Patent ID: 9720576
Date: 2017-08-01
CPC Classifications: G06F,H04N

Claim:
1. A control device including a processor, the control device configured to: provide a user interface for multiple zones of a media playback system comprising multiple playback devices, wherein each zone of the multiple zones consists of one or more a respective playback devices of the multiple playback devices, and wherein the multiple playback devices are controllable from one or more control devices that are separate and distinct from the multiple playback devices, the one or more control devices comprising the control device; detect, via the user interface for the multiple zones, an input to display a list of zones; identify respective states associated with each zone of the multiple zones, wherein identifying the respective states comprises: in response to detecting the input to display the list of zones, sending, to one or more particular playback devices of the multiple playback devices, one or more requests for respective states of the multiple zones, wherein state information indicating current states of the multiple zones is maintained in data storage on the one or more particular playback devices; and receiving, from at least one of the one or more particular playback devices, one or more messages representing state information for the multiple zones, the state information indicating current states of the multiple zones; in response to identifying respective states associated with each zone of the multiple zones, determine an order of the multiple zones within the list of zones, wherein determining the order of the multiple zones within the list of zones comprises: ordering, within the list of zones, one or more first zones of the multiple zones before one or more second zones of the multiple zones based on the state information in the one or more received messages indicating that the one or more first zones are currently playing back media and that the one or more second zones are not currently playing back media, wherein the one or more first zones are streaming media from one or more audio sources that are separate and distinct from the control device; and ordering, within the list of zones, one or more third zones of the multiple zones before one or more fourth zones of the multiple zones based on the state information in the one or more received messages indicating that the one or more third zones have at least one media item queued for playback in respective playback queues associated with each third zone and that the one or more fourth zones do not have at least one media item queued for playback in respective playback queues associated with each fourth zone, the one or more third zones including the one or more first zones and a subset of the one or more second zones; after detecting the input to display the list of zones, display, via the user interface, the list of zones, wherein the list of zones identifies each zone of the multiple zones in the determined order; and display, in association with the one or more first zones within the list of zones, respective graphical elements indicating that each of the one or more first zones of the multiple zones are currently playing back media.