Web Application Home Button for Desktop Integration
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Solution Overview
Problem
Users face challenges in integrating web applications with their desktop environment due to difficulties in defining website boundaries and navigating through multiple applications, leading to an undesirable user experience and distractions from browser chrome.
Innovation Solution
A mechanism that allows developers to define user interaction boundaries using client-side code, enforced by a run-time engine, enabling features like start menu shortcuts, navigation, and jumplist integration, while providing a 'site mode' experience that customizes behavior within specified domains.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If end-users define website boundaries through client-side script, then users can control web application integration, but the user experience deteriorates because users may not understand website construction and links
Solution Approach 1:
The system enables websites to automatically define their own boundaries and provide integration configurations without requiring end-users to write or understand client-side scripts. The website itself serves the dual purpose of both providing content and defining its integration boundaries, eliminating the need for user expertise in website construction.
Solution Approach 2:
A run-time engine acts as an intermediary between the website and the desktop environment, translating website-defined boundaries into enforceable integration configurations. This mediator handles the complexity of boundary definition and enforcement, allowing users to benefit from automated integration without understanding the underlying technical details.
2Productivity
If users boot computer, start browser, and launch web application sequentially, then users can access web applications, but productivity decreases due to multiple steps and browser distractions
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the web application with the desktop environment by integrating it directly into the desktop shell, eliminating the need for separate browser launch. The web application becomes part of the desktop infrastructure, allowing users to access it through desktop shortcuts or taskbar integration rather than navigating through multiple application layers.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent extracts the web application from the traditional browser container and integrates it directly into the desktop environment. By removing the browser intermediary layer, users can access web applications directly from the desktop without needing to launch a browser first, thereby reducing the steps required for access.
3Adaptability or versatility
If browsers provide full functionality, then users have access to web applications, but device complexity increases due to browser chrome distractions
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts and removes the browser chrome (address bar, tabs, navigation controls) from the web application interface. By taking out these distracting elements, the system provides a simplified, focused interface that maintains web application functionality while eliminating the complexity and distractions of the traditional browser environment.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent segments the web application experience from the browser infrastructure, allowing the web application to function independently without browser chrome. This segmentation enables the web application to provide its own simplified interface while maintaining full functionality, separating the essential application logic from the distracting browser interface.
Data Source
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AI summary
Various embodiments provide a mechanism to allow end users to install web applications and websites onto their desktop. In accordance with one or more embodiments, client-side code can be utilized to allow developers associated with a website to define boundaries associated with user interaction, and have those boundaries enforced by a run-time engine. In at least some embodiments, developers can provide, through JavaScript code and/or HTML markup, various configurations for the creation of a start menu shortcut, navigation, and so-called jumplist integration.