Electronic device and method for selectively applying message actions

1. A method implemented at an electronic device, the method comprising:

displaying, on a display of the electronic device, a message thread listing view comprising a listing of message threads, each message thread comprising a plurality of email messages;

while the message thread listing view is displayed, detecting a selection of one of the message threads from the listing of message threads;

concurrently displaying a menu overlaying the message thread listing view and a highlighted box representation of the selected message thread, the menu including one or more user interface elements associated with single-message actions applicable to messages of the selected message thread, wherein the single-message actions include at least a reply-to-all action;

detecting a selection of a first user interface element that is associated with the reply-to-all action while the selected message thread is displayed in the highlighted box representation; and

in response to detecting the selections of the message thread and the first user interface element:

automatically identifying a first email message from the selected message thread for applying the reply-to-all message based on:

automatically identifying a subset of the messages from the selected message thread, the subset including only those messages that have multiple recipients; and

selecting one of the messages in the subset that is the most recently received message among messages of the subset and that is different from a most recently received message of the selected message thread that does not have multiple recipients, and

replacing the message thread listing view with a message composition view for composing a reply-to-all message, wherein an address field of the reply-to-all message is pre-populated using addresses from the identified first message.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein detecting the selection of one of the message threads comprises detecting selection of a graphical user interface element displayed on the electronic device, the graphical user interface element corresponding to said one of the message threads, and wherein said selection of the first user interface element is detected while said graphical user interface element is selected.

3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising sending the composed reply-to-all message.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the listing of message threads comprises an entry for each message thread, the entry for each message thread comprising a representation of at least part of a common characteristic of each of the plurality of email messages comprised in the message thread.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the identifying of the first email message occurs while the message thread listing view is displayed.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the reply-to-all message is composed as a reply to the identified first message.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein content of the identified first message is quoted in the reply-to-all message.

8. An electronic device, comprising:

a display interface;

a processor in communication with the display interface, the processor being configured to:

display, on the display interface, a message thread listing view comprising a listing of message threads, each message thread comprising a plurality of email messages;

while the message thread listing view is displayed, detect a selection of one of the message threads from the listing of message threads;

concurrently display a menu overlaying the message thread listing view and a highlighted box representation of the selected message thread, the menu including one or more user interface elements associated with single-message actions applicable to messages of the selected message thread, wherein the single-message actions include at least a reply-to-all action;

detect a selection of a first user interface element that is associated with the reply-to-all action while the selected message thread is displayed in the highlighted box representation; and

in response to detecting the selections of the message thread and the first user interface element:

automatically identify a first email message from the selected message thread for applying the reply-to-all message based on:

automatically identifying a subset of the messages from the selected message thread, the subset including only those messages that have multiple recipients; and

selecting one of the messages in the subset that is the most recently received message among messages of the subset and that is different from a most recently received message of the selected message thread that does not have multiple recipients, and

replace the message thread listing view with a message composition view for composing a reply-to-all message, wherein an address field of the reply-to-all message is pre-populated using addresses from the identified first message.

9. The electronic device of claim 8 , wherein detecting the selection of one of the message threads comprises detecting selection of a graphical user interface element displayed on the electronic device, the graphical user interface element corresponding to said one of the message threads, and wherein said selection of the first user interface element is detected while said graphical user interface element is selected.

10. The electronic device of claim 8 , wherein the processor is further configured to send the composed reply-to-all message.

11. The electronic device of claim 8 , wherein the listing of message threads comprises an entry for each message thread, the entry for each message thread comprising a representation of at least part of a common characteristic of each of the plurality of email messages comprised in the message thread.

12. The electronic device of claim 8 , wherein the identifying of the first email message occurs while the message thread listing view is displayed.

13. The electronic device of claim 8 , wherein the reply-to-all message is composed as a reply to the identified first message.

14. The electronic device of claim 13 , wherein content of the identified first message is quoted in the reply-to-all message.