Communication of reward data between applications
There is provided a scheme of communicating reward data from a first application running on a data processing device ( 100 ) to a second application on the data processing device ( 100 ) for use by the second application. The method comprises the first application obtaining a reward value in response to a user of the first application completing a predetermined task in the first application. In response to a request from the user to claim a reward, the first application generates and transmits: an instruction to place the second application into an interactive state; and reward data, which is generated on the basis of the reward value, for use by the second application in the interactive state. The passing of the reward value from the first application to the second application occurs within the data processing device ( 100 ), with no communication between the data processing device ( 100 ) and the backend server ( 200 ) via the Internet ( 400 ) taking place.
1. A server comprising:
a receiver module configured to receive from a first application running on a data processing device a resource locator request requesting a resource locator for downloading from an application download server a second application that is to be installed on the data processing device, wherein the resource locator request includes:
a unique device identifier that uniquely identifies the data processing device,
a first identifier identifying the first application, and
a second identifier identifying the second application;
a record keeping module configured to create a record associating the unique device identifier with the first and second identifiers;
a transmission module configured to transmit the requested resource locator to the data processing device,
wherein the receiver module is further configured to receive from the second application, after the second application has been installed on the data processing device, a request to receive configuration data from the server to enable the second application to provide the first application with an indication of a reward earned by a user upon completing a predetermined task in the second application, wherein the configuration data includes the first identifier, and wherein the request to receive configuration data includes the unique device identifier and the second identifier;
a verification module configured to verify validity of the request to receive configuration data by:
checking the unique device identifier and the second identifier in the request to receive configuration data against the record created by the record keeping module,
determining if the second application was obtained via the first application,
wherein when it is determined that the second application was obtained via the first application, then a supply of the configuration data is permitted, and
wherein when it is determined that the second application was not obtained via the first application data, then the validity is not verified and the supply of the configuration data is prohibited; and
a configuration data generating module configured to generate the requested configuration data when the verification module verifies the validity of the request to receive configuration data,
wherein the transmission module is further configured to transmit the generated configuration data to the data processing device.
2. The server according to claim 1 , further comprising:
a candidate application identification module configured to generate one or more identifiers each identifying a respective candidate application for download from the application download server by the data processing device,
wherein the transmission module is further configured to transmit the identifiers to the data processing device for use by the first application to generate the resource locator request.
3. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing instructions that, when executed by one or more processors of a server, cause the server to:
receive from a first application running on a data processing device a resource locator request requesting a resource locator for downloading from an application download server a second application that is to be installed on the data processing device, wherein the resource locator request includes:
a unique device identifier that uniquely identifies the data processing device,
a first identifier identifying the first application, and
a second identifier identifying the second application;
create a record associating the unique device identifier with the first and second identifiers;
transmit the requested resource locator to the data processing device;
receive from the second application, after the second application has been installed on the data processing device, a request to receive configuration data from the server to enable the second application to provide the first application with an indication of a reward earned by a user upon completing a predetermined task in the second application, wherein the configuration data includes the first identifier, and wherein the request to receive configuration data includes the unique device identifier and the second identifier;
verify validity of the request to receive configuration data by:
checking the unique device identifier and the second identifier in the request to receive configuration data against the created record,
determining if the second application was obtained via the first application,
wherein when it is determined that the second application was obtained via the first application, then a supply of the configuration data is permitted, and
wherein when it is determined that the second application was not obtained via the first application data, then the validity is not verified and the supply of the configuration data is prohibited;
generate the requested configuration data when the validity of the request to receive configuration data has been verified; and
transmit the generated configuration data to the data processing device.
4. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium according to claim 3 , wherein the instructions comprise instructions that, when executed, further cause the server to:
generate one or more identifiers each identifying a respective candidate application for download from the application download server by the data processing device; and
transmit the identifiers to the data processing device for use by the first application to generate the resource locator request.
5. A method performed by a server, the method comprising:
receiving from a first application running on a data processing device a resource locator request requesting a resource locator for downloading from an application download server a second application that is to be installed on the data processing device, wherein the resource locator request includes:
a unique device identifier that uniquely identifies the data processing device,
a first identifier identifying the first application, and
a second identifier identifying the second application;
creating a record associating the unique device identifier with the first and second identifiers;
transmitting the requested resource locator to the data processing device;
receiving from the second application, after the second application has been installed on the data processing device, a request to receive configuration data from the server to enable the second application to provide the first application with an indication of a reward earned by a user upon completing a predetermined task in the second application, wherein the configuration data includes the first identifier, and wherein the request to receive configuration data includes the unique device identifier and the second identifier;
verifying validity of the request to receive configuration data by:
checking the unique device identifier and the second identifier in the request to receive configuration data against the created record,
determining if the second application was obtained via the first application,
wherein when it is determined that the second application was obtained via the first application, then a supply of the configuration data is permitted, and
wherein when it is determined that the second application was not obtained via the first application data, then the validity is not verified and the supply of the configuration data is prohibited;
generating the requested configuration data when the validity of the request to receive configuration data has been verified; and
transmitting the generated configuration data to the second data processing device.
6. The method according to claim 5 , further comprising:
generating one or more identifiers each identifying a respective candidate application for download from the application download server by the data processing device; and
transmitting the identifiers to the data processing device for use by the first application to generate the resource locator request.