IP Library Granted Patent US 10,944,859
Granted Patent B2
US 10,944,859 · App. 16/146,381 · Granted Mar 9, 2021

Accelerated task performance

Inventors: Ari Weinstein (San Francisco, CA); John Blatz (San Francisco, CA)
Assignee: Apple Inc.
H04M1/72569G06F3/0488G06F3/167G06F9/44G06F16/90328G10L15/18G10L15/22G10L15/26G10L21/10H04L51/18G10L2015/221G10L2015/223G10L2015/225
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 10,944,859
App. No.
16/146,381
Granted
Mar 9, 2021
Kind
B2
Abstract

Systems and processes for accelerating task performance are provided. An example method includes, at an electronic device including a display and one or more input devices, displaying, on the display, a user interface including a suggestion affordance associated with a task, detecting, via the one or more input devices, a first user input corresponding to a selection of the suggestion affordance, in response to detecting the first user input: in accordance with a determination that the task is a task of a first type, performing the task, and in accordance with a determination that the task is a task of a second type different than the first type, displaying a confirmation interface including a confirmation affordance.

Claims (97)

1. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing one or more programs, the one or more programs comprising instructions, which when executed by one or more processors of an electronic device, cause the electronic device to:

receive a natural-language speech input including a first component and a second component;

in response to determining that the first component of the natural-language speech input includes a voice trigger and without receiving any additional input:

determine whether the second component of the natural-language speech input satisfies voice shortcut criteria;

in accordance with a determination that the second component of the natural-language speech input satisfies the voice shortcut criteria:

identify at least two tasks associated with a voice shortcut of the natural-language speech input, wherein the voice shortcut is a user-generated phrase associated with a user of the electronic device;

identify a first parameter for performing a first task of the at least two tasks, wherein a value of the first parameter for performing the first task was specified by the user and validated for use in performing the first task during creation of the voice shortcut;

cause a first software application to perform the first task using the first parameter; and

cause a second software application to perform a second task of the at least two tasks; wherein the second task is different from the first task; and

in accordance with a determination that the natural-language speech input does not satisfy the voice shortcut criteria:

identify a task associated with the natural-language speech input; and

perform the task associated with the natural-language speech input.

2. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 1 , wherein determining whether the second component of the natural-language speech input satisfies voice shortcut criteria includes:

providing a representation of the natural-language speech input to another electronic device; and

receiving, from the another electronic device; at least one of a voice shortcut or a task.

3. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 1 , further comprising:

providing a natural-language output indicating whether at least one of the at least two tasks associated with the voice shortcut were successful.

4. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 3 , wherein:

performing the first task associated with the voice shortcut includes causing a third-party application to perform the first task; and

providing the natural-language output includes:

receiving a response from the third-party application; and

generating the natural-language output based on the response received from the third-party.

5. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 3 , wherein the natural-language output is an audio speech output.

6. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 1 , wherein:

receiving a natural-language speech input includes receiving a representation of the natural-language speech input from a second electronic device.

7. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 6 , wherein receiving a representation of the natural-language speech input from a second electronic device includes receiving the representation of the natural-language speech input over a multi-hop network.

8. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 1 , wherein performing the first task associated with the voice shortcut includes:

determining whether the first task associated with the voice shortcut is a task of a first type;

in accordance with a determination that the first task is a task of the first type, performing the first task using the electronic device; and

in accordance with a determination that the first task is a task of a second type different than the first type, causing the first task to be performed using a third electronic device.

9. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 1 , wherein the first parameter is valid when the value of the first parameter is within an allowable set of values for the first parameter.

10. A method, comprising:

at an electronic device with a display and a touch-sensitive surface:

receiving a natural-language speech input including a first component and a second component;

in response to determining that the first component of the natural-language speech input includes a voice trigger and without receiving any additional input:

determining whether the second component of the natural-language speech input satisfies voice shortcut criteria;

in accordance with a determination that the second component of the natural-language speech input satisfies the voice shortcut criteria:

identifying at least two tasks associated with a voice shortcut of the natural-language speech input, wherein the voice shortcut is a user-generated phrase associated with a user of the electronic device;

identifying a first parameter for performing a first task of the at least two tasks, wherein a value of the first parameter for performing the first task was specified by the user and validated for use in performing the first task during creation of the voice shortcut;

causing a first software application to perform the first task using the first parameter; and

causing a second software application to perform a second task of the at least two tasks; wherein the second task is different from the first task; and

in accordance with a determination that the second component of the natural-language speech input does not satisfy the voice shortcut criteria:

identifying a task associated with the natural-language speech input; and

performing the task associated with the natural-language speech input.

11. The method of claim 10 , wherein determining whether the second component of the natural-language speech input satisfies voice shortcut criteria includes:

providing a representation of the natural-language speech input to another electronic device; and

receiving, from the another electronic device, at least one of a voice shortcut or a task.

12. The method of claim 10 , further comprising:

providing a natural-language output indicating whether at least one of the at least two tasks associated with the voice shortcut were successful.

13. The method of claim 12 , wherein:

performing the first task associated with the voice shortcut includes causing a third-party application to perform the first task; and

providing the natural-language output includes:

receiving a response from the third-party application; and

generating the natural-language output based on the response received from the third-party.

14. The method of claim 12 , wherein the natural-language output is an audio speech output.

15. The method of claim 10 , wherein:

receiving a natural-language speech input includes receiving a representation of the natural-language speech input from a second electronic device.

16. The method of claim 15 , wherein receiving a representation of the natural-language speech input from a second electronic device includes receiving the representation of the natural-language speech input over a multi-hop network.

17. The method of claim 10 , wherein performing the first task associated with the voice shortcut includes:

determining whether the first task associated with the voice shortcut is a task of a first type;

in accordance with a determination that the first task is a task of the first type, performing the first task using the electronic device; and

in accordance with a determination that the first task is a task of a second type different than the first type, causing the first task to be performed using a third electronic device.

18. The method of claim 10 , wherein the first parameter is valid when the value of the first parameter is within an allowable set of values for the first parameter.

19. An electronic device, comprising:

one or more processors;

a memory; and

one or more programs, wherein the one or more programs are stored in the memory and configured to be executed by the one or more processors, the one or more programs including instructions for:

receiving a natural-language speech input including a first component and a second component;

in response to determining that the first component of the natural-language speech input includes a voice trigger and without receiving any additional input:

determining whether the second component of the natural-language speech input satisfies voice shortcut criteria;

in accordance with a determination that the second component of the natural-language speech input satisfies the voice shortcut criteria:

identifying at least two tasks associated with a voice shortcut of the natural-language speech input, wherein the voice shortcut is a user-generated phrase associated with a user of the electronic device;

identifying a first parameter for performing a first task of the at least two tasks, wherein a value of the first parameter for performing the first task was specified by the user and validated for use in performing the first task during creation of the voice shortcut;

causing a first software application to perform the first task using the first parameter; and

causing a second software application to perform a second task of the at least two tasks; wherein the second task is different from the first task; and

in accordance with a determination that the second component of the natural-language speech input does not satisfy the voice shortcut criteria:

identifying a task associated with the natural-language speech input; and

performing the task associated with the natural-language speech input.

20. The electronic device of claim 19 , wherein determining whether the second component of the natural-language speech input satisfies voice shortcut criteria includes:

providing a representation of the natural-language speech input to another electronic device; and

receiving, from the another electronic device, at least one of a voice shortcut or a task.

21. The electronic device of claim 19 , further comprising:

providing a natural-language output indicating whether at least one of the at least two tasks associated with the voice shortcut were successful.

22. The electronic device of claim 21 , wherein:

performing the first task associated with the voice shortcut includes causing a third-party application to perform the first task; and

providing the natural-language output includes:

receiving a response from the third-party application; and

generating the natural-language output based on the response received from the third-party.

23. The electronic device of claim 21 , wherein the natural-language output is an audio speech output.

24. The electronic device of claim 19 , wherein:

receiving a natural-language speech input includes receiving a representation of the natural-language speech input from a second electronic device.

25. The electronic device of claim 24 , wherein receiving a representation of the natural-language speech input from a second electronic device includes receiving the representation of the natural-language speech input over a multi-hop network.

26. The electronic device of claim 19 , wherein performing the first task associated with the voice shortcut includes:

determining whether the first task associated with the voice shortcut is a task of a first type;

in accordance with a determination that the first task is a task of the first type, performing the first task using the electronic device; and

in accordance with a determination that the first task is a task of a second type different than the first type, causing the first task to be performed using a third electronic device.

27. The electronic device of claim 19 , wherein the first parameter is valid when the value of the first parameter is within an allowable set of values for the first parameter.

Assignments (1)
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Feb 12, 2019
From: ARI WEINSTEIN; JOHN BLATZ
To: APPLE INC.
Reel/Frame 048312/0307 →
Continuity (3)
Provisional Application 62679972 · Jun 3, 2018
Provisional Application 62729967 · Sep 11, 2018
Related Publication 20190373102A1 · Dec 5, 2019
Cited By (30)
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