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EP-4735984-A1 - DYNAMICALLY CONFIGURED QUICK ACTIONS IN A SIDEBAR

EP4735984A1EP 4735984 A1EP4735984 A1EP 4735984A1EP-4735984-A1

Abstract

Systems and methods for generating dynamic quick actions for an application in a web browser. The dynamic quick actions correspond to various functions of an application accessible via a web browser sidebar interface. When a hover event is detected in association with an icon of the application, a quick-actions card is generated that includes quick actions of the application from which the user can select. For instance, a selection of a quick action triggers the web browser to execute an action that causes the application function to be performed. Thus, application functions are able to be surfaced and controlled via a single input device selection (e.g., a mouse click).

Inventors

  • GUERRA, TAYLOR ALEXIS
  • JOHANSEN, Lia
  • MILLER, Kyle Matthew
  • Yan, Jiajun
  • HE, YU
  • HUANGFU, Yang

Assignees

  • Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLC

Dates

Publication Date
20260506
Application Date
20240612

Claims (15)

  1. 1. A computing system for generating dynamic quick actions for an application, the computing system comprising: at least one processor (502); and memory (504) storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the computing system to: display an icon (206) for an application (232) in a sidebar (210) of a web browser (202); detect a hover event in association with the icon; bind an executable action (1 10) to a user interface element (108) based on configuration information received in a quick-actions manifest (102) for the application; display the user interface element representative of a quick action (116) in a quickactions card (111) near the icon; receive a selection of the user interface element; and execute the executable action bound to the selected user interface element for performing a function of the application corresponding to the represented quick action.
  2. 2. The system of claim 1, wherein the executable action is a uniform resource locator (URL) action including executable code for navigating to a specified URL of a webpage.
  3. 3. The system of claim 1, wherein the executable action is an event action including executable code for instructing the application to perform operations that cause the function to be performed.
  4. 4. The system of claim 3, wherein the executable action is an event action, and the instructions cause the system to make an application programming interface (API) call to an API of the application.
  5. 5. The system of claim 3, wherein the instructions cause the system to open and serve a user interface of the application in a sidebar pane of the web browser.
  6. 6. The system of claim 1, wherein the instructions further cause the system to: retrieve information from the application; and perform at least one of: present the retrieved information in the quick-actions card; or use the retrieved information to determine display properties of the user interface element representative of the quick action.
  7. 7. The system of claim 1, wherein the instructions further cause the system to receive the quick-actions manifest, where the quick-actions manifest defines a plurality of quick actions corresponding to a plurality of functions of the application.
  8. 8. A computer-implemented method (400) for generating dynamic quick actions for an application, comprising: receiving a quick-actions manifest defining a quick action corresponding to a function of an application, where the application is represented by an icon in a sidebar of a web browser; (406) detecting a hover event in association with the icon; (410) binding an executable action defined in the quick-actions manifest to a user interface element representative of the quick action in a quick-actions card; (416) causing a display of the quick-actions card and the user interface element; (418) receiving a selection of the user interface element: (424) and executing the executable action bound to the selected user interface element and causing the function of the application. (426)
  9. 9. The method of claim 8, wherein prior to binding the executing action to the user interface element comprises loading a custom view of the quick-actions card, where the custom view is specified in the quick-actions manifest.
  10. 10. The method of claim 8, wherein binding the executable action defined in the quick-actions manifest to the user interface element comprises binding a uniform resource locator (URL) action to the user interface element, wherein the URL action includes a URL of a webpage.
  11. 11. The method of claim 8. wherein binding the executable action defined in the quick-actions manifest to the user interface element comprises binding an event action to the user interface element, wherein the event action includes executable code for performing the function of the application.
  12. 12. The method of claim 8, wherein causing the display of the quick-actions card and the user interface elements comprises: retrieving information from the application; and presenting the retrieved information in the quick-actions card; or using the retrieved information to determine display properties of the quick action.
  13. 13. The method of claim 8, wherein: the quick-actions manifest defines a plurality of quick actions corresponding to a plurality of functions of the application; and causing the display of the quick-actions card and the user interface element comprises: retrieving information from the application; and using the retrieved information to determine one or more of the plurality of quick actions to include in the quick-actions card.
  14. 14. A computer-implemented method (400) for generating dynamic quick actions for an application, comprising: displaying a sidebar within a web browser; (404) displaying, in the sidebar, an icon for an application; (404) receiving a quick-actions manifest for the application including configuration information for a quick action associated with a function of the application; (406) detecting a hover event in association with the icon; (410) applying the configuration information for the quick action to a custom view of a quickactions card; (41 ) binding an executable action included in the configuration information to a user interface element in the custom view; (416) displaying the quick-actions card including the user interface element near the icon; (418) receiving a selection of the user interface element; (424) and executing the executable action for performing the function of the application. (426)
  15. 15. The method of claim 14, wherein the executable action is an event action including executable code for instructing the application to perform operations that cause the application to open and serve a user interface of the application in a sidebar pane of the web browser.

Description

DYNAMICALLY CONFIGURED QUICK ACTIONS IN A SIDEBAR CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS [0001] This application claims the benefit of Chinese Application No. 202310799526.X filed on June 30, 2023, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. To the extent appropriate a claim of priority is made. BACKGROUND [0002] Applications are designed to help users perform various tasks and present user interfaces with which an application user interacts. Access to functions that such applications can perform may be difficult to identify or locate. For instance, access to functions of an application may be located within a menu or other hierarchical structure that oftentimes requires multiple user interactions (e.g., mouse clicks, touch gestures, voice commands) to access. Requiring multiple user interactions to access an application function can increase the time to complete a task and can further hinder discoverability of the application function, which can limit utilization of the function and operability of the application. [0003] It is with respect to these and other considerations that examples have been made. In addition, although relatively specific problems have been discussed, it should be understood that the examples should not be limited to solving the specific problems identified in the background. SUMMARY [0004] This summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts in a simplified form that are further described below in the Detailed Description section. This summary' is not intended to identify’ key features or essential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended as an aid in determining the scope of the claimed subject matter. [0005] The present technology relates to systems and methods that dynamically generate quick actions for an application that operate as shortcuts to actions performed in the application from a web browser interface. In some examples, the quick actions correspond to common application functions, such as creating a new document, controlling a media player, etc. In further examples, the quick actions are dynamic and may change depending on specific application data (e.g., live data) or other conditions. For instance, a quick action may correspond to a last-accessed document, a recently received communication, a calendar invitation, status of play of a media item, etc. The quick actions are presented in a quick-actions card that is displayed in response to a hover event of an icon of the application. In an example implementation, the icon is included in a sidebar displayed on a side of the web browser interface. [0006] The quick-actions card may be dynamically generated and surfaced based on moving and pausing a cursor on the application icon. For instance, a “click"’ selection via an input device is not required to trigger a display of the quick-actions card. Thus, users are provided the ability to select a desired quick action via a single “click” selection to invoke a desired application action. The quick actions provide efficient accessibility to particular application functions through a sidebar interface while limiting potential occluding effects that would otherwise hinder interaction with the web browser. [0007] The details of one or more aspects are set forth in the accompanying drawings and description below. Other features and advantages will be apparent from a reading of the following detailed description and a review of the associated drawings. It is to be understood that the following detailed description is explanatory only and is not restrictive of the invention as claimed. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS [0008] The present disclosure is illustrated by way of example by the accompanying figures, in which like references indicate similar elements. Elements in the figures are illustrated for simplicity and clarity and have not necessarily been drawn to scale. [0009] FIGURE 1 is a diagram of example components used to dynamically generate quick actions for an application for display in a quick-actions card in accordance with examples of the present disclosure; [0010] FIGURE 2A is an illustration of a first example quick-actions card including quick actions for an application in accordance with examples of the present disclosure; [0011] FIGURE 2B is an illustration depicting a selection of a first quick action from the first example quick-actions card of FIGURE 2A in accordance with examples of the present disclosure; [0012] FIGURE 2C is an illustration depicting an example action performed in response to the selection of the first quick action in FIGURE 2B in accordance with examples of the present disclosure; [0013] FIGURE 2D is an illustration depicting a selection of a second quick action from a second example quick-actions card in accordance with examples of the present disclosure; [0014] FIGURE 2E is an illustration depicting another action performed in response to the selection of the second quick action in FIGURE 2D in acc