Flexible architecture for notifying applications of state changes

A method for providing notifications to clients in response to state property changes, comprising:

• at a notification broker that is located on a computing device, receiving an automatic notification request from a client application on the computing device to receive a notification in response to an event that originates on the computing device;
• wherein the event is associated with change in a state property of the computing device, wherein execution of the client application on the computing device is dependent upon a received notification;
• wherein an Application Program Interface (API) is utilized by the client application to register the notification request, wherein the notification request made through the API specifies to receive a notification upon an occurrence of at least one of:
• when a registered state property changes, when a change to the state property meets a conditional expression that is specified through the API, and upon a schedule determined by the client, wherein the API also comprises functions for:
• registering state properties;
• querying the state properties;
• and setting the state properties;
• ensuring that the state property is registered with the notification broker, wherein the notification broker includes state properties that are updated by different components within the computing device;
• determining when the state property changes;
• determining when the client should receive notification of the state property change;
• and
• the notification broker on the computing device notifying the client of the state property change when determined.

A system for state management and notifications, comprising:

• a data store on a mobile device that is arranged to store information relating to state properties, wherein at least some of the state properties are modified by different components;
• an Application Program Interface (API) configured to perform operations relating to the state properties;
• wherein the API includes functions comprising:
• registering the state properties;
• querying the state properties;
• setting the state properties;
• registering notification requests relating to the state properties;
• launching an application;
• and comparing the state properties to conditional expressions;
• client applications that are configured to automatically register notification requests using the API and receive notifications in response to a change in a state property for which they have registered to receive a notification, wherein the notification requests indicate when the clients should receive notifications in response to changes associated with the state properties, and wherein execution of the client applications is dependent upon a received notification;
• wherein the change in the state property is responsive to an event that originates on a device executing the application;
• a notification list stored within the data store that is arranged to store the clients that have been registered to receive notification requests;
• a notification broker coupled to the data store, the notification list, and the clients, wherein the notification broker, includes functionality configured to perform the following actions, including to:
• receive a notification request to add at least one client to the notification list;
• add the at least one client to the notification list;
• and
• determine when a registered state property changes, and when the state property changes, determine the clients to receive a notification, and notify the determined clients of the state property change.

A tangible computer-readable storage medium having computer executable instructions for performing operations on state properties, comprising:

• receiving at a notification broker on a device an automatic request from a client application that is executed on the device to receive an identifier identifying at least one state property within a group of state properties of the device such that the execution of the application on the device is in response to the state properties associated with the device on which the application resides;
• wherein the application on the device is developed after development of the device;
• wherein state properties within the group of state properties are updated by different components on the device;
• wherein the state properties change is response to an event that originates on the device;
• wherein an Application Program Interface (API) is utilized by the client application to register the request and comprises functions for:
• registering state properties;
• querying the state properties;
• and setting the state properties;
• receiving the identifier at the device that indicates the at least one state property within a group of state properties of the device;
• determining an operation to perform on the device relating to a state property within the group of state properties;
• and
• performing the operation on the device in response to the received identifier.