Management of device settings via a plurality of interfaces

1. A portable electronic device comprising:

at least one processor;

a display connected to said at least one processor and controllable by said at least one processor; and

non-volatile storage configured to maintain a plurality of applications and an application programming interface that is commonly used by said plurality of applications for enabling said at least one processor to generate and control a title bar under control of said plurality of applications,

wherein said application programming interface includes

a private part for managing the state of the title bar and

a public part, including a TitleBar component, that provides an interface to said plurality of applications, and

wherein the title bar is configured to be controlled by said plurality of applications through the use of said application programming interface,

the title bar divided into a plurality of areas including

an information area representing current state of information relating to one of said applications, and

an additional area representing notifications, pushed icons and signals selected for display based on requirements of said plurality of applications;

wherein said title bar is under control of the one of said applications through said application programming interface, and

wherein the current state information includes an application icon reflecting the current state of the one of said applications currently controlling the title bar, a title string providing a title of one of said applications currently controlling the title bar and a current time.

2. The portable device of claim 1 , wherein said at least one processor causes said current state of information to be left-aligned on said display and said notifications, pushed icons and signals to be right-aligned on said display.

3. The portable device of claim 1 , wherein said application programming interface includes a component for generating one of either a general title of an application or a string that provides information based on the current state of said application.

4. The portable device of claim 1 , wherein said application programming interface includes an icon component for generating one of either a general application icon related to an application or an icon that reflects the current state of said application.

5. The portable device of claim 1 , wherein said application programming interface includes a clock component for displaying current time.

6. The portable device of claim 1 , wherein said TitleBar component is a member of a Screen component that provides a set and get functionality for adding and customizing the TitleBar component, whereby any one of said applications that requires display of said title bar extends said TitleBar component in order to avail itself of set and get functionality of said Screen component.

7. The portable device of claim 1 , wherein said private part includes a TitleBarView class that implements layout for the application programming interface and drawing logic for the title bar, a TitleBarModel class for updating components and that is extended by a StandardTitleBarModel that implements data for defining the current state of the StandardTitleBar object, and a TitleBarController providing interface functionality with the TitleBarModel class and TitleBarView class.

8. The portable device of claim 7 , wherein said TitleBarController listens and processes events and updates said TitleBarModel class and informs the TitleBarView class for redrawing said title bar.

9. The portable device of claim 1 , wherein said TitleBar component is extended by a StandardTitleBar component that provides a public interface and provides a plurality of add/remove methods for adding optional components to the title bar.

10. The portable device of claim 9 , wherein said StandardTitleBar component has at least one optional component containing a pair of functions that are prefixed with “add” and “remove”, respectively.

11. The portable device of claim 9 , wherein said StandardTitleBar component generates a battery icon in the event that charge on a battery of said portable device falls below a predetermined level or is being charged.

12. The portable device of claim 9 , wherein said StandardTitleBar component generates an active phone call indicator in the event a call is in progress on said portable device.

13. The portable device of claim 1 , wherein said TitleBar component has a first package-private method to facilitate adding components to said title bar and a second package-private method to facilitate removing components from said title bar.

14. The portable device of claim 13 , wherein each of said first and second package-private method has a component Key parameter that defines which component to add to said title bar or remove therefrom.

15. A method for controlling a display of a portable device capable of executing a plurality of applications, comprising:

generating a content region on said display; and

generating a title bar on said display, the title bar configured to be controlled by said plurality of applications through the use of an application programming interface

wherein said application programming interface includes

a private part for managing the state of the title bar and

a public part, including a TitleBar component,

the title bar divided into a plurality of areas including

an information area representing current state of information relating to one of said applications, and

an additional area representing notifications, pushed icons, and signals selected for display based on requirements of said plurality of applications;

wherein said title bar is under control of the one of said applications through said application programming interface, and

wherein the current state information includes an application icon reflecting the current state of the one of said applications, a title string providing a title of one of said applications currently controlling the title bar and a current time.

16. The method of claim 15 , wherein said information area is left aligned relative to the display, whereas said additional area is right aligned.

17. The method of claim 15 , wherein said pushed icons include an active call icon.