Visual indication for facilitating scrolling

Abstract

A method and device for enhancing scrolling operations in a display of a device is disclosed. The method includes detecting a scrolling operation on a list of objects in a linear direction. During the scrolling operation, it is determined whether the list of objects is reaching an end and at least one object at the end of the list of objects is extended in the linear direction in response to reaching the end of the list of objects. Further, the method includes determining that the object(s) is reaching a peak length of extension in the linear direction and retracting the object(s) in a reverse linear direction in response to reaching the peak length or in response to detecting that the scrolling operation is terminated.

1 - 20 . (canceled) 
     
     
         21 . A method comprising:
 detecting a scrolling operation on a list of objects in a linear direction;   in response to determining that the list of objects has reached an end during the scrolling operation, extending at least one object at the end of the list of objects in the linear direction by modifying a dimension of the at least one object; and   in response to determining that the at least one object has been extended to a maximum length, retracting the at least one object in a reverse linear direction by again modifying the dimension of the at least one object.   
     
     
         22 . The method of  claim 21 , wherein the at least one object comprises text and extending the at least one object at the end of the list of objects in the linear direction by modifying the dimension of the at least one object further comprises:
 stretching the text of the at least one object.   
     
     
         23 . The method of  claim 21 , wherein determining that the list of objects is reaching the end comprises at least one of determining that the at least one object at the end of the list of objects will be displayed during the scrolling operation, or determining that the at least one object at the end of the list of objects has been displayed during the scrolling operation. 
     
     
         24 . The method of  claim 21 , wherein extending the at least one object at the end of the list of objects in the linear direction comprises extending at least one of a length of objects at the end of the list of objects, or a number of objects at the end of the list of objects, in the linear direction. 
     
     
         25 . The method of  claim 21 , wherein extending the at least one object at the end of the list of objects in the linear direction by modifying the dimension of the at least one object comprises extending the dimension of the at least one object while maintaining another dimension of the at least one object. 
     
     
         26 . The method of  claim 21 , further comprising:
 measuring an intensity of the scrolling operation; and   determining the maximum length in the linear direction based at least on the intensity of the scrolling operation.   
     
     
         27 . The method of  claim 26 , wherein measuring the intensity of the scrolling operation comprises measuring at least one of a velocity or an acceleration of the scrolling operation. 
     
     
         28 . The method of  claim 26 , wherein determining the maximum length in the linear direction based at least on the intensity of the scrolling operation comprises determining the maximum length in the linear direction proportional to the intensity of the scrolling operation. 
     
     
         29 . The method of  claim 21 , wherein extending the at least object at the end of the list of objects in the linear direction comprises increasing the maximum length of each object of the at least one object with each subsequent object. 
     
     
         30 . The method of  claim 21 , further comprising:
 determining that the scrolling operation has terminated; and   retracting the at least one object in the reverse linear direction in response to determining that the scrolling operation has terminated.   
     
     
         31 . The method of  claim 21 , wherein:
 the at least one object had an original length before extending the at least one object in the linear direction; and   retracting the at least one object in the reverse linear direction comprises at least one of:
 retracting the at least one object back to the original length, or 
 retracting the at least one object to a reduced length less than the original length of the at least one object and, eventually, returning to the original length of the at least one object. 
   
     
     
         32 . A non-transitory machine readable medium embodying instructions that, when executed by a machine, cause the machine to perform a method comprising:
 determining that a list of objects being scrolled is reaching an end of the list, wherein an object at the end of the list comprises content; and   causing the content of the object at the end of the list of objects to stretch when the end of the list of objects is reached while being scrolled.   
     
     
         33 . The non-transitory machine readable medium of  claim 32 , wherein the content comprises text and causing the content of the object at the end of the list to stretch further comprises:
 causing a first dimension of the text to increase while a second dimension of the text is maintained.   
     
     
         34 . The non-transitory machine readable medium of  claim 32 , wherein the method further comprises:
 causing the content of the object to return to an original size once the content has been stretched a maximum amount, wherein the content has the original size prior to being stretched.   
     
     
         35 . The non-transitory machine readable medium of  claim 34 , wherein the method further comprises:
 determining an intensity at which the list of objects is being scrolled; and   determining the maximum amount based at least on the intensity at which the list of objects is being scrolled.   
     
     
         36 . The non-transitory machine readable medium of  claim 35 , wherein determining the intensity at which the list of objects is being scrolled comprises determining at least one of a velocity or an acceleration at which the list of objects is being scrolled. 
     
     
         37 . The non-transitory machine readable medium of  claim 32 , wherein the method further comprises:
 determining that the list of objects is no longer being scrolled; and   causing the content of the object to return to an original size, wherein the content has the original size prior to being stretched.   
     
     
         38 . A device comprising:
 an output device configured to display a list of objects, wherein an object at an end of the list of objects comprises content;   an input interface configured to receive input for performing a scroll operation on the list of objects; and   at least one processor circuit configured to:
 determine that the end of the list objects is being reached during the scroll operation; and 
 cause the content of the object at the end of the list of objects to stretch when the end of the list of objects is reached during the scroll operation. 
   
     
     
         39 . The device of  claim 38 , wherein the content comprises text and the at least one processor circuit is configured to:
 cause a first dimension of the text to increase while a second dimension of the text is maintained when the end of the list of objects is reached during the scroll operation.   
     
     
         40 . The device of  claim 38 , wherein the at least one processor circuit is configured to:
 cause the content of the object to return to an original size once the content has been stretched a maximum amount, wherein the content comprises the original size prior to being stretched.