Method and electronic device for displaying app icon

Abstract

The electronic device according to various embodiments of the present invention may include: a display; a memory; a communication circuit; and one or more processors. The one or more processors are configured to: obtain state information of a specific application; determine icon information of the specific application based on the state information; and display the icon of the specific application on the display based on the icon information.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention relates to a technology for displaying application icons. Prior Technology

[0002] Previously, application changes or notifications were simply displayed as numbers in the upper right corner of the application icon for easy user identification. However, since the numbers on the application icon only indicate the number of unread messages, they have limitations in notifying users of various application status changes. Furthermore, this conventional method requires users to manually run the application to confirm status changes, which is inconvenient. Summary of the Invention

[0003] [The problem the invention aims to solve]

[0004] This invention provides a technique for displaying application icons. [Technical means to solve the problem]

[0005] The electronic device according to various embodiments of the present invention may include: a display; a memory; a communication circuit; and one or more processors. The one or more processors are configured to: obtain state information of a specific application; determine icon information of the specific application based on the state information; and display the icon of the specific application on the display based on the icon information.

[0006] In one embodiment, the status information may include at least one of the following: computing resource information used by the specific application, last notification time information of the specific application, category information of the specific application, or last usage time information of the specific application.

[0007] In one embodiment, the icon information may be information on at least one of the following: icon image, icon border color, icon background color, icon background image, icon transparency, or icon chroma.

[0008] In one embodiment, the status information may include first service status information, which is one of a plurality of service status information of a service provided by the specific application, and the processor determines the icon information based on the first service status information.

[0009] In one embodiment, the plurality of service status information can correspond to a plurality of icon images respectively, and the processor determines that the icon information includes the first icon image corresponding to the first service status information.

[0010] In one embodiment, the specific application mentioned above may be an application that determines the connected page based on the first service status information mentioned above.

[0011] In one embodiment, one or more processors may obtain the aforementioned status information of the specific application at regular intervals.

[0012] In one embodiment, one or more processors may obtain the state information from the memory at specific intervals.

[0013] In one embodiment, the processor may request the status information of the specific application from an external device via the communication circuit at specific intervals, and obtain the status information from the external device.

[0014] In one embodiment, the one or more processors can receive the status information of the specific application from an external device through the communication circuit at specific intervals.

[0015] According to another aspect of the present invention, a method for displaying an application icon can be provided. The method of the present invention can be executed by a computer, wherein the computer includes: one or more processors; one or more memory stores commands executed by the one or more processors; a communication circuit; and a display; wherein the one or more processors, according to the commands, can perform the following steps: obtaining status information of a specific application; determining icon information of the specific application based on the status information; and displaying the icon of the specific application on the display based on the icon information.

[0016] In one embodiment, the status information may include at least one of the following: computing resource information used by the specific application, last notification time information of the specific application, category information of the specific application, or last usage time information of the specific application.

[0017] In one embodiment, the icon information may be information on at least one of the following: icon image, icon border color, icon background color, icon background image, icon transparency, or icon chroma.

[0018] In one embodiment, the status information may include first service status information, which is one of a plurality of service status information of the services provided by the specific application. The step of determining the icon information includes the following steps: determining the icon information based on the first service status information.

[0019] In one embodiment, the plurality of service status information can correspond to a plurality of icon images respectively, and the step of determining the icon information includes the following steps: determining that the icon information includes the first icon image corresponding to the first service status information.

[0020] In one embodiment, the specific application mentioned above may be an application that determines the connected page based on the first service status information mentioned above.

[0021] In one embodiment, the step of obtaining the above-mentioned status information may include the following steps: obtaining the above-mentioned status information of the specific application at specific intervals.

[0022] In one embodiment, the step of the one or more processors obtaining the status information every certain period may include the following steps: every certain period, the one or more processors request the status information of the specific application from an external device via the communication circuit; and the one or more processors obtain the status information from the external device.

[0023] In one embodiment, the step of the one or more processors obtaining the status information every certain period may include the following steps: every certain period, the one or more processors receive the status information of the specific application from an external device through the communication circuit.

[0024] A computer-readable recording medium may be disclosed according to another aspect of the present invention. A non-transitory computer-readable recording medium records commands that, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform actions, the commands being configured to cause the one or more processors to perform the following operations: obtaining state information of a specific application, determining icon information of the specific application based on the state information, and displaying the icon of the specific application on a display based on the icon information. [Effects of the Invention]

[0025] The electronic device of the present invention can easily and quickly identify the current stage of a service provided by an application without executing the application.

[0026] The electronic device of the present invention can quickly access the required page according to the current stage of the service provided by the application.

[0027] The electronic device of the present invention can save the computing power consumed in periodically checking the status information of a specific application.

[0028] The electronic device of the present invention can quickly update the status information of frequently used applications and relatively slowly update the status information of infrequently used applications, thereby improving both ease of use and computational efficiency. Simple Explanation of the Diagram

[0029] Figure 1 is an illustrative diagram showing a screen displayed by an electronic device according to one embodiment of the present invention. Figure 2 is a diagram illustrating a system including a user terminal, a server, and a communication network according to one embodiment of the present invention. Figure 3 is a block diagram of a user terminal according to one embodiment of the present invention. Figure 4 is a block diagram of a server according to one embodiment of the present invention. Figure 5 is a sequence diagram of actions related to displaying application icons on a user terminal according to one embodiment of the present invention. Figure 6a is an illustrative diagram showing various embodiments of the icon border color of a particular application of the present invention. Figure 6b is an illustrative diagram showing various embodiments of the icon background color of a particular application of the present invention. Figure 6c is an illustrative diagram showing various embodiments of the icon transparency of a particular application of the present invention. Figure 6d is an illustrative diagram showing various embodiments of the icon color saturation of a particular application of the present invention. Figure 7a is an illustrative diagram showing an icon image of an application determined based on service status information in one embodiment of the present invention. Figure 7b is an illustrative diagram showing an icon image of an application determined based on service status information in another embodiment of the present invention. Figure 7c is an illustrative diagram showing an icon image of an application determined based on service status information in another embodiment of the present invention. Figure 7d is an illustrative diagram showing an icon image of an application determined based on service status information in another embodiment of the present invention. Figure 8 is a flowchart illustrating a method for a user terminal to obtain status information from a server according to one embodiment of the present invention. Figure 9 is a flowchart illustrating a method for a user terminal to obtain status information from a server, according to another embodiment of the present invention. Implementation

[0030] The embodiments of this invention are illustrated for the purpose of explaining the technical concept of the invention. The scope of the patent application of this invention is not limited to the embodiments presented below or the specific description of such embodiments.

[0031] Unless otherwise defined, all technical and scientific terms used in this invention shall have the meanings commonly understood by one of common knowledge in the art to which this invention pertains. All terms used in this invention are selected for the purpose of more clearly describing the invention and are not selected to limit the scope of the patent application.

[0032] The terms "comprising," "possessing," and "having" used in this invention should be understood as open-ended terms that may include other embodiments, unless otherwise mentioned in the statements or text containing the corresponding terms.

[0033] The singular expressions described in this invention may include the meaning of plural expressions unless otherwise mentioned, and this also applies to the singular expressions described in the claims.

[0034] The terms "first" and "second" used in this invention are used to distinguish the plurality of constituent elements from one another, and do not limit the order or importance of the constituent elements.

[0035] In this invention, the term "component" refers to software or hardware components such as FPGA (field-programmable gate array) and ASIC (application-specific integrated circuit). However, "component" is not limited to hardware and software. A "component" can be constructed in a manner that resides on addressable storage media, or it can be constructed by reproducing one or more processors. Thus, as an example, a "component" includes components such as software components, object-oriented software components, class components, and task components, as well as processes, functions, attributes, programs, sub-constants, code fragments, drivers, firmware, microcode, circuits, data, databases, data structures, tables, arrays, and variables. The functions provided internally by the components and the "component" can be combined into a smaller number of components and "components," or they can be further separated into other components and "components."

[0036] The term "based on" used in this invention is used to describe one or more factors described in the statement or article containing the term that affect the determination or judgment of an action or behavior. The term does not exclude other factors that affect the determination or judgment of an action or behavior.

[0037] In this invention, when referring to a constituent element as being "connected" or "linked" to another constituent element, it should be understood that the aforementioned constituent element can be directly connected or linked to the aforementioned other constituent element, or can be connected or linked to the aforementioned other constituent element through a new other constituent element as a medium.

[0038] Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the drawings, the same or corresponding constituent elements are given the same reference numerals. Furthermore, in the following description of the embodiments, repeated descriptions of the same or corresponding constituent elements may be omitted. However, even if the description of a constituent element is omitted, it does not mean that such a constituent element is not included in a certain embodiment.

[0039] Figure 1 is an illustrative diagram showing a screen displayed by an electronic device according to one embodiment of the present invention. In one embodiment, the electronic device may include: a display for receiving user input; a processor for performing calculations based on the user input; and memory. The user can identify a specific application corresponding to an icon displayed on the display by the electronic device. In the example of Figure 1, the user can drive a specific application connected to the icon 10 by selecting (e.g., touching or clicking) an icon 10 displayed on the screen. Hereinafter, the term "application" may be used interchangeably with the term "app" in this specification. The electronic device may use a processor or memory to drive a specific application. Furthermore, the electronic device may further include communication circuitry to send / receive data with other electronic devices (e.g., servers) and drive a specific application based on the transmitted data.

[0040] Figure 2 is a diagram illustrating a system including a user terminal 100, a server 200, and a communication network 300 according to one embodiment of the present invention. The user terminal 100 and the server 200 can send and receive information to each other via the communication network 300.

[0041] User terminal 100 may be a user terminal that displays an application icon. For example, user terminal 100 may be at least one of a smartphone, tablet computer, PC, mobile phone, PDA, audio player, or wearable device.

[0042] Server 200 may be an electronic device that provides an application icon display service. Server 200 may transmit information or data to user terminal 100 connected by wired or wireless means. Server 200 may be, for example, an application server, a proxy server, a cloud server, etc.

[0043] In the contents disclosed in this specification, when describing the structure or operation of a device, the term "device (or electronic device)" can be used to refer to the device being described, and the term "external device (or external electronic device)," from the perspective of the device being described, can be used to refer to a device existing externally. For example, when user terminal 100 is described as a "device," from the perspective of user terminal 100, server 200 can be called an "external device." Similarly, when server 200 is described as a "device," from the perspective of server 200, user terminal 100 can be called an "external device." That is, user terminal 100 and server 200 can be referred to as "device" and "external device," or "external device" and "device," respectively, depending on the subject of the operation.

[0044] The communication network 300 may include a wired or wireless communication network. The communication network 300 can exchange data between the user terminal 100 and the server 200. For example, the wired communication network may include communication networks using USB (Universal Serial Bus), HDMI (High Definition Multimedia Interface), RS-232 (Recommended Standard-232), or POTS (Plain Old Telephone Service). For example, wireless communication networks may include communication networks using methods such as eMBB (enhanced Mobile Broadband), URLLC (Ultra Reliable Low-Latency Communications), MMTC (Massive Machine Type Communications), LTE (Long-Term Evolution), LTE-A (LTE Advance), NR (New Radio), UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System), GSM (Global System for Mobile communications), CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access), WCDMA (Wideband CDMA), WiBro (Wireless Broadband), WiFi (Wireless Fidelity), Bluetooth, NFC (Near Field Communication), GPS (Global Positioning System), or GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System). The communication network 300 in this specification is not limited to the example above, and may include various types of communication networks without limitation, so as to facilitate the exchange of data between multiple subjects or devices.

[0045] Figure 3 is a block diagram of a user terminal 100 according to one embodiment of the present invention. According to one embodiment of the present invention, the user terminal 100 may include a processor 110, a communication circuit 120, a memory 130, and / or a display 140 as constituent elements. In one embodiment, at least one of the constituent elements of the user terminal 100 may be omitted, or other constituent elements may be added to the user terminal 100. In one embodiment, some constituent elements may be additionally or alternatively integrated to achieve, or implemented as a single or multiple entities. In the present invention, one or more processors 110 may be referred to as processor 110. That is, unless explicitly stated otherwise in the text, such a term "processor 110" may refer to a collection of one or more processors. Similarly, in the present invention, one or more memory units 130 may be referred to as memory units 130. That is, unless explicitly stated otherwise in the text, such a term "memory unit 130" may refer to a collection of one or more memory units.

[0046] Within the user terminal 100, at least some of the external components can be interconnected via buses, GPIO (General Purpose Input / Output), SPI (Serial Peripheral Interface), or MIPI (Mobile Industry Processor Interface), thereby enabling the transmission and reception of information and / or signals.

[0047] The processor 110 can drive software (e.g., commands, programs, etc.) to control at least one component of the user terminal 100 connected to the processor 110. Furthermore, the processor 110 can perform various operations related to this invention, such as calculations, processing, data generation, or manipulation. Also, the processor 110 can load data from the memory 130 or store it in the memory 130.

[0048] The communication circuit 120 enables wireless or wired communication between the user terminal 100 and the server 200 or other devices. For example, the communication circuit 120 can perform wireless communication via eMBB (enhanced Mobile Broadband), URLLC (Ultra Reliable Low-Latency Communications), MMTC (Massive Machine Type Communications), LTE (Long-Term Evolution), LTE-A (LTE Advance), NR (New Radio), UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System), GSM (Global System for Mobile communications), CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access), WCDMA (Wideband CDMA), WiBro (Wireless Broadband), WiFi (Wireless Fidelity), Bluetooth, NFC (Near Field Communication), GPS (Global Positioning System), or GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System). For example, the communication circuit 120 can implement wired communication via USB (Universal Serial Bus), HDMI (High Definition Multimedia Interface), RS-232 (Recommended Standard-232), or POTS (Plain Old Telephone Service).

[0049] Memory 130 can store various types of data. The data stored in memory 130 can be data obtained, processed, or used by at least one component of user terminal 100, and may include software (e.g., commands, programs, etc.). Memory 130 may include volatile and / or non-volatile memory. In this invention, commands and programs are software stored in memory 130, and may include: an operating system, applications, and / or middleware for controlling the resources of user terminal 100, the middleware providing various functions to the applications so that the applications can utilize the resources of user terminal 100. In one embodiment, memory 130 may store commands that, when executed by processor 110, will cause processor 110 to perform actions.

[0050] Display 140, as an interface capable of interacting with a user, can display various screens under the control of processor 110 and receive user input. In this invention, the screen displayed by display 140 may include one or more application icons. For example, in this invention, the phrase "selecting an application icon" should be understood as "transmitting user input to the user terminal 100 by touching (or clicking) the application icon displayed on the display screen." In one embodiment, display 140 can be implemented as a touch sensor panel capable of recognizing the contact or proximity of various external objects (e.g., fingers). The touch sensor panel can have various structures and types, and this invention is applicable to all structures and types of touch sensor panels. In one embodiment, display 140 may include an electrostatic capacitance sensor to recognize the contact or proximity of various external objects. The electrostatic capacitance sensor may include a plurality of capacitors, and the electrostatic capacitance sensor can apply an electrical signal to the capacitors. The capacitors can charge and discharge in response to the application of the electrical signal. If an electrical signal is applied to a capacitor, the capacitor can be charged according to the magnitude of the voltage of the electrical signal. The display 140 can receive touch input based on the signal collected from the electrostatic capacitance sensor. However, the display 140 of the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above, and can also receive user input by having a separate input device (e.g., mouse, keyboard).

[0051] User terminal 100 can be various types of devices. For example, a user terminal can be a portable communication device, a portable multimedia device, a wearable device, a home appliance device, or one or more of the above devices. However, the user terminal of the present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned devices.

[0052] Figure 4 is a block diagram of a server 200 according to one embodiment of the present invention. The server 200 may include a processor 210, a communication circuit 220, or a memory 230 as constituent elements.

[0053] The processor 210 can drive software (e.g., commands, programs, etc.) to control at least one component of the server 200 connected to the processor 210. Furthermore, the processor 210 can perform various operations such as calculations, processing, data generation, or manipulation. Also, the processor 210 can load data from the memory 230 or store it in the memory 230.

[0054] The communication circuit 220 enables wireless or wired communication between the server 200 and other devices (e.g., user terminals). For example, the communication circuit 220 can perform wireless communication via eMBB (enhanced Mobile Broadband), URLLC (Ultra Reliable Low-Latency Communications), MMTC (Massive Machine Type Communications), LTE (Long-Term Evolution), LTE-A (LTE Advance), NR (New Radio), UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System), GSM (Global System for Mobile communications), CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access), WCDMA (Wideband CDMA), WiBro (Wireless Broadband), WiFi (Wireless Fidelity), Bluetooth, NFC (Near Field Communication), GPS (Global Positioning System), or GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System). For example, the communication circuit 220 can implement wired communication via USB (Universal Serial Bus), HDMI (High Definition Multimedia Interface), RS-232 (Recommended Standard-232), or POTS (Plain Old Telephone Service).

[0055] Memory 230 can store various types of data. The data stored in memory 230 can be data obtained, processed, or used by at least one component of server 200, and may include software (e.g., commands, programs, etc.). Memory 230 may include volatile and / or non-volatile memory. Unless otherwise explicitly stated herein, the term "memory 230" may refer to a collection of one or more memories. The expressions "a collection of instructions stored in memory 230" or "a program stored in memory 230" as used in this specification can refer to an operating system, application, or middleware used to control the resources of server 200, which provides various functions to the application to enable the application to utilize the resources of user terminal 100. In one embodiment, when processor 210 performs a specific operation, memory 230 may store commands executed by processor 210 and corresponding to the specific operation.

[0056] Figure 5 is a sequence diagram related to the actions of a user terminal 100 displaying an application icon according to an embodiment of the present invention. The user terminal 100 can obtain status information of a specific application (S510). In the present invention, the status information may include at least one of the following: information on computing resources used by the specific application, information on the last notification time of the specific application, information on the category of the specific application, or information on the last usage time of the specific application. The information on computing resources used by the specific application may be, for example, information on the CPU (Central Processing Unit) usage, RAM (Random Access Memory) usage, or hard disk usage used by the specific application. The last notification time information of the specific application may be, for example, information related to the time when the specific application provides the last notification (e.g., push notification) through the user terminal 100. Application category information can be information assigned by the application developer, such as art, business, comics, games, entertainment, finance, food and beverage, etc. Application last usage time information can be, for example, the last time the application was used on the user terminal 100.

[0057] Secondly, the user terminal 100 can determine the icon information of a specific application based on the obtained status information (S520).

[0058] In this invention, the icon information of a specific application can be information used to determine the display mode when the icon of a specific application is displayed on the display 140. For example, the icon information can be information indicating at least one of the following: icon image, icon border color, icon background color, icon background image, icon transparency, or icon saturation.

[0059] The icon images included in the icon information of this invention can indicate a representative image (or representative mark) of a specific application displayed on the display 140. In this invention, an embodiment of displaying an application icon on the display 140 according to the icon images included in the icon information will be described below with reference to FIGS. 7a to 7d.

[0060] Figure 6a is an illustrative diagram showing various embodiments of the icon border color of a specific application of the present invention. The icon border color included in the icon information of the present invention can indicate the border color of the application icon displayed on the display 140.

[0061] Figure 6b illustrates various embodiments of the background color of the icon of a particular application of the present invention. The icon background color included in the icon information of the present invention can indicate the background color of the application icon displayed on the display 140.

[0062] Figure 6c is an illustrative diagram showing various embodiments of the icon transparency of a specific application of the present invention. The icon transparency included in the icon information of the present invention can indicate the transparency of the application icon displayed on the display 140.

[0063] Figure 6d is an illustrative diagram showing various embodiments of the icon chroma of a specific application of the present invention. The icon chroma included in the icon information of the present invention can indicate the chroma of the application icon displayed on the display 140.

[0064] The user terminal 100 of the present invention can determine icon information based on the obtained status information of a specific application.

[0065] As an example, the processor 110 can obtain the CPU usage information of a specific application from the application's status information. When the CPU usage of the application is above a predetermined critical usage level (e.g., 50%), the processor 110 determines the icon border color included in the application's icon information to be a first color. Furthermore, the processor 110 can use a plurality of predetermined threshold values ​​to determine the icon border color included in the application's icon information to be a first color when the CPU usage of the application is above the first critical usage level (e.g., 50%), and to determine the icon border color included in the application's icon information to be a second color when the CPU usage of the application is above the second critical usage level (e.g., 70%).

[0066] As another example, the processor 110 can obtain the last notification time information of a specific application from the application's status information. When the application's last notification time is before a predetermined critical time (e.g., 24 hours from the current time), the processor 110 determines the icon transparency included in the application's icon information to be a first transparency (e.g., 50%). Furthermore, the processor 110 can utilize a plurality of predetermined critical times to determine the icon transparency included in the application's icon information to be a first transparency (e.g., 50%) when the application's last notification time is before the first critical time (e.g., 24 hours from the current time), and to determine the icon transparency to be a second transparency (e.g., 90%) when the application's last notification time is before the second critical time (e.g., one week from the current time).

[0067] As another example, the processor 110 can obtain the category information of a specific application from the application's status information. When the application's category information indicates a specific category (e.g., food), the processor 110 determines the background color of the icon included in the application's icon information to be a specific color. Furthermore, the processor 110 can not only determine the icon background color based on a specific category, but also determine that the icon background image is a specific image.

[0068] As another example, the processor 110 can obtain the last usage time information of a specific application from the application's status information. When the last usage time of the application is before a predetermined critical time (e.g., 24 hours from the current time), the processor 110 determines the icon chroma included in the application's icon information to be the first chroma (e.g., 50% of the original color ratio). Furthermore, the processor 110 can utilize multiple predetermined critical times to determine the icon chroma included in the application's icon information to be the first chroma (e.g., 50% of the original color ratio) when the last usage time of the application is before the first critical time (e.g., 24 hours from the current time), and to determine the icon chroma to be the second chroma (e.g., 10% of the original color ratio) when the last notification time of the application is before the second critical time (e.g., one week from the current time).

[0069] As described above, the specific embodiments in which the user terminal 100 determines the icon information based on the status information are merely illustrative descriptions of the present invention and do not limit the present invention. The user terminal 100 may determine at least one value included in the icon information based on at least one piece of information included in the status information and according to various methods.

[0070] Secondly, the user terminal 100 can display the icon of a specific application on the display based on the determined icon information (S530). The user terminal 100 can display the icon of the application on the display 140 based on the icon information. As described above, the user terminal 100 of the present invention can determine the icon information based on the application's status information, and display the application's icon on the display 140 based on the determined icon information. Therefore, the user using the user terminal 100 can easily and quickly identify the application's status in a more intuitive way.

[0071] The status information of a specific application in this invention may include first service status information, which is one of a plurality of service status information for services provided through the specific application. In this invention, service status information may be information used to indicate one or more steps included in the services provided by the specific application. For example, when a specific application provides a "goods delivery service," the plurality of service status information may include strings such as "goods received," "goods in transit," and "arrived at delivery location." As another example, when a specific application provides a "water notification service," the plurality of service status information may include strings such as "immediately after drinking water," "1 hour after drinking water," and "2 hours after drinking water." As yet another example, when a specific application provides a "weather notification service," the plurality of service status information may include strings such as "sunny," "cloudy," and "rainy." For example, when a certain application provides a "horse timer service", multiple service status information may include strings such as "60 minutes remaining", "45 minutes remaining", and "30 minutes remaining".

[0072] User terminal 100 can determine the icon information of a specific application based on service status information included in the status information of that specific application. Specifically, processor 110 can determine that the icon information includes an icon image corresponding to the service status information. For example, when multiple service status information (i.e., first service status information, second service status information, etc.) provided by a specific application correspond to multiple icon images (i.e., first icon image, second icon image, etc.), and the first service status information indicates the current progress of the service provided by the application, processor 110 can determine that the icon information includes a first icon image corresponding to the first service status information.

[0073] Figure 7a is an illustrative diagram showing an icon image of an application determined based on service status information in one embodiment of the present invention. As mentioned above, assuming that a particular application provides "item delivery service", the first icon image 711 may be an icon image corresponding to the first service status information indicating "goods received", the second icon image 713 may be an icon image corresponding to the second service status information indicating "goods in motion", and the third icon image 715 may be an icon image corresponding to the third service status information indicating "arrived at delivery location".

[0074] Figure 7b is an illustrative diagram showing an application icon image determined based on service status information in another embodiment of the present invention. As mentioned above, assuming that a particular application provides a "drinking water notification service", the first icon image 721 may be an icon image corresponding to the first service status information indicating "immediately after drinking water", the second icon image 723 may be an icon image corresponding to the second service status information indicating "1 hour after drinking water", and the third icon image 725 may be an icon image corresponding to the third service status information indicating "2 hours after drinking water".

[0075] Figure 7c is an illustrative diagram showing an icon image of an application determined based on service status information in another embodiment of the present invention. As mentioned above, assuming that a particular application provides a "weather notification service", the first icon image 731 may be an icon image corresponding to the first service status information indicating "sunny", the second icon image 733 may be an icon image corresponding to the second service status information indicating "cloudy", and the third icon image 735 may be an icon image corresponding to the third service status information indicating "rainy".

[0076] Figure 7d is an illustrative diagram showing an icon image of an application determined based on service status information in another embodiment of the present invention. As mentioned above, assuming that a particular application provides a "horse timer service", the first icon image 741 may be an icon image corresponding to the first service status information indicating "60 minutes remaining", the second icon image 743 may be an icon image corresponding to the second service status information indicating "45 minutes remaining", and the third icon image 745 may be an icon image corresponding to the third service status information indicating "30 minutes remaining".

[0077] Referring to Figures 7a to 7d, the above-described specific embodiments are merely exemplary descriptions illustrating the actions of the user terminal 100 in determining the application's icon image based on service status information, and do not limit the present invention. As described above, the user terminal 100 of the present invention can determine the icon image based on the service status information included in the application's status information. Since the icon of the application including the determined icon image is displayed on the display 140, the current stage of the service provided by the application can be easily and quickly identified even without executing the application.

[0078] In several embodiments of the present invention, the specific application can be an application that determines the page to which it is connected based on service status information. For example, as shown in FIG7a, when the display 140 shows an icon of a specific application providing "item delivery service" corresponding to the first icon image 711 of the service status information "goods received", the page connected when the application is driven can be a "product description page". Furthermore, when the display 140 shows a second icon image 713 corresponding to the service status information "goods in motion" indicated by the application's icon, the page connected when the application is driven can be a "page showing the current location of the goods". Also, when the display 140 shows a third icon image 715 corresponding to the service status information "arrived at delivery location" indicated by the application's icon, the page connected when the application is driven can be a "delivery completed photo page". As described above, the user terminal 100 can not only determine the icon image included in the icon information based on the service status information of a specific application, but also determine the page linked when the icon of an application with that icon image is driven. Therefore, the user can quickly access the required page according to the current stage of the service provided by the application.

[0079] The user terminal 100 of this invention can obtain status information of a specific application at regular intervals. For example, the specific interval can be set to any time interval, such as 1 second, 10 minutes, 30 minutes, 1 hour, etc. The user terminal 100 can update the icon information of the specific application by obtaining the status information of the specific application at regular intervals. Furthermore, the user terminal 100 can modify the icon of the specific application displayed on the display 140 as it updates the icon information of the specific application at regular intervals.

[0080] In one embodiment, the processor 110 may obtain status information of a specific application from the memory 130 at regular intervals. For example, the processor 110 may obtain the RAM (Random Access Memory) usage of a specific application every hour. The processor 110 may determine the icon information (e.g., icon background color, etc.) of the application based on the obtained RAM usage. When the background color of the icon included in the application's icon information is changed, the processor 110 may change the background color of the icon displayed on the display 140. As another example, the processor 110 may obtain service status information of a specific application every 10 minutes. The processor 110 may determine the icon information (e.g., icon image, etc.) of the application based on the obtained service status information. When the icon image included in the application's icon information is changed, the processor 110 may change the image of the icon displayed on the display 140.

[0081] In another embodiment, the processor 110 can obtain status information by communicating with an external server at specific intervals. Figure 8 is a flowchart illustrating a method by which a user terminal 100 obtains status information from a server 200 according to one embodiment of the present invention. Specifically, the user terminal 100 can confirm whether a specific period (e.g., 10 minutes) has elapsed (S810). If the specific period has not elapsed, the user terminal 100 can reconfirm whether the specific period has elapsed after a predetermined time. At this time, the predetermined time for reconfirming the specific period can be set in various ways to be a time shorter than the specific period, such as 1 millisecond, 1 second, 1 minute, 5 minutes, etc. If the specific period resulting from the execution step S810 has elapsed, the user terminal 100 can request the server 200 to query the status information of a specific application (S830). Specifically, the processor 110 can request the server 200, which is an external device, to query the status information of a specific application through the communication circuit 120. The server 200 can transmit the application's status information as a response to a query request received from the user terminal 100 (S850). That is, the user terminal 100 can obtain the status information of a specific application from the server 200, which is an external device. According to this embodiment, the status information of a specific application can be managed outside the user terminal 100, and the user terminal 100 can obtain the corresponding status information based on whether a specific period has elapsed.

[0082] In another embodiment, the processor 110 can obtain status information by communicating with an external server at regular intervals. Figure 9 is a flowchart illustrating a method by which a user terminal 100 obtains status information from a server 200 according to another embodiment of the present invention. Specifically, the server 200 can confirm whether a specific period (e.g., 10 minutes) has elapsed (S810). If the specific period has not elapsed, the server 200 can reconfirm whether the specific period has elapsed after a specified time. At this time, the specified time for reconfirming the specific period can be set in various ways to be a time shorter than the specific period, such as 1 millisecond, 1 second, 1 minute, 5 minutes, etc. If the specific period resulting from the execution step S810 has elapsed, the server 200 can transmit the status information of a specific application to the user terminal 100 (S830). Specifically, the server 200 can use push notification technology or the like to transmit the status information of a specific application to the user terminal 100 corresponding to the registered ID. According to this embodiment, the user terminal 100 can save the computing power consumed in periodically checking the status information of a specific application, and can obtain the status information of the application from the external server 200 at specific intervals.

[0083] In several embodiments of the present invention, the specific period for the user terminal 100 to obtain the status information of a specific application can vary according to the usage frequency of the application. For example, when the application is used frequently (e.g., the application's average daily usage time is more than 12 hours), the specific period for obtaining the application's status information (i.e., the first period) can be shorter than when the application is used infrequently (e.g., the application's average daily usage time is less than 1 hour) (i.e., the second period). That is, when the application is used frequently, the first period can be set shorter than the second period when the application is used infrequently. Therefore, the user terminal 100 can quickly update the status information of frequently used applications and relatively slowly update the status information of infrequently used applications, thereby simultaneously improving ease of use and computational efficiency.

[0084] In several embodiments of the present invention, when there are multiple applications, the specific period at which the user terminal 100 obtains status information of a particular application can be set differently for each application. For example, it can be assumed that the first period for the first application and the second period for the second application are set differently. In this case, if the first application is more important than the second application, the first period can be set to be shorter than the second period. The importance of each application can also be set by the user or determined by the processor 110 based on the application's memory usage, application usage frequency, etc.

[0085] In the flowcharts shown in this invention, the steps of the method or algorithm of this invention are described sequentially. However, in addition to being performed sequentially, this invention can also be performed in any combination of orders. The description of the flowcharts of this invention does not preclude changes or modifications to the method or algorithm, and does not imply that any action is necessary or preferred. In one embodiment, at least some steps may be performed in parallel, iteratively, or heuristically. In another embodiment, at least some steps may be omitted, or other steps may be added.

[0086] Various embodiments of the present invention can be implemented in software form on a machine-readable storage medium (MRSM). The software can be any software used to implement the various embodiments of the present invention. Programmers in the art to which this invention pertains can deduce the software based on the various embodiments of the present invention. For example, the software can be a program that includes machine-readable commands (e.g., code or code segments). A device is an apparatus capable of operating according to commands invoked from a storage medium, and can be used interchangeably with, for example, a computer. In one embodiment, the device can be an electronic device according to an embodiment of the present invention. In one embodiment, the processor of the device executes the invoked command, thereby enabling the components of the device to perform functions corresponding to the command. In one embodiment, the processor can be the processor 110 according to an embodiment of the present invention. Storage medium can refer to all kinds of recording mediums that can be read by a device and store information. Storage media may include, for example, ROM (Read-only memory), RAM (Random-access memory), CD-ROM (Compact Disc Read-Only Memory), magnetic tape, floppy disk, optical information storage devices, etc. In one embodiment, the storage media may be memory 130. In one embodiment, the storage media may be implemented in a form distributed across computer systems connected to a network. Software may be distributed across computer systems for execution. The storage media may be non-transitory storage media. Non-transitory storage media refers to a tangible medium that actually exists regardless of whether the information is stored semi-permanently or temporarily, and does not include transiently transmitted signals.

[0087] The technical concept of the present invention has been described above based on various embodiments. However, the technical concept of the present invention includes various substitutions, variations, and modifications that can be understood by those skilled in the art within which the present invention pertains. Furthermore, it should be understood that such substitutions, variations, and modifications may be included within the scope of the appended patent applications.

[0088] 10: Icon 100: User Terminal 110: Processor 120: Communication circuit 130: Memory 140: Monitor 200: Server 210: Processor 220: Communication circuit 230: Memory 300: Telecommunications Network 711: First icon image 713: Second icon image 715: Third icon image 721: First icon image 723: Second icon image 725: Third icon image 731: First icon image 733: Second icon image 735: Third icon image 741: First icon image 743: Second icon image 745: Third icon image S510: Action S520: Actions S530: Action S810: Action S830: Action S850: Action S910: Action S930: Action

Claims

1. An electronic device comprising: monitor; The processor comprises: a memory; a communication circuit; and one or more processors; wherein the processors are configured to: obtain state information of a specific application, wherein the state information includes information on computing resources used by the specific application; determine icon information of the specific application based on the state information; and display the icon of the specific application on the display based on the icon information, wherein the state information of the specific application is obtained according to a specific period, and wherein the specific period is determined based on the driving time of the specific application, and wherein when the specific period is determined based on the driving time of the specific application, in response to determining that the driving time of the specific application is greater than or equal to a preset time, the specific period is determined as a first period, and in response to determining that the driving time of the specific application is less than the preset time, the specific period is determined as a second period, wherein the first period is shorter than the second period.

2. The electronic device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the aforementioned status information further includes at least one of the following: the last notification time information of the aforementioned specific application, the category information of the aforementioned specific application, or the last usage time information of the aforementioned specific application.

3. The electronic device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the aforementioned icon information indicates information of at least one of the following: icon image, icon border color, icon background color, icon background image, icon transparency, or icon chroma.

4. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the status information includes first service status information, which is one of a plurality of service status information of a service provided by the specific application, and the processor determines the icon information based on the first service status information.

5. For the electronic device of claim 4, wherein the plurality of service status information and the plurality of icon images correspond respectively, the processor of the above-mentioned one or more processors is determined to include the first icon image corresponding to the first service status information.

6. The electronic device as described in claim 4, wherein the specific application is the application that determines the page to which it is connected based on the first service status information described above.

7. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein one or more processors obtain the aforementioned status information of the specific application at regular intervals.

8. The electronic device of claim 7, wherein one or more processors obtain the status information from the memory every certain period.

9. The electronic device of claim 7, wherein one or more processors, every certain period, request the status information of the specific application from an external device via the communication circuit, and obtain the status information from the external device.

10. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the one or more processors receive the status information of the specific application from an external device via the communication circuit at regular intervals.

11. A method for displaying an application icon, which is performed by an electronic device, the electronic device comprising: More than one processor; A memory storing commands executed by one or more processors; a communication circuit; and a display; wherein the one or more processors perform the following steps according to the commands: obtaining status information of a specific application, wherein the status information includes information on computing resources used by the specific application; determining icon information of the specific application based on the status information; and displaying the icon of the specific application on the display based on the icon information, wherein the status information of the specific application is obtained according to a specific cycle, and wherein the specific cycle is determined based on the driving time of the specific application, and wherein when determining the specific cycle based on the driving time of the specific application, in response to determining that the driving time of the specific application is greater than or equal to a preset time, the specific cycle is determined as a first cycle, and in response to determining that the driving time of the specific application is less than the preset time, the specific cycle is determined as a second cycle, wherein the first cycle is shorter than the second cycle.

12. The method of request item 11, wherein the aforementioned status information further includes at least one of the following: the last notification time information of the aforementioned specific application, the category information of the aforementioned specific application, or the last usage time information of the aforementioned specific application.

13. The method of claim 11, wherein the aforementioned icon information indicates information of at least one of the following: icon image, icon border color, icon background color, icon background image, icon transparency, or icon chroma.

14. The method of claim 11, wherein the status information includes first service status information, which is one of a plurality of service status information of a service provided by the specific application, the step of determining the icon information includes the following steps: determining the icon information based on the first service status information.

15. The method of request item 14, wherein the plurality of service status information and the plurality of icon images correspond respectively, the step of determining the icon information includes the following steps: determining that the icon information includes the first icon image corresponding to the first service status information.

16. The method of request item 14, wherein the aforementioned specific application is determined based on the aforementioned first service status information to determine the application of the connected page.

17. The method of request item 11, wherein the step of obtaining the above status information includes the following steps: obtaining the above status information of the above specific application at specific intervals.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein the step of the one or more processors obtaining the status information every certain period includes the following steps: every certain period, the one or more processors request the status information of the specific application from an external device via the communication circuit; and the one or more processors obtain the status information from the external device.

19. The method of claim 17, wherein the step of the one or more processors obtaining the status information every certain period includes the following steps: every certain period, the one or more processors receive the status information of the specific application from an external device via the communication circuit.

20. A non-transitory computer-readable recording medium recording commands that, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform actions, the commands being configured to cause the one or more processors to perform the following operations: obtaining state information of a specific application, wherein the state information includes computing resource information used by the specific application; determining icon information of the specific application based on the state information; and displaying the icon of the specific application on a display based on the icon information, wherein the state information of the specific application is obtained according to a specific period, and wherein the specific period is determined based on the driving time of the specific application, and wherein, when determining the specific period based on the driving time of the specific application, in response to determining that the driving time of the specific application is greater than or equal to a preset time, the specific period is determined as a first period, and in response to determining that the driving time of the specific application is less than the preset time, the specific period is determined as a second period, wherein the first period is shorter than the second period.

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