Communication of reward data between applications

1. A non-transitory storage medium storing computer program instructions that define a first application and that, when executed by a data processing device, cause the data processing device to communicate within the data processing device reward data from the first application to a second application on the data processing device for use by the second application, by:

obtaining a reward value in response to a user of the first application completing a predetermined task in the first application; and

in response to a request from the user to claim a reward, generating and transmitting:

an instruction to place the second application into an interactive state; and

reward data, the reward data being generated on the basis of the reward value for use by the second application,

wherein the instructions comprise instructions that, when executed, further cause the data processing device to perform following processes prior to obtaining the reward value and prior to generating the reward data and the instruction to place the second application into the interactive state:

obtaining a unique device identifier that uniquely identifies the data processing device;

generating a request to receive configuration data from a server, the request to receive configuration data comprising the unique device identifier and a first identifier identifying the first application to allow the server to verify validity of the request to receive configuration data;

transmitting the generated request to the server via the Internet;

receiving the configuration data from the server when the validity of the request to receive configuration data has been verified by the server the configuration data comprising a second identifier that identifies the second application; and

using the configuration data to generate the instruction to place the second application into the interactive state.

2. The non-transitory storage medium according to claim 1 , wherein the instructions comprise instructions that, when executed, cause the data processing device to generate the reward data to comprise a signature for verifying validity of the reward data, the signature being created by generating an encoding based on at least one of a first identifier identifying the first application, a second identifier identifying the second application, a time stamp and an indication of the reward value that has been used to generate the reward data.

3. The non-transitory storage medium according to claim 2 , wherein the instructions comprise instructions that, when executed, cause the data processing device to use a Hash function to generate the encoding.

4. The non-transitory storage medium according to claim 1 , wherein the instructions comprise instructions that, when executed, further cause the data processing device to create a record indicating that the instruction and the reward data have been generated and transmitted, and to transmit the record to the server via the Internet.

5. The non-transitory storage medium according to claim 1 , wherein the instructions comprise instructions that, when executed, cause the data processing device to generate the reward data based on a sum of reward values, and cap the sum of reward values at a predetermined maximum reward value.

6. The non-transitory storage medium according to claim 1 , wherein the instructions define the first application comprising:

a reward-obtaining module comprising computer program instruction that, when executed by the data processing device, cause the data processing device to obtain a reward value in response to the user using the first application for a predetermined period of time; and

a reward-claiming module comprising computer program instructions that, when executed by the data processing device, cause the data processing device to generate the instruction to place the second application into the interactive state, and to generate the reward data by:

determining whether the reward value obtained by the reward-obtaining module is valid based on the time that the user has spent using the first application; and

generating the reward data based on the reward value when the reward value is determined to be valid.

7. The non-transitory storage medium according to claim 1 , wherein the instructions define the first application that is an electronic game and wherein the instructions, when executed by the data processing device, cause the data processing device to obtain a reward value in response to the user doing one or more of:

spending a predetermined amount of time playing the electronic game;

completing a level of the electronic game;

collecting a predetermined number of collectable items in the electronic game; and

achieving a predetermined score in the electronic game.

8. A method of communicating reward data from a first application running on a data processing device to a second application on the data processing device for use by the second application, the method comprising the first application performing processes of:

obtaining a reward value in response to a user of the first application completing a predetermined task in the first application; and

in response to a request from the user to claim a reward, generating and transmitting:

an instruction to place the second application into an interactive state; and

reward data, the reward data being generated on the basis of the reward value for use by the second application in the interactive state,

wherein the first application further performs following processes prior to obtaining the reward value and prior to generating the reward data and the instruction to place the second application into the interactive state:

obtaining a unique device identifier that uniquely identifies the data processing device;

generating a request to receive configuration data from a server, the request to receive configuration data comprising the unique device identifier and a first identifier identifying the first application to allow the server to verify validity of the request to receive configuration data;

transmitting the generated request to the server via the Internet;

receiving the configuration data from the server when the validity of the request to receive configuration data has been verified by the server, the configuration data comprising a second identifier that identifies the second application; and

using the configuration data to generate the instruction to place the second application into the interactive state.

9. The method according to claim 8 , wherein the first application generates the reward data to comprise a signature for verifying validity of the reward data, and wherein the first application creates the signature by generating an encoding based on at least one of a first identifier identifying the first application, a second identifier identifying the second application, a time stamp and an indication of the reward value that has been used to generate the reward data.

10. The method according to claim 8 , wherein the first application creates a record indicating that the instruction and the reward data have been generated and transmitted, and transmits the record to the server via the Internet.

11. The method according to claim 8 , wherein the first application generates the reward data based on a sum of reward values, and wherein the first application caps the sum of reward values at a predetermined maximum reward value.

12. The method according to claim 8 , wherein the first application comprises:

a reward-obtaining module that obtains a reward value in response to the user using the first application for a predetermined period of time; and

a reward-claiming module that generates the instruction to place the second application into the interactive state, and generates the reward data by:

determining whether the reward value obtained by the reward-obtaining module is valid based on the time that the user has spent using the first application; and

generating the reward data based on the reward value when the reward value is determined to be valid.