Visual thumbnail, scrubber for digital content
Techniques are disclosed for providing a thumbnail scrubber mode in electronic devices, such as a touch screen device. In an embodiment, a thumbnail scrubber may be displayed to the user in response to a distinguishable touch screen gesture, or in response to a toolbar command. A toolbar may be displayed on the device including a scrubber bar, and the thumbnail scrubber mode may be invoked when a user interacts with the scrubber bar. The thumbnail scrubber displays multiple thumbnail images of pages of digital content and allows the user to preview and scroll through the digital content while continuing to display the current page in the main viewer of the device. After scrubbing through the digital content pages, the user may select one of the thumbnail images in the scrubber in order to access that page of the digital content.
1. A device, comprising:
a memory to store instructions;
a display screen to display digital content that includes a plurality of chapters, each chapter including one or more corresponding pages; and
a processor to execute the instructions, to invoke a thumbnail mode,
wherein, while the thumbnail mode is invoked, the thumbnail mode is configured to cause simultaneous display on the display screen of (i) a current page of the digital content on a first region of the display screen, (ii) a scrubber bar on a second region of the display screen, (iii) a plurality of thumbnail images on a third region of the display screen, each thumbnail image representing a corresponding page of the digital content, and chapter information on a fourth region of the display screen, the chapter information identifying a chapter title of a chapter of the digital content to which thumbnail images currently displayed in the third region belong,
wherein, while the thumbnail mode is invoked, and in response to a scroll input received on the fourth region of the display screen, the thumbnail mode is configured to change the display of a first chapter title in the fourth region to a second chapter title and update the plurality of thumbnail images in the third region to display pages corresponding to the second chapter title, while the display screen continues to display the current page in the first region,
wherein the scrubber bar displayed on the second region of the display screen includes (a) one or more chapter markers that indicate one or more locations of one or more corresponding chapter breaks within the digital content, (b) a draggable knob that indicates a location of the currently displayed thumbnail images within the digital content, and (c) a current page marker that indicates a location of the current page within the digital content.
2. The device of claim 1 , wherein while the thumbnail mode is invoked, and in response to a scroll gesture received in the third region, the thumbnail mode is configured to cause scrolling of the thumbnail images within the third region in a sequential fashion, while the display screen continues to display the current page, such that (i) a scroll gesture in a first direction scrolls the thumbnail images representing pages of the digital content that occur prior to the current page and (ii) a scroll gesture in a second direction opposite the first direction scrolls the thumbnail images representing pages of the digital content that occur subsequent to the current page.
3. The device of claim 1 , wherein while the thumbnail mode is invoked, and in response to a scroll input, the thumbnail mode is configured to cause scrolling of the thumbnail images within the third region, while the display screen continues to display the current page,
wherein when the scrolling results in simultaneous display of first one or more thumbnail images of a first chapter and second one or more thumbnail images of a second chapter within the third region, the chapter information on the fourth region is to display at least a part of a chapter title of the first chapter and at least a part of a chapter title of the second chapter.
4. The device of claim 3 , wherein when the scrolling results in simultaneous display of thumbnail images of the first chapter and the second chapter within the third region, the chapter information on the fourth region is to display:
a part of, but not an entirety of, the chapter title of the first chapter; and
a part of, but not an entirety of, the chapter title of the second chapter.
5. The device of claim 1 , wherein while the thumbnail mode is invoked, and in response to a scroll gesture, the thumbnail mode is configured to cause scrolling of the thumbnail images within the third region, while the display screen continues to display the current page, wherein the scroll gesture comprises one or more of (i) a drag gesture performed on the draggable knob along the scrubber bar, (ii) a swipe gesture performed on the third region, and/or (iii) a swipe gesture performed over the fourth region.
6. The device of claim 1 , wherein the third region displays a chapter break indicator between (i) first one or more of the thumbnail images representing pages belonging to a first chapter in the digital content and (ii) second one or more of the thumbnail images representing pages belonging to a second chapter in the digital content, and wherein the first one or more thumbnail images, the chapter break indicator, and the second one or more thumbnail images are arranged in a linear manner.
7. The device of claim 1 , wherein the current page marker is not initially displayed in the scrubber bar, when the thumbnail images currently being displayed includes the current page, and wherein the current page marker is added to the bar, in response to the thumbnail images currently being displayed not including the current page.
8. The device of claim 1 , wherein the processor is to invoke the thumbnail mode, in response to a thumbnail activation gesture performed over the current page of digital content.
9. The device of claim 1 , wherein the processor is to exit the thumbnail mode, in response to a failure to detect any user input for at least a threshold period of time.
10. The device of claim 1 , wherein a single thumbnail image represents multiple pages of digital content.
11. The device of claim 1 , wherein, in response to a selection of a thumbnail image, the thumbnail mode is configured to cause display of a corresponding page of the digital content associated with the selected thumbnail image.
12. The device of claim 1 , wherein the current page marker is distinct from the draggable knob and is not visible when the draggable knob overlaps with the current page marker.
13. The device of claim 1 , wherein while the thumbnail mode is invoked, the thumbnail mode is configured to cause (i) display of a toolbar that includes the scrubber bar, and (ii) display the third region in response to a user dragging the knob along the bar.
14. The device of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of thumbnail images includes a set of two or more thumbnail images associated with a single page of the digital content, such that each of the two or more thumbnail images is associated with a different portion of the single page of the digital content.
15. A method for providing a user interface for navigating paginated content, the method comprising:
simultaneously displaying (i) on a first region of a display screen, a current page of digital content that includes a plurality of chapters, (ii) on a second region of the display screen, a scrubber bar, (iii) on a third region of the display screen, a plurality of thumbnail images, and (iv) on a fourth region of the display screen, chapter information identifying a chapter title of a chapter of the digital content to which thumbnail images currently displayed in the third region belong,
wherein each chapter of the digital content includes one or more corresponding pages,
wherein each thumbnail image represents a corresponding page of the digital content,
wherein the scrubber bar displayed on the on the second region of the display screen includes (a) one or more chapter markers that indicate one or more locations of one or more corresponding chapter breaks within the digital content, b) a knob that is draggable along the scrubber bar to cause scrolling of the thumbnail images, and (c) a current page marker that is distinct from the draggable knob and indicates a location of the current page within the digital content;
in response to a scroll input received on the fourth region of the display screen, changing the display of a first chapter title in the fourth region to a second chapter title and updating the plurality of thumbnail images in the third region to display pages corresponding to the second chapter title, while the display screen continues to display the current page in the first region; and
scrolling through the thumbnail images in response to a scroll gesture, while continuing to display the current page.
16. The method of claim 15 , wherein the third region displaying the plurality of thumbnail images is displayed between the first region displaying the current page and the second region displaying the scrubber bar.
17. The method of claim 15 , further comprising:
displaying, within the fourth region, at least a part of a chapter title of a first chapter and at least a part of a chapter title of a second chapter, in response to simultaneously displaying thumbnail images of a first chapter and a second chapter within the third region.
18. A computer program product comprising one or more non-transitory machine-readable mediums including a plurality of instructions encoded thereon that when executed by one or more processors cause a process to be carried out, the process comprising:
causing simultaneous display of (i) on a first region of a display screen, a current page of digital content that includes a plurality of chapters, (ii) on a second region of the display screen, a scrubber bar, (iii) on a third region of the display screen a plurality of thumbnail images, and (iv) on a fourth region of the display screen, a chapter title of a chapter of the digital content to which thumbnail images currently displayed in the third region belong;
wherein each chapter of the digital content includes one or more corresponding pages, wherein each thumbnail image represents a corresponding page of the digital content, and
wherein the scrubber bar includes (a) one or more chapter markers that indicate one or more locations of one or more corresponding chapter breaks within the digital content, and (b) a draggable knob that indicates a location of the currently displayed thumbnail images within the digital content relative to the one or more locations of the one or more corresponding chapter breaks;
in response to a scroll input received on the fourth region of the display screen, changing the display of a first chapter title in the fourth region to a second chapter title and updating the plurality of thumbnail images in the third region to display pages corresponding to the second chapter title, while the display screen continues to display the current page in the first region; and
scrolling through the thumbnail images in response to a scroll gesture, while continuing to display the current page.
19. The computer program product of claim 18 , the process further comprising causing simultaneous display of, within the third region, a chapter break indicator between (i) first one or more of the thumbnail images representing pages belonging to a first chapter in the digital content and (ii) second one or more of the thumbnail images representing pages belonging to a second chapter in the digital content, wherein the first one or more thumbnail images, the chapter break indicator, and the second one or more thumbnail images are arranged in a same line.
20. The computer program product of claim 18 , wherein when the scrolling results in simultaneous display of first one or more thumbnail images of a first chapter and second one or more thumbnail images of a second chapter within the third region, the fourth region is to display at least a part of a chapter title of the first chapter and at least a part of a chapter title of the second chapter.