Slideshow display of images for user-defined groups of applications
A group is defined by a user to include two or more different applications executed on a computing device. The group is associated with one foreground window and one or more background windows on a screen of the computing device. Images of one application selected as a foreground application is displayed in the foreground window. The applications not selected as the foreground application displays images in the background windows. The foreground window is overlaid on the top of the windows of other applications, thereby partially or totally occluding the windows of other applications in the same group. The foreground application changes with elapse of time or upon detection of an event. Therefore, the same foreground window display images for different applications in the group at different times. The number of windows cluttering a screen of the application can be reduced because the user can interact with different applications in the group using the same foreground window.
1. A computer readable non-transitory storage medium storing computer instructions adapted to selectively display images of multiple applications on a screen, the computer instructions when executed configured to cause a processor to:
receive a user-selected definition of a group, the group including two or more different applications and associated with one foreground window and one or more background windows on the screen, the user-selected definition of the group including a sequence by which the different applications are to be displayed in the foreground window;
receive a selection of a first application of the group as a foreground application;
display images of the selected foreground application in the foreground window of the group;
display images of the one or more background windows in a cascaded manner partly overlaid by the foreground window;
change the foreground application of the group from the first application to a second application of the group according to the sequence responsive to detecting elapse of a first predetermined amount of time;
change the foreground application of the group from the second application to a third application of the group according to the sequence responsive to detecting elapse of a second predetermined amount of time different from the first predetermined amount of time; and
display images of the changed foreground application in the foreground window of the group at a same location of the screen as the foreground window of the selected foreground application.
2. The computer readable storage medium of claim 1 , wherein the two or more different applications comprise widgets.
3. The computer program readable storage medium of claim 1 , wherein each of the two or more different applications receives information for display from different remote servers via a network.
4. The computer readable storage medium of claim 1 , further comprising computer instructions causing the processor to:
display a pop-up menu responsive to selecting one or more of the different applications;
receive user input associated with the pop-up menu to assign selected one or more of the different applications to a created group; and
generate a definition for the created group to include the two or more different applications.
5. The computer readable storage medium of claim 1 , wherein the user-selected definition includes the predetermined event for overriding the sequence.
6. The computer readable storage medium of claim 1 , wherein the foreground window and the one or more background windows are of a same size.
7. The computer readable storage medium of claim 1 , further comprising instructions to:
change the foreground application of the group to a fourth application of the group by overriding the sequence responsive to detecting a predetermined event at the fourth application.
8. The computer readable storage medium of claim 7 , wherein the predetermined event comprises receiving information from a remote server associated with the fourth application.
9. The computer readable storage medium of claim 7 , wherein the predetermined event comprises receiving of user input indicating selection of the fourth application.
10. The computer readable storage medium of claim 1 , wherein the first predetermined amount of time and the second predetermined amount of time are set by a user.
11. A method for selectively displaying images of multiple applications on a screen, comprising:
receiving a user-selected definition of a group, the group including two or more different applications and associated with one foreground window and one or more background windows on the screen, the user-selected definition of the group including a sequence by which the different applications are to be displayed in the foreground window;
receiving a selection of a first application of the group as a foreground application;
displaying images of the selected foreground application in the foreground window of the group;
displaying images of the one or more background windows in a cascaded manner partly overlaid by the foreground window;
changing the foreground application of the group from the first application to a second application of the group according to the sequence responsive to detecting elapse of a first predetermined amount of time;
changing the foreground application of the group from the second application to a third application of the group according to the sequence responsive to detecting elapse of a second predetermined amount of time different from the first predetermined amount of time; and
displaying images of the changed foreground application in the foreground window of the group at a same location of the screen as the foreground window of the selected foreground application.
12. The method of claim 11 , wherein the two or more different applications comprise widgets.
13. The method of claim 11 , further comprising:
the first application receiving information from a first server for display on the screen; and
the second application receiving information from a second server for display on the screen.
14. The method of claim 11 , further comprising:
displaying a pop-up menu responsive to selecting one or more of the different applications;
receiving user input associated with the pop-up menu to assign selected one or more of the different applications to a created group; and
generating a definition for the created group to include the two or more different applications.
15. The method of claim 11 , further comprising including the predetermined event for overriding the sequence in the user-selected definition.
16. The method of claim 11 , wherein the foreground window and the one or more background windows are of a same size.
17. A computing device comprising a processor for executing multiple applications simultaneously, comprising:
a user input module for receiving a user-selected definition of a group, the group including two or more different applications and associated with one foreground window and one or more background windows, the user-selected definition of the group including a sequence by which the different applications are to be displayed in the foreground window;
an application display organizer connected to the user input module for selecting a first application in each group as a foreground application, the application display organizer changing the foreground application of the group from the first application to a second application of the group according to the sequence responsive to detecting elapse of a first predetermined amount of time, the application display organizer changing the foreground application of the group from the second application to a third application of the group according to the sequence responsive to detecting elapse of a second predetermined amount of time different from the first predetermined amount of time, the application display organizer displaying images of the changed foreground application in the foreground window of the group at a same location of the screen as the foreground window of the selected foreground application; and
a display driver connected to the application display organizer, the display driver generating images for the foreground window of the group and the background windows of the group on a screen, the images of the one or more background windows in a cascaded manner partly overlaid by the foreground window.
18. The computing device of claim 17 , wherein the two or more different applications comprise widgets.
19. The computing device of claim 17 , further comprising a communication interface connected to the application display organizer, the two or more different applications receiving information from different remote servers via the communication interface.
20. The computing device of claim 17 , wherein the application display organizer is configured to:
display a pop-up menu responsive to selecting one or more of the different applications;
receive user input associated with the pop-up menu to assign selected one or more of the different applications to a created group; and
generate a definition for the created group to include the two or more different applications.
21. The computing device of claim 17 , wherein the application display organizer is configured to include the predetermined event for overriding the sequence in the user-selected definition.
22. The computing device of claim 17 , wherein the foreground window and the one or more background windows are of a same size.