Manipulating shared screen content
A technique for preparing screen content for remote display includes identifying non-shareable elements in the screen content and, prior to sending the screen content to a client machine for rendering by the client machine, selectively blurring the non-shareable elements, such that the client machine receives the screen content with the non-shareable elements already blurred.
1. A method of preparing screen content of a host machine for remote display, the method comprising:
identifying a set of non-shareable elements in the screen content, the screen content further including shareable content;
selectively blurring the set of non-shareable elements; and
sending the screen content from the host machine to a client machine, the screen content including the selectively blurred set of non-shareable elements and providing the shareable content without blurring,
wherein identifying the set of non-shareable elements includes:
identifying a set of applications running on the host machine; and
comparing the set of applications with at least one of a list of blocked applications or a list of allowed applications, the act of comparing identifying a set of non-shareable running applications, and
wherein selectively blurring the set of non-shareable elements includes, for each of the set of non-shareable running applications, applying a blurring filter to a respective screen area occupied by the non-shareable running application.
2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
detecting that a non-shareable application is not in focus;
identifying a visible region of the non-shareable application and a blocked region of the non-shareable application, the block region being occluded by at least one other application window; and
applying the blurring filter to the visible region of the non-shareable application but not to the blocked region of the non-shareable application.
3. The method of claim 1 , wherein identifying the set of non-shareable elements includes:
detecting a notification that appears in a notification area in the screen content of the host machine;
identifying an associated application that the host machine associates with the notification; and
comparing the associated application with at least one of a list of blocked applications or a list of allowed applications, the act comparing determining whether the associated application is non-shareable,
wherein selectively blurring the set of non-shareable elements includes, in response to determining that the associated application is non-shareable, applying a blurring filter to the notification area.
4. The method of claim 1 , wherein identifying the set of non-shareable elements includes:
identifying a set of folders open on the host machine; and
comparing the set of folders with at least one of a list of blocked folders or a list of allowed folders, the act of comparing identifying a set of non-shareable open folders,
wherein selectively blurring the set of non-shareable elements includes, for each of the set of non-shareable open folders, applying a blurring filter to a screen area occupied by the non-shareable open folder.
5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising associating different non-shareable elements with respective levels of blurring, such that different non-shareable elements are blurred to different degrees.
6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising providing a UI (user interface) control associated with a non-shareable element, the UI control being operable by a user of the host machine to selectively unblur the associated non-shareable element, wherein the screen content sent to the client machine includes the non-shareable element without blurring.
7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising, when sending the screen content from the host machine to the client machine with the selectively blurred set of non-shareable elements, the method further comprises displaying, by the host machine, the set of non-shareable elements in unblurred form.
8. A method of preparing screen content of a host machine for remote display, the method comprising:
identifying a set of non-shareable elements in the screen content, the screen content further including shareable content;
selectively blurring the set of non-shareable elements; and
sending the screen content from the host machine to a client machine, the screen content including the selectively blurred set of non-shareable elements and providing the shareable content without blurring,
wherein identifying the set of non-shareable elements includes:
identifying a URL (Uniform Resource Locator) of a web page displayed by a web browser running on the host machine; and
comparing a domain of the URL with at least one of a list of blocked domains or a list of allowed domains, the act of comparing determining whether the domain of the URL is non-shareable, and
wherein selectively blurring the set of non-shareable elements includes, in response to determining that the domain of the URL is non-shareable, applying a blurring filter to a screen area occupied by the web browser.
9. A computerized system, comprising a first computing machine coupled to a second computing machine over a network, the computerized system constructed and arranged to:
identify, by the first computing machine, a set of non-shareable elements in screen content generated by the first computing machine, the screen content further including shareable content;
selectively blur, by the first computing machine, the set of non-shareable elements;
send the screen content from the first computing machine to the second computing machine, the screen content including the selectively blurred set of non-shareable elements and providing the shareable content without blurring; and
display the screen content by the second computing machine, the displayed screen content rendering the selectively blurred set of non-shareable elements as blurred images,
wherein the computerized system constructed and arranged to identify the set of non-shareable elements is further constructed and arranged to:
identify a set of folders open on the host machine; and
compare the set of folders with at least one of a list of blocked folders or a list of allowed folders, the act of comparing identifying a set of non-shareable open folders,
wherein the computerized system constructed and arranged to selectively blur the set of non-shareable elements is further constructed and arranged to, for each of the set of non-shareable open folders, apply a blurring filter to a screen area occupied by the non-shareable open folder.
10. A computer program product including a set of non-transitory, computer-readable media having instructions which, when executed by control circuitry of a computerized apparatus, cause the computerized apparatus to perform a method of preparing screen content for remote display, the method comprising:
identifying a set of non-shareable elements in the screen content, the screen content further including shareable content;
selectively blurring the set of non-shareable elements; and
sending the screen content to a client machine, the screen content including the selectively blurred set of non-shareable elements and providing the shareable content without blurring,
wherein identifying the set of non-shareable elements includes:
detecting a notification that appears in a notification area in the screen content of the host machine;
identifying an associated application that the host machine associates with the notification; and
comparing the associated application with at least one of a list of blocked applications or a list of allowed applications, the act comparing determining whether the associated application is non-shareable,
wherein selectively blurring the set of non-shareable elements includes, in response to determining that the associated application is non-shareable, applying a blurring filter to the notification area.
11. The computer program product of claim 10 ,
wherein identifying the set of non-shareable elements includes:
identifying a set of applications running on the host machine; and
comparing the set of applications with at least one of a list of blocked applications or a list of allowed applications, the act of comparing identifying a set of non-shareable running applications, and
wherein selectively blurring the set of non-shareable elements includes, for each of the set of non-shareable running applications, applying a blurring filter to a respective screen area occupied by the non-shareable running application.
12. The computer program product of claim 11 , wherein the method further comprises:
detecting that a non-shareable application is not in focus;
identifying a visible region of the non-shareable application and a blocked region of the non-shareable application, the block region being occluded by at least one other application window; and
applying the blurring filter to the visible region of the non-shareable application but not to the blocked region of the non-shareable application.
13. The computer program product of claim 10 ,
wherein identifying the set of non-shareable elements includes:
identifying a URL (Uniform Resource Locator) of a web page displayed by a web browser running on the host machine; and
comparing a domain of the URL with at least one of a list of blocked domains or a list of allowed domains, the act of comparing determining whether the domain of the URL is non-shareable, and
wherein selectively blurring the set of non-shareable elements includes, in response to determining that the domain of the URL is non-shareable, applying a blurring filter to a screen area occupied by the web browser.
14. The computer program product of claim 10 ,
wherein identifying the set of non-shareable elements includes:
identifying a set of folders open on the host machine; and
comparing the set of folders with at least one of a list of blocked folders or a list of allowed folders, the act of comparing identifying a set of non-shareable open folders, and
wherein selectively blurring the set of non-shareable elements includes, for each of the set of non-shareable open folders, applying a blurring filter to a screen area occupied by the non-shareable open folder.
15. The computer program product of claim 10 , wherein the method further comprises associating different non-shareable elements with respective levels of blurring, such that different non-shareable elements are blurred to different degrees.
16. The computer program product of claim 10 , wherein the method further comprises providing a UI (user interface) control associated with a non-shareable element, the UI control being operable by a user of the host machine to selectively unblur the associated non-shareable element, wherein the screen content sent to the client machine includes the non-shareable element without blurring.