Methods for displaying icons

1. A method for displaying candidate icons corresponding to a plurality of function statuses of an electronic device on a screen thereof, comprising:

providing the screen with a first display area and a second display area, the first display area configured to display a single icon at a time, and the second display area configured to display a plurality of icons at a time;

selecting one icon of a first icon set to be displayed in the first display area of the screen, wherein the first display area is specifically reserved for displaying the one icon of the first icon set;

selecting at least one icon of a second icon set to be displayed in the second display area, wherein the second display area is specifically reserved for displaying the at least one icon of the second icon set;

categorizing the candidate icons into a plurality of icon sets comprising the first icon set and the second icon set;

providing a priority for each icon of the first icon set, and providing a priority for each icon of the second icon set; and

maintaining a first queue of icons including icons from the first set of icons that correspond to functions currently being performed by the electronic device, and a second queue of icons including icons from the second set of icons that correspond to functions currently being performed by the electronic device, where an order of the icons in the first and second queues is determined by the priority provided to the respective icons in the first and second queues, wherein when the one icon of the first icon set is being displayed, a second icon of the first icon set is stored in the first queue without being displayed, and when the one icon of the second icon set is being displayed, a second icon of the second icon set is stored in the second queue without being displayed,

wherein the one icon of the first icon set and the at least one icon of the second icon set are selected from the first queue of icons and from the second queue of icons, respectively, and

wherein the first display area and the second display area are within a status bar.

2. The method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the selected icon of the first icon set is selected according to the priorities of the icons of the first icon set, and the selected at least one icon of the second icon set is selected according to the priorities of the icons of the second icon set.

3. The method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein each of the candidate icons is categorized according to its functional property.

4. The method as claimed in claim 3 , wherein icons in the first icon set have a same functional property, and icons in the second icon set have at least two kinds of functional properties.

5. The method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the candidate icons are categorized into the plurality icon sets according to a user-defined criterion.

6. A method for displaying candidate icons corresponding to a plurality of function statuses of an electronic device on a screen thereof, the candidate icons being categorized into a plurality of icon sets comprising a first icon set and a second icon set, the method comprising:

providing a priority for each icon of the first icon set, and providing a priority for each icon of the second icon set

receiving a display request associated with one of the plurality of candidate icons;

providing the screen with a first display area and a second display area, the first display area configured to display a single icon, and the second display area configured to display a plurality of icons, wherein the first display area and the second display area are within a status bar;

determining an icon set, among the plurality of icon sets, to which the associated icon belongs;

determining whether a first available position exists in the first display area when the associated icon is determined to be one of the first icon set, wherein the first display area is specifically reserved for displaying an icon from the first icon set;

determining whether a second available position exists in the second display area when the first icon is determined to be one of the second icon set, wherein the second display area is specifically reserved for displaying icons from the second icon set;

displaying the associated icon in the first available position when the first available position exists and the associated icon is determined to be the one of the first icon set; and

displaying the associated icon in the second available position when the second available position exists and the associated icon is determined to be the one of the second icon set; and

maintaining a first queue of icons including icons from the first set of icons that correspond to functions currently being performed by the electronic device, and a second queue of icons including icons from the second set of icons that correspond to functions currently being performed by the electronic device, where an order of the icons in the first and second queues is determined by the priority provided to the respective icons in the first and second queues, wherein when displaying the associated icon in the first available position, another icon in the first set of icons is stored in the first queue without being displayed, and when displaying the associated icon in the second available position, another icon in the second set of icons is stored in the second queue without being displayed,

wherein the associated icon of the first icon set and the associated icon of the second icon set are selected from the first queue of icons and from the second queue of icons, respectively.

7. The method as claimed in claim 6 , further comprising:

determining whether a priority of the associated icon is higher than that of one first displayed icon in the first display area when the first available position is absent and the associated icon is determined to be the one of the first icon set, so as to determine whether to replace the first displayed icon with the associated icon.

8. The method as claimed in claim 6 , further comprising:

storing the associated icon into the first queue corresponding to the first display area when the first available position is absent and the associated icon is determined to be the one of the first icon set.

9. The method as claimed in claim 6 , further comprising:

determining whether a priority of the associated icon is higher than that of one second displayed icon in the second display area when the second available position is absent and the associated icon is determined to be the one of the second icon set, so as to determine whether to replace the second displayed icon with the associated icon.

10. The method as claimed in claim 9 , further comprising:

storing the associated icon into the second queue corresponding to the second display area when the second available position is absent and the associated icon is determined to be the one of the second icon set.

11. The method as claimed in claim 6 , wherein icons in the first icon set have a same functional property, and icons in the second icon set have at least two kinds of functional properties.