Glanceable animated notifications on a locked device

Abstract

Providing content and/or functionality through a display of a locked computing device. Configuration data defined by a user or application vendor identifies the content and/or functionality to be made available. Upon receipt of the content, the computing device modifies the received content based on the configuration data and provides the modified content to the user through the display of the locked computing device. The computing device also interacts with the user in accordance with the functionality identified by the configuration data. In some embodiments, notifications about voice mail or electronic mail messages are displayed to the user through a locked touch screen display. Responsive to a finger tap or other user input, additional yet limited information relating to the notifications is displayed.

1 . A system for animating notifications in a display of a locked mobile computing device, said system comprising:
 a memory area for storing one or more notifications received by a mobile computing device while the mobile computing device is locked, each of the notifications having one or more characteristics associated therewith; and   a processor programmed to:
 access a plurality of the notifications stored in the memory area; 
 generate representations of the accessed notifications based at least on the characteristics associated therewith; 
 sort the generated representations based at least on the characteristics associated therewith; 
 present the sorted representations to a user by animating, based at least on the characteristics, the sorted representations across a display of the locked mobile computing device; 
 receive, from the user, input associated with one or more of the presented representations, said input corresponding to an action to perform on said one or more of the presented representation; and 
 perform said corresponding action while the mobile computing device is locked. 
   
   
   
       2 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the mobile computing device comprises at least one accelerometer, and wherein the processor is further programmed to:
 receive, via the accelerometer, data indicating movement of the mobile computing device; and   identify said action based on the received data.   
   
   
       3 . The system of  claim 2 , wherein the received data indicates a flip or shake of the mobile computing device, and wherein the processor is further programmed to re-animate the presented notification based on the flip or shake. 
   
   
       4 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the display comprises a touch-sensitive display, and wherein the processor is programmed to receive the input from the user by detecting said one of the presented notifications being dragged across the display by the user. 
   
   
       5 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the display is touch-sensitive, and wherein the processor is further programmed to:
 receive a gesture via the touch-sensitive display; and   identify said action based on the received gesture.   
   
   
       6 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the notifications relate to one or more of the following: an electronic mail message, a voice mail message, a text message, and a missed telephone call. 
   
   
       7 . The system of  claim 1 , further comprising means for identifying to the user the notifications and one or more of the characteristics while the mobile computing device is locked. 
   
   
       8 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the notifications have detail data associated therewith, and further comprising means for interacting with the user to present the detail data to the user. 
   
   
       9 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the characteristics include one or more of the following: a type, a quantity, a time stamp, and a priority. 
   
   
       10 . A method comprising:
 accessing a plurality of notifications received by a computing device, each of the notifications having one or more characteristics associated therewith, said characteristics including a type associated with the notification;   generating representations of the accessed notifications based at least on the characteristics associated therewith; and   presenting the generated representations to a user by:
 animating, based at least on the characteristics, the generated representations across a display of the computing device; and 
 organizing the generated representations presented on the display by the type associated with each of the generated representations. 
   
   
   
       11 . The method of  claim 10 , further comprising:
 receiving, from the user while the computing device is locked, input associated with one or more of the presented representations, said input corresponding to an action to perform on said one or more of the presented representation; and   performing said corresponding action while the computing device is locked.   
   
   
       12 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein organizing the generated representations comprises organizing the representations into groups sized according to a quantity of the representations associated therewith. 
   
   
       13 . The method of  claim 10 , further comprising:
 receiving from the user a selection of one of the presented notifications while the device is locked; and   unlocking the locked computing device and executing an application program associated with the selected one of the presented notifications.   
   
   
       14 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein receiving the selection from the user comprises detecting said one of the presented notifications being dragged across the display by the user. 
   
   
       15 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein accessing the plurality of notifications comprises accessing the plurality of notifications while the computing device is locked. 
   
   
       16 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein generating the representations comprises generating representations that have physical properties corresponding to the associated characteristics. 
   
   
       17 . One or more computer-readable media having computer-executable components, said components comprising:
 a communication component for receiving a plurality of notifications by a computing device while the computing device is locked, each of the notifications having one or more characteristics associated therewith;   an icon component for generating representations of the notifications received by the communication component based at least on the characteristics associated therewith; and   an animation component for presenting to a user the representations generated by the icon component by:
 animating, based at least on the characteristics, the representations across a display of the locked computing device; and 
 grouping the generated representations presented on the display based at least on the characteristics associated therewith, said grouped representations being sized visually based on a quantity of representations associated therewith; 
   an interface component for receiving, from the user, input associated with one or more of the representations presented by the animation component, said received input corresponding to an action to perform with respect to said one or more of the representation, wherein the computing device performs said corresponding action while the computing device is locked.   
   
   
       18 . The computer-readable media of  claim 17 , wherein the icon component generates the representations by generating representations having physical properties based on the associated characteristics. 
   
   
       19 . The computer-readable media of  claim 18 , wherein the animation component animates the representations based on the physical properties. 
   
   
       20 . The computer-readable media of  claim 17 , wherein the interface component receives the input by receiving a gesture from the user.