Systems and methods for proactively providing recommendations to a user of a computing device

Abstract

The embodiments described herein set forth techniques for identifying when a user activates a search application on his or her mobile computing device, and presenting, prior to receiving an input of search parameters from the user, a prediction of one or more applications that the user may be interested in accessing. According to some embodiments, the search application can be configured to interface with an “application prediction engine” each time the search application is activated and query the application prediction engine for a prediction of one or more applications that the user may be interested in accessing. In turn, the application prediction engine can analyze information associated with the applications installed on the mobile computing device to produce the prediction. Using the prediction, the search application can display the predicted one or more applications within a user interface of the search application for selection by the user.

1 . A method for proactively providing predictions to a user of a computing device, the method comprising, at the computing device:
 detecting a gesture input within a user interface of the computing device;   identifying an application among a plurality of applications that is most-relevant to the user of the computing device, wherein the plurality of applications omits at least one application having a respective representation that is displayed within the user interface of the computing device; and   displaying a respective representation of the application within the user interface of the computing device.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the gesture input indicates an intent by the user for the computing device to display the respective representation of the application. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the respective representation of the application comprises an icon associated with the application. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the user interface comprises a home screen of the computing device. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 receiving, within the user interface, an input associated with the respective representation of the application; and   registering the input as feedback.   
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 5 , wherein the feedback indicates that identifying the application as most-relevant to the user of the computing device was accurate or inaccurate. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein:
 each application of the plurality of applications is associated with a page number of the user interface, and
 the at least one application is associated with a first page of the user interface. 
   
     
     
         8 . A non-transitory computer readable storage medium configured to store instructions that, when executed by a processor included in a computing device, cause the computing device to proactively provide predictions to a user of the computing device, by carrying out steps that include:
 detecting a gesture input within a user interface of the computing device;   identifying an application among a plurality of applications that is most-relevant to the user of the computing device, wherein the plurality of applications omits at least one application having a respective representation that is displayed within the user interface of the computing device; and   displaying a respective representation of the application within the user interface of the computing device.   
     
     
         9 . The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of  claim 8 , wherein the gesture input indicates an intent by the user for the computing device to display the respective representation of the application. 
     
     
         10 . The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of  claim 8 , wherein the respective representation of the application comprises an icon associated with the application. 
     
     
         11 . The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of  claim 8 , wherein the user interface comprises a home screen of the computing device. 
     
     
         12 . The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of  claim 8 , wherein the steps further include:
 receiving, within the user interface, an input associated with the respective representation of the application; and   registering the input as feedback.   
     
     
         13 . The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of  claim 12 , wherein the feedback indicates that identifying the application as most-relevant to the user of the computing device was accurate or inaccurate. 
     
     
         14 . The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of  claim 8 , wherein:
 each application of the plurality of applications is associated with a page number of the user interface, and
 the at least one application is associated with a first page of the user interface. 
   
     
     
         15 . A computing device configured to proactively provide predictions to a user of the computing device, the computing device comprising:
 a processor; and   a memory storing instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the computing device to:
 detect a gesture input within a user interface of the computing device; 
 identify an application among a plurality of applications that is most-relevant to the user of the computing device, wherein the plurality of applications omits at least one application having a respective representation that is displayed within the user interface of the computing device; and 
 display a respective representation of the application within the user interface of the computing device. 
   
     
     
         16 . The computing device of  claim 15 , wherein the gesture input indicates an intent by the user for the computing device to display the respective representation of the application. 
     
     
         17 . The computing device of  claim 15 , wherein the respective representation of the application comprises an icon associated with the application. 
     
     
         18 . The computing device of  claim 15 , wherein the user interface comprises a home screen of the computing device. 
     
     
         19 . The computing device of  claim 15 , wherein the processor further causes the computing device to:
 receive, within the user interface, an input associated with the respective representation of the application; and   register the input as feedback.   
     
     
         20 . The computing device of  claim 19 , wherein the feedback indicates that identifying the application as most-relevant to the user of the computing device was accurate or inaccurate.