# US 12,001,673 B2 · Split-screen display method and electronic device > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 12,001,673 B2 - Document ID: US12001673B2 - Status: Granted - Kind: B2 - Application number: 17/797,998 - Filed: 2021-10-21 - Published: 2023-02-23 - Granted: 2024-06-04 - Earliest claimed: 2020-08-21 - Assignees: Honor Device Co., Ltd. - Applicants: Honor Device Co., Ltd. - Inventors: Jie Yi - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US12001673B2 ## CPC - G06F 3/04886: by partitioning the display area of the touch-screen or the surface of the digitising tablet into independently controllable areas, e.g. virtual keyboards or menus - G06F 1/1694: {the I/O peripheral being a single or a set of motion sensors for pointer control or gesture input obtained by sensing movements of the portable computer} - G06F 3/0481: based on specific properties of the displayed interaction object or a metaphor-based environment, e.g. interaction with desktop elements like windows or icons, or assisted by a cursor's changing behaviour or appearance - G06F 3/04817: using icons (graphical or visual programming using iconic symbols G06F8/34) - G06F 3/0482: Interaction with lists of selectable items, e.g. menus - G06F 3/0486: Drag-and-drop - G06F 3/04883: for inputting data by handwriting, e.g. gesture or text - G06F 3/04847: Interaction techniques to control parameter settings, e.g. interaction with sliders or dials - G06F 2200/1614: Image rotation following screen orientation, e.g. switching from landscape to portrait mode - G06F 2203/04803: Split screen, i.e. subdividing the display area or the window area into separate subareas - G06F 2203/04808: Several contacts: gestures triggering a specific function, e.g. scrolling, zooming, right-click, when the user establishes several contacts with the surface simultaneously; e.g. using several fingers or a combination of fingers and pen - G06F: ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING (computer systems based on specific computational models G06N) ## Abstract Embodiments of this application provide a split-screen display method and an electronic device, which are applied to the field of terminal technologies. The method includes: receiving a first operation for an application; displaying, in response to the first operation, an icon of the application as a first state on a display screen, where the first state is used to identify that a split-screen display operation can be performed for a plurality of functions of the application; receiving a second operation for the icon in the first state; and respectively displaying, in response to the second operation, interfaces corresponding to the plurality of functions of the application in a plurality of split-screen areas. In the embodiments of this application, an application icon may be triggered on an interface of a terminal device, to implement split-screen displaying of a function of an application, thereby simplifying a manner of opening different functions of the application and improving user experience. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A split-screen display method for an electronic device, wherein the electronic device comprises a display screen, and wherein the display screen comprises a plurality of split-screen areas, the method comprising: receiving a first operation for an application; displaying, in response to the first operation, an icon of the application as a first state on the display screen, wherein the first state identifies that a split-screen display operation can be performed for a plurality of functions of the application; receiving a second operation for the icon in the first state, wherein the second operation comprises a continuous touch operation for the icon in the first state and a plurality of drag operations; and respectively displaying, in response to the second operation, interfaces corresponding to the plurality of functions of the application in the plurality of split-screen areas, wherein respectively displaying, in response to the second operation, interfaces corresponding to the plurality of functions of the application in the plurality of split-screen areas comprises displaying, in response to each drag operation and based on the continuous touch operation for the icon in the first state, an interface corresponding to a function of the application in a split-screen area corresponding to the drag operation, and wherein the application is not opened prior displaying the interfaces in the plurality of split-screen areas. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein displaying the interface corresponding to a function of the application in a split-screen area corresponding to the drag operation comprises displaying, in a split-screen area corresponding to an end position of the drag operation, the interface corresponding to the function of the application. ### Claim 3 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein displaying the interface corresponding to a function of the application in a split-screen area corresponding to the drag operation comprises displaying, in a split-screen area to which a drag direction of the drag operation points, the interface corresponding to the function of the application. ### Claim 4 (depends on 3) The method of claim 3, wherein displaying, in the split-screen area to which a drag direction of the drag operation points, the interface corresponding to the function of the application comprises, displaying, in the split-screen area to which the drag direction of the drag operation points, the interface corresponding to the function of the application in response to a pressing force of the drag operation being greater than a first pressure threshold. ### Claim 5 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein the icon in the first state comprises the icon of the application and identifiers of the plurality of functions of the application, wherein the continuous touch operation comprises a continuous touch operation for the icon of the application, and wherein the drag operation comprises a drag operation for the identifiers of the plurality of functions. ### Claim 6 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein receiving the second operation for the icon in the first state further comprises receiving slide operations that slide in two different directions at the same time for the icon in the first state, wherein respectively displaying, in response to the second operation, interfaces corresponding to the plurality of functions of the application in the plurality of split-screen areas comprises: duplicating the icon of the application into a plurality of duplicated icons based on the directions of the slide operations; displaying the plurality of duplicated icons in positions corresponding to the plurality of split-screen areas to which the slide operations proceed, wherein the positions of the plurality of split-screen areas on the display screen are related to the directions of the slide operations; and respectively displaying, in the plurality of split-screen areas, the interfaces corresponding to the plurality of functions of the application in response to the slide operations ending. ### Claim 7 (depends on 6) The method of claim 6, wherein duplicating the icon of the application into a plurality of duplicated icons based on the directions of the slide operations, and displaying the plurality of duplicated icons in positions corresponding to the plurality of split-screen areas to which the slide operations proceed is in response to a pressing force of the slide operations being greater than a second pressure threshold. ### Claim 8 (depends on 6) The method of claim 6, wherein either a) when the slide operation is an operation of sliding up and down relative to the display screen, the plurality of split-screen areas are split-screen areas in up and down directions relative to the display screen, or b) when the slide operation is an operation of sliding left and right relative to the display screen, the plurality of split-screen areas are split-screen areas in left and right directions relative to the display screen. ### Claim 9 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein respectively displaying interfaces corresponding to the plurality of functions of the application in the plurality of split-screen areas comprises, in response to a quantity of functions of the application being greater than a quantity of the plurality of split-screen areas, displaying identifiers of the plurality of functions of the application in a first split-screen area of the plurality of split-screen areas, and respectively displaying corresponding interfaces of other functions of the application in other split-screen areas of the plurality of split-screen areas, wherein the other functions are different from those displayed in the first split-screen area. ### Claim 10 (depends on 9) The method of claim 9, further comprising: receiving a third operation for the identifiers of the plurality of functions of the application in the first split-screen area; and displaying, in the first split-screen area in response to the third operation, an interface of a function targeted by the third operation. ### Claim 11 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, further comprising receiving a setting operation for the application, wherein the setting operation is used to sets interfaces of a plurality of specifically displayed first target functions when the interfaces of the plurality of functions of the application are displayed in the split-screen areas, wherein respectively displaying, in response to the second operation, interfaces corresponding to the plurality of functions of the application in the plurality of split-screen areas comprises respectively displaying, in response to the second operation, interfaces corresponding to the plurality of first target functions in the plurality of split-screen areas. ### Claim 12 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein respectively displaying interfaces corresponding to the plurality of functions of the application in the plurality of split-screen areas comprises respectively displaying, in the plurality of split-screen areas, interfaces corresponding to a plurality of second target functions of the application, wherein the plurality of second target functions comprise either a) a plurality of functions that are in the application and have trigger frequencies that meet a preset condition in a first time period, or b) a plurality of functions that are displayed when most recent split-screen displaying of a plurality of functions is performed in the application. ### Claim 13 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein after respectively displaying interfaces corresponding to the plurality of functions of the application in the plurality of split-screen areas, the method further comprises: receiving a fourth operation for a second split-screen area in the plurality of split-screen areas; and switching a display interface of the second split-screen area to the identifiers of the plurality of functions of the application in response to the fourth operation. ### Claim 14 (depends on 13) The method of claim 13, further comprising: receiving a fifth operation for the identifiers of the plurality of functions of the application in the second split-screen area; and displaying, in the second split-screen area in response to the fifth operation, an interface of a function targeted by the fifth operation. ### Claim 15 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, further comprising: receiving a sixth operation for a third split-screen area in the plurality of split-screen areas; and displaying in full screen content displayed in the third split-screen area in response to the sixth operation. ### Claim 16 An electronic device, comprising: a processor; a display screen coupled to the processor and comprising a plurality of split-screen areas; and a memory coupled to the processor and configured to store a program that, when executed by the processor, causes the electronic device to be configured to: receive a first operation for an application; display, in response to the first operation, an icon of the application as a first state on the display screen, wherein the first state identifies that a split-screen display operation can be performed for a plurality of functions of the application; receive a second operation for the icon in the first state, wherein the second operation comprises a continuous touch operation for the icon in the first state and a plurality of drag operations; and respectively display, in response to the second operation, interfaces corresponding to the plurality of functions of the application in the plurality of split-screen areas, wherein respectively displaying, in response to the second operation, interfaces corresponding to the plurality of functions of the application in the plurality of split-screen areas comprises displaying, in response to each drag operation and based on the continuous touch operation for the icon in the first state, an interface corresponding to a function of the application in a split-screen area corresponding to the drag operation, and wherein the application is not opened prior displaying the interfaces in the plurality of split-screen areas. ### Claim 17 A computer-readable storage medium containing instructions that, when executed by a processor of an electronic device, cause the electronic device to be configured to: receive a first operation for an application; display, in response to the first operation, an icon of the application as a first state on a display screen, wherein the first state identifies that a split-screen display operation can be performed for a plurality of functions of the application; receive a second operation for the icon in the first state, wherein the second operation comprises a continuous touch operation for the icon in the first state and a plurality of drag operations; and respectively display, in response to the second operation, interfaces corresponding to the plurality of functions of the application in a plurality of split-screen areas of the display screen, wherein respectively displaying, in response to the second operation, interfaces corresponding to the plurality of functions of the application in the plurality of split-screen areas comprises displaying, in response to each drag operation and based on the continuous touch operation for the icon in the first state, an interface corresponding to a function of the application in a split-screen area corresponding to the drag operation, and wherein the application is not opened prior displaying the interfaces in the plurality of split-screen areas. ### Claim 18 (depends on 16) The electronic device of claim 16, wherein displaying the interface corresponding to a function of the application in a split-screen area corresponding to the drag operation comprises displaying, in a split-screen area corresponding to an end position of the drag operation, the interface corresponding to the function of the application. ### Claim 19 (depends on 16) The electronic device of claim 16, wherein displaying the interface corresponding to a function of the application in a split-screen area corresponding to the drag operation comprises displaying, in a split-screen area to which a drag direction of the drag operation points, the interface corresponding to the function of the application. ### Claim 20 (depends on 16) The electronic device of claim 16, wherein the icon in the first state comprises the icon of the application and identifiers of the plurality of functions of the application, wherein the continuous touch operation comprises a continuous touch operation for the icon of the application, and wherein the drag operation comprises a drag operation for the identifiers of the plurality of functions.