PATENT DOCUMENT

Publication Number: US-11941688-B2
Application Number: US-202017020373-A
Country: US
Kind Code: B2

Title: Family accounts for an online content storage sharing service

Abstract:
A computing device provides methods and workflow for setting up a shared family account on a content storage system, including the creation of accounts for child family members. A computing device supports the creation of a family account using an account on the content storage system associated with an adult family member acting as a family organizer. The family organizer can designate a specific account as a purchase account for allowing other family member to purchase content from content servers associated with the content storage system. The family organizer can invite other adult family members to join the shared family account. The family organizer can create new accounts on the content storage system for child family members, and can designate access and purchase restrictions for such child family members. Family members have access to shared storage content, as well as services such as family calendar, group messaging, and device location.

Claims:
What is claimed is: 
     
       1. A method, comprising:
 at an electronic device in communication with a display device and one or more input devices:
 displaying, via the display device, a first screen to initiate setup of a family account at an online content storage system that is to be shared between family members; 
 responsive to an input, via the one or more input devices, on the first screen initiating setup of the family account, initiating setup of the family account, wherein performing setup of the family account includes:
 displaying, via the display device, an identifier of a family organizer and an indication of a source account of the family organizer with the online content storage system to be used as the family account, wherein the source account of the family organizer is already established with the online content storage system when the setup of the family account is initiated; 
 displaying, via the display device, at least one account to be selected as a purchase account for the family account, wherein purchases of content items by any family member having access to the family account are stored on the online content storage system in association with the family account, and can be accessed by any other family member having access to the family account, and wherein the at least one account to be selected as the purchase account for the family account is already established with the online content storage system when the setup of the family account is initiated; 
 responsive to receiving an input, via the one or more input devices, selecting an account as the purchase account, displaying, via the display device, credit card information associated with the purchase account; 
 responsive to receiving an input, via the one or more input devices, confirming the credit card information, sending to the online content storage system an indication to associate the credit card information for the purchase account with the family account; 
 displaying, via the display device, a list of family members having access to the family account, an indication of the credit card information associated with the family account, and a user interface element to add a family member to the family account, wherein the family member to be added to the family account has a corresponding account that is already established with the online content storage system when the setup of the family account is initiated; and 
 responsive to receiving an input at the user interface element, via the one or more input devices, to add the family member to the family account, initiating a process to send an electronic message, associated with adding the family member to the family account, to an electronic mailing address of the family member to be added to the family account. 
 
 
 
     
     
       2. The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 determining an account to which the family organizer is currently logged in, and preselecting as the purchase account the currently logged in account of the family organizer. 
 
     
     
       3. The method of  claim 1 , wherein displaying the credit card information comprises requesting from the online content storage system the credit card information associated with the purchase account. 
     
     
       4. The method of  claim 1 , further comprising displaying, via the display device, a user interface element to create an account identifier for a child family member on the online content storage system. 
     
     
       5. The method of  claim 4 , further comprising:
 responsive to selection, via the one or more input devices, of the user interface element to create the account identifier for the child family member:
 displaying, via the display device, an input field for receiving credit card verification information for the credit card information associated with the family account; 
 responsive to receiving an input, via the one or more input devices, that matches an actual credit card verification information of the credit card information associated with the family account, proceeding with the creation of the account identifier of the account for the child family member, including displaying, via the display device, one or more input fields for receiving identification information for the child family member; and 
 responsive to receiving an input that does not match the actual credit card verification information of the credit card information associated with the family account, terminating the creation of the account identifier of the account for the child family member, and displaying, via the display device, a list of family members having access to the family account, wherein the list of family members does not include the family child member. 
 
 
     
     
       6. The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 receiving, via the one or more input devices, a user name as an account identifier for a new account of a child family member; 
 providing the user name to the online content storage system creating the new account of the child family member; 
 receiving from the online content storage system an account identifier for the child family member, wherein the account identifier operates as a messaging address of the child family member with the online content storage system; and 
 displaying, via the display device, the account identifier for the child family member. 
 
     
     
       7. The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 displaying, via the display device, a control for receiving an input selectively enabling the online content storage system to transmit to an adult family member associated with the family account, prior to a purchase of content by a child family member, a message indicating the content being purchased by the child family member and indicating that the adult family member has an option to approve the purchase prior to the purchase being processed and the content being transmitted to a computing device of the child family member. 
 
     
     
       8. An electronic device comprising:
 one or more input devices; 
 one or more processors; and 
 memory storing instructions, which when executed by the one or more processors, cause the electronic device to perform a method comprising:
 displaying, via a display device, a first screen to initiate setup of a family account at an online content storage system that is to be shared between family members; 
 responsive to an input, via the one or more input devices, on the first screen initiating setup of the family account, initiating setup of the family account, wherein performing setup of the family account includes:
 displaying, via the display device, an identifier of a family organizer and an indication of a source account of the family organizer with the online content storage system to be used as the family account, wherein the source account of the family organizer is already established with the online content storage system when the setup of the family account is initiated; 
 displaying, via the display device, at least one account to be selected as a purchase account for the family account, wherein purchases of content items by any family member having access to the family account are stored on the online content storage system in association with the family account, and can be accessed by any other family member having access to the family account, and wherein the at least one account to be selected as the purchase account for the family account is already established with the online content storage system when the setup of the family account is initiated; 
 responsive to receiving an input, via the one or more input devices, selecting an account as the purchase account, displaying, via the display device, credit card information associated with the purchase account; 
 responsive to receiving an input, via the one or more input devices, confirming the credit card information, sending to the online content storage system an indication to associate the credit card information for the purchase account with the family account; 
 displaying, via the display device, a list of family members having access to the family account, an indication of the credit card information associated with the family account, and a user interface element to add a family member to the family account, wherein the family member to be added to the family account has a corresponding account that is already established with the online content storage system when the setup of the family account is initiated; and 
 responsive to receiving an input at the user interface element, via the one or more input devices, to add the family member to the family account, initiating a process to send an electronic message, associated with adding the family member to the family account, to an electronic mailing address of the family member to be added to the family account. 
 
 
 
     
     
       9. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing instructions, which when executed by one or more processors of an electronic device, cause the electronic device to perform a method comprising:
 displaying, via a display device, a first screen to initiate setup of a family account at an online content storage system that is to be shared between family members; 
 responsive to an input, via one or more input devices, on the first screen initiating setup of the family account, initiating setup of the family account, wherein performing setup of the family account includes:
 displaying, via the display device, an identifier of a family organizer and an indication of a source account of the family organizer with the online content storage system to be used as the family account, wherein the source account of the family organizer is already established with the online content storage system when the setup of the family account is initiated; 
 displaying, via the display device, at least one account to be selected as a purchase account for the family account, wherein purchases of content items by any family member having access to the family account are stored on the online content storage system in association with the family account, and can be accessed by any other family member having access to the family account, and wherein the at least one account to be selected as the purchase account for the family account is already established with the online content storage system when the setup of the family account is initiated; 
 responsive to receiving an input, via the one or more input devices, selecting an account as the purchase account, displaying, via the display device, credit card information associated with the purchase account; 
 responsive to receiving an input, via the one or more input devices, confirming the credit card information, sending to the online content storage system an indication to associate the credit card information for the purchase account with the family account; 
 displaying, via the display device, a list of family members having access to the family account, an indication of the credit card information associated with the family account, and a user interface element to add a family member to the family account, wherein the family member to be added to the family account has a corresponding account that is already established with the online content storage system when the setup of the family account is initiated; and 
 responsive to receiving an input at the user interface element, via the one or more input devices, to add the family member to the family account, initiating a process to send an electronic message, associated with adding the family member to the family account, to an electronic mailing address of the family member to be added to the family account.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/502,937, filed Sep. 30, 2014 and published on Dec. 3, 2015 as U.S. Publication No. 2015-0348185, which claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 62/005,621 filed on May 30, 2014, the contents of which are incorporated by reference in their entirety for all purposes. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND 
     1. Field of Technology 
     The embodiments herein generally relate to online content storage systems that enable sharing of content between user accounts, and in particular to accounts shared among family members. 
     2. Background 
     Some online (or more colloquially, “cloud”) based content storage systems enable users to share content between multiple devices and multiple different users. Typically, each user must have their own account with the content storage system, whereby they then designate particular folders or files to be shared with other users. 
     Some content storage systems do not allow children (typically under the age of thirteen, but may vary depending on jurisdiction) to establish accounts due to legal concerns. However, many families would like to be able to allow their children to be able to share content with other family members. Not all online content storage systems allow for family accounts that include child accounts, and among those that do, establishing an account for a child can be complex and time consuming. 
     Content storage systems are sometimes associated with online digital stores where users can purchase digital content, such as music, video, electronic books, and computer applications. For content storage systems of this type, child family members typically have the ability to purchase digital content subject only to content rating restrictions, without direct supervision or approval by other family members. These content storage systems do not provide easy to administrator facilities for controlling the kinds of content that child family members can purchase. 
     SUMMARY 
     An online content storage system enables a user to create a family account to be shared by a number of family members, including child family members. In one aspect, an adult family member having an account on the content storage system can initiate processes to set up a shared family account on the content storage system. The adult family member, acting an family organizer can select an account to be used as the shared family account, select an account to use as a purchase account to allow purchases to be made by other family members, invite other family members to join the shared family account, and to create a new account for child family members in an efficient and flexible manner. 
     In creating a new account for a child family member, the family organizer can use credit card related information, such as a credit card verification code to authenticate to the content storage system that the family organizer is setting up the account, rather than the child family member. The family organizer can also select particular content servers to which the child family member can have access. The family organizer can designate a real time purchase approval process be associated with the account of the child family member so that future purchases of content from the content servers by the child family member must be approved in real time by an adult family member prior to the purchase being approve and the content downloaded to the child family member&#39;s computing device. The family organizer can further select particular content restrictions based on country and media type to be applied to the child family member&#39;s account. Different content restriction templates can be provided by the content storage system for different countries and age ranges; the system can automatically select and periodically update the content restriction template applied to the child family member&#39;s account based on the age and country location. 
     Upon acceptance of an invitation to join a shared family account, an adult family member automatically obtains access to the shared family account, as well as designated content servers for obtaining content, and various services, such as a family group messaging service, a family calendar service, and device location service by which the computing devices of other family members may be easily located and shown on a map or caused to output an audio sound for locating. 
     Accordingly, in one aspect a method comprises, at an electronic device with a display, displaying a first screen to initiate setup of a family account at an online content storage system that is to be shared between family members. The electronic device receives an input on the first screen initiating setup of the online content storage account, and displays an identifier of a family account organizer and an indication of a source account with the online content storage system. The electronic device then displays at least one account to be selected as a purchase account for the family account, wherein purchases of content items by any family member having access to the family account are stored on the online content storage system in association with the family account, and can be accessed by any other family member having access to the family account. The electronic device receives an input selecting an account as the purchase account, and then displays credit card information associated with the purchase account. The electronic device receives an input confirming the credit card information, and sends to the online content storage system an indication to associate the credit card number for the purchase account with the family account. The device then displays a list of family members having access to the family account, along with an indication of the credit card number associated with the family account, and a first user interface element to add a family member to the family account. 
     In another aspect, the method includes the electronic device receives a selection of the user interface element to create an account identifier for a child family member, and then displays an input field for receiving a credit card verification number for a credit card number associated with the family account. Where electronic device receives an input that matches an actual credit card verification number of the credit card number associated with the account, and proceeds with the creation of an account identifier for the child family member by displaying input fields for receiving identification information for the child family member. If the electronic device receives an input that does not match the actual card verification number of the credit card number associated with the account, it terminates the creation of an account identifier for the child family member, and displays a list of family members having access to the family account, wherein the list of family members does not include the family child member. 
     In another aspect, the method includes the electronic device displaying a control for receiving an input selectively enabling the online content storage system to transmit to an adult family member associated with the family account, prior to a purchase of content by the added family member, a message indicating the content being to be purchased by the added family member and indicating that the adult family member has an option to approve the purchase prior to the purchase being processed and the content downloaded to a computing device of the added family member. 
     In another aspect the method includes the electronic device displaying an indication that the added family member is automatically associated with a shared family calendar service associated with the family account, or displaying an indication that the added family member is automatically associated with a group messaging service associated with the family account, or displaying an indication that the added family member is automatically associated with a device location service associated with the family account. 
     In another aspect the method includes the electronic device displaying an input field for receiving an identifier of the family member to be added to a family account at an online content storage system that is shared between family members, and receiving the identifier of the family member to be added to the family account. The electronic device determines an age of the family member to be added to the family account. Responsive to the age of the family member being less than a predetermined age limit, the electronic device selects one of a plurality of content access and purchase restriction templates to be associated with the family member, and displays an indication of the selected content access and purchase restriction template. The selected content access and purchase restriction template is applied the account of the added family member. 
     A real time purchase approval process enables an adult family member to approve a purchase of content being made by a child family member from a content server accessible to the child family member. In this aspect, a content storage system (and associated content servers) receives from the computing device of the child family member, a selection of content item to be purchased by the child family member. The content storage system determines from the account of the child family member whether a real time approval process is required. If so, the content storage system notifies, via the computing device, that approval of an adult family member is required prior to the purchase, and providing options for the child family member to request approval of the purchase or decline. If the child family member requests approval of the purchase, then in one embodiment the content storage system transmits to a computing device of at least one adult family member a message informing the adult family member that their approval is required for the child family member to purchase the content and providing options for the adult family member to review the request or defer the request until a later time. If the adult family member defers the request, the content storage system sets a timer and repeats the approval request at a later time. If the adult family member reviews the request, the content storage system provides an indication of the content being purchased, and options to either accept or decline the purchase. If the adult family member declines the purchase, then the purchase is terminated and the content is not made available to the child family member. If the adult family member approves the purchase, then content storage system proceeds to process the transaction and download the content to the child family member&#39;s computing device. In one embodiment, the child family member&#39;s computing device displays a message providing the child family member options for having an adult family member approve the purchase request in person. If the child family member selects the option to have an adult family member approve in person, then the computing device displays a screen into which the adult family member can enter their account password, or other authentication information (e.g., credit card verification code). Once the adult family member is authenticated then the purchase is processed and the content is downloaded to the child family member&#39;s computing device. 
     In one aspect, a method comprises at a content storage system associated with a one content server from which content can be purchased, storing a family account at the content storage system, the family account having at least one adult family member and at least one child family member, the family account associated with a purchase account. The content storage system receives from a computing device of a child family member a request to purchase a content item from the content server associated with the content storage system. The content storage system determines from family account whether the purchase requires a real time approval by an adult family member associated with the family account. In response to determining that the purchase requires a real time approval, and prior to processing the purchase and downloading the content item to the computing device of the child family member, the content storage system transmits to a computing device of the at least one adult family member a message indicating that approval of the purchase by the child family member is required. In response to receiving an approval message from the computing device of the adult family member, the content storage system processes the purchase transaction using the purchase account, and transmits the purchased content item to the computing device of the child family member. In response to receiving an a decline message from the computing device of the adult family member, the content storage system terminate the purchase. 
     Note that the various embodiments of the family sharing account described above can be combined with any other embodiments described herein. The features and advantages described in the specification are not all inclusive and, in particular, many additional features and advantages will be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art in view of the drawings, specification, and claims. Moreover, it should be noted that the language used in the specification has been principally selected for readability and instructional purposes, and may not have been selected to delineate or circumscribe the inventive subject matter. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS 
         FIG.  1 A  is a high level block diagram of an exemplary environment for a content storage system. 
         FIG.  1 B  is a high-level block diagram of an exemplary computing device. 
         FIG.  1 C  is a block diagram of exemplary components for event handling. 
         FIG.  2    is a flow diagram illustrating various sequences of operations for setting up a family account in the content storage system. 
         FIGS.  3 . 1  to  3 . 22    are illustrations of exemplary user interface screens displayed on a computing device in conjunction with the family account management operations described with respect to  FIG.  2   . 
         FIGS.  4 . 1  and  4 . 2    are illustrations of exemplary user interface screen displayed on a computing device in conjunction with operations for locating a user&#39;s computing device. 
         FIG.  5    is an illustration of a screen for configuring a purchase approval process. 
         FIGS.  6 A- 6 B  are a sequence diagram illustrating the operations for the real-time purchase approval process. 
         FIGS.  7 . 1 - 7 . 10    are illustrations of exemplary user interface screens displayed on a computing device in conjunction with the operations described with respect to  FIGS.  6 A- 6 B  for a real-time purchase approval process. 
     
    
    
     The figures depict, and the detail description describes, various non-limiting embodiments for purposes of illustration only. One skilled in the art will readily recognize from the following discussion that alternative embodiments of the structures and methods illustrated herein may be employed without departing from the principles described herein. 
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     Overview of System Architecture 
     An online content storage system enables users to set up family accounts that include accounts accessible by children of the family.  FIG.  1 A  is a high level block diagram of an exemplary environment for such an online content storage system  200 . The environment includes multiple computing devices  100 , as would be used by a user to access the sharing system  200 . For purposes of illustration, as will become apparent further below, there are shown three representative electronic computing devices  100 A,  100 B, and  100 C, each associated with a family member; when referring to the computing devices in general, reference  100  will be used. The environment further includes a content storage server  201 , a media server  202 , an application (“apps”) server  204 , an electronic book (“e-book”) server  206 , a user account server  208 , a purchase server  210 , a download server  212 , a family calendar server  214 , a group messaging server  216 , and a device location server  218 . These various systems and servers are communicatively coupled to the computing devices  100  via network  220 . 
     The content storage server  201  enables users to upload, search, browse and share content with others, including but not limited to other family members. Content handled by the content storage server  201  includes any type of files, including documents, presentations, computer data, spreadsheets, images, movies, music, applications, and so forth. Embodiments of a content storage server suitable use as the content storage server  201  are disclosed in US20130311597 which is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety. 
     The media server  202  provides an online, digital media store through which users of computing devices  100  to search, browse and obtain various types of media, including music, videos, movies, and television programs. The apps server  204  provides an online, digital media store through which user to search, browse and obtain executable computer applications and computer data for their computing device  100 . The e-book server  206  provides an online, digital media store through which users to search, browse and obtain electronic books, magazines, journals for reading on their computing devices  100 . Embodiments of various servers suitable for use as the media server  202 , app server  204 , and e-book server are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,895,661 and 7,899,714 which are incorporated by reference in their entirety, herein. Any of the foregoing types of digital content can be free, rented, trial, or purchased. In one embodiment, the transactions are from these various servers are handled by the purchase server  210 , and the subsequent downloading of content is handled by the download server  212 . 
     The family calendar server  214  provides support for hosted calendars that can be shared among family members. Embodiments of a calendar server suitable for use as the family calendar server  214  are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,822,713 and 7,814,055, which are incorporated by reference in their entirety, herein. 
     The group messaging server  216  provides a platform for instant messaging between users, and in the embodiments described here, is beneficially used to provide instant messaging services between family members associated with a family account. Embodiments of a messaging server suitable for use as the group messaging server  216  are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 8,468,580, 8,352,873, 8,554,861, 8,020,105 and US20110055735, each of which is incorporated by reference in its entirety, herein. 
     User accounts server  208  stores information regarding user profile data (e.g., name, address, account ID, birthdate, access preferences and restrictions) and transactional information (e.g., purchase history, search history, etc.) for each user. The accounts server  208  handles updating of user account information, as well as verification and authentication of user credentials such as user name, user email address, user passwords. 
       FIG.  1 B  is a diagram of a computing device  100 . The computing device  100  includes a memory  102  (which may include one or more computer readable storage mediums), a memory controller  122 , and one or more processing units (CPU&#39;s)  120 , a peripherals interface  118 . The device  100  may further include RF circuitry  108 , audio circuitry  110 , a speaker  111 , a microphone  113 , an input/output (I/O) subsystem  106 , other input or control devices  116 , and an external port  124 . The computing device  100  may include one or more optical sensors  164 . These components communicate over one or more communication buses or signal lines  103 . The device  100  includes display, which can be a touch-sensitive display system  112  according to one embodiment. The touch-sensitive display system  112  is referred to herein as a “touch screen” for convenience, and may also be known as or called a touch-sensitive display system. 
     The computing device  100  shown in  FIG.  1 B  is only one example of a portable multifunction device, and the computing device  100  may have more or fewer components than shown, may combine two or more components, or a may have a different configuration or arrangement of the components. The various components shown in  FIG.  1 A  may be implemented in hardware, software or a combination of both hardware and software, including one or more signal processing and/or application specific integrated circuits. 
     Memory  102  may include high-speed random access memory and may also include non-volatile memory, such as one or more magnetic disk storage devices, flash memory devices, or other non-volatile solid-state memory devices. Access to memory  102  by other components of the device  100 , such as the CPU  120  and the peripherals interface  118 , may be controlled by the memory controller  122 . 
     The peripherals interface  118  couples the input and output peripherals of the device to the CPU  120  and memory  102 . The one or more processors  120  run or execute various software programs and/or sets of instructions stored in memory  102  to perform various functions for the device  100  and to process data. 
     In some embodiments, the peripherals interface  118 , the CPU  120 , and the memory controller  122  may be implemented on a single chip, such as a chip  104 . In some other embodiments, they may be implemented on separate chips. 
     The RF (radio frequency) circuitry  108  receives and sends RF signals, also called electromagnetic signals. The RF circuitry  108  converts electrical signals to/from electromagnetic signals and communicates with communications networks and other communications devices via the electromagnetic signals. The RF circuitry  108  may include well-known circuitry for performing these functions, including but not limited to an antenna system, an RF transceiver, one or more amplifiers, a tuner, one or more oscillators, a digital signal processor, a CODEC chipset, a subscriber identity module (SIM) card, memory, and so forth. The RF circuitry  108  may communicate with networks, such as the Internet, also referred to as the World Wide Web (WWW), an Intranet and/or a wireless network, such as a cellular telephone network, a wireless local area network (LAN) and/or a metropolitan area network (MAN), and other devices by wireless communication. The wireless communication may use any of a plurality of communications standards, protocols and technologies, including but not limited to Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), Enhanced Data GSM Environment (EDGE), high-speed downlink packet access (HSDPA), wideband code division multiple access (W-CDMA), code division multiple access (CDMA), time division multiple access (TDMA), Bluetooth, Wireless Fidelity (Wi-Fi) (e.g., IEEE 802.11a, IEEE 802.11b, IEEE 802.11g and/or IEEE 802.11n), voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), Wi-MAX, a protocol for email (e.g., Internet message access protocol (IMAP) and/or post office protocol (POP)), instant messaging (e.g., extensible messaging and presence protocol (XMPP), Session Initiation Protocol for Instant Messaging and Presence Leveraging Extensions (SIMPLE), and/or Instant Messaging and Presence Service (IMPS)), and/or Short Message Service (SMS)), or any other suitable communication protocol, including communication protocols not yet developed as of the filing date of this document. 
     The audio circuitry  110 , the speaker  111 , and the microphone  113  provide an audio interface between a user and the device  100 . The audio circuitry  110  receives audio data from the peripherals interface  118 , converts the audio data to an electrical signal, and transmits the electrical signal to the speaker  111 . The speaker  111  converts the electrical signal to human-audible sound waves. The audio circuitry  110  also receives electrical signals converted by the microphone  113  from sound waves. The audio circuitry  110  converts the electrical signal to audio data and transmits the audio data to the peripherals interface  118  for processing. Audio data may be retrieved from and/or transmitted to memory  102  and/or the RF circuitry  108  by the peripherals interface  118 . In some embodiments, the audio circuitry  110  also includes a headset jack (e.g.  212 ,  FIG.  2   ). The headset jack provides an interface between the audio circuitry  110  and removable audio input/output peripherals, such as output-only headphones or a headset with both output (e.g., a headphone for one or both ears) and input (e.g., a microphone). 
     The I/O subsystem  106  couples input/output peripherals on the device  100 , such as the touch screen  112  and other input/control devices  116 , to the peripherals interface  118 . The I/O subsystem  106  may include a display controller  156  and one or more input controllers  160  for other input or control devices. The one or more input controllers  160  receive/send electrical signals from/to other input or control devices  116 . The other input/control devices  116  may include physical buttons (e.g., push buttons, rocker buttons, etc.), dials, slider switches, joysticks, click wheels, and so forth. In some alternate embodiments, input controller(s)  160  may be coupled to any (or none) of the following: a keyboard, infrared port, USB port, and a pointer device such as a mouse. The one or more buttons may include an up/down button for volume control of the speaker  111  and/or the microphone  113 . The one or more buttons may include a push button. A quick press of the push button may disengage a lock of the touch screen  112  or begin a process that uses gestures on the touch screen to unlock the device, as described in U.S. Pat. No. 7,657,849, which is hereby incorporated by reference. A longer press of the push button may turn power to the device  100  on or off. The user may be able to customize a functionality of one or more of the buttons. The touch screen  112  is used to implement virtual or soft buttons and one or more soft keyboards. 
     The touch-sensitive touch screen  112  provides an input interface and an output interface between the device and a user. The display controller  156  receives and/or sends electrical signals from/to the touch screen  112 . The touch screen  112  displays visual output to the user. The visual output may include graphics, text, icons, video, and any combination thereof (collectively termed “graphics”). In some embodiments, some or all of the visual output may correspond to user-interface objects, further details of which are described below. 
     A touch screen  112  has a touch-sensitive surface, sensor or set of sensors that accepts input from the user based on haptic and/or tactile contact. The touch screen  112  and the display controller  156  (along with any associated modules and/or sets of instructions in memory  102 ) detect contact (and any movement or breaking of the contact) on the touch screen  112  and converts the detected contact into interaction with user-interface objects (e.g., one or more soft keys, icons, web pages or images) that are displayed on the touch screen. In an exemplary embodiment, a point of contact between a touch screen  112  and the user corresponds to a finger of the user. 
     The touch screen  112  may use LCD (liquid crystal display) technology, or LPD (light emitting polymer display) technology, although other display technologies may be used in other embodiments. The touch screen  112  and the display controller  156  may detect contact and any movement or breaking thereof using any of a plurality of touch sensing technologies now known or later developed, including but not limited to capacitive, resistive, infrared, and surface acoustic wave technologies, as well as other proximity sensor arrays or other elements for determining one or more points of contact with a touch screen  112 . 
     The display controller  156  determine movement of contact based on speed, velocity, pressure, and/or an acceleration of the contact point, and tracks the movement across the touch screen  112 . The display controller  156  determines if the contact has stopped such as the detection of a finger-up event or a break in contact with the touch screen  112 . These operations may be applied to a single contact (e.g., one finger touch) or to multiple simultaneous contacts. 
     The display controller  156  detects a gesture input by a user on the computing device  100 . Different gestures have different touch patterns. A touch pattern is characterized by one or more contact points and their associated movements, from which the spatial or geometrical relationships between the contact points can be determined. The display controller  156  detects a gesture based on a particular touch pattern on the display screen. For example, the display controller  156  detects a finger tap gesture by detecting a finger-down event indicating an initial contact of a position on the touch screen  112  followed by detecting a finger-up event at substantially the same position where the finger is no longer touching the touch screen. In another example, the display controller  156  detects a finger swipe gesture on the touch screen based on detecting a finger-down event (appearance of a contact point) followed by detecting one or more finger-dragging events where the user drags his or her finger from the position associated with the finger-down event to another position on the touch screen  112  (movement of a contact point), and subsequently followed by a finger-up event (disappearance of the contact point). 
     A touch-sensitive display in some embodiments of the touch screen  112  may be analogous to the multi-touch sensitive tablets described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,323,846, 6,570,557, and US20020015024, each of which is hereby incorporated by reference herein, in its entirety. However, a touch screen  112  displays visual output from the portable device  100 , whereas touch sensitive tablets do not provide visual output. 
     A touch-sensitive display in some embodiments of the touch screen  112  may be as described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 8,279,180, 7,663,607, 20060026521 U.S. Pat. Nos. 8,239,784, 7,614,008, 7,844,914, US20060033724, and US20060197753, each of which are incorporated by reference in its entirety, herein. 
     The user may make contact with the touch screen  112  using any suitable object or appendage, such as a stylus, a finger, and so forth. In some embodiments, the user interface is designed to work primarily with finger-based contacts and gestures, which are much less precise than stylus-based input due to the larger area of contact of a finger on the touch screen. In some embodiments, the device translates the rough finger-based input into a precise pointer/cursor position or command for performing the actions desired by the user. 
     In some embodiments, in addition to the touch screen  112 , the computing device  100  may include a touchpad (not shown) for activating or deactivating particular functions. In some embodiments, the touchpad is a touch-sensitive area of the device that, unlike the touch screen, does not display visual output. The touchpad may be a touch-sensitive surface that is separate from the touch screen  112  or an extension of the touch-sensitive surface formed by the touch screen. 
     In some embodiments, the computing device  100  may include a physical or virtual click wheel as an input control device  116 . A user may navigate among and interact with one or more graphical objects (henceforth referred to as icons) displayed in the touch screen  112  by rotating the click wheel or by moving a point of contact with the click wheel (e.g., where the amount of movement of the point of contact is measured by its angular displacement with respect to a center point of the click wheel). The click wheel may also be used to select one or more of the displayed icons. For example, the user may press down on at least a portion of the click wheel or an associated button. User commands and navigation commands provided by the user via the click wheel may be processed by an input controller  160  as well as one or more of the modules and/or sets of instructions in memory  102 . For a virtual click wheel, the click wheel and click wheel controller may be part of the touch screen  112  and the display controller  156 , respectively. For a virtual click wheel, the click wheel may be either an opaque or semitransparent object that appears and disappears on the touch screen display in response to user interaction with the device. In some embodiments, a virtual click wheel is displayed on the touch screen of a portable multifunction device and operated by user contact with the touch screen. 
     The computing device  100  also includes a power system  162  for powering the various components. The power system  162  may include a power management system, one or more power sources (e.g., battery, alternating current (AC)), a recharging system, a power failure detection circuit, a power converter or inverter, a power status indicator (e.g., a light-emitting diode (LED)) and any other components associated with the generation, management and distribution of power in portable devices. 
     The computing device  100  may also include one or more optical sensors  164 .  FIG.  1 B  shows an optical sensor coupled to an optical sensor controller  158  in I/O subsystem  106 . The optical sensor  164  may include charge-coupled device (CCD) or complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) phototransistors. The optical sensor  164  receives light from the environment, projected through one or more lens, and converts the light to data representing an image. In conjunction with an imaging module  143  (also called a camera module), the optical sensor  164  may capture still images or video. In some embodiments, an optical sensor is located on the back of the computing device  100 , opposite the touch screen  112  on the front of the device, so that the touch screen display may be used as a viewfinder for either still and/or video image acquisition. In some embodiments, an optical sensor is located on the front of the device so that the user&#39;s image may be obtained for videoconferencing while the user views the other video conference participants on the touch screen display. In some embodiments, the position of the optical sensor  164  can be changed by the user (e.g., by rotating the lens and the sensor in the device housing) so that a single optical sensor  164  may be used along with the touch screen display for both video conferencing and still and/or video image acquisition. 
     The computing device  100  may also include one or more proximity sensors  166 .  FIG.  1 A  shows a proximity sensor  166  coupled to the peripherals interface  118 . Alternately, the proximity sensor  166  may be coupled to an input controller  160  in the I/O subsystem  106 . The proximity sensor  166  may perform as described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,653,883, 8,381,135, 7,957,762, 7,633,076, and 8,006,002, each of which are incorporated by reference herein, in its entirety. In some embodiments, the proximity sensor turns off and disables the touch screen  112  when the multifunction device is placed near the user&#39;s ear (e.g., when the user is making a phone call). In some embodiments, the proximity sensor keeps the screen off when the device is in the user&#39;s pocket, purse, or other dark area to prevent unnecessary battery drainage when the device is a locked state. 
     The computing device  100  may also include one or more accelerometers  168 .  FIG.  1 B  shows an accelerometer  168  coupled to the peripherals interface  118 . Alternately, the accelerometer  168  may be coupled to an input controller  160  in the I/O subsystem  106 . The accelerometer  168  may perform as described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,218,226 and 7,688,306, each of which are incorporated by reference herein, in its entirety. In some embodiments, information is displayed on the touch screen display in a portrait view or a landscape view based on an analysis of data received from the one or more accelerometers. 
     In some embodiments, the software components stored in memory  102  may include an operating system  126 , a communication module (or set of instructions)  128 , a contact/motion module (or set of instructions)  130 , a graphics module (or set of instructions)  132 , a text input module (or set of instructions)  134 , a Global Positioning System (GPS) module (or set of instructions)  135 , and applications (or set of instructions)  136 . 
     The operating system  126  (e.g., Darwin, RTXC, LINUX, UNIX, OS X, WINDOWS, or an embedded operating system such as VxWorks) includes various software components and/or drivers for controlling and managing general system tasks (e.g., memory management, storage device control, power management, etc.) and facilitates communication between various hardware and software components. 
     The communication module  128  facilitates communication with other devices over one or more external ports  124  and also includes various software components for handling data received by the RF circuitry  108  and/or the external port  124 . The external port  124  (e.g., Universal Serial Bus (USB), FIREWIRE, etc.) is adapted for coupling directly to other devices or indirectly over a network (e.g., the Internet, wireless LAN, etc.). In some embodiments, the external port is a multi-pin (e.g., 30-pin) connector that is the same as, or similar to and/or compatible with the 30-pin connector used on iPod (trademark of Apple Computer, Inc.) devices. 
     The contact/motion module  130  may detect contact with the touch screen  112  (in conjunction with the display controller  156 ) and other touch sensitive devices (e.g., a touchpad or physical click wheel). The contact/motion module  130  includes various software components for performing various operations related to detection of contact, such as determining if contact has occurred, determining if there is movement of the contact and tracking the movement across the touch screen  112 , and determining if the contact has been broken (i.e., if the contact has ceased). Determining movement of the point of contact may include determining speed (magnitude), velocity (magnitude and direction), and/or an acceleration (a change in magnitude and/or direction) of the point of contact. These operations may be applied to single contacts (e.g., one finger contacts) or to multiple simultaneous contacts (e.g., “multitouch”/multiple finger contacts). In some embodiments, the contact/motion module  130  and the display controller  156  also detects contact on a touchpad. In some embodiments, the contact/motion module  130  and the controller  160  detects contact on a click wheel. 
     The graphics module  132  includes various known software components for rendering and displaying graphics on the touch screen  112 , including components for changing the intensity of graphics that are displayed. As used herein, the term “graphics” includes any object that can be displayed to a user, including without limitation text, web pages, icons (such as user-interface objects including soft keys), digital images, videos, animations and the like. 
     The text input module  134 , which may be a component of graphics module  132  provides soft keyboards for entering text in various applications (e.g., contacts  137 , e-mail  140 , IM  141 , blogging  142 , browser  147 , and any other application that needs text input). 
     The GPS module  135  determines the location of the device and provides this information for use in various applications (e.g., to telephone  138  for use in location-based dialing, to camera  143  and/or blogger  142  as picture/video metadata, and to applications that provide location-based services such as weather widgets, local yellow page widgets, and map/navigation widgets). 
     The applications  136  may include the following modules (or sets of instructions), or a subset or superset thereof:
         a contacts module  137  (sometimes called an address book or contact list);   a telephone module  138 ;   a video conferencing module  139 ;   an e-mail client module  140 ;   an instant messaging (IM) module  141 ;   a blogging module  142 ;   a camera module  143  for still and/or video images;   an image management module  144 ;   a video player module  145 ;   a music player module  146 ;   a browser module  147 ;   a calendar module  148 ;   widget modules  149 , which may include weather widget  149 - 1 , stocks widget  149 - 2 , calculator widget  149 - 3 , alarm clock widget  149 - 4 , dictionary widget  149 - 5 , and other widgets obtained by the user, as well as user-created widgets  149 - 6 ;   electronic book reader module  150     search module  151 ;   family account management module  152 ,       

     Examples of other applications  136  that may be stored in memory  102  include a video chat application, a messaging application, other word processing applications, JAVA-enabled applications, encryption, digital rights management, voice recognition, and voice replication. 
     Each of the above identified modules and applications correspond to a set of instructions for performing one or more functions described above. These modules (i.e., sets of instructions) need not be implemented as separate software programs, procedures or modules, and thus various subsets of these modules may be combined or otherwise re-arranged in various embodiments. For example, video player module  145  may be combined with music player module  146  into a single module. In some embodiments, memory  102  may store a subset of the modules and data structures identified above. Furthermore, memory  102  may store additional modules and data structures not described above. 
     In some embodiments, the computing device  100  is a device where operation of a predefined set of functions on the device is performed exclusively through a touch screen  112  and/or a touchpad. By using a touch screen and/or a touchpad as the primary input/control device for operation of the computing device  100 , the number of physical input/control devices (such as push buttons, dials, and the like) on the device  100  may be reduced. 
     The predefined set of functions that may be performed exclusively through a touch screen and/or a touchpad include navigation between user interfaces. In some embodiments, the touchpad, when touched by the user, navigates the computing device  100  to a main, home, or root menu from any user interface that may be displayed on the device  100 . In such embodiments, the touchpad may be referred to as a “menu button.” In some other embodiments, the menu button may be a physical push button or other physical input/control device instead of a touchpad. 
       FIG.  1 C  is a block diagram illustrating exemplary components for event handling in accordance with one embodiment. In one embodiment, memory  102  (in  FIG.  1 A ) includes event sorter  170  (e.g., in operating system  126 ), operating system  126 , one or more applications (e.g.,  136 - 1  and  136 - 2 , which can be any of the aforementioned applications  137 - 151 ,  155 ,  380 - 390 ). 
     Event sorter  170  receives event information and determines the application  136 - 1  and application view  191  of application  136 - 1  to which to deliver the event information. Event sorter  170  includes event monitor  171  and event dispatcher module  174 . In some embodiments, application  136 - 1  includes application internal state  192 , which indicates the current application view(s) displayed on touch sensitive display  112  when the application is active or executing. In some embodiments, device/global internal state  157  is used by event sorter  170  to determine which application(s) is (are) currently active, and application internal state  192  is used by event sorter  170  to determine application views  191  to which to deliver event information. 
     In some embodiments, application internal state  192  includes additional information, such as one or more of: resume information to be used when application  136 - 1  resumes execution, user interface state information that indicates information being displayed or that is ready for display by application  136 - 1 , a state queue for enabling the user to go back to a prior state or view of application  136 - 1 , and a redo/undo queue of previous actions taken by the user. 
     Event monitor  171  receives event information from peripherals interface  118 . Event information includes information about a sub-event (e.g., a user touch on touch-sensitive display  112 , as part of a multi-touch gesture). Peripherals interface  118  transmits information it receives from I/O subsystem  106  or a sensor, such as proximity sensor  166 , accelerometer(s)  168 , and/or microphone  113  (through audio circuitry  110 ). Information that peripherals interface  118  receives from I/O subsystem  106  includes information from touch-sensitive display  112  or a touch-sensitive surface. 
     In some embodiments, event monitor  171  sends requests to the peripherals interface  118  at predetermined intervals. In response, peripherals interface  118  transmits event information. In other embodiments, peripheral interface  118  transmits event information only when there is a significant event (e.g., receiving an input above a predetermined noise threshold and/or for more than a predetermined duration). 
     In some embodiments, event sorter  170  also includes a hit view determination module  172  and/or an active event recognizer determination module  173 . 
     Hit view determination module  172  provides software procedures for determining where a sub-event has taken place within one or more views, when touch sensitive display  112  displays more than one view. Views are made up of controls and other elements that a user can see on the display. 
     Another aspect of the user interface associated with an application is a set of views, sometimes herein called application views or user interface windows, in which information is displayed and touch-based gestures occur. The application views (of a respective application) in which a touch is detected may correspond to programmatic levels within a programmatic or view hierarchy of the application. For example, the lowest level view in which a touch is detected may be called the hit view, and the set of events that are recognized as proper inputs may be determined based, at least in part, on the hit view of the initial touch that begins a touch-based gesture. 
     Hit view determination module  172  receives information related to sub-events of a touch-based gesture. When an application has multiple views organized in a hierarchy, hit view determination module  172  identifies a hit view as the lowest view in the hierarchy which should handle the sub-event. In most circumstances, the hit view is the lowest level view in which an initiating sub-event occurs (i.e., the first sub-event in the sequence of sub-events that form an event or potential event). Once the hit view is identified by the hit view determination module, the hit view typically receives all sub-events related to the same touch or input source for which it was identified as the hit view. 
     Active event recognizer determination module  173  determines which view or views within a view hierarchy should receive a particular sequence of sub-events. In some embodiments, active event recognizer determination module  173  determines that only the hit view should receive a particular sequence of sub-events. In other embodiments, active event recognizer determination module  173  determines that all views that include the physical location of a sub-event are actively involved views, and therefore determines that all actively involved views should receive a particular sequence of sub-events. In other embodiments, even if touch sub-events were entirely confined to the area associated with one particular view, views higher in the hierarchy would still remain as actively involved views. 
     Event dispatcher module  174  dispatches the event information to one or more event recognizers (e.g., event recognizer  180 ). In some embodiments, event dispatcher module  174  dispatches the event information to one or more event recognizers in a single application. In other embodiments, event dispatcher module  174  dispatches the event information to event recognizers in a plurality of applications  136 , or the operating system  126  and at least one application. In embodiments including active event recognizer determination module  173 , event dispatcher module  174  delivers the event information to one or more event recognizers including an event recognizer determined by active event recognizer determination module  173 . In some embodiments, event dispatcher module  174  stores in an event queue the event information, which is retrieved by a respective event receiver module  182 . 
     In some embodiments, operating system  126  includes event sorter  170 . Alternatively, application  136 - 1  includes event sorter  170 . In yet other embodiments, event sorter  170  is a stand-alone module, or a part of another module stored in memory  102 , such as contact/motion module  130 . 
     In some embodiments, respective applications (e.g.,  136 - 1  and  136 - 2 ) include a plurality of event handlers  190  and one or more application views  191 , each of which includes instructions for handling touch events that occur within a respective view of the application&#39;s user interface. Each application view  191  of the application  136 - 1  includes one or more event recognizers  180 . Typically, a respective application view  191  includes a plurality of event recognizers  180 . In some embodiments, the operating system  126  includes one or more event recognizers  180 . In some embodiments, the event sorter  170  includes one or more event recognizers  180 . In other embodiments, one or more of event recognizers  180  are part of a separate module, such as a user interface kit (not shown) or a higher level object from which application  136 - 1  inherits methods and other properties. In some embodiments, a respective event handler  190  includes one or more of: data updater  176 , object updater  177 , GUI updater  178 , and/or event data  179  received from event sorter  170 . Event handler  190  may utilize or call data updater  176 , object updater  177  or GUI updater  178  to update the application internal state  192 . Alternatively, one or more of the application views  191  include one or more respective event handlers  190 . Also, in some embodiments, one or more of data updater  176 , object updater  177 , and GUI updater  178  are included in a respective application view  191 . 
     A respective event recognizer  180  receives event information (e.g., event data  179 ) from event sorter  170 , and identifies an event from the event information. Event recognizer  180  includes event receiver  182  and event comparator  184 . In some embodiments, event recognizer  180  also includes at least a subset of: metadata  183 , and event delivery instructions  188  (which may include sub-event delivery instructions). 
     Event receiver  182  receives event information from event sorter  170 . The event information includes information about a sub-event, for example, a touch or a touch movement. Depending on the sub-event, the event information also includes additional information, such as location of the sub-event. When the sub-event concerns motion of a touch the event information may also include speed and direction of the sub-event. In some embodiments, events include rotation of the device from one orientation to another (e.g., from a portrait orientation to a landscape orientation, or vice versa), and the event information includes corresponding information about the current orientation (also called device attitude) of the device. 
     Event comparator  184  compares the event information to predefined event or sub-event definitions and, based on the comparison, determines an event or sub-event, or determines or updates the state of an event or sub-event. In some embodiments, event comparator  184  includes event definitions  186 . Event definitions  186  contain definitions of events (e.g., predefined sequences of sub-events), for example, event  1  ( 187 - 1 ), event  2  ( 187 - 2 ), and others. In some embodiments, sub-events in an event  187  include, for example, touch begin, touch end, touch movement, touch cancellation, and multiple touching. In one example, the definition for event  1  ( 187 - 1 ) is a double tap on a displayed object. The double tap, for example, comprises a first touch (touch begin) on the displayed object for a predetermined phase, a first lift-off (touch end) for a predetermined phase, a second touch (touch begin) on the displayed object for a predetermined phase, and a second lift-off (touch end) for a predetermined phase. In another example, the definition for event  2  ( 187 - 2 ) is a dragging on a displayed object. The dragging, for example, comprises a touch (or contact) on the displayed object for a predetermined phase, a movement of the touch across touch-sensitive display  112 , and lift-off of the touch (touch end). In some embodiments, the event also includes information for one or more associated event handlers  190 . 
     In some embodiments, event definition  187  includes a definition of an event for a respective user-interface object. In some embodiments, event comparator  184  performs a hit test to determine which user-interface object is associated with a sub-event. For example, in an application view in which three user-interface objects are displayed on touch-sensitive display  112 , when a touch is detected on touch-sensitive display  112 , event comparator  184  performs a hit test to determine which of the three user-interface objects is associated with the touch (sub-event). If each displayed object is associated with a respective event handler  190 , the event comparator uses the result of the hit test to determine which event handler  190  should be activated. For example, event comparator  184  selects an event handler associated with the sub-event and the object triggering the hit test. 
     In some embodiments, the definition for a respective event  187  also includes delayed actions that delay delivery of the event information until after it has been determined whether the sequence of sub-events does or does not correspond to the event recognizer&#39;s event type. 
     When a respective event recognizer  180  determines that the series of sub-events do not match any of the events in event definitions  186 , the respective event recognizer  180  enters an event impossible, event failed, or event ended state, after which it disregards subsequent sub-events of the touch-based gesture. In this situation, other event recognizers, if any, that remain active continue to track and process sub-events of an ongoing touch-based gesture. 
     In some embodiments, a respective event recognizer  180  includes metadata  183  with configurable properties, flags, and/or lists that indicate how the event delivery system should perform sub-event delivery to actively involved event recognizers. In some embodiments, metadata  183  includes configurable properties, flags, and/or lists that indicate how event recognizers may interact with one another. In some embodiments, metadata  183  includes configurable properties, flags, and/or lists that indicate whether sub-events are delivered to varying levels in the view or programmatic hierarchy. 
     In some embodiments, a respective event recognizer  180  activates event handler  190  associated with an event when one or more particular sub-events of an event are recognized. In some embodiments, a respective event recognizer  180  delivers event information associated with the event to event handler  190 . Activating an event handler  190  is distinct from sending (and deferred sending) sub-events to a respective hit view. In some embodiments, event recognizer  180  throws a flag associated with the recognized event, and event handler  190  associated with the flag catches the flag and performs a predefined process. 
     In some embodiments, event delivery instructions  188  include sub-event delivery instructions that deliver event information about a sub-event without activating an event handler. Instead, the sub-event delivery instructions deliver event information to event handlers associated with the series of sub-events or to actively involved views. Event handlers associated with the series of sub-events or with actively involved views receive the event information and perform a predetermined process. 
     In some embodiments, data updater  176  creates and updates data used in application  136 - 1 . For example, data updater  176  updates the telephone number used in contacts module  137 , or stores a video file used in video player module  145 . In some embodiments, object updater  177  creates and updates objects used in application  136 - 1 . For example, object updater  177  creates a new user-interface object or updates the position of a user-interface object. GUI updater  178  updates the GUI. For example, GUI updater  178  prepares display information and sends it to graphics module  132  for display on a touch-sensitive display. 
     In some embodiments, event handler(s)  190  includes or has access to data updater  176 , object updater  177 , and GUI updater  178 . In some embodiments, data updater  176 , object updater  177 , and GUI updater  178  are included in a single module of a respective application  136 - 1  or application view  191 . In other embodiments, they are included in two or more software modules. 
     It shall be understood that the foregoing discussion regarding event handling of user touches on touch-sensitive displays also applies to other forms of user inputs to operate multifunction devices  100  with input-devices, not all of which are initiated on touch screens, e.g., coordinating mouse movement and mouse button presses with or without single or multiple keyboard presses or holds, user movements taps, drags, scrolls, etc., on touch-pads, pen stylus inputs, movement of the device, oral instructions, detected eye movements, biometric inputs, and/or any combination thereof, which may be utilized as inputs corresponding to sub-events which define an event to be recognized. 
     Family Account Management 
     The online content storage system  200  enables users to set up and manage family accounts that include accounts accessible by children of the family. To facilitate the set up process, a computing device  100  executes the family account management module  152  which displays a sequence of user interface screens configured to obtain information pertinent to the attributes of the accounts of the family members. The family account management module  152  can be locally executed on the computing device as illustrated, or can be itself hosted on the content storage system  200 , e.g., as a browser accessing screens provided by the content storage system  200 . 
     Referring again to FIG. A, there is shown three computing devices  100 A,  100 B, and  100 C. In the context of the following description, device  100 A is assumed to be used by an adult family member identified as the “family organizer,” device  100 B is assumed to be used by a child family member, and device  100 C is assumed to be used by another adult family member. 
     Referring generally to  FIG.  2    there is shown an overall execution flow provided by the family account management module  152 , according to one embodiment. Other embodiments may perform the operations in the execution flow in other sequences. Examples of various user interfaces that can be displayed by the computing device  100  in conjunction with the steps of the method flow are illustrated in  FIGS.  3 . 1  to  3 . 22   , as indicated in  FIG.  2   . These user interfaces are referred herein as “screens,” which is understood to include windows, banners, pages, dialogs, messages and other graphical presentations of information. In addition, throughout reference is made to actions and operations initiated in response to various user interface elements including links and controls; other types of user interface elements such as buttons, check boxes, menus, dials, and the like may be used in place of the described links and controls to achieve the described functionality. Further, transmissions of information between the computing devices  100  and the content storage system  200  (or component thereof) may be characterized equivalently as messages, indications, notifications, packets, or other carriers of data between computing systems, whether or not explicitly described as such below. It is understood that such transmissions occur via the network  220  using communications protocols such as previously identified. It is further understood that the described processes require the use of computer systems, and cannot be performed in whole or in part by mental steps by a human being. 
     Generally,  FIGS.  3 . 1  to  3 . 22    illustrate the user interface of the family account management module  152  as it would be displayed on a display device of the computing device  100 . For ease of understanding, the steps in  FIG.  2    are numbered in correspondence with the figure numbers, thus when reference is made to a step  3 . x  in  FIG.  2    the corresponding  FIG.  3   . x  should be consulted as well. For example, when referring to step  3 . 1  in  FIG.  2   , reference  FIG.  3 . 1    should be consulted as an illustration. 
     The method flow begins with a family sharing setup prompt  3 . 1 , such as illustrated in screen  301  shown in  FIG.  3 . 1   , which notifies the user of the overall purpose of the family sharing setup to share media (e.g., photos and videos), electronic books, music, and applications with other family members. The user can continue via selection of a link  303 , or can exit by selection of the navigation button  300 . Generally, selection of navigation button  300  at any time exits the family sharing setup process, (or any other process currently being handled) and returns the computing device  100 A to a prior application state or home page. 
     Following selection of link  303 , the family sharing module  152  prompts  3 . 2  the user to select a specific account to use for sharing with other family members (“family account”). The user setting up the family sharing accounts is termed the “family organizer,” as shown in screen  305  in  FIG.  3 . 2   . The family sharing module  152  selects by default as the family account the account that the user is currently signed in with the content storage system  200 . To identify the currently signed in account, the family sharing module  152  may, for example, send a query from the computing device  100 A to the media server  202  with the user&#39;s email address (which is stored in the computing device  100 A) to obtain the user&#39;s account ID  302 . The user can select the default account at link  304  or select another one of the user&#39;s accounts at link  306 . If the user selects  306  another account, the family sharing module  152  presents a screen that accepts a user ID and password for a different one of the user&#39;s accounts, such as screen  302   a  in  FIG.  3 . 2   a   ; this user ID and password is provided to the media server  202  which verifies the user&#39;s credentials and displays the user ID and name on screen  305  shown in  FIG.  3 . 2    to indicate the family organizer for the account. The account selection is transmitted to the content storage system  200 . 
     Following selection  3 . 2  of an account for use as the family account, the family sharing module  152  prompts  3 . 3  the family organizer to select which account is to be used for purchases by other family members (“purchase account”), with a selection of links for a music account  308 , an e-books account  310 , an apps account  312 , or another account  314 , such as illustrated on screen  307  in  FIG.  3 . 3   . The availability of these accounts can be determined by the family sharing module  152  by querying the user account server  208  to determine which accounts are associated with the user&#39;s account ID, which information is then returned and associated with the displayed link. The selection of purchase account enables the family members having access to the family account with an account to which they may use for payment of content items available from the media server, e-books server, or apps server. In one embodiment, one of the identified music, e-books, or apps accounts is preselected as a default account. 
     Each of the user&#39;s music account  308 , an e-books account  310 , an apps account  312 , or another account  314  is associated with a credit card, debit card or other payment mechanism. Accordingly, following selection  3 . 3  of one of the user&#39;s accounts as a purchase account, the family sharing module  152  retrieves from the user account  208  the payment information, e.g., credit card number, associated with the selected account, and displays at least a portion (e.g., the full number or the last 4 digits) of the credit card number  316  to user, along with auxiliary information such as expiration date, such as illustrated on screen  309  in  FIG.  3 . 4   . The user can select link  318  to confirm  3 . 4  the use of the identified card, or select link  320  to input  3 . 4   a  information for another payment mechanism, e.g., a different credit card number, expiration date, and verification code, as illustrated on screen  311  in  FIG.  3 . 4   a   . (In one optional embodiment, following selection of link  318  the family sharing module  152  displays an input field to receive the credit card verification code for the selected credit card number, thereby further ensuring that the user is authorized to use the credit card number for the purchase account.) The family sharing module  152  transmits the entered information to the purchase server  210  for authentication; once authenticated the updated card information is stored in account with the user&#39;s account as the credit card for use with the purchase account. 
     Following selection of a purchase account (or new payment information), the family sharing module  152  provides  3 . 5  a family screen  321 , such as illustrated in  FIG.  3 . 5   . The family screen  321  includes the name  322  of the family organizer, a portion of the credit card number  324  to be used for shared purchases, and links for initiating operations for adding a family member  326  to the family account, and creating a new account for a child family member  328 . The family screen  321  serves as a base screen to which each member of the family account is directed when accessing the family sharing module  152 . 
     Following selection of the link  328  for creating a new account for a child family member, the family organizer is prompted  3 . 6  with a notification explaining that a child account must be linked to an account of an adult family member, such as on screen  323  in  FIG.  3 . 6   . This feature further emphasizes that a child generally is not allowed to create an account by themselves on the content sharing system, and thus the child&#39;s account can only exist by virtue of being linked to the account of an adult family member. This aids in ensuring that appropriate legal, regulatory and privacy requirements pertaining to online services for children are satisfied. Following selection of a continue link  330 , the family sharing module  152  verifies  3 . 7  that the present user is the an adult family member with authority to create the child account by prompting the user to enter the credit card verification code  332  associated with credit card for the purchase account, such as illustrated by screen  325  in  FIG.  3 . 7   . The operative assumption here is that only an adult family member would have this information, not a child of the family. After this verification code  332  in entered and the family organizer selects the continue link  334 , the family sharing module  152  transmits the code to the purchase server  210 , which authenticates the code against stored information by the user account server  208 . If the code is verified, then the family sharing module  152  presents  3 . 8  a child information screen for receiving information for the child family member, such as screen  327  illustrated in  FIG.  3 . 8   . The use of the credit card verification code  332  as a verification mechanism is a very efficient and reliable way of ensuring that an adult family member is actually creating the child account, and beneficially reduces the amount of time and data entry steps (and thereby battery usage) on the computing device  100  to create the child account. 
     In the child information screen  327 , the family organizer (or other adult family member) inputs the child&#39;s first and last names ( 336 ,  338 ), and date of birth  340 . The family organizer can optionally select link  334  to set customized purchase and access restrictions for child, as further described below. Selection of link  342  transmits this information to the content storage system  200 , which provides it to the user accounts server  208 . The accounts server  208  creates a new account for the child, and links the child account to the shared family account, and returns an indication of a successful account creation to the family sharing module  152 . To create an account for the child, the accounts server  208  creates a new account ID for the child and uses that account ID as an email address associated with the content storage system  200 . 
     During (via link  342 ) or after the creation of the child account, the family organizer can set  3 . 9  specific purchase and access restrictions for a child, such as illustrated in screen  329  in  FIG.  3 . 9   . By default, for a new child family member purchase and access restrictions are enabled via control  360 . The family organizer can deselect control  360  to turn off purchase and access restrictions. Further, the family organizer can select via controls  361  individuals ones of the services (music/media, electronic books, applications) to allow or prohibit access by the child member. In addition, the family organizer can set content ratings, by selecting a rating country  362  (e.g., the USA, UK, Japan, China, etc.) from a plurality of countries; each country is associated with a set of content ratings for movies and games. Responsive to the selected rating country, the appropriate set of available movie  364  and game ratings  366  is retrieved from the content storage system  200  and at least a portion thereof is displayed in corresponding fields, from which the family organizer can select to apply. These ratings are used to restrict the media that the child can access from the various content servers. 
     Further, the family organizer can select a control  370  to automatically update the restrictions as the child ages. Different templates of content access and purchase restrictions for media, movie ratings, and game ratings for different age ranges are stored by the user account server  208 , for example a template for children ages 5-10, a template for children in the U.S. ages 11-13, a template for children ages 14-17, and template for users over age 18. Different sets of content access and purchase restriction templates are stored for different countries (e.g., US, Canada, United Kingdom, Japan, China) to reflect different cultural standards and rating systems. The user account server  208  automatically updates the particular restrictions applied to child member&#39;s account based on the age of the child. For example, each time a child member logs into the content storage system  200 , the user account server  218  can determine the current age of the child from the birth date information previously entered and the current date. If the child&#39;s age in years has changed, the server  218  looks up the appropriate content restriction template for the current age and child&#39;s country and updates the restrictions accordingly. 
     Referring again to  FIG.  2   , responsive to the indication of the successful account creation for the child account, the family sharing module  152  provides  3 . 10  an indication that the account has created, and displays the child&#39;s name, and account ID, such as on screen  331  illustrated in  FIG.  3 . 10   . The screen  331  further includes a link  344  to a screen in which the child can enter a password for their new account, such screen  333  as illustrated in  FIG.  3 . 11   . The operative assumption here is that the child is present while the family organizer is creating the child&#39;s account, and at this step the family organizer can provide the family organizer&#39;s computing device  100 A to the child for inputting the password. 
     As illustrated in  FIG.  3 . 11   , screen  333  is configured to receive a password  346  (and a confirmation re-entry) from the child, along with a selection of a security question  348  and an answer  350 . The family sharing module  152  transmits the password, security question and answer to the user accounts server  208 , which stores the information securely (e.g., stores an encrypted or hashed version thereof). After entering this information, the child would return the computing device  100 A back to the family organizer. 
     Following step  3 . 11 , the family sharing module  152  confirms  3 . 12  that the family organizer is allowing the child family member to purchase content from the various available content sources using the purchase account, for example using the screen  335  illustrated in  FIG.  3 . 12   . In this example, the family organizer is presented with a set of controls  356  to select which content sources, such as a music store (e.g., media server  302 ), e-book store (e.g., electronic book server  216 ), or app store (e.g., apps server  204 ) are available to the child from which to make purchases, using the previously designated purchase account. In one embodiment, all of the available content sources as enabled for purchases by default. The family organizer can deselect individual content sources as desired. Additional confirmations, such as agreement to legal terms and conditions, may be included in confirmation step  3 . 12 . 
     Another feature of the confirmation step  3 . 12 , as illustrated in  FIG.  3 . 12   , is the option to enable a real-time purchase approval process for purchases made by a child family member, via Ask to Buy link  352 . Generally, when the real-time purchase approval feature process is enabled, then each time the child family member is about to make a purchase of content to be charged to the purchase account, a notification is sent to computing device  100  of each adult family member (or alternatively to a designated adult, such as the family organizer) identifying the content being purchased and the price, so that the family organizer can approve the purchase. The family member can approve the purchase via an interface on their computing device  100 , or optionally in one embodiment via the computing device  100 B of the child family member making the purchase. This option can be enabled by default, and is further described below. 
     Upon selection of the continue link  354 , the designated selections are transmitted to the content storage system  200 , which passes the selections to the account server  208  to update the account information for the family sharing account and the child member account. 
     The family sharing module  152  displays  3 . 13  an updated family screen  321 , such as illustrated in  FIG.  3 . 13   , where the name of the child family member is now shown, along with the indicia  356  that the child has a child account. 
     From the family screen  321 , the family organizer may also select link  326  to initiate operations for adding a family member to the family account, where the family member already has an account ID with the content storage system  200 . Following selection of link  326 , the family sharing module  152  displays  3 . 14  a screen configured to receive the name or email address in field  358  of the family member to be added to the family account, such as screen  337  shown in  FIG.  3 . 14   . The family organizer would enter the name or email address  358  and select the continue link  360 . In response, the family sharing module  152  passes the name or email address to the contacts module  137  which searches the family organizer&#39;s contact directory on the computing device  100 A for a match. One (or more) matching names or email address from the family member&#39;s contact directory are then presented to the family organizer (not shown) who then selects the appropriate name. The family sharing module  152  transmits the selected name and/or email address to the content storage system  200 , which provides the name and/or email address to the user account server  208 . The account server  208  verifies that there is an account ID on the content storage system  200  that is associated with the name and/or email address. 
     If the verification by the account server  208  is successful, the family sharing module  152  is notified and it updates  3 . 15  the display of the name in field  358  on screen  337  in visually distinguished manner (e.g., change of color, font), as illustrated in  FIG.  3 . 15   . Also, the family sharing module  152  displays two new links, including a link  360  to have the identified family member enter their password, and a link  362  to send an email invitation to the identified family member at their email address. These two links present options by which the identified family member can accept being included in the family sharing account. 
     More specifically, the link  360  is beneficially selected by the family organizer when the identified family member is present in the same location as the family organizer, and as before, allows the family organizer to provide the computing device  100 A to the family member to enter their password directly, as illustrated for example by screen  339  in  FIG.  3 . 16   . Here, responsive to the family member entering their password, the family sharing module  152  transmits the password and email address (preferably in a secure transmission) the system  200 , which passes the information to the user account server  208  to authenticate the family member. Following an indication from the server  208  that the family member has been authenticated, the family sharing module  152  updates  3 . 17  the family screen  321 , to show the name  362  of the newly included family member, for example as shown in  FIG.  3 . 17   . 
     As part of the authentication check by the user account server  208 , the server  208  determines from the user&#39;s account whether the invited family is a teenager, e.g., has an age in a predetermined age range, such as ages 13-18 (which range can be varied on a country by country basis by a system administrator). If the invited family member is in the teenage age range, then the family sharing module  152  displays  3 . 12  the confirmation screen  335 , such as illustrated in  FIG.  3 . 12   , to the family organizer to confirm that the invited family member is allowed to purchase content, and to enable the family organizer to Ask to Buy link  352  to require real-time purchase approval for that family member&#39;s purchases. 
     Referring back to step  3 . 15  and  FIG.  3 . 15   , if the family organizer selected link  362 , then the family sharing module  152  transmits an email to the email address of the identified family member with an invitation to have that person join the family account, and then would also return to family screen  321 , as in screen  321  shown in  FIG.  3 . 17   , and optionally displays an indicia that the member has been sent an invitation. This path would be followed, for example, if the family member to be added to the family was not available to input their password on the computing device  100 A of family organizer at step  3 . 16 , described above. Accordingly, at the computing device  100 C of the invited family member, an invitation notice is displayed  3 . 18 , such as screen  341  illustrated in  FIG.  3 . 18   . The screen  341  lists  364  the family members associated with the family account, and includes links for the user to each accept  366  or ignore  368  the invitation. Following selection of accept link  366 , the family sharing module  152  on the computing device  100 C displays an indication to family member of the various content sources and service being shared as part of the family account, for example as illustrated on screen  343  in  FIG.  3 . 19   . In one embodiment, the invited member by default has access to all of the content sources and services that are associated with the family account; the invited family member can then select which sources and services they do not want access to, by deselecting appropriate controls  372 . 
     As illustrated in  FIG.  3 . 19   , in one embodiment an invited family member is automatically associated with an entire platform of services and content sources that are shared among members of the family account. These include access to the various sources of content and media, such as files (e.g., files, photos, documents) managed by the content storage server  201 , as well as media (e.g., music, movies, television programs) available via the media server  202 , computer applications via the app server  204 , electronic books via the e-book server. Following selection of accept link  374 , the family sharing module  152  transmits the selected content to the user account server  208 , which updates the account information for the family account. The family sharing module  152  on the invited family member&#39;s computing device  100 C then displays  3 . 22  an updated family screen  321  as illustrated in  FIG.  3 . 22   . 
     Referring to  FIG.  2    again, following the invited family member&#39;s acceptance of the invitation, the user account server  208  notifies the family sharing module  152  on the family organizer&#39;s computing device  100 A that the invitation has been accepted. The family sharing module  152  displays  3 . 20  a notification screen, such as illustrated in  FIG.  3 . 20   . Following selecting of the continue link, the family sharing module  152  displays  3 . 21  a confirmation screen  375 , such as illustrated in  FIG.  3 . 21   , indicating which of the various content sources and services the invited family member has elected to share. In the example of  FIG.  3 . 21    the invited family member is has access to the shared content sources for media, books, and applications (e.g., media server  202 , apps server  204 , and e-books server  206 ), as well as a shared family calendar, family group messaging, and device location service, as further described below. 
     When a family member joins a family account, the family member is automatically given access to a shared calendar associated with the family account. More specifically, upon creation of a family account, an online calendar of the family in instantiated and associated with the family account, and with each user account ID associated therewith. Access privileges are predefined by age group. For example, access privileges for each adult family member include the ability to create, edit, and delete calendar entries, as well as invite others, including family members and non-family members to calendared events. Child family members have restricted access privileges, so that they can see but not edit or delete calendar entries created by other family members. Access privileges for teen family members can be to create personal calendar entries only, and see but not edit calendar entries for other family members. The family organizer can modify the access privileges for teen and child family members. Management of these access privileges, as well as updating and distribution of calendar events between family members is handled by the family calendar server  314 . More specifically, when a user accesses the calendar module  148  on their respective computing device  100 , the module  148  passes the user&#39;s credentials (e.g., user account ID, password) to the family calendar server  216 ; the server  216  uses the account ID to identify the family calendar associated with the user account ID. Upon identification of the appropriate family calendar, the calendar server  216  transmits to the calendar module  148  current calendar information and access restrictions (if any), which calendar can then be displayed to the user on the user&#39;s computing device  100 . 
     Another service to which family members are automatically given access to upon being added to a family account is a group messaging service, by which family members can readily use the instant messaging module  141  to communicate with each other. More specifically, in one embodiment, the group messaging server  216  maintains for each family account a list of family members. When a family organizer adds a new family member to the family account, the family sharing module  152  notifies the group messaging server  216  of the account ID and user name of the added member, and the group messaging server  216  updates the list of family members for the family account. When the newly added family member accesses the instant messaging module  141  on their computing device  100 C, the module obtains from the group messaging server  216  the current list of family members for the family account. These family members are then added by the instant messaging module  141  to the family member&#39;s list of preselected users (e.g. “favorites” or “buddies” or “friends”) for messaging, which, for example, can place that the names of these family members at the top of the list for ease of access by the family member. This automatic configuration of the instant messaging module  141  on a user&#39;s computing device  100  saves the family member time by eliminating the need to manually configure the instant messaging module  141  to include each family member, and thereby has the beneficial side effect of saving battery life on the device  100 . 
     Another service to which family members are automatically given access upon being added to a family account is a device location service, provided by the device location server  218 . As noted above, a computing device  100  preferably includes a GPS module  135  that is enabled to determine the geographic location of the device  100 . Referring to  FIG.  4 . 1    a family member can access a find family members screen  400 , which displays a list  401  of the family members associated with the family account. The family member can then select one or more family members for locating their respective device. In one embodiment, following selection of find family members link  404 , the computing device  100  transmits the account IDs for the selected family members to the device location server  218 . The device location server  218  queries the user account server  208  to confirm that the requesting user is a member of a family account including the other account IDs; this ensures that only a family member can locate other family members, thereby preserving the privacy of the family members. Following verification that the requesting user is a member of a family account including the other account IDs as family members, the device location server  218  returns a map  403 , such as illustrated in  FIG.  4 . 2    with the locations  405  of each of the other family members shown thereon. Optionally, the device location server  218  can send an instruction to each computing device  100  of the respective family members to play a sound or a tone (e.g., a ping or a ringtone) to alert the user that the device has been located. As illustrated in  FIG.  4 . 1   , each adult family member has a link  406  to prevent his or her computing device  100  from being located in this manner. When that option is selected, the family sharing module  152  transmits a message to the device location server  218 , which sets a restriction on the account ID for that family member so that future location requests for that account ID are ignored, until such time as the family member elects to remove the restriction. After selection of the link  406 , the family sharing module  152  updates the link to indicate an option to unhide the user&#39;s device. 
     Referring to  FIG.  5   , there is illustrated one embodiment of a screen  500  configured to enable the family organizer to selectively control the application of a real-time purchase approval process for each individual family member. In the illustrated embodiment of  FIG.  5   , the feature is designated as “Ask to Buy” as shown. Each family member associated with the family account is listed along with a control  502 . In the illustrated embodiment, by default the real time purchase approval process is enabled for the accounts of child family members, and disabled for the accounts of adult family members. Generally, the real-time purchase approval process causes a real time notification to be sent to the computing devices  100  of one or more adult family members when a child family members is about to make purchase of digital content from the media server  202 , apps server  204 , or e-book server  206 . The notification provides the adult family member with information identifying the digital content being purchased, and enables that adult family member to approve or decline the purchase (or defer the decision until a later time). This process is synchronous in that the purchase operations started on the computing device  100 B of the child family member are dependent for completion on the approval of the adult family member via that member&#39;s computing device  100 C. 
     Referring to  FIGS.  6 A-B , there is shown a diagram illustrating one embodiment of a method for implementing the real-time purchase approval process, in the case of a child family member making a purchase of digital content from the one of the content servers  202 ,  204 ,  206  (though the process is applicable as well to any other family member for whom a real time purchase approval is required, such as a teenager). As an initial state, a child family member has logged  600  into the content storage system  200  from their computing device  100 B, and has been authenticated  602  by the user account server  208 . The child family member can then search and browse  604  for a digital content item (e.g., music, movie, television program, electronic book, computer program, game, etc.) to purchase from one of the content sources, such as the media server  202 , app server  204 , or e-book server  206 . Upon identifying a particular content item of interest, the child family member can make a selection to purchase content item via purchase link  702 , as illustrated for example on screen  701  in  FIG.  7 . 1   . From the child family member&#39;s computing device  100 B a purchase request  606  is transmitted to the system  200 , for example to the purchase server  210 . 
     The system  200  prompts  608  the child family member to authenticate themselves again using either their account ID or a fingerprint if the computing device  100  supports a fingerprint scanner, or other identification information. The child family member provides an authentication response  610 . The system  200  receives and verifies  612  the authentication response using the user account server  208 . 
     The system  200  determines  614  whether a family account is associated with the account ID of the child family member, and further determines  616  whether there a real-time purchase approval process is enabled (as in  FIG.  5   ) for that child family member in the identified family account. The real time purchase approval requirement may be stored as a metadata in the account information for the family account or equivalently in the account information for the user. If there is no family account, or if the real-time purchase approval process is not enabled, then the child family member&#39;s purchase is processed  632  ( FIG.  6 B ) for payment. 
     If the real-time purchase approval process is enabled, then the system  200  transmits  618  a notification to the child family member&#39;s computing device  100 B indicating the requirement for the purchase approval. The child family member&#39;s computing device  100 B displays  619  a screen or window indicating that an adult family member is required to approve the purchase of the requested item and prompting the child family member to indicate via a link  704  whether to request such approval, for example from the family organizer or other designated adult family member or decline. An example screen  703  with an overlay  708  is illustrated in  FIG.  7 . 2   . The child family member can select the No link  704 , which indicating is then transmitted to the system,  200  in which case the purchase process is terminated  638  ( FIG.  6 B ) and the child family member is returned, for example, to a home screen of the content server the child family member was using to make a purchase. Following selection of Yes link  706 , the user&#39;s computing device  100 B transmits to the system  200  an indication that the child family member agrees to have an adult family member approve the purchase. The computing device  100  returns to the previous screen, which is updated  620  to indicate that that a request for permission has been sent, and is awaiting approval by another family member, for example as illustrated by indication  710  on the screen  705  in  FIG.  7 . 3   . 
     In one embodiment, when a child family member requests to purchase  606 , the system  200  determines via the content storage server  201  if the item has already been downloaded by another family member, and included in the family account. If so, then the child family member is notified that the content is already available in the family account, for example as illustrated in  FIG.  7 . 3   a   ; the child family member is given a link  711  by which they can immediately access (e.g., play back) the content item. 
     Referring to  FIG.  6 B , the system  200  determines  622  from the family account the account IDs and/or email address of all other family members (e.g., the family organizer and other adult family members) who can approve the purchase. The system  200  transmits  624  a message to the computing devices  100  of each of these other family members indicating that approval for a purchase is required. 
     The family sharing module  152  on each adult family member&#39;s computing device  100  receives this message and displays  626  a screen or a banner indicating that the adult family member&#39;s approval is required, such as screen  707  illustrated in  FIG.  7 . 4   . The screen or banner includes links to different options, including a link  712  to review the request immediately, and a link  714  to defer the review to a later time. Following selection of link  714 , the family sharing module  152  closes the screen or banner, sets a timer with a selected amount of time (e.g., 30 minutes) and upon expiration of the timer, displays  626  the screen  707  again (alternative, this timer can be managed by the system  200 .) Further, if the request at step  626  is not acted upon by the adult family member in 30 minutes, then the purchase process is terminated; this may be treated by the system  200  as equivalent to the adult family member declining  720  (see below) to review the request. Alternatively, the adult family member can select the amount of time to defer the request. 
     Following selection of link  712 , in one embodiment, the system  200  transmits to the adult family member&#39;s computing device  100  the details of the content item that is to purchased, which information is displayed  630  by the computing device, so that the adult family member has sufficient information about the content item, for example as illustrated by screen  709  in  FIG.  7 . 5   . The screen  709  includes links for the adult family member to either approve  718  or decline  720  the purchase request. If the adult family member selects the decline link  720 , a decline message is sent from the adult family member&#39;s computing device  100  to the system  200 , which in turn terminates  638  the purchase process; a message can be displayed on the computing device  100 B of the child family member indicating that the purchase has not been approved, for example as illustrated in  FIG.  7 . 6   . 
     Following selection of approve link  718 , the adult family member&#39;s computing device  100  transmits an approval message back to the system  200 . In one optional embodiment, following selection of approval link  718 , the child family member&#39;s computing device  100  display a screen with an input field to receive the credit card authorization code for the purchase account to validate that the user is in fact the adult family member; alternatively, the input may be the user&#39;s account password, or other credentials not know to the child family member. The system receives the approval message (and optional authorization information), and using the purchase server  210 , proceeds to process  632  the transaction, including authorization of payment using the purchase account associated with the family account. Upon authorization of payment, the content item is downloaded  634  by the download server  212  to the user&#39;s computing device  100 B. Optionally, the user&#39;s computing device  100 B receives a message indicating the purchase has been approved, such as illustrated in  FIG.  7 . 7   . The content is also shared  636  with other family members, as determined by the account settings in the family account. 
     In another embodiment, following selection of Yes link  706 , the system  200  transmits to the user&#39;s computing device  100  a message indicating that the child family member can request permission for the purchase in person, for example by selecting link  722  in banner  724  in  FIG.  7 . 8   . This beneficially enables the user, such as a child family member, to immediately obtain approval from an available, adult family member who may be nearby, rather than waiting. In this embodiment, following selection of link  722 , the system  200  via computing device  100  provides a selection link  726  for each family member who can approve the purchase, for example as illustrated on screen  713  in  FIG.  7 . 9   . Following selection of the link  726  for one of the family members, the user&#39;s computing device  100  prompts for an authorization input, such as the password of the identified family member, for example as illustrated by screen  715  in  FIG.  7 . 10   ; in another embodiment the authorization input is the credit card verification code for the purchase account. The child family member would then hand his or her computing device  100  to the adult family member, who would then input the authorization input, such as their password or credit card verification code. Following input of the authorization input, the family sharing module  152  transmits the password to the system  200 , which passes the information to the user account server  208  to authenticate the adult family member. Following an indication from the server  208  that the adult family member has been authenticated, the purchase server  210  proceeds to process the transaction, including authorization of payment using the purchase account associated with the family account. Upon authorization of payment, the content item is downloaded by the download server  212  to the user&#39;s computing device. If the authorization input is not authenticated, then the purchase is terminated, and the content is not downloaded to the child family member&#39;s computing device  100 B. 
     The disclosure herein has been described in particular detail with respect to one possible embodiment. Those of skill in the art will appreciate that other embodiments may be practiced. First, the particular naming of the components and variables, capitalization of terms, the attributes, data structures, or any other programming or structural aspect is not mandatory or significant, and the mechanisms that implement the invention or its features may have different names, formats, or protocols. Also, the particular division of functionality between the various system components described herein is merely exemplary, and not mandatory; functions performed by a single system component may instead be performed by multiple components, and functions performed by multiple components may instead performed by a single component. 
     Some portions of above description present features in terms of algorithms and symbolic representations of operations on information. These algorithmic descriptions and representations are the means used by those skilled in the data processing arts to most effectively convey the substance of their work to others skilled in the art. These operations, while described functionally or logically, are understood to be implemented by computer programs. Furthermore, it has also proven convenient at times, to refer to these arrangements of operations as modules or by functional names, without loss of generality. 
     Unless specifically stated otherwise as apparent from the above discussion, it is appreciated that throughout the description, discussions utilizing terms such as “determining” or “displaying” or the like, refer to the action and processes of a computer system, or similar electronic computing device, that manipulates and transforms data represented as physical (electronic) quantities within the computer system memories or registers or other such information storage, transmission or display devices. 
     Certain aspects of the embodiments disclosed herein include process steps and instructions described herein in the form of an algorithm. It should be noted that the process steps and instructions could be embodied in software, firmware or hardware, and when embodied in software, could be downloaded to reside on and be operated from different platforms used by real time network operating systems. 
     The algorithms and operations presented herein are not inherently related to any particular computer or other apparatus. Various general-purpose systems may also be used with programs in accordance with the teachings herein, or it may prove convenient to construct more specialized apparatus to perform the required method steps. The required structure for a variety of these systems will be apparent to those of skill in the art, along with equivalent variations. In addition, the present invention is not described with reference to any particular programming language. It is appreciated that a variety of programming languages may be used to implement the teachings of the present invention as described herein, and any references to specific languages are provided for invention of enablement and best mode of the present invention. 
     The embodiments disclosed herein are well suited to a wide variety of computer network systems over numerous topologies. Within this field, the configuration and management of large networks includes storage devices and computers that are communicatively coupled to dissimilar computers and storage devices over a network, such as the Internet. 
     Finally, it should be noted that the language used in the specification has been principally selected for readability and instructional purposes, and may not have been selected to delineate or circumscribe the inventive subject matter. Accordingly, the disclosure herein is intended to be illustrative, but not limiting, of the scope of the invention, which is set forth in the following claims.

Metadata:
Filing Date: 20200914
Publication Date: 20240326
Grant Date: 20240326
Priority Date: 20140530
Inventors: FROST, MEGAN M.
COFFMAN, Patrick L
IOVEVA, MARIA D
Assignee: APPLE INC
CPC Classifications: [{"code": "G06Q40/02", "inventive": true, "first": true, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "G06Q20/227", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "G06Q40/02", "inventive": true, "first": true, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "G06Q40/02", "inventive": true, "first": true, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "G06Q20/227", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "G06Q20/227", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}]
Family ID: 54702361