Patent Publication Number: US-10331313-B2

Title: Method and apparatus for text selection

Description:
The present application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 13/459,761, filed Apr. 30, 2012, the contents of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. 
    
    
     FIELD OF THE TECHNOLOGY 
     The present disclosure relates to electronic devices, including but not limited to, portable electronic devices having touch-sensitive displays and their control. 
     BACKGROUND 
     Electronic devices, including portable electronic devices, have gained widespread use and may provide a variety of functions including, for example, telephonic, electronic messaging and other personal information manager (PIM) application functions. Portable electronic devices include, for example, several types of mobile stations such as simple cellular telephones (feature phones), smart phones, wireless personal digital assistants (PDAs), tablet computers, and laptop computers with wireless 802.11 or Bluetooth® capabilities. 
     Portable electronic devices such as PDAs or smart telephones are generally intended for handheld use and ease of portability. Smaller devices are generally desirable for portability. A touch-sensitive display, also known as a touchscreen display, is particularly useful on handheld devices, which are small and have limited space for user input and output. The information displayed on the touch-sensitive displays, such as text, may be modified based on the functions and operations being performed. 
     Improvements in devices with touch-sensitive displays, including the selection of content on those devices, are desirable. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS 
       Examples of the present proposed approach will now be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: 
         FIG. 1  is a block diagram of a portable electronic device in accordance with the disclosure; 
         FIG. 2  is a front view of a smartphone in accordance with example embodiments of the present disclosure; 
         FIG. 3  is a front view of a tablet computer is accordance with example embodiments of the present disclosure; 
         FIGS. 4A to 4C  illustrate an electronic device in accordance with an embodiment showing the initiation of a paragraph selection mode; 
         FIGS. 5A and 5B  illustrate an electronic device in accordance with an embodiment showing example touch inputs; 
         FIGS. 6A to 6C  illustrate a method of switching between row and letter selection in accordance with the disclosure; 
         FIGS. 7A to 7C  illustrate an electronic device in accordance with an embodiment showing the movement of content in response to a touch input; 
         FIGS. 8A to 8C  show a selection handle in accordance with the disclosure; 
         FIGS. 9A and 9B  illustrate an electronic device in accordance with an embodiment showing the extension of a selection handle in response to user input; 
         FIG. 10  is a flowchart illustrating a method of modifying a selection icon in accordance with the disclosure; 
         FIG. 11  is a flowchart illustrating a method of row-by-row selection in accordance with the disclosure; and, 
         FIG. 12  is a flowchart illustrating a method of paragraph selection in accordance with the disclosure. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     The following describes an apparatus for and method of determining a selection of a selection option based on received user input. 
     For simplicity and clarity of illustration, reference numerals may be repeated among the figures to indicate corresponding or analogous elements. Numerous details are set forth to provide an understanding of the examples described herein. The examples may be practiced without these details. In other instances, well-known methods, procedures, and components are not described in detail to avoid obscuring the examples described. The description is not to be considered as limited to the scope of the examples described herein. 
     The disclosure generally relates to an electronic device, such as a portable electronic device or non-portable electronic device. Examples of portable electronic devices include mobile, or handheld, wireless communication devices such as pagers, feature phones, cellular smart-phones, wireless organizers, personal digital assistants, wirelessly enabled notebook computers, tablet computers, mobile internet devices, electronic navigation devices, and so forth. The portable electronic device may be a portable electronic device without wireless communication capabilities, such as handheld electronic games, digital photograph albums, digital cameras, media players, e-book readers, and so forth. Examples of non portable electronic devices include desktop computers, electronic white boards, smart boards utilized for collaboration, built-in monitors or displays in furniture or appliances, and so forth. 
     Example Electronic Device 
     A block diagram of an example of an electronic device  100  is shown in  FIG. 1 . The electronic device  100  includes multiple components, such as a processor  102  that controls the overall operation of the electronic device  100 . Communication functions, including data and voice communications, are performed through a communication subsystem  104 . Data received by the electronic device  100  is decompressed and decrypted by a decoder  106 . The communication subsystem  104  receives messages from and sends messages to a wireless network  150 . The wireless network  150  may be any type of wireless network, including, but not limited to, data wireless networks, voice wireless networks, and networks that support both voice and data communications. A power source  142 , such as one or more rechargeable batteries or a port to an external power supply, powers the electronic device  100 . 
     The processor  102  interacts with other components, such as a Random Access Memory (RAM)  108 , memory  110 , a touch-sensitive display  118 , one or more actuators  120 , one or more force sensors  122 , an auxiliary input/output (I/O) subsystem  124 , a data port  126 , a speaker  128 , a microphone  130 , short-range communications  132  and other device subsystems  134 . The touch-sensitive display  118  includes a display  112  and touch sensors  114  that are coupled to at least one controller  116  that is utilized to interact with the processor  102 . Input via a graphical user interface is provided via the touch-sensitive display  118 . Information, such as text, characters, symbols, images, icons, and other items that may be displayed or rendered on a electronic device, is displayed on the touch-sensitive display  118  via the processor  102 . The processor  102  may also interact with an accelerometer  136  that may be utilized to detect direction of gravitational forces or gravity-induced reaction forces. 
     To identify a subscriber for network access, the electronic device  100  may utilize a Subscriber Identity Module or a Removable User Identity Module (SIM/RUIM) card  138  for communication with a network, such as the wireless network  150 . Alternatively, user identification information may be programmed into memory  110 . 
     The electronic device  100  includes an operating system  146  and software programs, applications, or components  148  that are executed by the processor  102  and are typically stored in a persistent, updatable store such as the memory  110 . Additional applications or programs may be loaded onto the electronic device  100  through the wireless network  150 , the auxiliary I/O subsystem  124 , the data port  126 , the short-range communications subsystem  132 , or any other suitable subsystem  134 . 
     A received signal such as a text message, an e-mail message, or web page download is processed by the communication subsystem  104  and input to the processor  102 . The processor  102  processes the received signal for output to the display  112  and/or to the auxiliary I/O subsystem  124 . A subscriber may generate data items, for example e-mail messages, which may be transmitted over the wireless network  150  through the communication subsystem  104 . For voice communications, the overall operation of the electronic device  100  is similar. The speaker  128  outputs audible information converted from electrical signals, and the microphone  130  converts audible information into electrical signals for processing. 
     The touch-sensitive display  118  may be any suitable touch-sensitive display, such as a capacitive, resistive, infrared, surface acoustic wave (SAW) touch-sensitive display, strain gauge, optical imaging, dispersive signal technology, acoustic pulse recognition, and so forth. A capacitive touch-sensitive display includes one or more capacitive touch sensors  114 . The capacitive touch sensors may comprise any suitable material, such as indium tin oxide (ITO). 
     One or more touches, also known as touch contacts or touch events, may be detected by the touch-sensitive display  118 . The processor  102  may determine attributes of the touch, including a location of the touch. Touch location data may include data for an area of contact or data for a single point of contact, such as a point at or near a center of the area of contact. The location of a detected touch may include x and y components, e.g., horizontal and vertical components, respectively, with respect to one&#39;s view of the touch-sensitive display  118 . For example, the x location component may be determined by a signal generated from one touch sensor, and the y location component may be determined by a signal generated from another touch sensor. A touch may be detected from any suitable input member, such as a finger, thumb, appendage, or other objects, for example, a stylus (active or passive), pen, or other pointer, based on the nature of the touch-sensitive display  118 . Multiple simultaneous touches may be detected. 
     One or more gestures may also be detected by the touch-sensitive display  118 . A gesture, such as a swipe, also known as a flick, is a particular type of touch on a touch-sensitive display  118  and may begin at an origin point and continue to an end point, for example, a concluding end of the gesture. A gesture may be identified by attributes of the gesture, including the origin point, the end point, the distance travelled, the duration, the velocity, and the direction, for example. A gesture may be long or short in distance and/or duration. Two points of the gesture may be utilized to determine a direction of the gesture. A gesture may also include a hover. A hover may be a touch at a location that is generally unchanged over a period of time or is associated with the same selection item for a period of time. 
     The optional actuator(s)  120  may be depressed or activated by applying sufficient force to the touch-sensitive display  118  to overcome the actuation force of the actuator  120 . The actuator(s)  120  may be actuated by pressing anywhere on the touch-sensitive display  118 . The actuator(s)  120  may provide input to the processor  102  when actuated. Actuation of the actuator(s)  120  may result in provision of tactile feedback. 
     Optional force sensors  122  may be disposed in conjunction with the touch-sensitive display  118  to determine or react to forces applied to the touch-sensitive display  118 . The force sensor  122  may be disposed in line with a piezo actuator  120 . The force sensors  122  may be force-sensitive resistors, strain gauges, piezoelectric or piezoresistive devices, pressure sensors, quantum tunneling composites, force-sensitive switches, or other suitable devices 
     The touch-sensitive display  118  includes a display area in which information may be displayed, and a non-display area extending around the periphery of the display area. The display area generally corresponds to the area of the display  112 . Information is not displayed in the non-display area by the display, which non-display area is utilized to accommodate, for example, electronic traces or electrical connections, adhesives or other sealants, and/or protective coatings around the edges of the display area. The non-display area may be referred to as an inactive area and is not part of the physical housing or frame of the electronic device. Typically, no pixels of the display are in the non-display area, thus no image can be displayed by the display  112  in the non-display area. Optionally, a secondary display, not part of the primary display  112 , may be disposed under the non-display area. Touch sensors may be disposed in the non-display area, which touch sensors may be extended from the touch sensors in the display area or distinct or separate touch sensors from the touch sensors in the display area. A touch, including a gesture, may be associated with the display area, the non-display area, or both areas. The touch sensors may extend across substantially the entire non-display area or may be disposed in only part of the non-display area. 
     Example Smartphone Electronic Device 
     Referring now to  FIG. 2 , a front view of an example electronic device  100  which is a smartphone  201  is illustrated. The smartphone  201  is a mobile phone which offers more advanced computing capability than a basic non-smartphone cellular phone. For example, the smartphone  201  may have the ability to run third party applications which are stored on the smartphone. 
     The smartphone  201  may include the components discussed above with reference to  FIG. 1  or a subset of those components. The smartphone  201  includes a housing which houses at least some of the components discussed above with reference to  FIG. 1 . 
     The example smartphone  201  also includes other input interfaces such as one or more buttons, keys or navigational input mechanisms. In the example illustrated, at least some of these additional input interfaces are disposed for actuation at a front side of the smartphone. 
     Example Tablet Electronic Device 
     Referring now to  FIG. 3 , a front view of an example electronic device  100  which is a tablet computer  301  is illustrated. The tablet computer  301  may include many of the same features and components of the smartphone  201  of  FIG. 2 . However, the tablet computer  301  of  FIG. 3  is generally larger than the smartphone  201 . The tablet computer  301  may include the components discussed above with reference to  FIG. 1  or a subset of those components. The tablet computer  301  includes a housing which houses at least some of the components discussed above with reference to  FIG. 1 . 
     Content Selection 
     The display  112  of an electronic device  100  is primarily used for displaying content. Through the use of user input means on the electronic device  100 , such as touch sensors  114 , the user can select content to perform actions on. User interfaces should provide a user with a way of efficiently and intuitively selecting which content they wish to select. 
     In the following description, text-based content type will be used for illustrating improved methods of selecting content. However, it should be clear that the proposed solutions can be implemented with content types other than text. Text is used to illustrate the methods as it is a good example of a content type that would benefit from such methods, particularly because there are a number of ways it can be grouped. Textual content may be treated as individual letters, or it may be considered as grouping of letters in the form of words, or groupings of words in the form of sentences, or other groupings such as by row, paragraph, column and page. 
     Given how many different ways there are of grouping text, there may also be different ways a user may wish to select it, as a user may be more interested in selecting a certain paragraph than a certain word. Finer tuned selections (such as selection by letter) allow for greater accuracy of the selection, but would take longer to perform for larger selections (such as selection by paragraph). A user interface may enable a user to perform both fine tuned and larger selections, allowing the user intuitively to switch between the different granularities for text selection. 
     Paragraph Selection 
       FIGS. 4A to 4C  illustrate a method of switching between granularities of selection. In these examples, the method provides a way of performing letter-by-letter selection as well as paragraph selection. 
       FIG. 4A  shows an electronic device  100  with a touch-sensitive-display  118 , the touch-sensitive display  118  displaying four paragraphs of text  405 ,  410 ,  420  and  430 , a selected portion of text  450  and selection handles at the start  440  and end  460  of the selected text  450 . The selected portion of text  450  may have been selected in response to a touch input representing a selection of text. 
     If the device receives a user input indicating that the end selection handle  460  should be moved (for example a touch and drag of the selection handle  460 ), the end of the text selection  450  may move with it. A small movement of the end selection handle  460  to the right may cause the end of the text selection  450  to move onto the next letter, snapping to the nearest letter to the moved end selection handle  460 . Similarly, small movements of the start selection handle  440  may cause the start of the text selection  450  to snap to the letter nearest to the start selection handle  440 . This described modification of the text selection  450  by snapping to whatever letter is closest to a selection handle will be referred to as a letter-by-letter selection. 
     If a user wished to select large portions of the text, for example the fourth  430  paragraph, they may encounter difficulties with selecting the whole of the fourth paragraph  430  as the end of the paragraph is not displayed on the display  112  due to it being below the visible region of the display  112  in this example. Therefore, to include the fourth paragraph  430  in the selection, the user may have to drag the end selection handle  460  down to the bottom of the display  112 , then scroll the screen (either by initiating a scrolling gesture or by allowing the screen to ‘creep’ up in response to the selection handle&#39;s  460  close proximity to the bottom), and, once the end of the fourth paragraph  430  comes into view, continue moving the end selection handle  460  to the end of the fourth paragraph  430 . This results in a cumbersome, time consuming user interaction. 
     The method reduces the burden on the user by providing a paragraph selection mode and determining when to make it available. It may do so by determining whether the selected portion of text  450  has been modified such that either the first or last row of the selection  450  is a complete row of text. If the top or bottom ends of the selected text  450  contains a complete row, then either the end selection handle  460  has been moved to the end of a row, or the start selection handle  440  has been moved to the start of a row, or both events have occurred. In such an instance, as a selection handle has been moved to an outer edge of a row, there may be a possibility that the user intends to start selecting whole paragraphs. Therefore, in response to detecting a selection handle selecting a complete a row, a paragraph selection handle is displayed so that a user can then perform paragraph selection. 
       FIG. 4B  illustrates a paragraph selection handle  470  being displayed in response to a user input. In this example, the selected text  450  of  FIG. 4A  has been expanded to the selected text  451 . This expansion is the result of a movement of the end selection handle  460  to the end of the row, thereby selecting the whole end row of the selected portion of text  451  and thus providing the device  100  with an indication that a paragraph selection mode may be required. The paragraph selection handle  470  may be positioned on the same row as the complete row just selected. In this example, the paragraph selection handle  470  appears on the bottom row, as that is the complete row just selected by movement of the end selection handle  460 . The paragraph selection handle  470  may also be positioned this way because the most likely direction of further paragraph selection may be downwards if the end selection handle  460  has been moved to the end of the row. 
     Similarly, if the start selection handle  440  is moved to completely select a row, as shown in  FIG. 4C , then a paragraph selection handle  480  may be displayed on a first row of the newly expanded selected text  452 . In  FIG. 4C , paragraph selection handles are displayed both on the top  480  and bottom  470  of the selected text  452 , as both start  440  and end  460  handles have been moved to completely select a row. If only one of the start  440  or end  460  handles have moved to completely select a row, then the paragraph selection handle may appear only on the completed row and not the other (as shown previously in  FIG. 4B ). 
     In addition to, or instead of the criteria that a start or end row of a selected portion of text  450  must be completely selected before paragraph selection handles can be displayed, there may be a requirement that the selected portion of text  450  is above a certain size. For example, there may be a requirement that the selected portion of text  450  spans at least three rows before the paragraph selection handles can be displayed. This may be to avoid the instance where only one or two rows have been selected, leading to the possibility of the paragraph selection handles and start or end selection handles being too close together to individually control by touch input. Having a minimum row requirement may also be beneficial as that way the device may only display the paragraph selection handles once the selected text  450  is larger than a threshold value, thereby indicating a higher likelihood that the user may wish to perform paragraph selections. 
     The paragraph selection handles themselves may allow the user to select text in a paragraph aware manner. For example, if the paragraph selection handle  470  shown in  FIG. 4B  were dragged down a small amount, the selected portion of text  451  may expand so as to extend to the end of the current paragraph. This may be displayed by showing the bottom of the selection area move down to the end of the current paragraph, along with the handles  470  and  460 . However, this may result in the paragraph selection handle  470  moving away from the original location of the user&#39;s touch that was dragging the paragraph selection handle  470 . Therefore, if the user wished to continue with paragraph selection, the user would have to reselect the now moved paragraph selection handle. This would be especially problematic if the end of the selected paragraph was not visible on the display. 
     To address the above problem, the method may instead ensure that the paragraph selection handle  470  being moved is always coupled to the location of the touch input moving it. Thus, as the paragraph selection handle is dragged  470 , the underlying content itself moves in the display so that the end of the current paragraph lies under the touch input position. In other words, the display may automatically scroll to the end of the paragraph being selected. In this manner, the user will be able to see how the end point of the selection changes because the display scrolls so as to always show the end point. Similarly, dragging the top paragraph selection handle  480  upwards results in the selection extending to the starts of the paragraphs above, the size of the drag determining how many paragraphs above the current one to extend to. As long as the user drags the paragraph selection handle  470 , the device will remain in paragraph selection mode. 
     If a user drags a bottom paragraph selection handle  470  downwards, the selection area may expand downwards to the end of the paragraph. Further dragging the bottom paragraph selection handle  470  downwards may cause the selection area  452  to expand to the end of a lower paragraph (such as paragraph  430 ). Similarly, the extent of the drag upwards of a top paragraph selection handle  480  may determine how many paragraphs up the selection area  452  is extended to. 
     Dragging the selection handles in the opposite direction, however, may result in different behaviour. For example, dragging a bottom selection handle  470  upwards may cause the selection area  452  to return to what it was prior to being modified by the bottom paragraph selection handle  470 . Optionally, dragging the bottom selection handle  470  upwards may cause the selection area  452  to contract in discrete amounts such that for each drag upwards, the selection area  452  contracts so that it covers one less full paragraph. Once the selection area  452  only covers one whole or paragraph, a further movement upward of the bottom selection handle  470  upwards may have no effect on the selection area  452 . 
     A flowchart illustrating a method of performing paragraph selection is shown in  FIG. 10 . The method may be carried out by software executed, for example, by the processor  102 . Coding of software for carrying out such a method is within the scope of a person of ordinary skill in the art given the present description. The method may contain additional or fewer processes than shown and/or described, and may be performed in a different order. Computer-readable code executable by at least one processor of the portable electronic device to perform the method may be stored in a computer-readable medium, which may be a non-transitory or tangible storage medium. 
     In the method shown in  FIG. 10 , a first touch input representing a selection of multiple rows of text displayed on a touch-sensitive display of an electronic device is detected  1210 . A determination is made as to whether a complete row of text has been selected from a start point or to an end point of the selected text  1220 . A paragraph selection handle proximal to the row is displayed, the paragraph selection handle being responsive to a second touch input to place the electronic device in a paragraph selection mode for the selection of text  1230 . 
     Row Selection 
     In the previous section, a method for enabling and performing paragraph selection was disclosed. In addition to, or independently of this method, a method for enabling row-by-row selection is provided below. 
     In letter-by-letter selection mode, as a selection handle is moved, the corresponding part of the selection area (selected portion of text) snaps to the letter nearest to the selection handle. Therefore, in letter-by-letter mode, as a selection handle is moved across a row, letters are individually added or removed from the selection. However, as a selection handle is moved up or down to a different row, the nearest letter to the selection handle is on a different row and so, when the selection area snaps to that area, it snaps to include all the other letters in the row up to the selection handle. Therefore, moving a selection handle to the very right or left of a row, and subsequently moving the selection handle up or down, results in the entire rows being added or removed from the selection at a time. In this way, it is possible to perform row-by-row selection simply by using the mechanics provided by existing letter-by-letter selection. 
     However, performing the above type of row-by-row selection has some drawbacks. To perform row-by-row selection in this manner requires that a selection handle moves straight up or down along the side of the text. Moving the selection handle into the text and away from the edge may result in individual letters being selected instead of rows. Therefore, using a letter-by-letter selection mechanism for row-by-row selection may be too sensitive to small deviations in the horizontal movement of the selection handle. 
       FIGS. 5A and 5B  illustrate possible sources of deviations.  FIG. 5A  shows an electronic device  100  with a touch-sensitive display  118 , displaying on the touch-sensitive display some text  510  and a selection of the text  520 . When a user attempts to perform row-by-row selection with the thumb  550  of the left hand, they may start the gesture at point  530  and begin to drag a selection handle straight down. this drag movement  540  begins to curve into the text and away from the edge because of the natural curvature of a thumb&#39;s movement. This may lead to text selection by letter rather than by row. Similarly, in  FIG. 5B , the natural curvature of movement of a user&#39;s right thumb may result in a gesture  570  starting at point  560  to deviate from a straight line path and a curve into the text. This curvature may be further exaggerated by performing the gesture quickly. 
     One way to solve the above problem is to incorporate a dedicated row-by-row selection mode, such as is illustrated in  FIGS. 6A to 6C .  FIG. 6A  shows a portion of a display  114  containing text  610 , a selection area  620 , and a selection handle  630 . In this example, the selection handle  630  has been dragged to the side of the text, and in doing so has enabled a row-by-row selection mode. Upon entering this mode, moving the selection handle  630  up and down  660  results in the same behavior as the letter-by-letter based row-by-row implementation. This is because moving the selection handle  630  up and down  660  snaps the corresponding end of the selection area  620  to the row closest to the selection handle  630 . In this row selection mode, there may be a threshold area  640  provided, such that when a selection handle  630  is moved outside of this threshold area  640 , the selection mode returns to letter-by-letter selection mode. For example, moving the selection handle  630  into the text region (or ‘letter-by-letter selection mode’ region)  650  may cause row-by-row mode to end. This is illustrated in  FIG. 6B , which shows the resulting selection area  621  from such a movement  665  of the selection handle  630  into the text region. Continuing to move the selection handle  630  within the threshold area may result in row-by-row selection mode to be maintained, as shown in  FIG. 6C , where the selection area  622  has been extended by row. 
     The threshold area  640  may vary in width to compensate for the aforementioned curvature of thumb movement. By causing the threshold area to increase with area  640  at regions further from the start point of the selection handle  630 , it may allow for more horizontal variation in the movement of the selection handle. The width of the threshold area  640  at various points along its length may be controlled dynamically, such that it varies according to various factors. One such factor may be the number of rows already selected, since there is a higher chance that the user will continue to remain in row-by-row selection mode if a large number of rows have already been selected. Moreover, the width of the threshold area  640  may be increased so as to require a larger, more deliberate movement of the selection handle  630  into the text area  650  before letter-by-letter mode is activated instead of row-by-row selection. The threshold area  640  may increase as more rows are selected. Similarly, if the selection area  620  is reduced, the likelihood of returning to letter-by-letter mode increases, and so the threshold area  640  may decrease as a result. Another possible factor may be the speed of the movement of the selection handle  630 . For example, if it is moved quickly, there is a higher chance of deviation from a straight line, and so the width of the threshold area  640  may be increased to compensate for this. 
     This method may be applied to column-by-column selection rather than row-by-row selection, depending on the orientation of the text. For example, in certain language systems, the text may be arranged in vertical lines rather than horizontal lines. 
     A flowchart illustrating a method of performing row-by-row selection is shown in  FIG. 11 . The method may be carried out by software executed, for example, by the processor  102 . Coding of software for carrying out such a method is within the scope of a person of ordinary skill in the art given the present description. The method may contain additional or fewer processes than shown and/or described, and may be performed in a different order. Computer-readable code executable by at least one processor of the portable electronic device to perform the method may be stored in a computer-readable medium, which may be a non-transitory or tangible storage medium. 
     In the method shown in  FIG. 11 , the location of a text selection icon on a display of an electronic device is detected  1110 . Detect touch input representing a selection of text displayed on the display using the text selection icon  1130 . If the detected location of the text selection icon is maintained within a zone adjacent an edge of the display, the displayed text is selected on a row-by-row basis  1130 . If the detected location of the text selection icon moves outside this zone, the displayed text is selected on a letter-by-letter basis  1140 . 
     Selection Handle 
     Selection handles may be used for controlling selection areas on a display. Examples of the use of said selection handles have been previously. Methods are now described which improve on existing selection handle technology, and may be used in any combination with the methods previously described or may be implemented independently. 
       FIG. 7A  shows an electronic device with a touch-sensitive screen, and displayed on that screen is a first paragraph of text  710 , a second paragraph of text  711 , and a picture  712 . In an example, a selection  720  has already been made and a start selection handle  730  and end selection handle  740  are displayed in connection with the start and end points of the selection  720 . This selection  720  may have been made by an earlier touch input. 
       FIG. 7B  shows a user  760  touching the selection handle  730 , and in doing so obscuring the selection handle  730  and also letters near to the touch area  750 . A problem therefore arises, in that the user is unable to see the current location of the selection handle  730  will not be able to accurately determine what is currently selected, when adjusting the selection area  720 . 
     One proposed solution is illustrated in  FIG. 7C . On performing a touch interaction with the selection handle  730 , the contents of the display may move  780  such that the text in close proximity to the touched selection handle  730  is not obscured by the touch input object  760 . In this way, the user may be able to view the content just selected. Also, or instead of this movement  780 , an extended selection handle  777  may appear. This extended selection handle  777  may provide a graphical link between the point of touch on the touch-sensitive display  118  and the corresponding end of a selection area  720 . The touch point may not only be graphically coupled to the end of the selection area  720  by the extended selection handle  777 , but may also be operatively coupled to it. Therefore, if the touch point moves (for example, because the user  760  performs a drag while still touching on the selection handle  777 ), the corresponding end of the selection area  720  may move as well. 
       FIG. 8A  shows a more detailed view of the extended selection handle  777 . On this extended selection handle  777  there may be a touch portion  830  (also referred to as a ‘handle’), a neck portion  820  (also referred to as a ‘cursor neck’) and a content selection portion  810  (also referred to as a ‘content selection portion’). The touch portion  830  may be the portion of the selection handle  777  that responds to user input and can be touched and dragged to cause the rest of the selection handle  777  to be moved. If a touch input is used to drag the selection handle  777 , the touch portion may remain coupled to the location on the display corresponding to the detected touch location such that it always remains under the user&#39;s finger as the selection handle  777  is moved. 
     The content selection portion  810  may be coupled to a selection area  720 . For example, as shown in  FIG. 8B , the content selection portion  810  is coupled to a start end of the selection area  720  such that as the selection handle  777  moves, as does the start of the selection area  720 . This may be represented graphically in a different way, such as shown in  FIG. 8C , where the content selection portion  810  is also coupled to the start end of the selection area  720 , but is displayed to reach the top left portion of the selection area  720 . Functionally, there may be no difference between the two selection handles  777  shown in  FIGS. 8B and 8C . 
     The neck portion  820  graphically connects the touch portion  830  to the content selection portion  810 . While the touch portion  830  may be obscured by a user&#39;s touch, the user may be able to see the neck portion  820  extending from the touch portion  830  (under the user&#39;s finger) to the content selection portion  810 . This may indicate to the user that the touch portion  830  and content selection portion  810  are connected, and that by dragging the touch portion  830 , the content selection portion  810  will also be moved. Referring back to  FIG. 7C , although the part of the selection area  720  that the user touched has moved away, because the extended selection handle  777  has been displayed the user will see a connection between where they originally pressed and where the corresponding selection area  720  has now moved to. The extended selection handle  777  may be displayed as an animation, showing a transformation of the original selection handle  730  to the extended selection handle  777 . Such an animation may be a neck portion extending out of the original selection handle  730  at the same rate as the underlying content moves up  780 . 
       FIG. 9A  shows an electronic device  100  with a touch-sensitive display  118  displaying a first and second paragraph  910  and  911 , a selection area  930  and an extended selection handle  777  coupled to the start of the selection area  930 . If a user touches  940  the touch portion of the extended selection handle  777  and drags  950  it to a different location, the user&#39;s finger (or other touch object) may not obscure the start area of the selection area  930 , because the start of the selection area  930  is spatially separated from the touch portion of the extended selection handle  777 . Therefore, the user may adjust the selection area  930  while still being able to see where the start of the selection area  930  is being moved. Similarly, the end of the selection area  930  may be moved through use of an extended selection handle coupled to the end of the selection area  930 . 
     However, as the user performs a drag to move the extended selection handle  777 , there may be a delay between the receipt of the touch input indicating a drag and the updating of the display to show the new position of the extended selection handle  777  and selection area  930 . A result of such a delay may be that the user&#39;s finger (or other touch object) does obscure a part of the selection area  930  or nearby text as the drag is performed. In other words the selection area  930  may not be able to move as fast as the drag motion and may become obscured as a result. Also, as a user&#39;s finger changes position on the touch-sensitive display  118 , the angle the finger makes to the display may change and there may be a difference between location where the touch is registered and the location the user thinks they are touching. 
       FIG. 9B  provides a possible solution to this problem. As the extended selection handle is moved, the neck portion may extend  977  to increase the distance between the touch portion and the content selection portion. In other words, to prevent the physical location of the touch object ‘catching up’ with the coupled part of the selection area  935 , the neck portion extends faster than the finger moves. This extension may also cater for a changed angle of the user&#39;s finger. The length of the neck portion may change dynamically depending on factors including the speed of the drag, position of the selection area with respect to the edges of the screen, the detected angle of the user&#39;s finger and the size of the font of the content being selected. The neck portion may have a maximum length and it may have a minimum length. 
     A flowchart illustrating a method of modifying a selection handle is shown in  FIG. 10 . The method may be carried out by software executed, for example, by the processor  102 . Coding of software for carrying out such a method is within the scope of a person of ordinary skill in the art given the present description. The method may contain additional or fewer processes than shown and/or described, and may be performed in a different order. Computer-readable code executable by at least one processor of the portable electronic device to perform the method may be stored in a computer-readable medium, which may be a non-transitory or tangible storage medium. 
     In the method shown in  FIG. 10 , a content selection icon is displayed on a touch-sensitive display of an electronic device  1010 . A touch input is detected at a location operable to select a content selection function associated with the content selection icon  1020 . On detecting the touch, the content selection icon is modified to display a touch portion at a location on the display corresponding to the detected touch location, and a content selection portion operatively couple to, but spatially separated from the touch portion  1030 . 
     The present disclosure may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from its spirit or essential characteristics. The described embodiments are to be considered in all respects only as illustrative and not restrictive. The scope of the disclosure is, therefore, indicated by the appended claims rather than by the foregoing description. All changes that come within the meaning and range of equivalency of the claims are to be embraced within their scope.