Search Result Filtering via Current App State Context
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current search technologies fail to effectively utilize the current application state of software apps on devices to provide relevant search results, leading to inefficient querying and user experience.
Innovation Solution
A method that receives a search query and an indication of the current application state of a native app, identifies app state records, selects appropriate access mechanisms, and transmits them to the user device, allowing for filtering and ranking of search results based on user interaction distances and relevance.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If search results are filtered based on current app state, then search result relevance is improved, but search system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary actions by determining the current app state before executing the search. The search system receives an indication of the current app state along with the search query, and uses this pre-established context to filter and rank results more effectively without adding complexity during the actual search execution.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces an intermediary mechanism - the app state indication - that bridges the gap between the current application context and the search system. This intermediary allows the search system to understand the user's current context without requiring the search system itself to become complex or to directly interact with the app's internal state management.
2Loss of information
If app state information is transmitted to the search system, then search query understanding is improved, but data transmission overhead increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system extracts only the essential app state information needed for search context rather than transmitting the entire app state. The indication of current app state is a condensed representation that captures the necessary context (such as current screen, active components, or user position in the app) without including unnecessary details, thus minimizing data transmission overhead while maintaining search query understanding.
Data Source
AI summary
Techniques include receiving a search query from a user device, receiving an indication of a current application (app) state of a native app executing on the device from the device, and identifying app state records based on the query and the indication. Each app state record includes an app access mechanism (AAM) and app state information (ASI). The AAM references the native app executing on the user device and indicates operations for the app to perform. The ASI describes an app state of the app after performing the operations. Identifying each app state record based on the indication includes determining that the current app state is a parent app state of the app state described by the ASI included in the identified record. The techniques further include selecting the AAMs from the identified app state records and transmitting the selected AAMs to the user device.