SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR LOCKING THE ORIENTATION OF A DISPLAY ON A MOBILE
An orientation sensor in a mobile electronic device senses a change in the orientation of the device, e.g., from a landscape orientation to a portrait orientation. The system and method of the present invention takes advantage of the time required for reformatting to display an orientation lock icon on the screen while reflow processing is taking place. The lock icon is a virtual button the user can tap to allow or disallow the information on the display to change orientation as the user rotates the device from landscape to portrait orientation or vice versa. Once the reflow processing is complete and the information has been redrawn in the new orientation, the lock icon is removed.
1 . A method for controlling a formatting of a display of content on an electronic device comprising:
detecting a first orientation of the electronic device;
displaying the content on a display screen of the electronic device in a first format corresponding to the first orientation;
detecting a change from the first orientation of the electronic device to a second orientation of the electronic device;
displaying a lock icon on the display screen, the lock icon indicating a state of a content formatting lock;
determining the state of the content formatting lock;
if the content formatting lock is unlocked:
reformatting the content from the first format to a second format, the second format corresponding to the second orientation,
displaying the content in the second format on the display screen, and
remove the display of the lock icon when the displaying of the content in the second format is complete; and
if the content formatting lock is locked:
continue to display the content in the first format on the display screen,
remove the display of the lock icon when the orientation of the electronic device is returned to the first orientation.
2 . The method according to claim 1 , further comprising:
detecting selection of lock icon; and
changing the state of the content formatting lock to an opposite state.
3 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the first orientation of the device is a portrait orientation and the second orientation is a landscape orientation, the reformatting act further comprising reformatting the content from a format suitable for the portrait orientation to a format suitable for the landscape orientation.
4 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the device is an electronic reader and the content is an electronic publication, the reformatting act further comprises reformatting the electronic publication in a format corresponding to the detected orientation.
5 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the act of displaying the lock icon further comprises displaying the lock icon in the orientation in which the content will be displayed.
6 . A non-transitory computer-readable media comprising a plurality of instructions that, when executed by at least one electronic device, cause the at least one electronic device to:
detect a first orientation of the at least one electronic device;
display the content on a display screen of the at least one electronic device in a first format corresponding to the first orientation;
detect a change from the first orientation of the at least one electronic device to a second orientation of the at least one electronic device;
display a lock icon on the display screen, the lock icon indicating a state of a content formatting lock;
determine the state of the content formatting lock;
if the content formatting lock is unlocked:
reformat the content from the first format to a second format, the second format corresponding to the second orientation,
display the content in the second format on the display screen, and remove the display of the lock icon when the display of the content in the second format is complete; and
if the content formatting lock is locked:
continue to display the content in the first format on the display screen,
remove the display of the lock icon when the orientation of the at least one electronic device is returned to the first orientation.
7 . The non-transitory computer-readable media according to claim 6 , wherein the instructions further cause the at least one electronic device to:
detect a selection of lock icon; and
change the state of the content formatting lock to an opposite state.
8 . The non-transitory computer-readable media according to claim 6 , wherein the first orientation of the device is a portrait orientation and the second orientation is a landscape orientation, wherein the instructions further cause the at least one electronic device to reformat the content from a format suitable for the portrait orientation to a format suitable for the landscape orientation.
9 . The non-transitory computer-readable media according to claim 6 , wherein the device is an electronic reader and the content is an electronic publication, wherein the instructions further cause the at least one electronic device to reformat the electronic publication in a format corresponding to the detected orientation.
10 . The non-transitory computer-readable media according to claim 6 , wherein the instructions further cause the at least one electronic device to display the lock icon in the orientation in Which the content will be displayed.
11 . A system for formatting and displaying content on an electronic device comprising:
a memory that includes instructions for operating the electronic and at least one piece of content;
a display screen;
an orientation sensor
a touch sensitive input device; and
control circuitry coupled to the memory, coupled to the touch sensitive input device, coupled to the orientation sensor and coupled to the display screen, the control circuitry executing the instructions and is operable to:
detect a first orientation of the electronic device using the orientation sensor;
display the content on the display screen in a first format corresponding to the first orientation;
detect a change from the first orientation of the one electronic device to a second orientation of the electronic device;
display a lock icon on the display screen, the lock icon indicating a state of a content formatting lock;
determine the state of the content formatting lock;
if the content formatting lock is unlocked:
reformat the content from the first format to a second format, the second format corresponding to the second orientation,
display the content in the second format on the display screen, and
remove the display of the lock icon when the display of the content in the second format is complete; and
if the content formatting lock is locked:
continue to display the content in the first format on the display screen,
remove the display of the lock icon when the orientation of the at least one electronic device is returned to the first orientation.
12 . The system according to claim 11 , wherein the control circuitry executing the instructions is further operable to:
detect selection of lock icon; and
change the state of the content formatting lock to an opposite state.
13 . The system according to claim 11 , wherein the first orientation of the device is a portrait orientation and the second orientation is a landscape orientation, wherein the control circuitry executing the instructions is further operable to reformat the content from a format suitable for the portrait orientation to a format suitable for the landscape orientation.
14 . The system according to claim 11 , wherein the device is an electronic reader and the content is an electronic publication, wherein the control circuitry executing the instructions is further operable to reformat the electronic publication in a format corresponding to the detected orientation.
15 . The system according to claim 11 , wherein the control circuitry executing the instructions is further operable to display the lock icon in the orientation in which the content will be displayed