Mobile device and method for responding to events of user interface of mobile device

The disclosed are a mobile device and a method for responding to events of a user interface of a mobile device. The method comprises: detecting a first trigger action on the user interface; calculating a coordinate of the position where the first trigger action occurs; according to the coordinate, determining that a response region to which the position belongs is the ith to the nth layer of response region, wherein iϵ[1, n]; judging whether the position belongs to the valid region of the ith layer of response region, and if yes, responding to the first trigger action in the ith layer of response area; otherwise, updating i to i+1, repeating this step until i is equal to n+1. By means of the above-mentioned solution, a mobile device is enabled to accurately respond to an operation of a user on the sector user interface.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a National Phase Application of Application No. PCT/CN2014/076905, filed May 6, 2014, which claims priority to Chinese Patent Application No. 201310182308.8, filed May 16, 2013, the disclosures of which are incorporated by reference in their entireties.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention is related to the technical field of smart terminal, and in particular, to a mobile device, a method for responding to events of a user interface of a mobile device, a computer program and a computer readable medium.

BACKGROUND ART

With the rapid development of the smart terminal technology, various applications provided for a smart terminal are more and more abundant. It follows then that increased number of application icons is necessarily present in user interface (hereafter referred to as UI) of the smart terminal. Taking a smart phone using Android system as an example, this system may provide a user with a number of installed applications. In UI of the system, application icons corresponding to the applications are displayed in a form of page-by-page. When the user is searching for an application icon, he/she has to browse page by page. The operations of this kind of search manner would be complicated and lack of efficiency.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In view of the above problems, the present invention is proposed to provide a mobile device and a corresponding method for responding to events of a user interface of a mobile device, to overcome the above problems or at least partially solve or relieve the above problems.

According to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for responding to events of a user interface of a mobile device, wherein the user interface contains n layers of a response region, wherein the response region is a transparent rectangle, and the n layers of response region overlap at one of their corners or edges, wherein the mth layer of response region is larger than the m−1th layer of response region, mϵ[2, n]; a valid region of the 1st layer of response region is a sector region, and valid regions of the 2nd to the nth layers of response region are annulus sector regions, the method comprises: detecting a first trigger action on the user interface; calculating coordinates of the position where the first trigger action occurs; determining the response region to which the position where the first trigger action occurs belongs is the ith to the nth layers of response region according to the coordinates of the position where the first trigger action occurs, wherein iϵ[1, n]; and judging whether the position where the first trigger action occurs belongs to the valid region of the ith layer of response region, and if yes, responding to the first trigger action in the ith layer of response region; otherwise, updating i to i+1, and repeating this judging step until i being equal to n+1.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a mobile device, a user interface being presented on a screen of the mobile device, the user interface contains n layers of response region, wherein the response region is a transparent rectangle, and the n layers of response region overlap at one of their corners or edges, wherein the mth layer of response region is larger than the m−1th layer of response region, mϵ[2, n]; a valid region of the 1st layer of response region is a sector region, and valid regions of the 2nd to the nth layers of response region are annulus sector regions, the mobile device comprising: a first action detecting device, configured to detect a first trigger action on the user interface; a first calculating device, configured to calculate coordinates of the position where the first trigger action occurs; a first region detecting device, configured to determine the response region to which the position where the first trigger action occurs belongs is the ith to the nth layers of response region according to the coordinates of the position where the first trigger action occurs, wherein iϵ[1, n]; and a first responding device, configured to judge whether the position where the first trigger action occurs belongs to the valid region of the ith layer of response region, and if yes, respond to the first trigger action in the ith layer of response region; otherwise, update i to i+1 and repeat this process until i is equal to n+1.

According to still another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a non-volatile computer readable medium, having instructions stored thereon that, when executed by at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to perform operations for responding to events of a user interface of a mobile device, wherein the user interface contains n layers of response region, the response region is a transparent rectangle, and the n layers of response region overlap at one of their corners or edges, wherein the mth layer of response region is larger than the m-1th layer of response region, mϵ[2, n]; a valid region of the 1st layer of response region is a sector region, and valid regions of the 2nd to the nth layers of response region are annulus sector regions, the operations comprising: detecting a first trigger action on the user interface; calculating coordinates of the position where the first trigger action occurs; determining the response region to which the position where the first trigger action occurs belongs is the ith to the nth layers of response region according to coordinates of the position where the first trigger action occurs, wherein iϵ[1, n]; and judging whether the position where the first trigger action occurs belongs to the valid region of the ith layer of response region, and if yes, responding to the first trigger action in the ith layer of response region; otherwise, updating i to i+1, and repeating this judging step until i being equal to n+1.

Advantages of the present invention are as follows:

The present invention may implement responding to a user's trigger action in an order of priority of various response regions of the sector user interface for responding to an event. After a first trigger action on the user interface is detected, coordinates of the position where the first trigger action occurs may be calculated, and the layer of response region where the first trigger action occurs may be determined on the basis of the coordinates. Since response region is formed into a rectangular shape, and the n layers of response region overlap at one of their corners or edges and increase sequentially, if the position where the first trigger action occurs is in the ith layer of response region, it is necessarily in the i+1th to the nth layers of response region. On the ground of this, the solution of the present invention may first judge whether the position where the first trigger action occurs is in the valid region of the ith layer of response region; if no, it may in turn judge whether the position where the first trigger action occurs is in the valid region of the i+1th layer of response region. That is, the order of the priority of the ith to the nth layers of response regions for responding to the event is from high to low. By the above solution, the mobile device is able to exactly respond to the user's operations on the sector user interface.

The above description is merely an overview of the technical solution of the present invention. In order to more clearly understand the technical solution of the present invention to implement in accordance with the contents of the specification and to make the foregoing and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention more apparent, detailed embodiments of the present invention will be provided below.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

Hereinafter, the present invention will be further described in connection with the drawings and the particular embodiments.

As for the above problems in prior art, the present invention is to provide a mobile device and a method for responding to events of a user interface of a mobile device. This scheme is for detecting a trigger action by a user of a sector user interface pre-displayed on a screen, and making a corresponding event response to the trigger action. As shown inFIG. 5, the sector user interface pre-displayed on the screen may include n layers of response region, wherein the response region is a transparent rectangle, and the n layers of response region overlap at one of their corners or edges with each other, wherein the mth layer of response region is larger than the m−1th layer of response region, mϵ[2, n]; a valid region of the 1st layer of response region is a sector region, and valid regions of the 2nd to the nth layers of response region are annulus sector regions. The above method for responding to events may include steps of: detecting a first trigger action of the user interface; calculating coordinates of the position where the first trigger action occurs; determining the response region to which the position where the first trigger action occurs belongs is the ith to the nth layers of response region, according to the coordinates of the position where the first trigger action occurs, wherein iϵ[1, n]; judging whether the position where the first trigger action occurs belongs to the valid region of the ith layer of response region, and if yes, responding to the first trigger action in the ith layer of response region; otherwise, updating i to i+1, and repeating these steps until i being equal to n+1.

In order to better understand the technical solution provided by the present invention, an implementation method of the sector user interface will be first explained below.

The presentation of the sector user interface may be activated through detecting the trigger action by the user on the mobile device. Herein, the trigger action may include a click or a double-click action on a designated button; or a sliding action from the lower right corner toward the upper left of a screen; or a sliding action from the lower left corner toward the upper right of a screen; or a sliding action from the upper right corner toward the lower left of a screen; or a sliding action from the upper left corner toward the lower right of a screen; or a sliding action from one side toward the opposite side of a screen; or the like. Whereas, the above mentioned trigger actions should not be considered as limiting the scope of the present invention.

FIG. 1is a schematic diagram showing a trigger action on a mobile device by a user of for presenting sector user interface according to one embodiment of the present invention. As shown inFIG. 1, based on the screen provided by the mobile device, the user may activate the user interface by the sliding action from the lower right corner toward the upper left of the screen, and then the user interface will be displayed in the lower right corner of the screen. This method may define a valid range for the sliding action. If a coordinate system is established by taking the lower right corner of the screen as an origin, according to one embodiment of the present invention, the valid range may be defined as an angular range [110°, 210° ]. The angular range may be determined based on a vector related with gesture, and the starting point of the vector is not necessarily positioned at the origin of the coordinate system. To activate the user interface, the vector angle of the sliding action is required to be positioned within the valid range. Also, the particular judgement of the vector angle could be made by a tangent value which is able to indicate angle. For example, the valid range is set to a tangent value range, such as [tg 110°, tg 210° ]. After a sliding action on the mobile device is detected, it may proceed to calculate the tangent value of the vector angle of the sliding action based on the starting point and the ending point coordinates of the sliding action, and to decide whether the tangent value falls in the above tangent value range; if so, the user interface will be activated. According to the present invention, a sliding action from the lower left corner toward the upper right of the screen may be also used to activate the user interface, and then the user interface will be displayed in the lower left corner of the screen. Of course, the present invention may also define a valid range for the sliding action from the lower left corner toward the upper right of the screen.FIG. 1is merely an example of the present invention and should not be considered as a limiting thereof.

In response to the trigger action, n layers of response region may be displayed and non-transparent image may be displayed in the valid region of each layer of response region. Taking the Android system as an example, the basic unit of the user interface (hereinafter referred to as UI) element in the Android system is a view which responds to the trigger action as a whole. The view per se may be formed into a rectangular shape. In order to apply the present invention to the Android system or other similar system, the response region of the present invention may also have a rectangular shape. However, in order to provide a sector user interface for the user, according to the present invention, the response region may be divided into the valid region and the invalid region, wherein the response region is transparent, the valid region displays non-transparent image, and the non-transparent valid regions of various layers of response region are combined into the sector user interface.

Description will be given by taking a user interface having 4 layers of response region as an example, but the present invention is not limited thereto.FIG. 2is a schematic diagram showing a user interface according to one embodiment of the present invention. The user interface as shown inFIG. 2has 4 layers of response region, which have transparent rectangle shapes and overlap at one of their corners or edges with each other. In particular, if the sector user interface is required to be displayed in a corner area corresponding to a certain corner of the screen, the 4 layers of response region, with one of their corners, will overlap at that corner of the screen; if the sector user interface is required to be displayed in a side edge area corresponding to a certain edge of the screen, the of 4 layers of response region, with one of their side edges, will overlap at that edge of the screen. Herein, the mth layer of response region is larger than the m−1th layer of response region, wherein mϵ[2, n]. That is, from the 1stlayer of response region, areas of various layers of response region increase sequentially. Since the response region has the transparent rectangle shape, the response region with the rectangular shape can not be seen inFIG. 2, which means the user is unperceptive to the response region.

At the time of displaying each layer of response region, the valid region of each layer of response region may show the non-transparent image. Since the valid region of each layer of response region shows the non-transparent image, the valid region of each layer of response region could be seen inFIG. 2. As shown inFIG. 2, the valid region20of the 1stlayer of response region is sector region, and the valid region21of the 2ndlayer of response region, the valid region22of the 3rdlayer of response region and the valid region23of the 4thlayer of response region are annulus sector regions. The valid regions of these 4 layers of response regions do not overlap with each other. In order to indicate more apparently a relationship between the valid region and other region (i.e., invalid region) except for the valid region in one layer of response region, description will be given by taking the 2ndlayer of response region inFIG. 2as an example.FIG. 3is a schematic diagram showing the 2ndlayer of response region inFIG. 2. As shown inFIG. 3, the 2ndlayer of response region is a rectangular region30, the valid region32of the 2ndlayer of response region is an annulus sector region, and other region except for the annulus sector region is the invalid region31. Herein, the valid region refers to a region that may respond to the trigger action of the user, and the invalid region refers to a region that may not respond to the trigger action of the user. Only when position of the trigger action is in the valid region32of the 2ndlayer of response region, the 2ndlayer of response region could respond to the trigger action.

Next, display position(s) of one or more user interface elements may be calculated, and the UI element(s) may be presented in the valid region of each layer of response region.FIG. 4is a schematic diagram showing the display of UI elements in the user interface according to one embodiment of the present invention. As shown inFIG. 4, a close UI element for realizing a UI closing function is presented in the valid region of the 1stlayer of response region. When the user clicks the close UI element, the entire UI interface will be closed. A plurality of tag elements are presented in the valid region of the 2ndlayer of response region, which are “recently-opened”, “often-used” and “recently-installed” respectively. The three tag elements correspond to three sub-classes, which are “most-recently-opened”, “most-often-used” and “most-recently-installed” respectively. The “most-recently-opened”, based on statistical data of a desktop, extracts a top 9 (of course, more or less than 9 may be also possible) of applications in a sequence of last use time. The “most-often-used”, based on statistical data of desktop, extracts a top 9 of applications in a sequence of use frequency from high to low. The “most-recently-installed”, based on data provided by a system database (of the mobile device), extracts a top 9 of applications in a sequence of update time.

According to one embodiment of the present invention, a Section class is used to provide an application list corresponding to the tags. The Section class is an abstract class which realizes abstract interface by sub-classes to provide data and accomplish specific service logic. A parent class of the Section class is java.lang.Object, and its sub-class includes RecentlyInstalledSection, MostUsedSection and RecentUsedSection. The structure of the Section class could be seen in the following tables 1.1, 1.2 and 1.3.

TABLE 1.1ConstantTypeNameDescriptionintMAX_COUNTmaximum number of applications for a tag

TABLE 1.3Interfacepublic boolean isEmpty( )Description: whether this tag is a null tag (the number of applications is 0)Parameter: noneReturn value: boolean value, wherein true indicates the number ofapplications corresponding to the tag is equal to 0; and false indicatesthe number of applications corresponding to the tag is not equal to 0public abstract ArrayList<T> loadlcons(Context context)Description: loading application list corresponding to the tag, and theinterface is an abstract interface; specific loading logic is implementedby sub-classes.Parameter: context: Android system variableReturn value: application listpublic abstract String getSectionName( )Description: acquiring a name of the tag and an abstract interface, andreturning, by the sub-class, a specific name, for example,MostUsedSection returns “most-often-used”, RecentUsedSectionreturns “most-recently-opened” and RecentlyInstalledSectionreturns “most-recently-installed”Parameter: noneReturn value: name of the tag

The applications as mentioned in the tables can be specified by an AppInfo interface type. The AppInfo may be provided by a 360 Mobile Phone Desktop, a main method of which includes getTitle( ) and getIcon( ) which mean to get a title and an icon of an application.

As shown in Table 1.3, an interface mainly realized by the sub-classes of the Section class is the abstract interface loadIcons( ) For example, the sub-class providing data of “most-recently-installed” is RecentlyInstalledSection, which realizes the loadIcons( ) interface by: acquiring all the installed applications firstly, and ordering in a sequence according to update time (lastUpdateTime field provided by the system) of the applications, extracting a top 9 (which is merely exemplary and can be varied depending on actual condition) of the ordered applications; if less than 9, extracting all the applications. The sub-class providing data of “most-often-used” is MostUsedSection, which realizes the loadIcons( ) interface by: acquiring all the installed applications, and ordering in a sequence according to use frequency (calledNum field, statistical data of a desktop and added by 1 each time of opening an application), extracting a top 9 of the ordered applications; if less than 9, extracting all the applications. The sub-class providing data of “most-recently-used” is RecentUsedSection, which realizes the loadIcons( ) interface by: acquiring all the installed applications, and ordering in a sequence according to last use time (lastCalledTime field, statistical data of a desktop and updated to a current time each time of opening an application), extracting a top 9 of the ordered applications; if less than 9, extracting all the applications. In the valid regions of the 3rdand the 4thlayers of response region, it may be presented a plurality of application icon elements which are icons of the applications counted by the sub-class corresponding to the current tag element. TakingFIG. 4as an example, in the valid region of the 2ndlayer of response region, the current tag element is “often-used”, such that what represented in the 3rdand the 4thlayers of response region present are icons of the top 9 of applications in a sequence of use frequency from high to low. It should be noted, although in the embodiment there are three tag elements presented in the valid region of the 2ndlayer of response region, it is possible to those of ordinary skills in this art that the number of tag elements could be more or less than three, the detailed description of which will be omitted herein for brevity.

Position(s) of UI element(s) may be calculated by a Positions class. The Positions class is a tool class responsible for calculating positions of all the UI elements and packs some general methods of calculating positions of UI elements. These methods are mathematical calculation methods, and all the interfaces of which are static interfaces. The Positions class has a Parent class java.lang.Object but none of direct or indirect sub-class. The structure of the Positions class could be seen in the following tables 2.1 and 2.2.

TABLE 2.1ConstantTypeNameDescriptionintINNER_ITEMS_CAPmaximum number of UI elements asector can holddoubleRADIANradian of a 90 degree angle

The coordinates calculated by the Position class may take the lower right corner of the screen (the lower left corner, the upper left corner, the upper right corner and a certain point of one side of the screen are also possible) as an origin, and the Position class also provides a transformation of the calculated coordinates and the system coordinates. In particular, according to a preset radius of each layer of response region and a block index value of the valid region of this layer of response region corresponding to the UI element, the position of the UI element presented in this layer of response region can be calculated, wherein the block index value is an index value of one of several blocks into which the valid region of the layer of response region is divided. Taking the 2ndlayer of response region as shown inFIG. 3as an example, the valid region of the 2ndlayer of response region is divided into 3 blocks, wherein the block index value corresponding to “recently-opened” is 1, the block index value corresponding to “often-used” is 2 and the block index value corresponding to “recently-installed” is 3. Taking the calculation of the position of the UI element “often-used” as an example, with reference to the getRadian( ) interface in the table 2.2, first, the angle of the UI element position with respect to origin (such as, the lower right corner of the screen) is acquired firstly according to the block index value “2” of the valid region of the 2ndlayer of response region corresponding to the UI element; then, with reference to the getPosition( ) interface in the table 2.2, x and y coordinates of the UI element position is calculated according to the preset radius and the angle of the 2ndlayer of response region, whereby acquiring an exact position of the UI element. Assuming that the preset radius is r0 and the angle is θ, it can be calculated that x coordinate of the UI element position is r0*cos θ, and y coordinate is r0*sin θ. Herein, the preset radius of the 2ndlayer of response region is a value interposed between r and R. In the same manner, the display positions of all the UI elements can be calculated and the respective UI elements can be presented in respective layers of the sector regions of the sector UI. Since all the interfaces of the Position class are mathematical operations, it can be realized by using any programming languages.

After the UI elements are presented, the user may perform various trigger actions on the sector user interface. The mobile device may respond to the trigger actions correspondingly after detecting the trigger actions. The method for responding to events of the user interface of the mobile device will be explained in detail below by way of specific embodiments. Although the following embodiments are described based on the user interface as shown inFIG. 4, the present invention should not be limited thereto.

FIG. 5is a flow chart schematically showing a method500for responding to events of a user interface of a mobile device according to one embodiment of the present invention. As shown inFIG. 5, the method500starts with step S501, that is, detecting a click action on the user interface (i.e., a first trigger action). Based on the user interface as shown inFIG. 4, the user may click the UI elements presented thereon, and the click action can be detected by the mobile device.

Following step S501, the method500goes to step S502, that is, calculating coordinates of the position upon click. The coordinates of the position upon click refers to coordinates with respect to a coordinate system taking the lower right corner of the screen as an origin. However, after the user triggers a click action, usually, the system may automatically acquire the coordinates of the position upon click with respect to the coordinate system taking the upper left corner of the screen as an origin (i.e., the system coordinate system). Therefore, it is required to transform the coordinates.

Following the step S502, the method500goes to step S503, that is, according to the coordinates of the position upon click, determining that the response region to which the position upon click belongs is the ith to the nth layers of response region. If the position upon click does not belong to the ith to the nth layers of response region, the method will not respond to the click action and go to the end; if the position upon click belongs to the ith to the nth layers of response region, the method500goes to step S504.

In step S504, it may determine whether the position upon click belongs to the valid region of the ith layer of response region, and if yes, go to step S506; otherwise, go to step S505. This step may be performed circularly. Since the basic unit of the UI element in the Android system is called as the view which responds to the trigger action as a whole. However, the view per se is formed into a rectangular shape, which has a portion not overlapping with the sector region. Therefore, it is required to shield this portion from responding to the trigger action and only allow the sector region to respond to the trigger action, so as not to affect responses of other views. TakingFIG. 3as an example, only when the position where the trigger action occurs belongs to the valid region32of the 2ndlayer of response region, it may respond to the trigger action in the 2ndlayer of response region.

FIG. 6is a flow chart schematically showing an implementation method600of step S504inFIG. 5. Optionally, the step S504may include the following steps S601-S604. This method600starts with the step S601, that is, acquiring distance from the coordinates of the position upon click to the origin of the sector user interface. In this application, the origin of the sector user interface is an end point of a corner where the n layers of response region overlap or a central point of one side edge where the n layers of response region overlap. InFIG. 4, the origin of the user interface is the lower left end point of the screen.

Subsequently, according to the distance from the coordinates of the position upon click to the origin of the sector user interface, it may judge whether the position upon click belongs to the valid region of the ith layer of response region.

In particular, following step S601, the method600goes to the step S602, that is, determining whether the distance from the coordinates of the position upon click to the user interface is between an inner arc radius and an outer arc radius of the valid region of the ith layer of response region, and if yes, go to the step S603; otherwise, go to the step S604. As shown inFIG. 3, the valid region of response region may have an inner arc radius r and an outer arc radius R. For the valid region of the 1stlayer of response region, the inner arc radius is 0 and the outer arc radius is the radius of the sector region. For each of the valid regions of the 2ndto the nth layers of response region, the inner arc radius is the inner radius of the annulus sector region, and the outer arc radius is the outer radius of the annulus sector region.

In the step S603, it may determine that the position upon click belongs to the valid region of the ith layer of response region, and the method500goes to step S506.

In the step S604, it may determine the position upon click does not belong to the valid region of the ith layer of response region, and the method500goes to step S505.

In the step S505, it may update i to i+1, and the method500goes to the step S504. That is, if the position upon click does not belong to the valid region of the ith layer of response region, it may in turn judge whether the position upon click belongs to the valid region of the i+1th layer of response region.

In the step S506, it may respond to the click action in the ith layer of the response region. TakingFIG. 4as an example, a close user interface element for realizing a sector user interface closing function is presented in the valid region of the 1stlayer of response region. If it is judged that the position upon click belongs to the valid region of the 1stlayer of response region, this step may particularly include a step of closing the sector user interface.

If it is judged that the position upon click belongs to one of the valid regions of the 2ndto the nth layers of response region, then it is necessary to determine a first block index value in the valid region of this layer of response region corresponding to the position upon click, so as to respond to the click action according to the first block index value. The specific process may include: according to the coordinates of the position upon click, acquiring an angle of the position upon click with respect to the origin of the user interface; and then according to the angle of the position upon click with respect to the origin of the user interface, searching for the first block index value in the valid region of the ith layer of response region corresponding to the click action and responding to the click action according to the first block index value. Herein, the first block index value refers to an index value of one of several blocks into which the valid region of the ith layer of response region is divided. Inside the mobile device system, it may maintain a mapping relation table between the first block index value and an angular range. By determining the angular range to which the angle of the position upon click with respect to the origin of the user interface belongs, the mapping relation table can be searched to obtain the first block index value in the valid region of the ith layer of response region corresponding to the click action. Taking the 2ndlayer of response region inFIG. 4as an example, since there are 3 tag elements in the valid region of this layer of response region, it is necessary to determine the tag element which the user clicked. First, according to the coordinates of the position upon click, it may acquire the angle of the position upon click with respect to the origin of the sector user interface; then judge the preset angular range to which the angle of the position upon click with respect to the origin of the sector user interface belongs. If the angle belongs to a first angular range, for example [90°, 120°), it may determine that the first block index value corresponding to the position upon click is 1 by searching the mapping relation table; if the angle belongs to a second angular range, for example [120°, 150°), it may determine that the first block index value corresponding to the position upon click is 2 by searching the mapping relation table; if the angle belongs to a third angular range, for example [150°, 180°], it may determine that a second block index value corresponding to the position upon click is 3 by searching the mapping relation table; and finally it may respond to the touch click event based on the second block index value.

According to one embodiment of the invention, inFIG. 4, the valid region of the 2ndlayer of response region presents a plurality of tags elements, and the valid regions of the 3rdand the 4thlayer of response region present a plurality of application icon elements respectively. Herein, the application icon element refers to an application icon used to activate an application of the mobile device. If it is judged that the position upon click belongs to the valid region of the 2ndlayer of response region, responding to the click action may further include the following step of:

1). placing all the application icon elements of the tag element corresponding to the above determined first block index value into a next application icon layer. IconLayer is an application icon layer, in charge of generation, caching, event processing and interactive animation of an icon. This method defines two IconLayers, which are next application icon layer (Next_IconLayer) and current application icon layer (Current_IconLayer) respectively. Assuming that the first block index value corresponding to the position upon click is 2, the tag element corresponding to this first block index value would be “often-used”. Based on statistical data of the desktop, the system extracts a top 9 of applications in a sequence of use frequency from high to low. The application icon elements of these 9 applications may be placed into the next application icon layer.
2). removing all the application icon elements in the current application icon layer, and by carrying out rotation and fade-out animation methods, removing the plurality of application icon elements presented in the valid region of each of the 3rdto the nth layers of response region from the screen. The application icon elements in the current application icon layer are those presented in the valid regions of the 3rdand the 4thlayers of response region before the click action occurs, and the application icon elements in the current application icon layer are removed. By carrying out the rotation and fade-out animation methods, the application icon elements in the valid regions of the 3rdand the 4thlayers of response regions are removed from the screen.
3). moving all the application icon elements in the next application icon layer into the current application icon layer, and by carrying out the rotation and fade-in animation methods, presenting the application icon elements in the current application icon layer on the screen.

A switch of tags can be realized by the above steps 1), 2) and 3), and visual effects provided for the user by the above switch would be that: while all the application icons of an original tag rotates out of the screen relative to the centre of the sector, the application icons of a new tag rotates into the screen relative to the centre of the sector, thus realizing a smooth switch of the tags.

Further, in one embodiment of the present invention, the method may also provide a switch of tag indicators while realizing the switch of the tags, which in particularly includes: by carrying out the rotation animation method, moving the tag indicator in the valid region of the 2ndlayer of response region to a position of the tag element corresponding to the first block index value corresponding to the position upon click in the valid region of the 2ndlayer of response region. TakingFIG. 4as an example, assuming that before the click action occurs, the application icon element presented in the valid regions of the 3rdand the 4thlayers of response region is an application corresponding to “recently-installed”, the tag indicator (grey area) should be at “recently-installed”. After the click action occurs, the tag corresponding to the position upon click is “often-used”. At this time, the rotation animation method is carried out to clockwise rotate by 30 degree taking the lower right corner as a centre, and the tag indicator (grey area) in the valid region of the 2ndlayer of response region is moved to “often-used” (seeFIG. 4).

If it is judged that the position upon click belongs to one of the valid regions of the 3rdto the nth layers of response region and it is already determined that the position upon click corresponds to the first block index value in the valid region of this layer of response region, then responding to the click action may in particular include: opening the application corresponding to the application icon element which corresponds to the first block index value. TakingFIG. 4as an example, if it is judged that the position upon click belongs to the valid regions of the 4thlayer of response region and it is already determined that the first block index value corresponding to the position upon click in the valid regions of the 4thlayer of response region is 2 (corresponding to the block of “WeChat” in this embodiment), responding to the click action may in particular include: opening the application of “WeChat”. Thereby, it is possible to realize an opening of the application corresponding to the application icon element in the user interface.

Further, the 3rdto the nth layers of response region in this embodiment may respond to a sliding action (i.e., the second trigger action) other than the click action.FIG. 7is a flow chart schematically showing a method700of responding to a sliding action by the user interface according to one embodiment of the present invention. As shown inFIG. 7, the method700starts with step S701, that is, detecting the sliding action on the user interface.FIG. 8is a schematic diagram showing a sliding action activated by a user in one embodiment of the present invention. As shown inFIG. 8, the user may perform a sliding action in the valid region in any one of the 3rdto the nth layers of response region, and the mobile device may determine the sliding action by acquiring a speed and direction of the sliding action by the user on the screen.

Optionally, following the step S701, the method700goes to step S702, that is, determining whether the slide speed of the sliding action satisfies a requirement that it is higher than a predefined threshold value, if yes, the method700goes to step S703; otherwise, the method700ends. In particular, the mobile device may acquire a horizontal slide speed and/or a vertical slide speed of the sliding action, and if any one of the speeds is higher than the predefined threshold value, then the requirement is considered to be satisfied. By judging the slide speed, misoperation may be prevented accordingly.

Subsequently, the method700goes to the step S703, that is, calculating coordinates of the sliding action occurring position. In particular, the mobile device may acquire start point coordinates and end point coordinates of the sliding action.

Subsequently, the method700proceeds with step S704, that is, according to the coordinates of the sliding action occurring position, determining whether the region of the sliding action occurring position belongs to the valid region of the 3rdto the nth layers of response region. Generally, if it is judged that the start point coordinates and the end point coordinates of the sliding action are both in the valid region of the 3rdto the nth layers of response region, then it may determine that the region of the sliding action occurring position belongs to the valid regions of the 3rdto the nth layers of response regions, and the method700goes to step S705; otherwise, it may determine that the region of the sliding action occurring position does not belong to the valid region of the 3rdto the nth layers of response region, then no response is made to the sliding action, and the method700ends.

In the step S705, according to the slide direction of the sliding action, it may search for the second block index value corresponding to the sliding action in the valid region of the 2ndlayer of response region. Assuming that the slide speed of the sliding action has components of vx and vy in x and y directions respectively, a speed vector can be indicated by (vx, vy). The slide direction of the sliding action can be determined by a quadrant where the speed vector is positioned, and the quadrant where the speed vector is positioned can be determined by plus and minus signs of vx and vy. If the speed vector is in the first quadrant, then the slide direction would be toward the upper right; and if the speed vector is in the third quadrant, then the slide direction would be toward the lower left. The slide direction of the sliding action may be also determined based on a tangent value of the slide speed. The tangent value of the slide speed (i.e., vy/vx) may be used to calculate an angle according to an inverse trigonometric function, and the angle is in turn compared with a preset angle; or the tangent value of a preset angle may be calculated, and the tangent value of the preset angle is compared with the tangent value of the slide speed according to the monotonicity of a tangent function, whereby determining the slide direction. TakingFIG. 4as an example, it is assumed that before the sliding action occurs, the valid regions of the 3rdand the 4thlayers of response region present an application icon element corresponding to “often-used”, that is, the application icon element in the current application icon layer is/are the application icon element(s) corresponding to “often-used”. After the sliding action occurs, if it is determined that the slide direction is toward upper right, that is, the user wants to rotate the application icon element corresponding to “recently-installed” into the screen, then it may be determined that the second block index value corresponding to the slide direction in the valid region of the 2ndlayer of response region is 3 (the block index value of the block where “recently-installed” is positioned); if it is determined that the slide direction is toward lower left, that is, the user wants to rotate the application icon element corresponding to “recently-opened” into the screen, then it may be determined that the second block index value corresponding to the slide direction in the valid region of the 2ndlayer of response region is 1 (the block index value of the block where “recently-opened” is positioned). If before the sliding action occurs, the valid regions of the 3rdand the 4thlayers of response region present an application icon element corresponding to “recently-installed”, and after the sliding action occurs, if it is determined that the slide direction is toward upper right, then it may be determined that the second block index value corresponding to the slide direction in the valid region of the 2ndlayer of response region is 1, that is, it may be activated to rotate the application icon element corresponding to “recently-opened” into the screen. Thereby, a circularly displaying effect would be present. In the same manner, if before the sliding action occurs, the valid regions of the 3rdand the 4thlayers of response region present an application icon element corresponding to “recently-opened”, and after the sliding action occurs, if it is determined that the slide direction is toward lower left, then it may be determined that the second block index value corresponding to the slide direction in the valid region of the 2ndlayer of response region is 3, that is, it may be activated to rotate the application icon element corresponding to “recently-installed” into the screen.

Following the step S705, the method700goes to step S706, that is, placing all the application icon elements of the tag element corresponding to the second block index value into the next application icon layer. According to the scheme as described above, this method defines two IconLayers, which are the next application icon layer (Next_IconLayer) and the current application icon layer (Current_IconLayer) respectively. Assuming that the second block index value corresponding to the slide direction of the sliding action in the valid region of the 2ndlayer of response region is 3, and the tag element according to the second block index value is “recently-installed”, the mobile device may acquire the data provided by database to extract a top 9 of applications in a sequence of update time and place the applications icon elements of these 9 applications into the next application icon layer.

Subsequently, the method700goes to step S707, that is, removing all the application icon elements in the current application icon layer, and by carrying out the rotation and fade-out animation methods, removing the plurality of application icon elements presented in the valid region of each of the 3rdto the nth layers of response region from the screen. The application icon elements in the current application icon layer are those presented in the valid regions of the 3rdand the 4thlayers of response region before the sliding action occurs, and the application icon elements in the current application icon layer are removed. By carrying out the rotation and fade-out animation methods, the application icon elements in the valid regions of the 3rdand the 4thlayers of response region are removed from the screen.

Subsequently, the method700goes to step S708, that is, moving all the application icon elements in the next application icon layer into the current application icon layer, and by carrying out the rotation and fade-in animation methods, presenting the application icon elements in the current application icon layer on the screen.

Through the above steps S701-708, it is possible to realize the response to the sliding action on the sector user interface, and the result of the response is the switch of the tags. The visual effects provided for the user by the above switch would be that, while all the application icons of the original tag rotates out of the screen relative to the centre of the sector, the application icons of the new tag rotates into the screen relative to the centre of the sector, thus realizing a smooth switch of the tags.

Further, the method may also provide a switch of tag indicator while realizing the switch of the tag, which in particularly includes: by carrying out the rotation animation method, moving the tag indicator in the valid region of the 2ndlayer of response region to a position of the tag element corresponding to the above second block index value.

The above described methods may relate to the following function classes:

(1) Popup Class

The Popup class is a root container of the user interface of the present invention, which provides activating and hiding of a rapid opening, and controls distribution of various actions. The Popup class inherits from android.widget.Framelayout, and has no sub-class. The structure of the Popup class could be seen in the following tables 3.1, 3.2 and 3.3.

TABLE 3.1ConstantTypeNameDescriptionIntDEFAULT_SECTION_COUNTdefault number of tags

TABLE 3.3InterfacePublic static Popup pop(Launcher launcher, View root, boolean isLeft)Description: activate the rapid openingParameter:launcher: an instance of a main program object of desktop of the mobiledevice, used to load the resource and data required by the method;root: parent container of the method;isLeft: whether the rapid opening is displayed at the lower left cornerReturn value: an instance of Popup objectPublic void dismiss( )Description: hide the rapid openingParameter: noneReturn value: noneVoid onSectionChanged(int from, int to)Description: a Callback interface when switching the tags, which iscapable of reading the data provided by the Section class anddisplaying icons by the IconSectorParameter: from: a block index of previous tag; to: a block index of nexttagReturn value: noneVoid ChangeSection(boolean up)Description: a Callback interface of a gesture switch tag, the function ofwhich is the same as onSectionChanged(int, int)Parameter: up: whether it is a upward gestureReturn value: noneVoid onActionSectorPopup( )Description: a Callback interface after activating the ActionSector, whichperforms operations of activating the IconSector and loading thecorresponding tag data.Parameter: noneReturn value: noneBoolean onBackPressed( )Description: a processing logic of pressing a backspace button, whichcurrently is to close the rapid openingParameter: noneReturn value: a boolean value, wherein “true” means the event has beenprocessed, and “false” means the event has not been processed yet
(2) ActionSector Class

The ActionSector class is a container of the tags and the function buttons (according to an example of the present invention, a UI closing element) of the user interface of the method. The ActionSector class inherits from android.widget.Framelayout, realizes android.view.animation.Animation.AnimationListener and has no sub-class. The specific structure of ActionSector class could be seen in the following tables 4.1, 4.2 and 4.3.

TABLE 4.1ConstantFloat[ ]TANGENTSpreset tangent value array

TABLE 4.2VariableTypeNameDescriptionViewmInnerValid region of the 1stlayer of responseregionViewmOuterValid region of the 2ndlayer of responseregionViewmCloseUI closing elementViewmSectionIndicatorTag indicatorFloatmTouchXX coordinate of position where a fingercurrently touchingFloatmTouchYY coordinate of position where a fingercurrently touchingIntmCurrentSectionBlock index of current tagIntmNextSectionBlock index of next tagBooleanisShowAtLeftWhether it is displayed at lower left corner

The IconSector class is a container of displaying application icons in this method. The IconSector class inherits from android.widget.FrameLayout and has no sub-class. The specific structure of IconSector class could be seen in the following tables 5.1 and 5.2.

TABLE 5.1VariableTypeNameDescriptionViewmInnerRegion where icons of innerlayer are positionedViewmOuterRegion where icons of outerlayer are positionedIconLayermCurrentLayerContainer of the application iconof current tagIconLayermNextLayerContainer of the application iconof the tag need to switch toBooleanisShowAtLeftWhether it is displayed at lowerleft cornerVelocityTrackermVelocityTrackerVelocity calculating class builtin AndroidIntmMinFlingVelocityVelocity threshold

TABLE 5.2InterfaceVoid popIcons(ArrayList<AppInfo>icons)Description: activate the application icon corresponding to the tag,which is accomplished by calling an interface corresponding to theIconLayerParameter: Icons: list of application icons corresponding to a certain tagReturn value: noneVoid popBackground( )Description: activate a corresponding sector background according to thenumber of icons; for example, in the case that the number of icons is morethan 4, activate a relatively larger sector background, and otherwise,activate a relatively smaller sector backgroundParameter: noneReturn value: noneVoid pull( )Description: retract the application iconParameter: noneReturn value: noneVoid changeSection(int delta)Description: switch the tags, which represents that all the applicationicons of current tag rotate out of the screen and application icons of nexttag rotate into the screenParameter: delta: a difference value between the block index values of twotags, plus and minus signs of which could be used to judge the directionReturn value: nonePublic boolean onTouchEvent(MotionEvent event)Description: interface of Override parent class, which is used to processthe trigger actionParameter: event: information of current trigger time, whereinMotionEvent is a package class for the trigger action by the AndroidsystemReturn value: boolean value, wherein “true” means the event hasbeen processed, and “false” means the event has not beenprocessed and is transferred to next layer to be processed
(4) IconLayer Class

The IconLayer class is a direct container of the application icons, responsible for calculating the position of icon, processing the click action on the icon and performing the animation of the tag switch as a whole. The IconLayer class inherits from android.widget.FrameLayout, implements android.view.View.OnClickListener and android.view.View.OnLongClickListener, and has no sub-class. The specific structure of IconLayer class could be seen in the following tables 6.1 and 6.2.

TABLE 6.1VariableTypeNameDescriptionArrayList<View>mIconsList of application iconsBooleanisShowAtLeftWhether it is displayed at lower leftcorner

The Animations class is a tool class providing various animations required in this method. The Animations class inherits from java.lang.Object, and has no sub-class. The specific structure of Animations class could be seen in the following tables 7.1 and 7.2.

TABLE 7.2InterfaceStatic Animation getSectorPopAnimation(int index, boolean left)Description: acquire the activating animation of a certain layer ofregion, wherein the animation is an animation of zooming in from apointParameter: index: an index of a layer of region; left: whether it isdisplayed at lower left cornerReturn value: Animation objectstatic Animation getSectorPullAnimation(int index, boolean left)Description: acquire the retracting animation of a certain layer ofregion, wherein the animation is an animation of zooming out to apointParameter: index: an index of a layer of region; left: whether it isdisplayed at lower left cornerReturn value: Animation objectStatic Animation getIconPopAnimation(int index, int[ ] from, int[ ] to,boolean instant)Description: acquire the activating animation of a certain applicationicon, wherein the animation is a translating animation from the originto end pointParameter: Index: index of application icon; From: the origin; to:position of the end point calculated by the Positions class; instant:whether it is performed instantaneously; if true, then the duration ofthe animation is 0 (that is, the animation is finished instantaneously);otherwise, the duration of the animation is normal; in the considerationof the performance, when the activating icon do not belong to the currenttag, this parameter is turned to trueReturn value: Animation objectStatic Animation getIconPullAnimation(int index int[ ] from, int[ ] to)Description: acquire the retracting animation of a certain applicationicon, wherein the animation is a translating animation from currentposition to the originParameter: Index: index of the application icon; From: initial point (thatis, where the current icon is positioned); To: end point (that is, theorigin)Return value: Animation objectStatic Animation getSectionIndicatorAnimation(int from, int to, booleaninstant, boolean left)Description: acquire an animation of tag indicator, wherein the animationis a rotary animation from the current tag to a target tag, with theorigin as a centreParameter: From: index of the current tag; To: index of the target tag;Instant: whether it is performed instantaneously; if true, then theduration of the animation is 0; otherwise, the duration of the animationis normal; in the consideration of the performance, in the case ofactivating the rapid opening, this parameter is turned to true, and inother cases (for example, clicking to switch the tag), this parameter isturned to falseReturn value: Animation objectStatic Animation getIconLayerAnimation(int direction, boolean fade,boolean left)Description: acquire an animation of IconLayer, wherein the animationis a rotary animation with the origin as a centre, and while the IconLayercorresponding to the current tag rotates out of the screen, a next tag towhich the IconLayer corresponding rotates into the screenParameter: direction: a difference value between the indices of two tags,plus and minus signs of which could be used to judge an upward rotationor a downward rotation; fade: whether it rotates out of or into the screen;left: whether it is displayed at lower left cornerReturn value: Animation object

In the specific structures of the above-motioned classes, related terms will be explained as follows:

FrameLayout is a component provided by the Android system and is a container class of View, which may be arranged in laminated manner in the sequence of View added thereto, and which may adjust the position of display by setting margin and gravity attributes of LayoutParmas of the View.

android.view.animation.Animation.AnimationListener is an interface provided by Android animation frame and has three abstract methods, namely onAnimationStart, onAnimationRepeat and onAnimationEnd, which may be called back at the time of starting, repeating (if possible) and ending the animation, respectively.

MotionEvent class is a package class of the Android system to a trigger action, wherein several attributes of action (type of action, such as pressing, moving and releasing), x (x coordinate of the trigger action) and y (y coordinate of the trigger action), may be mainly used herein.

android.view.View.OnClickListener is an interface provided by the Android system to process a click action and has only one abstract method, namely onClick, which may be called back at the time of clicking by a finger; android.view.View.OnLongClickListener is an interface provided by the Android system to process a long-press event and has only one abstract method, namely onLongClick, which may be called back at the time of long-pressing the screen.

LayoutParams class is a package class of layout parameters of View provided by the Android system, wherein different containers may provide respective LayoutParams sub-classes, and LayoutParams provided by FrameLayout used in this method mainly uses two attributes, namely margin and gravity, which indicate margin distance and alignment manner (in this method, for example, bottom I left is used for lower left corner, denoting that all the Views are aligned with the lower left corner, and bottom I right is used for lower right corner, denoting that all the Views are aligned with the lower right corner), respectively.

Animation class is a parent class of all the animations in Android animation frame, wherein some of its sub-classes may be used in this method, such as TranslateAnimation, AlphaAnimation, ScaleAnimation and RotateAnimation.

The method for responding to events of the sector user interface, according to the above-discussed embodiments, may implement responding to the user's trigger action in an order of priority of various response regions of the sector user interface for responding to an event. Taking the click action as an example, after a click action on the user interface is detected, coordinates of the position upon click may be calculated and the layer of response region where the click action occurs may be determined on the basis of the coordinates. Since response region is formed into a rectangular shape and the n layers of response region overlap at one of their corners or edges and increase sequentially, if the position upon click is in the ith layer of response region, it is necessarily in the i+1th to the nth layers of response region. On the ground of this, the method may first judge whether the position upon click is in the valid region of the ith layer of response region; if no, it may in turn judge whether the position upon click is in the valid region of the i+1th layer of response region. That is, the order of the priority of the ith to the nth layers of response region for responding to the event is from high to low. With this method, the mobile device is able to exactly respond to the user's operations on the sector user interface.

In this method, the sector user interface may provide the user with a convenient access to opening an application corresponding to the UI element. This access is global, which may solve a problem that it is difficult for the user to search applications when using a smart terminal. Further, the mobile device would not display the sector user interface until the user triggers a sector user interface activating instruction, so as to provide a convenient and flexible activation, without affecting operations of other applications and aesthetics of the entire user interface. The sector user interface may comprise n layers of the sector region, each of which can present one or more UI element so as to provide a number of applications. By judging the response region and gestures, the method may provide for the user a number of gesture operations such as a slide for activating the interface, a touch for clicking, a slide for switching the tags, a click for opening application and the like.

In this method, the 2ndlayer of the sector region of the sector user interface may present a plurality of tag elements, each of which corresponds to the same kind of applications, so as to specifically provide the user with various kinds of applications, satisfy the user's requirement on searching applications, facilitate the search manners and improve the efficiency of search. Main interface of the sector user interface may be displayed at the lower right (lower left) of the screen, such that the user may manipulate the sector user interface using a single thumb, and both of right and left hands could be used. Further, in this method, the sector user interface and UI elements could be displayed in a plurality of animation effects and provide a fluent UI interaction for the user.

FIG. 9is a structural block diagram schematically showing a mobile device according to one embodiment of the present invention. A user interface is presented on a screen of the mobile device and comprises n layers of a response region, wherein the response region is a transparent rectangle, and the n layers of response region overlap at one of their corners or edges, wherein the mth layer of response region is larger than the m−1th layer of response region, mϵ[2, n]; a valid region of the 1st layer of response region is a sector region, and valid regions of the 2nd to the nth layers of response region are annulus sector regions. As shown inFIG. 9, the mobile device may comprise: a first action detecting device910, a first calculating device920, a first region detecting device930and a first responding device940.

The first action detecting device910is configured to detect a first trigger action on the user interface. Taking a click action as an example of the first trigger action (hereinafter, description will be provided by way of taking the click action as an example), based on the user interface as shown inFIG. 4, the user may click on UI elements presented thereon, and the first action detecting device910may detect the click action.

The first calculating device920is configured to calculate coordinates of the position where the first trigger action (click action) occurs. The coordinates of the position upon click refer to coordinates with respect to a coordinate system taking lower right corner of the screen as an origin. However, after the user triggers a click action, usually, the system may automatically acquire the coordinates of the position upon click with respect to the coordinate system taking upper left corner of the screen as an origin (i.e., the system coordinate system). Therefore, it is required for the first calculating device920to transform the coordinates.

The first region detecting device930is configured to, according to the coordinates of the position where the first trigger action occurs, determine the response region to which the position where the first trigger action occurs belongs is the ith to the nth layers of response region, wherein iϵ[1, n]. If the first region detecting device930determines that the position upon click does not belong to the ith to the nth layers of response region, the mobile device may not respond to the click action; if the first region detecting device930determines that the position upon click belongs to the ith to the nth layers of response region, the first responding device940may be activated.

The first responding device940is configured to determine whether the position where the first trigger action occurs belongs to the valid region of the ith layer of response region, and if yes, respond to the first trigger action in the ith layer of response region; otherwise, update i to i+1 and repeat this process until i is equal to n+1. Since the basic unit of the UI element in the Android system is called as the view which responds to the trigger action as a whole. However, the view per se is formed into a rectangular shape, which has a portion not overlapping with the sector region. Therefore, it is required to shield this portion from responding to the trigger action and only allow the sector region to respond to the trigger action, so as not to affect responses of other views. TakingFIG. 3as an example, only when the position where the trigger action occurs belongs to the valid region32of the 2ndlayer of response region, it may respond to the trigger action in the 2ndlayer of response region.

Optionally, the first responding device940may comprise a distance calculator941and a judging device942.

The distance calculator941is configured to acquire distance from the coordinates of the position where the first trigger action occurs to an origin of the user interface.

The judging device942is configured to, according to the distance from the coordinates of the position where the first trigger action occurs to the origin of the user interface, judge whether the position where the first trigger action occurs belongs to the valid region of the ith layer of response region. Optionally, the judging device942is further configured to judge whether the distance from the coordinates of the position where the first trigger action occurs to the origin of the user interface is between an inner arc radius and an outer arc radius of the valid region of the ith layer of response region, if the judgement result is yes, determine that the position where the first trigger action occurs belongs to the valid region of the ith layer of response region. Herein, for the valid region of the 1stlayer of response region, the inner arc radius is 0 and the outer arc radius is the radius of the sector region; for each of the valid regions of the 2ndto the nth layers of response region, the inner arc radius is the inner radius of the annulus sector region, and the outer arc radius is the outer radius of the annulus sector region.

The first responding device940may further comprise: a closing device943, configured to, if it is judged that the position where the first trigger action occurs belongs to the valid region of the 1stlayer of response region, close the user interface. TakingFIG. 4as an example, a close UI element for implementing a sector user interface closing function is presented in the valid region of the 1stlayer of response region; if it is judged that the position upon click belongs to the valid region of the 1stlayer of response region, the closing device943may close the sector user interface.

The first responding device940may further comprise: an angle calculating device944, a first searching device945and a responder946. If it is judged that the position where the first trigger action occurs belongs to one of the valid regions of the 2ndto the nth layers of response region, then the angle calculating device944may be configured to, according to the coordinates of the position where the first trigger action occurs, acquire an angle of the position where the first trigger action occurs with respect to the origin of the user interface. The first searching device945may be configured to, according to the angle of the position where the first trigger action occurs with respect to the origin of the user interface, search for a first block index value in the valid region of the ith layer of response region corresponding to the first trigger action. Herein, the first block index value refers to an index value of one of several blocks into which the valid region of the ith layer of response region is divided. A mapping relation table between the first block index value and an angular range may be maintained inside the mobile device system. By determining the angular range to which the angle of the position upon click with respect to the origin of the user interface belongs, the first searching device945may search the mapping relation table to obtain the first block index value in the valid region of the ith layer of response region corresponding to the click action. The responder946may be configured to respond to the first trigger action according to the first block index value. Taking the 2ndlayer of response region inFIG. 4as an example, since there are 3 tag elements presented in the valid region of this layer of response region, it is necessary to determine the tag element which the user clicked. First, according to the coordinates of the position upon click, the angle calculating device944may acquire the angle of the position upon click with respect to the origin of the sector user interface; then the first searching device945may judge the preset angular range to which the angle of the position upon click with respect to the origin of the sector user interface belongs. If the angle belongs to a first angular range, for example [90°, 120°), it may determine that the first block index value corresponding to the position upon click is 1 by searching the mapping relation table; if the angle belongs to a second angular range, for example [120°, 150°), it may determine that the first block index value corresponding to the position upon click is 2 by searching the mapping relation table; if the angle belongs to a third angular range, for example [150°, 180°], it may determine that a second block index value corresponding to the position upon click is 3 by searching the mapping relation table; and finally the responder946may respond to the touch click event based on the second block index value.

Further, the responder946may comprise: a first container of application icon947, a first placing device948, a first moving-out device949and a first moving-in device950. In particular, inFIG. 4, the valid region of the 2ndlayer of response region presents a plurality of tags elements, and the valid regions of the 3rdand the 4thlayer of response region present a plurality of application icon elements respectively. Herein, the application icon elements refer to application icons used to activate applications of the mobile device. If it is judged that the position upon click belongs to the valid region of the 2ndlayer of response region, the first placing device948may be configured to place all the application icon elements of the tag element corresponding to the first block index value into a next first container of application icon; the first moving-out device949may be configured to remove all the application icon elements in a current first container of application icon, and remove the plurality of application icon elements presented in the valid region of each of the 3rdto the nth layers of response region from the screen; the first moving-in device950may be configured to move all the application icon elements in the next first container of application icon into the current first container of application icon, and present the application icon elements in the current first container of application icon on the screen. A switch of tags can be realized by these functional modules, and visual effects provided for the user by the above switch would be that, while all the application icons of the original tag rotates out of the screen relative to the centre of the sector, the application icons of the new tag rotates into the screen relative to the centre of the sector, realizing a smooth switch of the tags.

Moreover, the mobile device may further comprise: a tag indicator951which is presented in the valid region of the 2ndlayer of response region. The tag indicator951is moved to a position of the tag element corresponding to the first block index value in the valid region of the 2ndlayer of response region corresponding to the position where the first trigger action occurs. TakingFIG. 4as an example, assuming that before the click action occurs, the application icon element presented in the valid regions of the 3rdand the 4thlayers of response region are applications corresponding to “recently-installed”, the tag indicator951(grey area) is desired to be at “recently-installed”. After the click action occurs, the tag corresponding to the position upon click is “often-used”. Meanwhile, the rotation animation method is carried out to clockwise rotate by 30 degree with lower right corner as a centre, and the tag indicator951(grey area) in the valid region of the 2ndlayer of response region is moved to “often-used” (seeFIG. 4).

Further, the responder946may be further configured to, if it is judged that the position where the first trigger action occurs belongs to one of the valid regions of the 3rdto the nth layers of response region, start the application corresponding to the application icon element corresponding to the first block index value. TakingFIG. 4as an example, if it is judged that the position upon click belongs to the valid regions of the 4thlayer of response region, and it is already determined that the first block index value corresponding to the position upon click in the valid regions of the 4thlayer of response region is 2 (corresponding to the block of “WeChat”), the responder946may start the application of “WeChat”. Thereby, it is possible to realize to start the application corresponding to the application icon element in the user interface.

Further, besides the click action, the mobile device provided by this embodiment may also responds to a sliding action (i.e., a second trigger action). As shown inFIG. 9, the mobile device may comprise: a second action detecting device960, a second calculating device970, a second region detecting device980and a second responding device990. Optionally, the mobile may further comprise a judging device961.

The second action detecting device960may be configured to detect a second trigger action on the user interface. As shown inFIG. 8, the user may perform a sliding action in the valid region in any one of the 3rdto the nth layers of response region, and the second action detecting device960may determine the sliding action by acquiring a speed and direction of the slide by the user on the screen.

The judging device961may be configured to judge whether the action speed of the second trigger action satisfies a requirement that it is higher than a predefined threshold value. In particular, the judging device961may acquire a horizontal slide speed and/or a vertical slide speed of the sliding action, and if any one of the speeds is higher than the predefined threshold, then the requirement is satisfied. By judging the slide speed, misoperation may be prevented accordingly. If the result of judging is yes, the judging device961may activate the second calculating device970to calculate the coordinates of the position where the second trigger action occurs.

The second calculating device970may be configured to calculate coordinates of the position where the second trigger action occurs. In particular, the second calculating device970may acquire start point coordinates and end point coordinates of the sliding action.

The second region detecting device980may be configured to, according to the coordinates of the position where the second trigger action occurs, judge whether the region of the position where the second trigger action occurs belongs to the valid region of the 3rdto the nth layers of response region. Generally, if it is judged that the start point coordinates and the end point coordinates of the sliding action are both in the valid region of the 3rdto the nth layers of response region, then the second region detecting device980may determine that the region of the position where the sliding action occurs belongs to the valid regions of the 3rdto the nth layers of response region, and then activate the second responding device990to operate; otherwise, determine that the region of the position where the sliding action occurs is not in the valid region of the 3rdto the nth layers of response region, then the mobile device will not respond to the sliding action.

The second responding device990may be configured to, if the judging result of the second region detecting device980is yes, respond to the second trigger action. Optionally, the second responding device990may comprise: a second searching device991, a second container of application icon992used for buffering the application icon elements, a second placing device993, a second moving-out device994and a second moving-in device995.

The second searching device991may be configured to, according to the action direction of the second trigger action, search for a second block index value in the valid region of the 2ndlayer of response region corresponding to the action direction, wherein the second block index value is an index value of one of several blocks into which the valid region of the 2ndlayer of response region is divided. Assuming that the slide speed of the sliding action has components of vx and vy in x and y directions respectively, a speed vector can be indicated by (vx, vy). The slide direction of the sliding action can be determined by a quadrant where the speed vector is positioned, and the quadrant where the speed vector is positioned can be determined by plus and minus signs of vx and vy. If the speed vector is in the first quadrant, then the slide direction would be toward the upper right; and if the speed vector is in the third quadrant, then the slide direction would be toward the lower left. The slide direction of the sliding action may be also determined based on a tangent value of the slide speed. The tangent value of the slide speed (i.e., vy/vx) may be used to calculate an angle according to an inverse trigonometric function, and the angle is in turn compared with a preset angle; or the tangent value of a preset angle may be calculated, and the tangent value of the preset angle is compared with the tangent value of the slide speed according to the monotonicity of a tangent function, whereby determining the slide direction. TakingFIG. 4as an example, it is assumed that before the sliding action occurs, the valid regions of the 3rdand the 4thlayers of response region present an application icon element corresponding to “often-used”, that is, the application icon element in the current application icon layer is an application icon element corresponding to “often-used”. After the sliding action occurs, if it is determined that the slide direction is toward upper right, that is, the user wants to rotate the application icon element corresponding to “recently-installed” into the screen, then it may be determined that the second block index value corresponding to the slide direction in the valid region of the 2ndlayer of response region is 3 (the block index value of the block where “recently-installed” is positioned); if it is determined that the slide direction is toward lower left, that is, the user wants to rotate the application icon element corresponding to “recently-opened” into the screen, then it may be determined that the second block index value corresponding to the slide direction in the valid region of the 2ndlayer of response region is 1 (the block index value of the block where “recently-opened” is positioned). If before the sliding action occurs, the valid regions of the 3rdand the 4th layers of response region present an application icon element corresponding to “recently-installed”, and after the sliding action occurs, if it is determined that the slide direction is toward upper right, then it may be determined that the second block index value corresponding to the slide direction in the valid region of the 2ndlayer of response region is 1, that is, it may be activated to rotate the application icon element corresponding to “recently-opened” into the screen. Thereby, a circularly displaying effect would be present. In the same manner, if before the sliding action occurs, the valid regions of the 3rdand the 4thlayers of response region present an application icon element corresponding to “recently-opened”, and after the sliding action occurs, if it is determined that the slide direction is toward lower left, then it may be determined that the second block index value corresponding to the slide direction in the valid region of the 2ndlayer of response region is 3, that is, it may be activated to rotate the application icon element corresponding to “recently-installed” into the screen.

The second placing device993may be configured to place all the application icon elements of the tag element corresponding to the second block index value into a next second container of application icon; the second moving-out device994may be configured to remove all the application icon elements in the current second container of application icon, and remove the plurality of application icon elements presented in the valid region of each of the 3rdto the nth layers of response region out of the screen; the second moving-in device995may be configured to move all the application icon elements in the next second container of application icon into the current second container of application icon and present the application icon elements in the current second container of application icon on the screen.

In addition, while the switch of tags is realized by the sliding action, a switch of tag indicator951may be implemented. In particular, the rotation animation method is carried out to move the tag indicator951in the valid region of the 2ndlayer of response region to a position of the tag element corresponding to the second block index value.

A response to the sliding action by the sector user interface can be realized by the above functional modules. The result of the response is the switch of the tags, and visual effects provided for the user by the above switch would be that, while all the application icons of the original tag rotates out of the screen relative to the centre of the sector, the application icons of the new tag rotates into the screen relative to the centre of the sector, thus realizing a smooth switch of tags.

The mobile device provided by this embodiment realizes responding to the user's trigger action in an order of priority of various response regions of the sector user interface for responding to an event. Taking the click action as an example, after a click action on the user interface is detected, coordinates of the position upon click may be calculated and the layer of response region where the click action occurs may be determined on the basis of the coordinates. Since response region is formed into a rectangular shape and the n layers of response region overlap at one of their corners or edges and increase sequentially, if the position upon click is in the ith layer of response region, it is necessarily in the i+1th to the nth layers of response region. On the ground of this, the mobile device may first judge whether the position upon click is in the valid region of the ith layer of response region; if no, it may in turn judge whether the position upon click is in the valid region of the i+1th layer of response region. That is, the order of the priority of the ith to the nth layers of response region for responding to the event is from high to low. With the above functional modules, the mobile device is able to exactly respond to the user's operations on the sector user interface.

In the mobile device, the sector user interface may provide the user with a convenient access to opening an application corresponding to the UI element. This access is global, which may solve a problem that it is difficult for the user to search applications when using a smart terminal. Further, the mobile device would not display the sector user interface until the user triggers a sector user interface activating instruction, so as to provide a convenient and flexible activation, without affecting operations of other applications and aesthetics of the entire user interface. The sector user interface may comprise n layers of the sector region, each of which can present one or more UI element so as to provide a number of applications. By judging the response region and gestures, the mobile device may provide for the user a number of gesture operations such as a slide for activating the interface, a touch for clicking, a slide for switching the tags, a click for opening application and the like.

In the mobile device, the 2ndlayer of the sector region of the sector user interface may present a plurality of tag elements, each of which corresponds to the same kind of applications, so as to specifically provide the user with various kinds of applications, satisfy the user's requirement on searching applications, facilitate the search manners and improve the efficiency of search. Main interface of the sector user interface may be displayed at the lower right (lower left) of the screen, such that the user may manipulate the sector user interface using a single thumb and both of right and left hands could be used. Further, in the mobile device, the sector user interface and UI elements could be displayed in a plurality of animation effects and provide a fluent UI interaction for the user.

Algorithm and display provided herein is not inherently related to a particular computer, virtual system or other equipment. Various universal systems may also be used with the teaching based on the present invention. According to the above description, the required structure for such a system is obvious. In addition, the present invention is not directed to any particular programming languages. It should be understood that a variety of programming languages can be used to implement the disclosed invention as described herein and the above description to the particular programming language is to disclose the implementation mode of the present invention.

Each of components according to the embodiments of the present invention can be implemented by hardware, or implemented by software modules operating on one or more processors, or implemented by the combination thereof. A person skilled in the art should understand that, in practice, a microprocessor or a digital signal processor (DSP) may be used to realize some or all of the functions of some or all of the members of terminal devices according to the embodiments of the present invention. The present invention may further be implemented as equipments or device programs (for example, computer programs and computer program products) for executing some or all of the methods as described herein. The programs for implementing the present invention may be stored in the computer readable medium, or have a form of one or more signal. Such a signal may be downloaded from the internet websites, or be provided in carrier, or be provided in other manners.

For example,FIG. 10is a block diagram schematically showing a mobile device which is used to execute the method for responding to events of a user interface of a mobile device according to the present invention. Traditionally, the mobile device comprises a processor1010and a computer program product or a computer readable medium in form of a memory1020. The memory1020may be electronic memories such as flash memory, EEPROM (Electrically Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory), EPROM, hard disk or ROM. The memory1020has a memory space1030for executing program codes1031of any steps of the above methods. For example, the memory space1030for program codes may comprise respective program codes1031for implementing the various steps in the above mentioned methods. These program codes may be read from or be written into one or more computer program products. These computer program products comprise program code carriers such as hard disk, compact disk (CD), memory card or floppy disk. These computer program products are usually the portable or stable memory cells as shown in referenceFIG. 11. The memory cells may be provided with memory sections, memory spaces, etc., similar to the memory1020of the server as shown inFIG. 10. The program codes may be compressed in an appropriate form. Usually, the memory cell includes computer readable codes1131′ which can be read by processors such as1010. When these codes are operated on the mobile device, the mobile device may execute each step as described in the above methods.

The terms “one embodiment”, “an embodiment” or “one or more embodiment” used herein means that, the particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiments may be included in at least one embodiment of the present invention. In addition, it should be noticed that, for example, the wording “in one embodiment” used herein is not necessarily always referring to the same embodiment.

A number of specific details have been described in the specification provided herein. However, it should be understood that the embodiments of the present invention may be practiced without these specific details. In some examples, in order not to confuse the understanding of the specification, the known methods, structures and techniques are not shown in detail.

It should be noticed that the above-described embodiments are intended to illustrate but not to limit the present invention, and alternative embodiments can be devised by the person skilled in the art without departing from the scope of claims as appended. In the claims, any reference symbols between brackets should not form a limit of the claims. The wording “comprising/comprise” does not exclude the presence of elements or steps not listed in a claim. The wording “a” or “an” in front of element does not exclude the presence of a plurality of such elements. The present invention may be achieved by means of hardware comprising a number of different components and by means of a suitably programmed computer. In the unit claim listing a plurality of devices, some of these devices may be embodied in the same hardware. The wordings “first”, “second”, and “third”, etc. do not denote any order. These wordings can be interpreted as a name.

It should also be noticed that the language used in the present specification is chosen for the purpose of readability and teaching, rather than selected in order to explain or define the subject matter of the present invention. Therefore, it is obvious for an ordinary skilled person in the art that modifications and variations could be made without departing from the scope and spirit of the claims as appended. For the scope of the present invention, the disclosure of the present invention is illustrative but not restrictive, and the scope of the present invention is defined by the appended claims.