the screen of the second application is shown in its entirety in the display.
6. The method of claim 1 , wherein one of the first application and the second application is a system management application and the screen of the system management application is a home screen.
7. A device comprising:
a processor configure to run multiple applications concurrently; a display coupled to the processor, the display able to show a screen of a first application of the multiple applications and, while the screen is shown in the display, to show a subscreen that includes precisely one representation for each of the multiple applications, wherein the subscreen is smaller than the screen of the first application and obscures a portion of the screen of the first application;
a user input element coupled to the processor, the user input element to enable navigation through the representations without indicating to which application to switch; and
a memory coupled to the processor, the memory to store code which, when executed by the processor and in response to navigation to a representation of a second application of the multiple applications without switching to the second application, ceases to show in the display the screen of the first application and instead shows in the display a screen of the second application, wherein the subscreen obscures a portion of the screen of the second application, wherein the subscreen is smaller than the screen of the second application.
8. The device of claim 7 , wherein the code, when executed by the processor, determines a location for the subscreen in the display to reduce the amount of information in the screen of the first application that is obscured by the subscreen.
9. The device of claim 7 , wherein the code, when executed by the processor, determines a location for the subscreen in the display to reduce the amount of information that is obscured by the subscreen in areas of the screen of the first application that are more important than other areas of the screen of the first application.
10. The device of claim 7 , wherein the user input element is a keyboard.
11. The device of claim 7 , wherein the user input element is a thumbwheel.
12. The device of claim 7 , wherein the user input element is a trackball.
13. The device of claim 7 , wherein the representations are icons.