Displaying a collection of interactive elements that trigger actions directed to an item

Abstract

Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer programs encoded on a computer storage medium, for displaying of collections of interactive elements that trigger actions directed to a particular contact, message, media file, or other item. In one aspect, a method is performed by a system comprising one or more data processing devices and a touchscreen display. The method includes displaying several identifiers, each identifier comprising one or more graphical or textual elements that identify an item, each identifier associated with a respective interactive element, receiving user interaction with a first of the interactive elements that is associated with a first of the identifiers, in response to the user interaction, displaying a collection of action widgets on the touchscreen display, the action widgets comprising iconic graphical indicia that each represent an action triggered by user interaction therewith, the iconic graphical indicia displayed adjacent one another in a strip-shaped area that is wider than it is high, the strip-shaped area being displaced vertically on the touchscreen display from the first identifier so that the first identifier is visible on the touchscreen notwithstanding the display of the collection of action widgets, receiving user interaction with a first of the action widgets that is in the collection displayed on the touchscreen display, and performing the action represented by the first of the action widgets on the item identified by the first identifier.

1 . A method performed by a system comprising one or more data processing devices and a touchscreen display, the method comprising:
 displaying, by the system on the touchscreen display, several identifiers, each identifier comprising one or more graphical or textual elements that identify an item, each identifier associated with a respective interactive element;   receiving, by the system, user interaction with a first of the interactive elements that is associated with a first of the identifiers;   in response to the user interaction, the system displaying a collection of action widgets on the touchscreen display, the action widgets comprising iconic graphical indicia that each represent an action triggered by user interaction therewith, the iconic graphical indicia displayed adjacent one another in a strip-shaped area that is wider than it is high, the strip-shaped area being displaced vertically on the touchscreen display from the first identifier so that the first identifier is visible on the touchscreen notwithstanding the display of the collection of action widgets;   receiving, by the system, user interaction with a first of the action widgets that is in the collection displayed on the touchscreen display; and   performing, by the system, the action represented by the first of the action widgets on the item identified by the first identifier.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein displaying the collection of action widgets on the touchscreen display comprises apparently displacing one or more of identifiers away from the first identifier to accommodate the strip-shaped area between the displaced one or more of identifiers and the first identifier. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein:
 the method further comprises:
 displaying a disambiguation interactive element on the touchscreen display on a side of the strip-shaped area opposite the first identifier, and 
 receiving user interaction with the disambiguation interactive element, the user interaction disambiguating the action represented by the first of the action widgets; and 
   performing the action represented by the first of the action widgets comprises performing the action in accordance with the disambiguation provided by the user interaction with the disambiguation interactive element.   
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein displaying the collection of action widgets comprises displaying a pointed indicium that is directed toward an area in which the first identifier is found. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 4 , wherein:
 a border surrounds the collection of action widgets, the border demarcating the collection of action widgets from other portions of the touchscreen display; and   the pointed indicium extends outwardly from a relatively straighter portion of the border toward the area in which the first identifier is found.   
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein each collection of information is displayed in a strip-shaped area that is wider than it is high. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 6 , wherein each strip-shaped area occupies a majority of the width of the touchscreen display. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 6 , wherein the identifiers are aligned horizontally in the strip-shaped areas. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 receiving, by the system, user interaction dragging across the strip-shaped area; and   in response to the user interaction, the system displaying a second collection of action widgets on the touchscreen display, the second collection of action widgets including at least one action widget that is not found in the action widget collection and excluding at least one action widget that is found in the action widget collection.   
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein:
 the first identifier identifies a first message; and   the action widgets in the collection include:
 a reply widget that, in response to user interaction, triggers a display of a presentation for authoring a reply to the first message; and 
 a repost widget that, in response to user interaction, triggers reposting of the first message to a social network. 
   
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein:
 the first identifier identifies a first contact; and   the action widgets in the collection include:
 a telephone contact widget that, in response to user interaction, triggers a telephone call to the first contact; and 
 a message widget that, in response to user interaction, triggers a display of a presentation for authoring a message addressed to the first contact. 
   
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein:
 the first identifier identifies a first media file; and   the action widgets in the collection include:
 a telephone contact widget that, in response to user interaction, triggers a telephone call to the first contact; and 
 a message widget that, in response to user interaction, triggers a display of a presentation for authoring a message addressed to the first contact. 
   
     
     
         13 . A device comprising a computer storage medium encoded with a computer program, the program comprising instructions that when executed by a system comprising one or more data processing devices and a touchscreen display, cause the one or more data processing devices to perform operations, the operations comprising:
 displaying an interactive element in a presentation on the touchscreen display;   receiving user interaction with the interactive element; and   displaying, in response to the user interaction, a collection of action widgets apparently overlaid on the presentation, the action widgets comprising iconic graphical indicia that each represent an action triggered by user interaction therewith, the iconic graphical indicia displayed adjacent one another in an area that is wider than it is high and that is associated with a visible indicium that indicates to what the action triggered by user interaction with the widgets in the collection are directed, the area being displaced on the touchscreen display from the interactive element so that the interactive element is visible in the presentation notwithstanding the display of the collection of widgets.   
     
     
         14 . The device of  claim 13 , wherein the operations further comprise:
 receiving user interaction with a first of the action widgets that is in the collection displayed on the touchscreen display; and   performing the action represented by the first of the action widgets in accordance with the visible indicium.   
     
     
         15 . The device of  claim 14 , wherein:
 the operations further comprise:
 displaying a disambiguation interactive element on the touchscreen display, and 
 receiving user interaction with the disambiguation interactive element, the user interaction disambiguating the action to be performed with the first of the action widgets; and 
   performing the action represented by the first of the action widgets comprises performing the action in accordance with the disambiguation provided by the user interaction with the disambiguation interactive element.   
     
     
         16 . The device of  claim 14 , wherein:
 the visible indicium indicates that the action triggered by user interaction with the widgets in the collection is directed to a message; and   the action widgets in the collection include:
 a reply widget that, in response to user interaction, triggers a display of a presentation for authoring a reply to the first message; and 
 a repost widget that, in response to user interaction, triggers reposting of the first message to a social network. 
   
     
     
         17 . The device of  claim 14 , wherein the visible indicium indicates that the action triggered by user interaction with the action widgets in the collection is directed to a hyperlink that refers, in a reference, to an electronic document or to a portion of an electronic document. 
     
     
         18 . The device of  claim 17 , wherein the widgets in the collection include:
 an open widget that, in response to user interaction, triggers opening of the referenced electronic document or the referenced portion of the electronic document; and   a share widget that, in response to user interaction, triggers transmission of a message or display of a presentation for authoring a message that includes the reference.   
     
     
         19 . The device of  claim 14 , wherein the area in which the iconic graphical indicia are displayed is demarcated from other portions of the presentation by a border that surrounds the collection of widgets. 
     
     
         20 . The device of  claim 19 , wherein the visible indicium comprises a pointed indicium that extends outwardly from a relatively straighter portion of the border. 
     
     
         21 . The device of  claim 19 , wherein the interactive element is encompassed by the border. 
     
     
         22 . A handheld data processing system comprising:
 a touchscreen display; and   a collection of one or more data processing devices that perform operations in accordance with one or more collections of machine-readable instructions, the operations including instructing the touchscreen display to
 display, in response to user interaction with a first interactive element displayed on the touchscreen display in association with an identifier of a contact, a first collection of action widgets comprising iconic graphical indicia that each represent an action directed to the identified contact, and 
 display, in response to user interaction with a second interactive element displayed on the touchscreen display in association with an identifier of a message, a second collection of action widgets comprising iconic graphical indicia that each represent an action directed to the identified message, 
   wherein the respective of the first and the second interactive elements are visible on the touchscreen display notwithstanding the display of the respective of the first or the second collection of action widgets.   
     
     
         23 . The handheld data processing system of  claim 22 , wherein the operations include instructing the touchscreen display to display, in response to user interaction with a third interactive element displayed on the touchscreen display in association with an identifier of a media file, a third collection of action widgets comprising iconic graphical indicia that each represent an action directed to the identified media file. 
     
     
         24 . The handheld data processing system of  claim 22 , wherein each of the first interactive element and the second interactive element are displayed on the touchscreen display in conjunction with a collection of other interactive elements, each of the other interactive elements associated with an identifier of another contact or another message. 
     
     
         25 . The handheld data processing system of  claim 24 , wherein the identifiers in a presentation are displayed in respective strip-shaped areas that include information characterizing contacts, media files, or messages. 
     
     
         26 . The handheld data processing system of  claim 25 , wherein the identifiers are aligned horizontally in the strip-shaped areas. 
     
     
         27 . The handheld data processing system of  claim 22 , wherein each of the collections of action widgets is associated with a pointed indicium that is directed to indicate the respective contact or message to which the actions are directed. 
     
     
         28 . The handheld data processing system of  claim 27 , wherein the operations including instructing the touchscreen display to display:
 a border surrounding the first and the second action widget collections, the border demarcating the first and the second action widget collections from other portions of the touchscreen display; and   the pointed indicium extending outwardly from a relatively straighter portion of the borders toward the area in which the identifier of the respective contact or message is found.   
     
     
         29 . The handheld data processing system of  claim 22 , wherein the operations including instructing the touchscreen display to display the iconic graphical indicia of the first and the second action widget collections adjacent one another in a strip-shaped area that is wider than it is high, the strip-shaped area being displaced vertically on the touchscreen display from the respective of the first and the second interactive elements. 
     
     
         30 . The handheld data processing system of  claim 29 , wherein the operations further include:
 receiving user interaction dragging across the strip-shaped area that includes the iconic graphical indicia; and   in response to the dragging user interaction, instructing the touchscreen display to display a second collection of action widgets in the strip-shaped area, the second collection of action widgets including at least one action widget that is not found in the first or the second action widget collection and excluding at least one action widget that is found in the first or the second action widget collection.