# US 2014/0156784 A1 · Method and system for providing an application to an electronic device for enhancing user security > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 2014/0156784 A1 - Document ID: US20140156784A1 - Status: Published application - Kind: A1 - Application number: 13/692,858 - Filed: 2012-12-03 - Published: 2014-06-05 - Earliest claimed: 2012-12-03 - Assignees: Lookout, Inc. - Applicants: Lookout, Inc. - Inventors: Brian James Buck - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US20140156784A1 ## CPC - G06F 16/275: {Synchronous replication} - G06F 16/2379: {Updates performed during online database operations; commit processing} - H04L 67/1095: Replication or mirroring of data, e.g. scheduling or transport for data synchronisation between network nodes - H04L 67/34: {involving the movement of software or configuration parameters (network booting or remote initial program loading [RIPL] G06F9/4416)} - H04W 4/50: Service provisioning or reconfiguring - H04W 4/60: Subscription-based services using application servers or record carriers, e.g. SIM application toolkits - G06F: ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING (computer systems based on specific computational models G06N) - H04L: TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION (arrangements common to telegraphic and telephonic communication H04M) - H04W: WIRELESS COMMUNICATION NETWORKS (broadcast communication H04H; communication systems using wireless links for non-selective communication, e.g. wireless extensions H04M1/72) ## Abstract Security is enhanced for a user of electronic devices by providing a method for providing an application to an electronic device. According to an embodiment, an application in a source electronic device can be cloned from the source electronic device to a target electronic device. According to an embodiment, when the application is selected, the source device can be configured to automatically collect the selected application and configuration information, state information and/or application data associated with the selected application. The collected information is referred to as “cloning data.” Once the cloning data is collected, the source device can be configured to transmit at least a portion of the cloning data to the target electronic device, which can utilize the cloning data to clone the application into the target electronic device. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A method for providing an application to an electronic device, the method comprising: selecting, by a cloning agent in a source electronic device hosting a plurality of applications, at least one of a first application; collecting, by the source electronic device, cloning data associated with the at least one of the first application, wherein the cloning data includes the at least one of the first application, and at least one of configuration information, state information, and application data associated with the at least one of the first application; and transmitting, by the cloning agent, at least a portion of the cloning data to a target electronic device, wherein the target electronic device is configured to receive and utilize at least a portion of the cloning data to clone the at least one of the first application into the target electronic device. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1 wherein the source electronic device is associated with a user and wherein selecting the at least one of the first application comprises displaying at least some of the plurality of applications to the user and receiving an indication from the user selecting the at least one of the first application. ### Claim 3 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1 wherein the user is one of a plurality of users associated with the source electronic device and wherein when the at least one of the first application is utilized by the user and at least one other user of the plurality of users, the at least one of configuration information, state information, and application data associated with the at least one of the first application is also associated with the user. ### Claim 4 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1 wherein the user is an administrator and a plurality of users is associated with the source electronic device and wherein when the at least one of the first application is utilized by at least some users of the plurality of users, the cloning data includes the at least one of the first application, and at least one of the configuration information, state information, and application data associated with both the at least one of the first application and with the at least some users. ### Claim 5 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1 wherein at least one of the configuration information and the state information are stored in an application file in a file system and the application data is stored in an application data store, and wherein collecting the cloning data comprises: monitoring the at least one of the first application's read/write activity; determining to which application file in the file system and to which location in the application data store the at least one of the first application's read/write activity is directed based on the monitoring; and retrieving at least one of the configuration information, the state information and the application data from at least one of the determined application file in the file system and the determined location in the application data store. ### Claim 6 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1 wherein transmitting the cloning data to the target electronic device includes sending the cloning data from the source electronic device directly to the target electronic device. ### Claim 7 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1 wherein the cloning data further includes information identifying the target electronic device and wherein transmitting the cloning data to the target electronic device includes sending the cloning data from the source electronic device to the target electronic device via at least one of a cloud-based application provisioning service and an application store service. ### Claim 8 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1 wherein the at least one of the first application is an application set associated with at least one of a device type and a utility function type. ### Claim 9 (depends on 8) The method of claim 8 further comprising transmitting, by the cloning agent in the source electronic device, the cloning data to a social networking service configured to publish at least a portion of the cloning data to a community of users subscribed to the social networking service. ### Claim 10 (depends on 8) The method of claim 8 further comprising transmitting, by the cloning agent in the source electronic device, the cloning data to a the cloud-based application provisioning service configured to provide the cloning data to at least one other target electronic device based on the device type associated with the application set. ### Claim 11 (depends on 8) The method of claim 8 further comprising transmitting, by the cloning agent in the source electronic device, the cloning data to an application store service configured to provide at least a portion of the cloning data to an electronic device in response to receiving a request from the electronic device to download the cloning data associated with the application set. ### Claim 12 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1 wherein the cloning agent is provided by an operating system of the source device. ### Claim 13 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1 wherein the cloning agent is an application hosted by the source device. ### Claim 14 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1 further comprising submitting, by the cloning agent, a clone request to the at least one of the first application, wherein in response to receiving the request, the at least one of the first application is configured to collect the cloning data. ### Claim 15 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1 wherein the source electronic device further hosts an operating system, and wherein the at least one of the first application is the operating system. ### Claim 16 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1 further comprising transmitting, by the cloning agent in the source electronic device, the cloning data to a backup/restore service configured to store the cloning data associated with the at least one of the first application. ### Claim 17 (depends on 16) The method of claim 16 further comprising removing the at least one of the first application on the source electronic device; retrieving the cloning data associated with the at least one of the first application from the backup/restore service, and using the cloning data to reinstall and configure the at least one of the first application on the source electronic device. ### Claim 18 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1 further comprising: selecting, by a syncing agent in the source electronic device, an application of the plurality of applications to be synchronized with a corresponding application hosted by the target electronic device; collecting syncing data associated with the application, wherein the syncing data includes at least one of the configuration information, the state information, execution history information, and the application data associated with the application; and transmitting, by the syncing agent, the syncing data to the target electronic device, wherein the target electronic device is configured to receive and utilize at least a portion of the syncing data to update at least one of the configuration information, the state information, execution history information, and the application data associated with the corresponding application. ### Claim 19 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1 wherein prior to transmitting the at least a portion of the cloning data, the method further comprises scanning the at least one the first application for malicious programming code. ### Claim 20 A method for providing an application to an electronic device, the method comprising: receiving, by a cloning agent in a target electronic device, cloning data associated with at least one application to be cloned into the target electronic device, wherein the cloning data includes the at least one application, and at least one of configuration information, state information, and application data associated with the at least one application; determining, by the cloning agent, that the at least one application is compatible with the target electronic device; loading, by the cloning agent, the at least one application using at least one of the configuration information, the state information and the application data associated with the at least one application; and storing, by the cloning agent, the at least one of configuration information and state information in an application file and storing the application data in a data store of the target electronic device. ### Claim 21 (depends on 20) The method of claim 20 wherein the target electronic device is associated with a plurality of users and wherein at least one of the configuration information, the state information and the application data associated with the at least one application is also associated with at least one user of the plurality of users. ### Claim 22 (depends on 21) The method of claim 21 further comprising using at least one of the configuration information and the state information to configure the at least one application according to preferences of the at least one user. ### Claim 23 (depends on 20) The method of claim 20 wherein the cloning data is received directly from a source electronic device. ### Claim 24 (depends on 20) The method of claim 20 wherein the cloning data is received from a source electronic device via at least one of a cloud based application provisioning service and an application store service. ### Claim 25 (depends on 20) The method of claim 20 further including determining that the at least one application is incompatible with the target electronic device. ### Claim 26 (depends on 25) The method of claim 25 further including determining, by the cloning agent, that a compatible version of the at least one application is available, transmitting a request for the compatible version of the at least one application to an application store service, and downloading the compatible version of the at least one application. ### Claim 27 (depends on 26) The method of claim 26 further comprising installing and configuring the compatible version of the at least one application using at least one of the configuration information, state information, and application data associated with the at least one application. ### Claim 28 (depends on 25) The method of claim 25 further including determining, by the cloning agent, that a compatible version of the at least one application is unavailable, identifying at least one substitute application similar to the at least one application, and downloading the substitute application. ### Claim 29 (depends on 28) The method of claim 28 further comprising providing at least one selection rule, and wherein identifying the at least one substitute application includes applying the at least one selection rule. ### Claim 30 (depends on 20) The method of claim 20 wherein after loading the at least one application, the method further comprises providing, by the cloning agent, a load request to the at least one application, wherein in response to receiving the load request, the at least one application is configured to store at least one of the configuration information and the state information in an application file in a file system and to store the application data in an application data store. ### Claim 31 (depends on 20) The method of claim 20 wherein the cloning agent is provided by an operating system of the target electronic device. ### Claim 32 (depends on 20) The method of claim 20 wherein the cloning agent is an application hosted by the target electronic device. ### Claim 33 (depends on 20) The method of claim 20 wherein the at least one application is an operating system. ### Claim 34 (depends on 20) The method of claim 20 wherein the at least one application is an application set associated with at least one of a device type, a device platform type, and a utility function type. ### Claim 35 (depends on 20) The method of claim 20 further comprising: receiving, by a syncing agent in the target electronic device, syncing data associated with an application hosted by the target electronic device, wherein the syncing data includes at least one of the configuration information, the state information, execution history information, and the application data associated with the application; and updating at least one of the configuration information, the state information, execution history information, and the application data associated with the application with the syncing data. ### Claim 36 (depends on 20) The method of claim 20 wherein prior to loading the at least one application, the method further comprises scanning the at least one first application for malicious programming code. ### Claim 37 (depends on 20) The method of claim 20 wherein the at least one application is a licensed application and wherein prior to loading the licensed application, the method further comprises determining that the license prevents the application from being loaded onto the target electronic device. ### Claim 38 (depends on 37) The method of claim 37 further comprising facilitating a transaction to purchase a license for the application. ### Claim 39 A method for providing an application to an electronic device, the method comprising: receiving, by a cloning agent in an application store service that provides a plurality of applications, a request to clone at least one application from a source electronic device to a target electronic device, the request including cloning data associated with the at least one application, wherein the cloning data includes information identifying the target electronic device, the at least one application, and at least one of configuration information, state information, and application data associated with the at least one application; determining, by the cloning agent, that the application store service provides a compatible version of the at least one application compatible with the target electronic device; updating the cloning data by replacing the at least one application with the compatible version of the at least one application; and transmitting, by the cloning agent, the updated cloning data to the target electronic device, wherein the target electronic device is configured to receive the updated cloning data and to utilize at least a portion of the updated cloning data to clone in the compatible version of the at least one application into the target electronic device. ### Claim 40 (depends on 39) The method of claim 39 further comprising: determining, by the cloning agent, that a compatible version of the at least one application compatible with the target electronic device is available but not provided by the application store service; identifying, by the cloning agent, another application store service that provides the compatible version of the at least one application; and transmitting a request to the other application store service to retrieve the compatible version of the at least one application to the target electronic device. ### Claim 41 (depends on 39) The method of claim 39 further comprising: determining, by the cloning agent, that a compatible version of the at least one application is unavailable; identifying at least one substitute application similar to the at least one application; and updating, by the cloning agent, the cloning data by replacing the at least one application with the at least one substitute application. ### Claim 42 (depends on 41) The method of claim 41 further comprising applying at least one selection rule to identify the at least one substitute application. ### Claim 43 (depends on 42) The method of claim 42 wherein the source electronic device is associated with a source user and wherein the at least one selection rule is defined by at least one of the source user and the application store service. ### Claim 44 (depends on 39) The method of claim 39 wherein the source electronic device is associated with a source user and wherein the request to clone is received from the source user. ### Claim 45 (depends on 44) The method of claim 44 wherein the at least one application is an application set associated with at least one of a device type and a utility function type, and wherein the cloning data further includes the source user's comments relating to the application set. ### Claim 46 (depends on 45) The method of claim 45 further comprising publishing, by the application store service the information identifying the application set and the source user's comments to a community of users. ### Claim 47 (depends on 39) The method of claim 39 wherein the at least one application is an application set associated with at least one of a device type and a utility function type, the method further comprising: receiving, by the cloning agent, a request from another electronic device to download the application set; and transmitting at least a portion of the cloning data associated with the application set to the other electronic device. ### Claim 48 (depends on 39) The method of claim 39 wherein prior to transmitting the updated cloning data, the method further comprises scanning the compatible version of the at least one application for malicious programming code.