Method and system for cross-platform application cloning

Abstract

A user of electronic devices is provided with a method for providing a compatible version of an application to an electronic device. According to an embodiment, a compatible version of an application in a source electronic device can be installed by a target electronic device. When an application is selected, the source device collects cloning data associated with the selected application. Once the cloning data is collected, the source device transmits the cloning data, at least a portion of which is received by the target electronic device. The target electronic device then utilizes the portion of the cloning data to install a compatible version of the application onto the target electronic device.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method for providing an application to an electronic device, the method comprising:
 receiving, at a cloning agent in a source electronic device hosting a plurality of applications, a selection of at least one application;   collecting, from the source electronic device, cloning data associated with the at least one application; and   transmitting, by the cloning agent, the cloning data, at least a portion of the cloning data being received by a target electronic device configured to utilize the received cloning data to install a compatible version of the at least one application onto the target electronic device.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the cloning data includes state information, and at least one of configuration information and application data, and wherein the state information, configuration information, and application data are associated with the at least one application, and wherein the state information defines operating parameters of the at least one application. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1  further including: determining that a version of the at least one application that is compatible with the target device is unavailable; identifying at least one substitute application similar to the at least one application; and providing information identifying the substitute application to the target device with the at least a portion of the cloning data. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 3  further comprising providing at least one selection rule, and wherein identifying the at least one substitute application includes applying the at least one selection rule. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein transmitting the cloning data includes sending at least a portion of the cloning data from the source electronic device to the target electronic device via at least one of a cloud-based application provisioning service or an application store service. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1  further comprising transmitting, by the cloning agent in the source electronic device, the cloning data to a cloud-based application provisioning service configured to provide the portion of the cloning data to the target electronic device. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1  further comprising transmitting, by the cloning agent in the source electronic device, the cloning data to an application store service configured to provide at least a portion of the cloning data to an electronic device in response to receiving a request from the electronic device to download the cloning data. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the cloning agent is an application hosted by the source device. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1  further comprising:
 receiving, at a syncing agent in the source electronic device, a selection of an application of the plurality of applications to be synchronized with a corresponding application hosted by the target electronic device; 
 collecting syncing data associated with the application, wherein the syncing data includes at least one of the configuration information, the state information, execution history information, and the application data associated with the application; and 
 transmitting, by the syncing agent, the syncing data to the target electronic device, wherein the target electronic device is configured to receive and utilize at least a portion of the syncing data to update at least one of the configuration information, the state information, execution history information, and the application data associated with the corresponding application. 
 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the at least one application is an application set associated with at least one of a device type, a device platform type, or a utility function type. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the source electronic device and the target electronic device use different platforms, the at least one application is configured to run on the platform of the source device, and being configured to run on the platform of the source device the at least one application is not compatible with the target electronic device. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein the different platforms include iOS and Android. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein the target electronic device is configured to utilize the received cloning data to request the compatible version of the at least one application from at least one of a cloud based application provisioning service or an application store service. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein compatibility specifications for the at least one application are available from the application store service or from a publisher of the at least one application. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 14 , wherein information based on the compatibility specifications for the at least one application is included with the at least a portion of the cloning data being received by the target electronic device. 
     
     
         16 . A method for providing an application to an electronic device, the method comprising:
 receiving, by a cloning agent in a target electronic device, cloning data associated with at least one application selected at a source electronic device hosting the at least one application, the selection indicating that the at least one application is to be installed on the target electronic device; and   installing, by the cloning agent, a compatible version of the at least one application, or a substitute for the at least one application, on the target electronic device.   
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 16 , wherein the cloning data includes state information, and at least one of configuration information and application data, and wherein the state information, configuration information, and application data are associated with the at least one application, and wherein the state information defines operating parameters of the at least one application. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 16  further including: determining, by at least one of a cloud based application provisioning service or an application store service, that a version of the at least one application is compatible with the target electronic device. 
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 16 , wherein the cloning data is received from the source electronic device via at least one of a cloud based application provisioning service or an application store service. 
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 16  further comprising installing and configuring the compatible version of the at least one application using at least one of the state information, the configuration information, or the application data associated with the at least one application. 
     
     
         21 . The method of  claim 16 , wherein the cloning agent is an application hosted by the target electronic device. 
     
     
         22 . The method of  claim 16 , wherein the at least one application is an application set associated with at least one of a device type, a device platform type, and a utility function type. 
     
     
         23 . The method of  claim 16  further comprising:
 receiving, by a syncing agent in the target electronic device, syncing data associated with an application hosted by the target electronic device, wherein the syncing data includes at least one of the configuration information, the state information, execution history information, and the application data associated with the application; and 
 updating at least one of the configuration information, the state information, execution history information, and the application data associated with the application with the syncing data. 
 
     
     
         24 . The method of  claim 16 , further including determining that the at least one application is incompatible with the target electronic device. 
     
     
         25 . The method of  claim 24  further including:
 transmitting, by the cloning agent, a request for the compatible version of the at least one application to an application store service; and 
 downloading the compatible version of the at least one application. 
 
     
     
         26 . The method of  claim 24  further including:
 determining, by the cloning agent, that a compatible version of the at least one application is unavailable; 
 identifying at least one substitute application similar to the at least one application; and 
 downloading the substitute application. 
 
     
     
         27 . The method of  claim 26  further comprising providing at least one selection rule, and wherein identifying the at least one substitute application includes applying the at least one selection rule. 
     
     
         28 . The method of  claim 16 , wherein the source electronic device and the target electronic device use different platforms, the at least one application is configured to run on the platform of the source device, and being configured to run on the platform of the source device the at least one application is not compatible with the target electronic device. 
     
     
         29 . The method of  claim 28 , wherein the different platforms include iOS and Android. 
     
     
         30 . The method of  claim 28 , wherein the target electronic device is configured to utilize the received cloning data to request the compatible version of the at least one application from at least one of a cloud based application provisioning service or an application store service. 
     
     
         31 . The method of  claim 28 , wherein compatibility specifications for the at least one application are available from the application store service or from a publisher of the at least one application. 
     
     
         32 . The method of  claim 31 , wherein information based on the compatibility specifications for the at least one application is included with the cloning data being received by the target electronic device. 
     
     
         33 . A method for providing an application to an electronic device, the method comprising:
 receiving, by a cloning agent in an application store service that provides a plurality of applications, a request to clone at least one application from a source electronic device to a target electronic device, wherein the request is received based on a selection of at least one application at a source electronic device hosting the at least one application;   receiving, by the cloning agent, cloning data associated with the at least one application; and   transmitting, by the cloning agent, at least a portion of the cloning data to the target electronic device, wherein the target electronic device is configured to receive the at least a portion of the cloning data and to utilize the at least a portion of the cloning data to install a compatible version of the at least one application, or a substitute for the at least one application, on the target electronic device.   
     
     
         34 . The method of  claim 33  further comprising:
 determining, by the cloning agent, that the application store service provides a compatible version of the at least one application compatible with the target electronic device; and 
 before transmitting at least a portion of the cloning data to the target electronic device, updating the cloning data based on the compatible version of the at least one application. 
 
     
     
         35 . The method of  claim 33 , wherein the cloning data includes state information, and at least one of configuration information and application data, and wherein the state information, configuration information, and application data are associated with the at least one application, and wherein the state information defines operating parameters of the at least one application. 
     
     
         36 . The method of  claim 33  further comprising:
 determining, by the cloning agent, that a compatible version of the at least one application compatible with the target electronic device is available but not provided by the application store service; 
 identifying, by the cloning agent, another application store service that provides the compatible version of the at least one application; and 
 transmitting a request to the other application store service to retrieve the compatible version of the at least one application to the target electronic device. 
 
     
     
         37 . The method of  claim 33  further comprising:
 determining, by the cloning agent, that a compatible version of the at least one application is unavailable; 
 identifying at least one substitute application similar to the at least one application; and 
 updating, by the cloning agent, the cloning data based on the at least one substitute application. 
 
     
     
         38 . The method of  claim 37  further comprising applying at least one selection rule to identify the at least one substitute application. 
     
     
         39 . The method of  claim 33 , wherein the at least one application is an application set associated with at least one of a device type and a utility function type. 
     
     
         40 . The method of  claim 33 , wherein the source electronic device and the target electronic device use different platforms, the at least one application is configured to run on the platform of the source device, and being configured to run on the platform of the source device the at least one application is not compatible with the target electronic device. 
     
     
         41 . The method of  claim 40 , wherein the different platforms include iOS and Android. 
     
     
         42 . The method of  claim 40 , wherein the target electronic device is configured to utilize the received at least a portion of the cloning data to request the compatible version of the at least one application from at least one of a cloud based application provisioning service or an application store service. 
     
     
         43 . The method of  claim 40 , wherein compatibility specifications for the at least one application are available from the application store service or from a publisher of the at least one application. 
     
     
         44 . The method of  claim 43 , wherein information based on the compatibility specifications for the at least one application is included with the at least a portion of the cloning data being received by the target electronic device.