Notifying a user of events in a computing device

Abstract

A user of a mobile computing device may provide a first user preference for a first type of event and a second user preference for a second type of event, and the mobile computing device may detect an event comprising reception of the first type of event or the second type of event. The mobile computing device may present, along an edge of a touch-sensitive display of the mobile computing device, a banner alert in response to detecting the first type of event, and may present, on the touch-sensitive display, a pop-up notification in response to detecting the second type of event. The mobile device may dismiss the banner alert based on a user swiping the banner alert off the touch-sensitive display.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method performed by one or more processors of a mobile computing device, comprising:
 presenting, along a first edge of a touch-sensitive display screen of the mobile computing device, a status bar indicating at least one of a time, a remaining battery strength, and a signal strength;   detecting an incoming phone call by the mobile computing device;   presenting a banner alert, along an edge of the touch-sensitive display screen and separate from the status bar, indicating the incoming phone call;   in response to a user tapping on the banner alert rather than swiping the banner alert off the touch-sensitive display screen, invoking a telephone application on the mobile computing device; and   in response to the user swiping the banner alert off the touch-sensitive display screen rather than tapping on the banner alert, dismissing the banner alert from the touch-sensitive display screen without answering the incoming phone call.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 relegating the banner alert to an event summary after not answering the incoming phone call.   
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the event summary is presented on the touch-sensitive display screen separately from the status bar. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the banner alert is relegated to the event summary based at least in part on an absence of user interaction with the banner alert. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the event summary is presented along a second edge of the touch-sensitive display screen opposite the first edge along which the status bar is presented. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the event summary includes at least a first icon indicating a number of missed phone calls. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 6 , wherein the event summary further includes one or more of a second icon indicating a number of missed emails or a third icon indicating a number of missed text messages. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 6 , further comprising:
 incrementing the first icon presented in the event summary after dismissing the banner alert from the touch-sensitive display screen without answering the incoming phone call.   
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 8 , further comprising:
 refraining from incrementing the first icon presented in the event summary in response to invoking the telephone application.   
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 presenting, on an auxiliary display screen associated with the mobile computing device, a banner alert indicating the incoming call.   
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the banner alert displays one or more of a phone number or a name. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the invoked telephone application is displayed over a larger portion of the touch-sensitive display screen than the banner alert. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 answering the incoming phone call using the invoked telephone application.   
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 13 , further comprising:
 after answering the incoming phone call, in response to a user input, reducing a size of the telephone application presented on the touch-sensitive display screen.   
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 displaying the telephone application over an entirety of the touch-sensitive display screen in response to invoking the telephone application.   
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 automatically dismissing the banner alert from the touch-sensitive display screen after a period of time.   
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein dismissing the banner alert from the touch-sensitive display screen ends the incoming phone call. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the banner alert is presented over a user interface of a running application displayed on the touch-sensitive display screen. 
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the banner alert is presented on the touch-sensitive display screen without interrupting a task that is being performed and displayed on the touch-sensitive display screen when the banner alert is presented. 
     
     
         20 . A mobile computing device, comprising:
 a touch-sensitive display;   one or more processors; and   a memory storing instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the mobile computing device to:
 present, along a first edge of a touch-sensitive display of the mobile computing device, a status bar indicating at least one of a time, a remaining battery strength, and a signal strength; 
 detect an incoming phone call by the mobile computing device; 
 present a banner alert, along an edge of the touch-sensitive display and separate from the status bar, indicating the incoming phone call; 
 in response to a user tapping on the banner alert rather than swiping the banner alert off the touch-sensitive display, invoke a telephone application on the mobile computing device; and 
 in response to the user swiping the banner alert off the touch-sensitive display rather than tapping on the banner alert, dismiss the banner alert from the touch-sensitive display without answering the incoming phone call. 
   
     
     
         21 . The mobile computing device of  claim 20 , wherein execution of the instructions causes the mobile computing device to further:
 relegate the banner alert to an event summary after not answering the incoming phone call.   
     
     
         22 . The mobile computing device of  claim 21 , wherein the event summary is presented on the touch-sensitive display separately from the status bar. 
     
     
         23 . The mobile computing device of  claim 21 , wherein the banner alert is relegated to the event summary based at least in part on an absence of user interaction with the banner alert. 
     
     
         24 . The mobile computing device of  claim 21 , wherein the event summary is presented along a second edge of the touch-sensitive display opposite the first edge along which the status bar is presented. 
     
     
         25 . The mobile computing device of  claim 21 , wherein the event summary includes at least a first icon indicating a number of missed phone calls. 
     
     
         26 . The mobile computing device of  claim 25 , wherein the event summary further includes one or more of a second icon indicating a number of missed emails or a third icon indicating a number of missed text messages. 
     
     
         27 . The mobile computing device of  claim 25 , wherein execution of the instructions causes the mobile computing device to further:
 increment the first icon presented in the event summary after dismissing the banner alert from the touch-sensitive display without answering the incoming phone call.   
     
     
         28 . The mobile computing device of  claim 27 , wherein execution of the instructions causes the mobile computing device to further:
 refrain from incrementing the first icon presented in the event summary in response to invoking the telephone application.   
     
     
         29 . The mobile computing device of  claim 20 , wherein execution of the instructions causes the mobile computing device to further:
 present, on an auxiliary display screen associated with the mobile computing device, a banner alert indicating the incoming call.   
     
     
         30 . The mobile computing device of  claim 20 , wherein the banner alert displays one or more of a phone number or a name. 
     
     
         31 . The mobile computing device of  claim 20 , wherein the invoked telephone application is displayed over a larger portion of the touch-sensitive display than the banner alert. 
     
     
         32 . The mobile computing device of  claim 20 , wherein execution of the instructions causes the mobile computing device to further:
 answer the incoming phone call using the invoked telephone application.   
     
     
         33 . The mobile computing device of  claim 32 , wherein execution of the instructions causes the mobile computing device to further:
 after answering the incoming phone call, in response to a user input, reduce a size of the telephone application presented on the touch-sensitive display.   
     
     
         34 . The mobile computing device of  claim 20 , wherein execution of the instructions causes the mobile computing device to further:
 display the telephone application over an entirety of the touch-sensitive display in response to invoking the telephone application.   
     
     
         35 . The mobile computing device of  claim 20 , wherein execution of the instructions causes the mobile computing device to further:
 automatically dismiss the banner alert from the touch-sensitive display after a period of time.   
     
     
         36 . The mobile computing device of  claim 20 , wherein dismissing the banner alert from the touch-sensitive display ends the incoming phone call. 
     
     
         37 . The mobile computing device of  claim 20 , wherein the banner alert is presented over a user interface of a running application displayed on the touch-sensitive display. 
     
     
         38 . The mobile computing device of  claim 20 , wherein the banner alert is presented on the touch-sensitive display without interrupting a task that is being performed and displayed on the touch-sensitive display when the banner alert is presented.