Patent ID: 8677270

Claim:
A method performed on a computing device, the method comprising: detecting, by a companion application based on monitoring a host application, data from among actions and events of the host application, data generated by the host application, data provided by the host application, and selections of elements in a host window of a host user interface of the host application, where the companion application and the host application are each computer programs that are distinct from the other, and where the host application is substantially unaware of the companion application; obtaining, by the companion application based on the detecting, metadata that is different than the detected data, and that is descriptive of data displayed by the host application in the host window, where the companion application is configured for obtaining the metadata from an operating environment comprising the computing device and an operating system of the computing device, and where the computing device concurrently executes the host application and the companion application; and displaying, by the companion application, the obtained metadata in a companion window of a companion user interface of the companion application.