Bidirectional Web View Bridge for In-App External Content
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing messaging clients face challenges in displaying external content within a web view without disrupting the user experience by launching external apps or mobile web browsers due to HTTP requests triggered by third-party links.
Innovation Solution
Implementing a bidirectional bridge that facilitates communication between the web view and the messaging client, allowing retrieval and display of external content, such as advertisements, through a placeholder in the web page, with event handlers for user interactions.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If third-party links trigger HTTP requests in web pages displayed within the messaging client, then external content can be displayed, but the user experience is disrupted by launching external apps or mobile web browsers
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces an intermediary component (the messaging client's web view system) that mediates between the web page's HTTP requests and the external content. Instead of allowing direct launches of external apps or browsers, the system intercepts these requests through the web view and renders external content within the messaging client's controlled environment, thus maintaining user experience continuity while enabling external content display
2Reliability
If an embedded web browser is used to display web pages within the messaging client, then web content can be shown without external HTTP requests, but external content integration becomes limited
Solution Approach 1:
The patent makes the web view system multi-functional by enabling it to handle both internal messaging content and external web content through a unified interface. The web view can render standard web pages, load external resources via HTTP requests, and integrate with the messaging client's functionality, thereby achieving both reliability in maintaining user experience and versatility in content integration
Data Source
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AI summary
A bidirectional bridge for web view is a technical solution to an engineering challenge associated with presenting external content in a web view. A bidirectional bridge for web view facilitates bidirectional communication between the web view included in the messaging client and the messaging client itself. In response to a user action requesting a web page to be loaded in the web view, the bidirectional bridge initiates a request to messaging client to retrieve external content, receives the requested external content from the messaging client, and displays an image representing the external content in the web view as part of the web page.