Enhanced touch-sensitive selection

Abstract

The present invention relates to a method, an electronic device, an electronic handheld device and a computer program product, and in particular to touch-sensitive selection of objects, wherein the objects are displayed on a touch-sensitive display of an electronic device by proposing a highlight mode for selectable objects so as to jump / scroll and highlight one of the selectable objects for subsequent selection, wherein the highlighting and selection are performed at a position different from the position of the selectable objects so as to select displayed objects away from the user's interaction area, in particular away from the position of a possible user's finger, and enhance user interaction.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a method, an electronic device, an electronic handheld device and a computer program product and in particular to touch-sensitive selection of an object displayed on a touch-sensitive display of an electronic device. Background Art

[0002] According to the prior art, selection of an object such as a program icon or symbol representing a software application (hereinafter referred to as app), selection of an input field, or selection of any optional object displayed on a touch-sensitive display of an electronic device is performed by a touch command at a certain position of the aforementioned object, which is the position where the object is displayed on the touch-sensitive display.

[0003] Some smartphones offer a function whereby, following certain user commands, applications displayed on the upper area of ​​the touch-sensitive display are shifted to the lower area of ​​the touch-sensitive display in order to bring the touch-sensitive display closer to the user's finger for selection. The aforementioned method is associated with the step of hiding and not displaying other applications previously displayed on the lower area of ​​the touch-sensitive display, with the result that during the period of shifting to the lower area of ​​the touch-sensitive display, the hidden application cannot be selected. In order to select the hidden application, the shift command must be executed again, the hidden application is moved back and displayed again, so that it can be selected again. Summary of the invention

[0004] The object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problem of restrictive functionality related to touch-sensitive selection of display objects on a touch-sensitive display. The present invention solves the related problems by providing a method, an electronic device, an electronic handheld device and a computer program product for enhancing touch-sensitive selection of objects on a touch-sensitive display. The present invention is particularly intended to provide an alternative method for touch-sensitive selection for selecting display objects on a touch-sensitive display. Furthermore, the present invention is intended to provide an electronic handheld device with a touch-sensitive display, which has an alternative selection capability for selecting display objects on the touch-sensitive display of the electronic handheld device according to the present invention. The present invention is also intended to provide a computer program product as an additional element for implementing touch-sensitive selection of display objects on a touch-sensitive display, wherein the computer program product can be implemented as a stand-alone computer program product or as an additional software element cooperating with an operating system of a computer.

[0005] According to a first main aspect of the invention, a method for performing a selection on a touch-sensitive handheld electronic device with a touch-sensitive display is proposed, wherein the method comprises: a) displaying at least one selectable object on the touch-sensitive display, wherein the at least one selectable object can be selected by a touch command at the position of the at least one selectable object on the touch-sensitive display, b) receiving a first touch command from a touch-sensitive area of ​​the handheld device to enter a highlight mode to highlight one of the at least one selectable object and display the highlighted selectable object, wherein the position of the first touch command is different from the position of the highlighted selectable object, c) receiving a second touch command from the touch-sensitive area of ​​the handheld device to select the highlighted selectable object, or to jump to another selectable object and highlight a selectable object different from the highlighted selectable object, and display the highlighted different selectable object, and after receiving a third touch command, selecting the highlighted different selectable object. Here as an alternative, the position of the second touch command and / or the position of the third touch command on the touch-sensitive area or on the touch-sensitive display can be different from the position of the highlighted object and / or can be different from the position of the highlighted different selectable object.

[0006] According to the above-mentioned first main aspect of the invention, selectable objects are displayed on the touch-sensitive display, wherein the term "object alone" or "selectable object" is to be understood as a program icon, an application icon, an input box, an input field, information displayed in rows, information displayed in columns, an email, a link or a reference. An object can be any type of displayed information that can be selected by a touch command depending on the application currently running on the electronic device. Thus, an object when displaying a web page can be a hyperlink displayed on the web page that can be selected, or in the case of email organization software, it can be emails displayed in a specific order, for example row by row, and each email can be selected to display the content of each selected email.

[0007] According to the above-mentioned first main aspect of the invention, after receiving the first touch command, a highlight mode is entered, wherein, in the highlight mode, one of the optional objects is highlighted and a highlight of the optional object is displayed, which means that the already highlighted optional object is ready for selection after the execution of the second touch command. It should also be noted that the position of the first touch command is different from the position of the highlighted optional object, so that compared with the prior art, the first touch command is not executed at the same position where the optional object is displayed, but is executed at a different position as an alternative, and in addition compared with the prior art, the optional object is highlighted before the selection is made and is not immediately selected without highlighting. In this way, first an optional object according to the invention is highlighted, and in a second step, the selection can be performed. It is also possible to perform the selection of the highlighted optional object after waiting for a specific predetermined period of time, whereby, in this case, the first touch command for highlighting already includes a second touch command of the type of touch command with a waiting phase, and if the waiting phase ends, the highlighted object is automatically selected.

[0008] Furthermore, according to the above-mentioned first main aspect of the invention, the second touch command is also used to jump to another selectable object and highlight a selectable object different from the previously highlighted selectable object, which means that, in the case of multiple selectable objects, it is possible to jump or in other words jump to a different selectable object for highlighting, and then perform a selection of a different selectable object in the next step. The aforementioned jump should be understood as a stepwise jump to the second selectable object, the third selectable object, etc., so as to highlight one of the available selectable objects displayed on the touch-responsive display. In addition, this can also provide a jump to any previously highlighted object so that selectable objects can be highlighted in both directions.

[0009] Furthermore, it should be noted that the present invention also foresees the use of different types of touch commands for the aforementioned touch commands, e.g., for the first touch command, for the second touch command, and for the third touch command, or the use of different types of touch commands specifically for skipping the optional object for highlighting and selecting the highlighted optional object. For example, a first touch and hold command can be used to enter a highlight mode, while maintaining the hold state, further movement on the touch-sensitive area can be used to jump to a different optional object for highlighting, and after highlighting the desired touch command, a tap or alternatively holding for a predetermined period of time can be used as another touch command, e.g., for a second touch command to select the highlighted optional object. In general, the term "touch command" as used in this application should be understood as a general term for touch-sensitive commands, which can include a combination of at least one touch on the touch-sensitive area, wherein any of the at least one touch command can have a specific duration, and further, any of the at least one touch command can be executed by a slide / swipe / movement having at least one specific direction on the touch-sensitive area, wherein the touch commands can be executed simultaneously with the aid of at least one finger, or with a time offset during the use of the finger for the touch command. It should be noted that in the present application, the term "touch-sensitive area" should be understood as two areas, namely, the touch-sensitive display and the touch-sensitive surface around the touch-sensitive display on the electronic device, which leads to at least two different embodiments: executing the first touch command on the touch-sensitive display on the electronic device, or executing the first touch command on the touch-sensitive surface around the touch-sensitive display.

[0010] According to the above-mentioned first main aspect of the invention, a touch command can be used on the touch-sensitive area in order to highlight at least one selectable object or switch to other selectable objects for highlighting and select one of the above-mentioned highlighted objects without touching the selectable object itself at its display position on the touch-sensitive display, but touching the selectable object at a position different from the display position of the selectable object. In this way, the invention provides the advantageous effect that an object can be selected at the position where the touch command is performed rather than at the position where the object is located. In this way, an advantageous selection method can be provided, and the displayed object can be selected regardless of its position on the touch-sensitive display, in particular objects placed away from the user's finger can be selected, and all these objects are kept as selectable.

[0011] In contrast, according to the prior art, a touch command must be performed at the same position of the displayed object, for which the user must move all the way to the selectable object itself to make a selection, so that according to the present invention a shorter selection trajectory for selection is provided and the necessary time for interacting with the device is reduced.

[0012] Furthermore, in contrast to the prior art shifting method, the present invention provides the advantageous effect that all selectable objects remain selectable since they are not hidden due to the shifting.

[0013] In addition, as devices with touch-sensitive displays (such as smartphones and tablets) become larger and larger, forcing users to move back and forth over larger distances on the touch-sensitive displays to execute touch commands, select objects and interact with the device, the present invention provides the beneficial effect of shortening the trajectory of user movement.

[0014] According to another advantageous effect, the invention provides the possibility of using a handheld device in a more convenient way, since when selectable objects are placed away from the possible action area of ​​the fingers of the only holding hand, all selectable objects can be selected when holding the device with only one hand, and there is no need to use the second hand to execute touch commands on the touch-sensitive display.

[0015] According to another advantageous effect of the present invention, when executing a touch command for selection, an optional object can be selected with higher accuracy, especially when a large number of optional objects are displayed, and due to the large number of optional objects that are very close to each other, a touch command at the position of one of the optional objects according to the prior art has a higher probability of causing an erroneous and undesirable selection.

[0016] According to another advantageous aspect of the invention, determining which of the optional objects is initially highlighted depends on the position of the first touch command so as to provide enough space for executing further touch commands and remain within the touch-sensitive area or touch-sensitive display. Based on this advantageous aspect, after executing the first touch command to enter the highlighting mode, the first optional object is already highlighted, wherein determining which object should be highlighted depends on where the first touch command is executed on the touch-sensitive area or touch-sensitive display. By taking into account the position of the first touch command, the borders of the touch-sensitive area and the touch-sensitive display can be automatically taken into account, so that touch commands with sliding parts for jumping to other optional objects for highlighting can be executed uninterruptedly, because there is enough remaining space on the touch-sensitive area or touch-sensitive display to perform the displacement of the finger for jumping and highlighting. For example, if the position of the first touch command is on the right border of the touch-sensitive area or on the touch-sensitive display, the optional object whose position is on the right border of the touch-sensitive display is highlighted, or, if the position of the first touch command is on the lower right corner of the touch-sensitive area or on the touch-sensitive display, the optional object whose position is on the lower right corner is highlighted.

[0017] According to another aspect of the invention, the touch-sensitive area of ​​the handheld device is a touch-sensitive display, or a touch-sensitive surface around the touch-sensitive display of the device. In this way, both possible touch-sensitive parts are subject of the invention.

[0018] According to another aspect, the at least one optional object is determined from a plurality of objects displayed on the touch-sensitive display, wherein the determination depends on the distance between the position of the first touch command and each of the plurality of objects and / or on the current direction of use of the touch-sensitive handheld electronic device. According to the aforementioned aspect, certain objects can be selected and made optional and highlighted according to the present invention. This means that some of the displayed objects can be excluded from at least one of the optional objects and can then be kept optional by a touch command at its specific display position. Thus, the number of optional objects that can be highlighted can be reduced, which has the advantage that the display is simpler to avoid distracting the user.

[0019] According to another aspect of the present invention, the first touch command, the second touch command or the third touch command is at least one of the following or a combination of the following: a single touch command, a short touch command, a tap, a double tap, a horizontal or vertical scroll, a slide, a touch and hold, a flick or a press on the touch-sensitive display, a gesture, and can be performed by at least one finger and / or a combination of at least two fingers. Generally, a touch command should be understood as a command, which corresponds to the initiation of a certain action. This means that according to the present invention, any possible combination of touch commands can be used.

[0020] Furthermore, according to another aspect of the invention, the highlighting is performed by using distinctive graphical elements and / or using connecting elements with geometric forms, colors and / or patterns and / or using reference elements and / or by modified sizes to show which objects are selectable and / or which of the selectable objects is highlighted. In general, any visual element that can be used to visualize which selectable object is highlighted should be understood as a highlighting according to the invention.

[0021] According to another advantageous aspect of the invention, at least one of the touch commands is performed along a route, at least a portion of which has a vertical route, a horizontal route, a curved route, a circular route and / or a diagonal route. In this way, different types of touch commands are provided, which may include different types of routes with one of the aforementioned routes to provide the possibility of providing different routes depending on the distribution of selectable objects on the touch-sensitive display or depending on the position on the touch-sensitive area. As an alternative or in addition, the aforementioned route can also be visualized on the touch-sensitive display in order to inform the user of the current route or the predetermined route, which can be predefined by the user. Therefore, according to this advantageous aspect, the route can be visualized with the help of graphical elements to show which type of route is provided.

[0022] According to another advantageous aspect of the invention, the route visualization provides an enlarged view of at least one group from the selectable objects in order to improve the accuracy of the highlighting and selection of the selectable objects. In this way, if the enlarged view provides the possibility to build subgroups from the selectable objects in order to skip only the members of the aforementioned subgroup. The smaller number of selectable objects of the subgroup makes it easier for the user to make selections along a given route, since a single jump to another object of the subgroup can be performed with a less precise touch command due to the reduced sensitivity caused by the enlarged view based on the group.

[0023] According to another advantageous aspect of the invention, the at least one selectable object is a program icon, an application icon, an input box, an input field, information displayed in rows, information displayed in columns, an email, a link or a reference. As already stated, any object that can be selected by a touch command on a touch-sensitive display can be a selectable object.

[0024] According to another advantageous aspect of the invention, the highlight mode is entered for a first subgroup of the selectable objects, and wherein the distance of the first touch command to the first subgroup of the selectable objects is greater than the distance to the second subgroup of the selectable objects. In this way, the second subgroup closer to the first touch command is not used for the highlight mode, because the selectable objects of the second subgroup can be directly selected by the touch command, while the finger is already close to the selectable objects of the second subgroup. In this way, the complexity is reduced and user distraction is avoided.

[0025] According to another advantageous aspect of the invention, a touch-sensitive handheld electronic device with a touch-sensitive display is provided, wherein the device is adapted to perform one of the methods according to one of the preceding aspects as hereinbefore described.

[0026] The touch-sensitive device or the touch-sensitive handheld device is preferably equipped with a housing including a digital storage unit, a CPU, a wireless communication unit, a graphics processor unit (GPU), a sound transducer unit, a touch-sensitive display, and is equipped with software as an operating system for the device. As an alternative, the touch-sensitive device or the touch-sensitive handheld device can also have a touch-sensitive area in addition to the touch-sensitive display, which is preferably placed at a position around the touch-sensitive display. As a further alternative, the touch-sensitive device or the touch-sensitive handheld device can be equipped with at least one button, such as a home button and / or a side button.

[0027] The handheld electronic device according to the present invention can be a smartphone, a tablet computer, a multimedia player, a wearable device, a smart watch or a notebook.

[0028] According to another advantageous aspect of the invention, there is provided a computer-readable storage medium comprising instructions, which when executed by a computer causes the computer to perform a method according to one of the aspects described in the present application. In this way, the computer product according to the invention can be part of an operating system, or can be an additional part as software that can be loaded into an electronic device to work according to one of the aspects of the invention. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0029] Based on the invention, some preferred and non-exclusive embodiments are described below with the aid of the drawings.

[0030] Figure 1 Selection of an object on a touch-sensitive display of an electronic device according to the prior art is shown.

[0031] Figure 2 Selection of a display object on a touch-sensitive display of an electronic device according to a first embodiment of the present invention is shown.

[0032] Figure 3 Selection of a display object on a touch-sensitive display of an electronic device according to a second embodiment of the present invention is shown.

[0033] Figure 4 Selection of a display object on a touch-sensitive display of an electronic device according to a third embodiment of the present invention is shown.

[0034] Figure 5 Selection of a display object on a touch-sensitive display of an electronic device according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention is shown.

[0035] Figure 6 Selection of a display object on a touch-sensitive display of an electronic device according to a fifth embodiment of the present invention is shown. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0036] Figure 1 The selection of a selectable object 3 on a touch-sensitive display 2 of an electronic device 1 according to the prior art is shown. Figure 1 Two steps are depicted, namely a first step S1.1 and a second step S1.2. In steps S1.1 and S1.2, the touch-sensitive display 2 displays a plurality of selectable objects 3, which are marked with letters "a", "b", "c", "d", "e", "f", "g", "h" (hereinafter referred to as "a"-"h") and "w", "x", "y", "z" (hereinafter referred to as "w"-"z"). The selection according to the prior art is performed by a touch-sensitive command 4, which is indicated by a black star 4, wherein, as shown in step S1.2, the selection of the selectable object is performed by executing the touch-sensitive command 4 at the position of the selectable object "g". In this way, any of the selectable objects can be selected by a touch-sensitive command 4 at the position of one of the selectable objects "a"-"h" and "w"-"z". Therefore, according to the prior art, it is determined that any selection of the selectable object must be performed by a touch command at the position of the desired selectable object.

[0037] Figure 2 The selection of a selectable object 3 also marked with letters "a" - "h" and "w" - "z" on the touch-sensitive display 2 is shown according to a first embodiment of the invention. Figure 2 Three steps are shown, namely S2.1, S2.2 and S2.3. The first step S2.1 describes a plurality of selectable objects "a"-"h" and "w"-"z" displayed on the touch-sensitive display 2 of the electronic device 1, wherein each of the selectable objects can be selected by a touch command to be performed at the display position of the selectable objects "a"-"h" and "w"-"z", which is known from the prior art. Now according to the present invention, in step S2.2, after a first touch command 4 is performed at a touch-sensitive area 5 represented by a circle, which is located below the touch-sensitive display 2 and is different from the position of the selectable objects "a"-"h" and "w"-"z" and is also different from the touch-sensitive display 2, the highlight mode is entered. After entering the highlight mode, one of the selectable objects is initially highlighted, as shown in FIG. Figure 2 As shown in step S2.2, when another touch command is executed, the selectable object marked with the letter "a" is highlighted and is potentially selectable. In this way, after entering the highlight mode and highlighting the selectable object "a", the highlighted object "a" can be selected by executing a second touch command. The mentioned second touch command 4 is one of the touch commands as defined in this specification, or it can also be a waiting time period with a predetermined time period, after which the highlighted object "a" is selected and, for example, an application is started (not shown here). As an alternative to the selection of the highlighted object "a", and as Figure 2 As shown in step S2.3, after highlighting the optional object "a", a second touch command 4 is used to jump to and highlight a different optional object among the optional objects "b"-"h" or "w"-"z", that is, as shown in step S2.3, the optional object "b" is highlighted. Obviously, the aforementioned second touch command 4 for selecting the highlighted object "a" and the second touch command 4 for jumping to a different optional object "b" are of different types to distinguish the two. Further for better understanding, in Figure 2 In FIG. 1 , the shift represented by the arrow “m” indicates the movement of the finger from the finger position in step S2.2 to a different finger position in step S2.3. It should be noted that shifting or sliding is only an alternative to highlighting different selectable objects and should not be understood as a limitation of the possible commands. The highlighting of different selectable objects can be performed by any possible touch command described in the present application, such as tapping, touching and holding, and sliding on the touch sensitive area. Figure 2 As depicted and shown, after jumping to another selectable object, i.e., jumping to selectable object "b" and highlighting selectable object "b", selectable object "b" can be selected after receiving another command, such as a third touch command, but in Figure 2 The aforementioned selection of object "b" and the start of application "b" are not shown in FIG. Figure 2 An additional embodiment and not shown here, highlights mode is entered only for a subgroup from selectable objects "a"-"h" and "w"-"z", i.e. highlights mode is entered for subgroup "a"-"h" but not for "w"-"z", because objects "w"-"z" are close to the position of the first touch command 4 for entering highlights mode in step S2.2. An alternative embodiment of entering highlights mode for a subgroup of selectable objects depends on the distance between the first touch command for entering highlights mode and the subgroup of selectable objects, wherein highlights mode is entered for a subgroup having a larger distance from the position of the first touch command. The aforementioned advantages can be applied to any embodiment described herein according to the invention, for example in the following figures.

[0038] Figure 3 The selection of selectable objects 3, also labeled "a"-"h" and "w"-"z", on a touch-sensitive display 2 is shown according to a second embodiment of the present invention. Figure 3 The embodiment corresponds to Figure 2 The second embodiment shown differs in that the touch command 4 is executed on the touch-sensitive display 2 instead of a similar Figure 2 is performed on the touch-sensitive surface surrounding the touch-sensitive display 2. Figure 3In step S3.1 of the embodiment, selectable objects "a"-"h" and "w"-"z" are displayed on the touch-sensitive display 2, and in step S3.2, after executing a first touch command 4 on the touch-sensitive display 2, a highlight mode is entered and one selectable object "a" is initially highlighted, which selectable object can be selected after executing a second touch command 4 on the touch-sensitive display 2. Alternatively, according to step S3.3, the second touch command 4 can be used to jump to a different selectable object "b" and highlight the selectable object "b". Object "b" can be selected after receiving another command such as a third touch command, but Figure 3 The aforementioned selection of object "b" and starting application "b" are not shown in FIG. Here it is also obvious that the aforementioned second touch command 4 for selecting the highlighted object "a" and the second touch command 4 for jumping to a different selectable object "b" are of different types in order to distinguish between the two.

[0039] Figure 4 The selection of selectable objects 3, also labeled "a"-"h", on a touch-sensitive display 2 is shown according to a third embodiment of the present invention. Figure 4 , showing three steps S4.2, S4.3 and S4.4. No similar Figure 2 Step S2.2 in Figure 3 The initial state before entering the highlighted display mode of step S3.1 in the electronic device 1 is that a plurality of selectable objects "a"-"h" and "w"-"z" are displayed on the touch-sensitive display 2 of the electronic device 1, wherein each of the selectable objects "a"-"h" and "w"-"z" can be selected by a touch command to be performed at the position where the selectable objects "a"-"h" and "w"-"z" as known in the prior art are displayed. Figure 4 , in step S4.2, after executing a first touch command 4 at a touch-sensitive area 5 represented by a circle, located below the touch-sensitive display 2 and at a different position than the selectable objects "a"-"h" and "w"-"z" and also at a different position than the touch-sensitive display 2, the highlight mode is entered. After entering the highlight mode, a graphical element 8 of a dotted line 8 is displayed to highlight the selectable object "g" for indicating that the selectable object "g" is initially highlighted and is potentially selectable when a second touch command 4 is executed. The mentioned second touch command 4 is one of the touch commands as defined in the present specification or can also be a waiting time period with a predetermined time period, after which the highlighted object "g" is selected and, for example, the application "g" is started (not shown here). In step S4.2, the initially highlighted object "g" can be selected (not shown) by executing a touch command combined with a movement towards the highlighted object "g". As an alternative to the selection of the highlighted object "g", and as Figure 4 As shown in step S4.2, after highlighting the selectable object "g", a second touch command 4 is used to jump to and highlight a different selectable object among the selectable objects "a"-"f" or "h", that is, jump to and highlight the object "h" as shown in step S4.3. It is also obvious here that the aforementioned second touch command 4 for selecting the highlighted object "g" and the second touch command 4 for jumping to a different selectable object "h" are of different types to distinguish the two. For better understanding, in Figure 4 In step S4.3, the shift from left to right indicated by the arrow "m" indicates the movement of the finger from the finger position in step S4.2 to a different finger position in step S4.3. Figure 4 As shown, after jumping to another selectable object, i.e. jumping to selectable object "h" and highlighting selectable object "h", object "h" can be selected after receiving another command such as third touch command 4. According to step S4.4, the third touch command 4 is executed by using a touch command combined with a movement toward the highlighted object "h", but Figure 4 Opening object "h" and starting application "h" is not shown.

[0040] based on Figure 4 and Figure 3 , an alternative embodiment of the present invention is in the following Figure 3 The touch-sensitive display 2 shown is executed Figure 4 The touch commands shown in FIG. Figure 4 As shown, a graphical element 8 is displayed on the touch-sensitive display 2, wherein the starting position of the graphical element 8 indicated by the dashed line 8 is the position of the first touch command 4 on the touch-sensitive display 2. In other words, the dashed line 8 according to this embodiment is between the position of the first touch command 4 on the touch-sensitive display 2 and the highlighted object "g".

[0041] Figure 5 The selection of selectable objects 3, also labeled "a"-"h", on a touch-sensitive display 2 is shown according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention. Figure 5 An embodiment similar to that described above Figure 4 According to step S5.2, when entering Figure 4 After the highlight mode shown, an additional graphical element is here a dashed line, which is drawn differently than the dashed line of the highlight object "g". In this way, the other selectable objects "a"-"f" and "h" that can be used for the highlight mode are shown. In this way, the directions that can be performed are further shown, i.e. jumping to the left or right to other highlightable objects. Similar to Figure 4In the embodiment, a different object, namely "h", can be highlighted in step S5.3. For further explanation, please refer to Figure 4 The above description.

[0042] based on Figure 5 and Figure 3 , an alternative embodiment of the present invention is in the following Figure 3 The touch-sensitive display 2 shown is executed Figure 5 The touch commands shown in FIG. Figure 5 As shown, a graphical element 8 and an additional element are provided for selection on the touch-sensitive display 2, wherein the positions of the graphical element 8 for highlighting and the additional element for displaying the highlightable object are between the position of the first touch command 4 on the touch-sensitive display 2 and each object "a"-"h". In other words, this embodiment is similar to Figure 5 An embodiment of the invention is described in detail, except that the starting point of the graphical element 8 represented by the thick dashed line and the additional element represented by the thin dashed line are shifted to positions on the touch-sensitive display 2, while the end points of the thick dashed line and the thin dashed line remain connected to the corresponding objects "a"-"h", similar to steps S5.2 and S5.3.

[0043] Figure 6 The selection of selectable objects 3, also labeled "a"-"e", on a touch-sensitive display 2 is shown according to a fifth embodiment of the present invention. Figure 6 , showing the corresponding Figure 2 The three steps S6.1, S6.2 and S6.3 of steps S2.1, S2.2 and S2.3 in FIG. Figure 2 and Figure 6 The difference between the embodiments is that in Figure 6 , the optional objects "a"-"e" are not application icons on the touch-sensitive display 2, but input fields, which are distributed over different lines of text, which are depicted as dotted lines representing multiple lines. For example, the first input field marked with the letter "a" is located in the first line and the last input field marked with the letter "e" is located in the fourteenth line. According to step S6.1, the optional objects "a"-"e" are displayed on the touch-sensitive display 2, and after executing a first touch command 4 on the touch-sensitive area on the touch-sensitive display 2 (not shown) in a circle or as an alternative embodiment, one optional object "b" is initially highlighted, and after executing a second touch command 4 according to one of the aforementioned alternatives, the initially highlighted object "b" can be selected and input can be made after the selection (not shown). Figure 2 Similarly, after the second touch command 4, the jump to other selectable objects according to step S6.3 can be executed. Figure 6In the example, the jump of other optional objects "a" or "c"-"e" in the image is performed, and as shown in step S6.3, object "d" can be highlighted. Obviously, two jumps are performed here, which means that two second touch commands must be executed to jump from object "b" to object "c" to reach object "d".

Claims

1. A method of performing a selection on a touch-sensitive handheld electronic device (1) having a touch-sensitive display (2), the method comprising: a) displaying at least one selectable object (3) on the touch-sensitive display (2), wherein the at least one selectable object (3) can be selected by a touch command (4) at the location of the at least one selectable object (3) on the touch-sensitive display (2); b) receiving a first touch command (4) from a touch-sensitive area (2, 5) of the handheld device (1) to enter a highlight mode to highlight one of the at least one selectable object (3) and to display the highlighted selectable object (6), wherein the position of the first touch command (4) is different from the position of the highlighted selectable object (6); c) receiving a second touch command (4) from the touch-sensitive area (2, 5) of the handheld device (1) to select the highlighted selectable object (6), or to jump to another selectable object (3) and highlight a selectable object (7) different from the highlighted selectable object (6), and display the highlighted different selectable object (7), and selecting the highlighted different selectable object (7) after receiving a third touch command (4), wherein the highlight mode is entered for a first subset of the selectable objects, and wherein a distance from the first touch command to the first subset of the selectable objects is greater than a distance from the first touch command to a second subset of the selectable objects, and the second subset of the selectable objects located closer to the first touch command is not used for the highlight mode, And wherein any selectable object displayed on the touch-sensitive display (2) belongs to the first subgroup of the selectable objects or the second subgroup of the selectable objects.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein: The determination as to which of the selectable objects (3) is initially highlighted depends on the position of the first touch command (4) so ​​as to provide sufficient space for executing further touch commands and remain within the touch sensitive area.

3. The method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein: The touch-sensitive area (2, 5) of the handheld device (1) is the touch-sensitive display (2) or a touch-sensitive surface around the touch-sensitive display (2).

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein: The at least one optional object is determined from a plurality of objects displayed on the touch-sensitive display (2), wherein the determination depends on the distance between the position of the first touch command and each of the plurality of objects and / or the current usage direction of the touch-sensitive handheld electronic device (1).

5. The method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein: The first touch command, the second touch command or the third touch command is at least one of the following or a combination of the following: a single touch command, a short touch command, a tap, a double tap, a horizontal or vertical scroll, a slide, a touch and hold, a flick or press on the touch-sensitive display, a gesture, and can be performed using at least one finger and / or a combination of at least two fingers.

6. The method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein: The highlighting is performed by using distinctive graphical elements, and / or using connecting elements with geometric forms, colors and / or patterns, and / or using reference elements, and / or by modified size to show which objects are selectable and / or which of the selectable objects is highlighted.

7. The method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein: At least one of the touch commands is performed along a route, at least a portion of the route having a vertical route, a horizontal route, a curved route, a circular route and / or a diagonal route.

8. The method according to claim 7, wherein: The routes are visualized by graphical elements to show what type of routes are provided.

9. The method according to claim 8, wherein: The route visualization provides a magnified view of at least one group from the selectable objects to improve accuracy of the highlighting and selection of the selectable objects.

10. The method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein: The at least one selectable object is a program icon, an application icon, an input box, an input field, information displayed in a row, information displayed in a column, an email, a link, or a reference.

11. The method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein: The highlight mode is entered for the first group of optional objects, and the highlight mode is not entered for the second group of optional objects, whereby a gap between the position of the first touch command and the first group is greater than a gap between the position of the first touch command and the second group of optional objects.

12. A touch-sensitive handheld electronic device (1) having a touch-sensitive display (2), wherein: The device is adapted to perform one of the methods according to at least one of the preceding claims.

13. The handheld electronic device according to claim 12, wherein: The handheld electronic device (1) is a smart phone, a tablet computer, a multimedia player, a wearable device, a smart watch or a notebook.

14. A computer-readable storage medium comprising instructions which, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to perform the method according to any one of claims 1 to 11.

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