System and method for determining whether to use cached media

1. A method, comprising:

at an electronic device with one or more processors, memory and a display:

receiving a first request to display a first video stream on the display;

in response to receiving the first request, displaying the first video stream on the display;

after receiving the first request, preloading a second video stream that corresponds to live content, wherein preloading the second video stream includes caching a portion of the second video stream;

while displaying the first video stream on the display, receiving a second request to display the second video stream on the display; and

in response to receiving the second request:

determining whether the second request meets recency criteria;

in accordance with a determination that the second request meets the recency criteria, starting to play the second video stream using the cached portion of the second video stream; and

in accordance with a determination that the second request does not meet the recency criteria, requesting, from a content source for the second video stream, data corresponding to a portion of the second video stream that is outside of the cached portion of the second video stream.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the second request meets the recency criteria when a live stream time of the second video is within a predefined time threshold of a timestamp corresponding to the cached portion of the second video stream.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the second request does not meets the recency criteria when a live stream time of the second video is not within a predefined time threshold of a timestamp corresponding to the cached portion of the second video stream.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein:

receiving the second request includes detecting a gesture; and

the second video stream is displayed in response to detecting an end of the gesture.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein the second video stream is requested from the content source for the second video stream in response to detecting the end of the gesture.

6. The method of claim 4 , wherein the second video stream is requested from the content for the second video stream source in response to detecting a beginning of the gesture.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein:

receiving the second request includes detecting a gesture; and

at least a portion of the second video stream is displayed in response to detecting a beginning of the gesture.

8. The method of claim 7 , wherein the gesture is a gesture corresponding to movement in a respective direction; and

the method includes, in response to detecting the gesture:

sliding a first video tile that includes content from the first video stream toward a first edge of the display in a direction corresponding to the respective direction; and

sliding a second video tile that includes content from the second video stream onto the display from a second edge of the display that is opposite to the first edge of the display.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein, during the gesture:

the first video tile displays video content from the first video stream; and

the second video tile displays video content from the second video stream.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein preloading the second video stream includes:

establishing a connection for receiving the second video stream from the content source for the second video stream;

receiving at least a portion of the second video stream from the content source for the second video stream using the connection; and

while maintaining the connection, stopping delivery of the second video stream to the electronic device from the content source for the second video stream.

11. The method of claim 1 , wherein:

the first video stream corresponds to a first channel in a predetermined sequence of channels;

the second video stream corresponds to a second channel in the predetermined sequence of channels that is adjacent to the first channel; and

the method includes:

in response to receiving the first request to display the first video stream on the display, starting to download the first video stream from a content source for the first video stream; and

after starting to download the first video stream, starting to preload the second video stream from the content source for the second video stream.

12. The method of claim 11 , further comprising after starting to download the first video stream, starting to preload a third video stream from a content source for the third video stream, wherein the third video stream corresponds to a third channel in the predetermined sequence of channels that is adjacent to the first channel.

13. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

operating in a first concurrent-download mode of operation, wherein while in the first concurrent-download mode of operation, the device downloads concurrent media streams in accordance with first concurrent download constraints;

while operating in the first concurrent-download mode of operation, detecting a change in an available bandwidth for downloading media streams; and

in response to detecting the change in the available bandwidth for downloading media streams, operating in a second concurrent-download mode of operation, wherein, while in the second concurrent-download mode of operation, the device downloads concurrent media streams in accordance with second concurrent download constraints that are different from the first concurrent download constraints.

14. The method of claim 1 , wherein the second video stream is displayed on the display concurrently with at least a portion of the first video stream.

15. The method of claim 1 , further comprising, in response to the second request, displaying at least a portion of a third video stream on the display concurrently with at least a portion of the second video stream and a portion of the first video stream.

16. The method of claim 15 , wherein:

prior to receiving the first request, the first video is displayed in a first video tile that is displayed at a first size;

the second request includes a request to reduce the size of the first video tile; and

displaying the portion of the second video stream and the portion of the third video stream concurrently with the portion of the second video stream includes displaying an array of video tiles including the first video tile, a second video tile corresponding to the second video stream and a third video tile corresponding to the third video stream are displayed in the array, where the first video tile, the second video tile and the third video tile are displayed at respective sizes that are smaller than the first size.

17. The method of claim 15 , further comprising, after displaying the array of video tiles:

receiving a third request to increase the size of a selected video tile in the array of video tiles; and

in response to receiving the third request, enlarging the selected video tile so that the other video tiles in the array are not displayed on the display.

18. The method of claim 15 , wherein:

the array includes a plurality of video tiles for which video data has been preloaded; and

displaying the array includes displaying, in each respective video tile of the plurality of video tiles, preloaded video data corresponding to the respective video tile.

19. A computer system, the computer system comprising:

one or more processors; and

memory; storing one or more programs, configured to be executed by the one or more processors, the one or more programs including instructions for:

receiving a first request to display a first video stream on the display;

in response to receiving the first request, displaying the first video stream on the display;

after receiving the first request, preloading a second video stream that corresponds to live content, wherein preloading the second video stream includes caching a portion of the second video stream;

while displaying the first video stream on the display, receiving a second request to display the second video stream on the display; and

in response to receiving the second request:

determining whether the second request meets recency criteria;

in accordance with a determination that the second request meets the recency criteria, starting to play the second video stream using the cached portion of the second video stream; and

in accordance with a determination that the second request does not meet the recency criteria, requesting, from a content source for the second video stream, data corresponding to a portion of the second video stream that is outside of the cached portion of the second video stream.

20. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium storing one or more programs, the one or more programs comprising instructions, which when executed by a computer system with one or more processors, cause the computer system to:

receive a first request to display a first video stream on the display;

in response to receiving the first request, display the first video stream on the display;

after receiving the first request, preload a second video stream that corresponds to live content, wherein preloading the second video stream includes caching a portion of the second video stream;

while displaying the first video stream on the display, receive a second request to display the second video stream on the display; and

in response to receiving the second request:

determine whether the second request meets recency criteria;

in accordance with a determination that the second request meets the recency criteria, start to play the second video stream using the cached portion of the second video stream; and

in accordance with a determination that the second request does not meet the recency criteria, request, from a content source for the second video stream, data corresponding to a portion of the second video stream that is outside of the cached portion of the second video stream.