Electronic device and screen control method thereof

Abstract

An electronic device and method are disclosed herein. The electronic device includes: a display having a display area that is variable, at least one processor operably connected to the display. The processor implements the method, including: controlling the display to display a plurality of elements on the display, receiving a user input requesting resizing of the display area, in response to the user input, identifying a core element among the displayed plurality of elements, resizing the display area based on the received user input and the identified core element, wherein a first window in which the core element is displayed is resized in proportion to resizing of the display area.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . An electronic device, comprising:
 a display being capable of enlarging or reducing a screen area which is exposed substantially through a foreside of the electronic device;   at least one processor; and   a memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the electronic device to:   display, in the screen area of the display, a plurality of first graphic elements related to a first application in a first window and a plurality of second graphic elements related to a second application in a second window,   detect reducing of a size of the screen area from a first size to a second size, and   based on detecting that the size of the screen area is reduced to the second size, identify a preset element to be kept displaying in the second-sized screen area of the display among the plurality of first graphic elements,   wherein the first window including the preset element is gradually reduced in a size in accordance with the size of the reduced screen area.   
     
     
         2 . The electronic device of  claim 1 , wherein the reduced first window including the preset element is displayed as a floating window in the second-sized screen area. 
     
     
         3 . The electronic device of  claim 1 , wherein a size of the second window is the second size. 
     
     
         4 . The electronic device of  claim 1 , wherein the second window excludes the first window in the screen area. 
     
     
         5 . The electronic device of  claim 1 , wherein a size of the second window is maintained irrespective of the reduction of the size of the screen area. 
     
     
         6 . The electronic device of  claim 1 , wherein elements adjacent to the identified preset element being displayed in the first window are gradually reduced and/or removed according to priority information stored in the memory while the size of the screen area is reduced. 
     
     
         7 . The electronic device of  claim 6 , wherein the priority information including priorities associated with the plurality of first graphic elements displayed in the screen area. 
     
     
         8 . The electronic device of  claim 6 , wherein a priority of the identified preset element is a first priority. 
     
     
         9 . The electronic device of  claim 1 , wherein the memory stores information associated with a specific element for each screen area size. 
     
     
         10 . The electronic device of  claim 9 , wherein the preset element is identified based on the information associated with the specific element for each screen area size stored in the memory. 
     
     
         11 . The electronic device of  claim 1 , wherein the instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, further cause the electronic device to:
 keep displaying the identified preset element in the second-sized screen area of the display.   
     
     
         12 . The electronic device of  claim 11 , wherein the keeping of displaying the identified preset element includes a change of a shape of the identified preset element. 
     
     
         13 . The electronic device of  claim 6 , wherein the identified preset element is a media replay button UI. 
     
     
         14 . A method of an electronic device including a display that is capable of enlarging or reducing a screen area, the method comprising:
 displaying, in the screen area of the display, a plurality of first graphic elements related to a first application in a first window and a plurality of second graphic elements related to a second application in a second window,   detecting a reduction of a size of the screen area from a first size to a second size, and   based on detecting that the size of the screen area is reduced to the second size, identifying a preset element to be kept displaying in the second-sized screen area of the display among the plurality of first graphic elements,   wherein the first window including the preset element is gradually reduced in a size in accordance with the size of the reduced screen area.   
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 14 , wherein the reduced first window including the preset element is displayed as a floating window in the second-sized screen area. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 14 , wherein elements adjacent to the identified preset element being displayed in the first window are gradually reduced and/or removed according to priority information stored in the memory while the size of the screen area is reduced. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 16 , wherein the priority information including priorities associated with the plurality of first graphic elements displayed in the screen area. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 16 , wherein a priority of the identified preset element is a first priority. 
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 14 , further comprising:
 keep displaying the identified preset element in the second-sized screen area of the display.   
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 14 , wherein the keeping of displaying the identified preset element includes a change of a shape of the identified preset element.