IP Library Granted Patent US 10,999,229
Granted Patent B2
US 10,999,229 · App. 16/518,906 · Granted May 4, 2021

Providing message status notifications during electronic messaging

Inventor: Benjamin S Langholz (San Francisco, CA)
Assignee: FACEBOOK, INC.
H04L51/16G06F3/04817
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 10,999,229
App. No.
16/518,906
Granted
May 4, 2021
Kind
B2
Abstract

One or more embodiments described herein include methods and systems of providing message status notifications. The status notifications can comprise one or more of sent, delivered, or accessed/read notifications. In one or more embodiments a status notification is persistently displayed in a thread for each participant in a conversation. Each time the participant accesses a new message, the system can move the status notification adjacent to the new message.

Claims (34)

1. A method comprising:

providing, for display by a user computing device, a listing of communication thread summaries for a plurality of communication threads between a user of the user computing device and one or more co-users, each communication thread summary comprising a message excerpt from a most recent message from a corresponding communication thread;

causing the user computing device to display, within the listing of communication thread summaries, one or more read status notifications for one or more communication threads;

monitoring interactions with a communication thread from the plurality of communication threads by each communication thread participant to determine that each communication thread participant has accessed a most recent message of the communication thread; and

in response to determining that each communication thread participant has accessed a most recent message of the communication thread, causing the user computing device to update a read status notification in the communication thread summary for the communication thread to indicate that each participant of the communication thread has accessed the most recent message of the communication thread.

2. The method as recited in claim 1 , wherein each communication thread summary further comprises one or more participant indicators, and a communication thread title.

3. The method as recited in claim 2 , further comprising, in response to determining that each communication thread participant has accessed the most recent message of the communication thread, causing the user computing device to update the message excerpt of the communication thread summary associated with the communication thread to indicate one or more portions of the most recent message of the communication thread.

4. The method as recited in claim 1 , wherein causing the user computing device to display one or more read status notifications comprises, for each of the one or more communication threads, providing a read status notification as part of the corresponding communication thread summary that notifies the user of a latest message accessed in the communication thread by any communication thread participant.

5. The method as recited in claim 1 , wherein each of the one or more read status notifications comprises at least one of an icon, one or more words, one or more participant indicators, or a date associated with a most recent access by any participant of the corresponding communication thread.

6. The method as recited in claim 1 , wherein monitoring interactions with the communication thread from the plurality of communication threads by each communication thread participant to determine that each communication thread participant has accessed the most recent message of the communication thread comprises receiving a date and time from at least one user computing device associated with each participant of the communication thread associated with accessing the most recent message of the communication thread.

7. The method as recited in claim 1 , wherein causing the user computing device to update the read status notification for the communication thread to indicate that each participant of the communication thread has accessed the most recent message of the communication thread comprises updating the read status notification to a check-mark icon.

8. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions thereon that, when executed by at least one processor, cause a computer system to:

provide, for display by a user computing device, a listing of communication thread summaries for a plurality of communication threads between a user of the user computing device and one or more co-users, each communication thread summary comprising a message excerpt from a most recent message from a corresponding communication thread;

cause the user computing device to display, within the listing of communication thread summaries, one or more read status notifications for one or more communication threads;

monitor interactions with a communication thread from the plurality of communication threads by each communication thread participant to determine that each communication thread participant has accessed a most recent message of the communication thread; and

in response to determining that each communication thread participant has accessed a most recent message of the communication thread, cause the user computing device to update a read status notification in the communication thread summary for the communication thread to indicate that each participant of the communication thread has accessed the most recent message of the communication thread.

9. The non-transitory computer-readable medium as recited in claim 8 , wherein each communication thread summary further comprises one or more participant indicators and a communication thread title.

10. The non-transitory computer-readable medium as recited in claim 9 , further storing instructions thereon that, when executed by at least one processor, cause a computer system to, in response to determining that each communication thread participant has accessed the most recent message of the communication thread, cause the user computing device to update the message excerpt of the communication thread summary associated with the communication thread to indicate one or more portions of the most recent message of the communication thread.

11. The non-transitory computer-readable medium as recited in claim 8 , wherein causing the user computing device to display one or more read status notifications comprises, for each of the one or more communication threads, providing a read status notification as part of the corresponding communication thread summary that notifies the user of a latest message accessed in the communication thread by any communication thread participant.

12. The non-transitory computer-readable medium as recited in claim 8 , wherein each of the one or more read status notifications comprises at least one of an icon, one or more words, one or more participant indicators, or a date associated with a most recent access by any participant of the corresponding communication thread.

13. The non-transitory computer-readable medium as recited in claim 8 , further storing instructions thereon that, when executed by at least one processor, cause a computer system to monitor interactions with the communication thread from the plurality of communication threads by each communication thread participant to determine that each communication thread participant has accessed the most recent message of the communication thread by receiving a date and time from at least one user computing device associated with each participant of the communication thread associated with accessing the most recent message of the communication thread.

14. The non-transitory computer-readable medium as recited in claim 8 , wherein causing the user computing device to update the read status notification for the communication thread to indicate that each participant of the communication thread has accessed the most recent message of the communication thread comprises updating the read status notification to a check-mark icon.

15. A system comprising:

at least one processor; and

at least one non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing instructions thereon that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the system to:

provide, for display by a user computing device, a listing of communication thread summaries for a plurality of communication threads between a user of the user computing device and one or more co-users, each communication thread summary comprising a message excerpt from a most recent message from a corresponding communication thread;

cause the user computing device to display, within the listing of communication thread summaries, one or more read status notifications for one or more communication threads;

monitor interactions with of a communication thread from the plurality of communication threads by each communication thread participant to determine that each communication thread participant has accessed a most recent message of the communication thread; and

in response to determining that each communication thread participant has accessed a most recent message of the communication thread, cause the user computing device to update a read status notification in the communication thread summary for the communication thread to indicate that each participant of the communication thread has accessed the most recent message of the communication thread.

16. The system as recited in claim 15 , wherein each communication thread summary further comprises one or more participant indicators, and a communication thread title.

17. The system as recited in claim 16 , wherein causing the user computing device to display one or more read status notifications comprises, for each of the one or more communication threads, providing a read status notification as part of the corresponding communication thread summary that notifies the user of a latest message accessed in the communication thread by any communication thread participant.

18. The system as recited in claim 17 , wherein each of the one or more status notifications comprises at least one of an icon, one or more words, one or more participant indicators, or a date associated with a most recent access by any participant of the corresponding communication thread.

19. The system as recited in claim 18 , storing instructions thereon that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the system to monitor interactions with the communication thread from the plurality of communication threads by each communication thread participant to determine that each communication thread participant has accessed the most recent message of the communication thread by receiving a date and time from at least one user computing device associated with each participant of the communication thread associated with accessing the most recent message of the communication thread.

20. The system as recited in claim 19 , wherein causing the user computing device to update the read status notification for the communication thread to indicate that each participant of the communication thread has accessed the most recent message of the communication thread comprises updating the read status notification to a check-mark icon.

Assignments (2)
CHANGE OF NAME Recorded Dec 20, 2021
From: FACEBOOK, INC.
To: META PLATFORMS, INC.
Reel/Frame 058961/0436 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Jul 22, 2019
From: LANGHOLZ, BENJAMIN S
To: FACEBOOK, INC.
Reel/Frame 049824/0982 →
Continuity (3)
Continuation 15665328 · Jul 31, 2017
Continuation 14222422 · Mar 21, 2014
Related Publication 20190342247A1 · Nov 7, 2019
Cited By (1)
US 12,206,640