# US 2022/0276752 A1 · Systems, Methods, and User Interfaces for Interacting with Multiple Application Windows

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- Number: US 2022/0276752 A1
- Document ID: US20220276752A1
- Status: Published application
- Kind: A1
- Application number: 17/750,119
- Filed: 2022-05-20
- Published: 2022-09-01
- Earliest claimed: 2019-04-15
- Assignees: Apple Inc.
- Applicants: Apple Inc.
- Inventors: Brandon M. Walkin; Patrick L. Coffman
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US20220276752A1

## CPC

- G06F 3/0482: Interaction with lists of selectable items, e.g. menus
- G06F 3/04817: using icons (graphical or visual programming using iconic symbols G06F8/34)
- G06F 3/04845: for image manipulation, e.g. dragging, rotation, expansion or change of colour
- G06F 3/0486: Drag-and-drop
- G06F 3/04883: for inputting data by handwriting, e.g. gesture or text
- G06F 3/00: Input arrangements for transferring data to be processed into a form capable of being handled by the computer; Output arrangements for transferring data from processing unit to output unit, e.g. interface arrangements
- G06F 3/048: Interaction techniques based on graphical user interfaces [GUI]
- 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 3/04886: 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 9/00: Arrangements for program control, e.g. control units (program control for peripheral devices G06F13/10)
- G06F 2203/04803: Split screen, i.e. subdividing the display area or the window area into separate subareas
- G06F: ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING (computer systems based on specific computational models G06N)

## Abstract

A method for multitasking include displaying a dock containing application icons corresponding to different application concurrently with a first user interface of a first application; detecting a first input directed to an application icon corresponding to a second application in the dock; in accordance with a determination that the second application is associated with multiple windows, displaying a first representation of a first window for the second application and a second representation of a second window for the second application concurrently with the first user interface of the first application in a second region of the display area; and in accordance with a determination that the second application is associated with only a single window, displaying a second user interface of the second application concurrently with the first user interface of the first application.

## Claims

### Claim 1

A method, comprising:
at an electronic device that is in communication with a display generation component and one or more input devices:
displaying, via the display generation component, a dock containing a plurality of application icons concurrently with a first user interface of a first application, wherein the plurality of application icons correspond to different applications;
while displaying the dock containing the plurality of application icons concurrently with the first user interface of the first application, detecting a first input directed to an application icon corresponding to a second application in the dock that includes movement into a first region of a display area of the display generation component followed by an end of the first input in the first region of the display area; and
in response to detecting the first input:
in accordance with a determination that the second application is associated with multiple windows, displaying, via the display generation component, a first representation of a first window for the second application and a second representation of a second window for the second application concurrently with the first user interface of the first application in a second region of the display area; and
in accordance with a determination that the second application is associated with only a single window, displaying, via the display generation component, a second user interface of the second application concurrently with the first user interface of the first application, wherein the second user interface of the second application is displayed in the second region of the display area.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, wherein the second region is a predefined region of the display area.

### Claim 3 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, including:
displaying, concurrently with the first representation of the first window and the second representation of the second window for the second application, a first affordance for opening a document in the second application;
while displaying the first affordance for opening a document in the second application, detecting an input activating the first affordance; and
in response to detecting the input activating the first affordance:
displaying a user interface for selecting a document to display in a new window in the second region of the display area.

### Claim 4 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, including:
displaying, concurrently with the first representation of the first window and the second representation of the second window for the second application, a first affordance for creating a new document in the second application;
while displaying the first affordance for creating a new document in the second application, detecting an input activating the first affordance; and
in response to detecting the input activating the first affordance:
displaying a new window of the second application in the second region of the display area.

### Claim 5 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, including:
while displaying the first representation of the first window and the second representation of the second window for the second application, detecting a second input directed to the second region of the display area, including movement across the second region of the display area followed by an end of the second input; and
in response to detecting the second input:
in accordance with a determination that the second input meets dismissal criteria, and a location of the second input corresponds to the first representation of the first window of the second application, ceasing to display the first representation of the first window while maintaining display of the second representation of the second window for the second application; and
in accordance with a determination that the second input meets the dismissal criteria, and the location of the second input corresponds to the second representation of the second window of the second application, ceasing to display the second representation of the second window while maintaining display of the first representation of the first window for the second application.

### Claim 6 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, wherein displaying the second user interface of the second application concurrently with the first user interface of the first application includes displaying the second user interface of the second application adjacent to the first user interface of the first application.

### Claim 7 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, wherein displaying the second user interface of the second application concurrently with the first user interface of the first application includes displaying the second user interface of the second application overlaying a portion of the first user interface of the first application.

### Claim 8 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, including:
while displaying the first representation of the first window and the second representation of the second window for the second application, detecting a third input directed to the second region of the display area; and
in response to detecting the third input:
in accordance with a determination that the third input meets dismissal criteria for closing the first window of the second application:
ceasing to display the first representation of the first window while maintaining display of the second representation of the second window for the second application; and
in accordance with a determination that the second representation of the second window for the second application is a representation of an only window for the second application:
ceasing to display the second representation of the second window; and
displaying the second window in the second region of the display area.

### Claim 9 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, including:
while displaying the first representation of the first window and the second representation of the second window for the second application, detecting a third input directed to the second region of the display area; and
in response to detecting the third input:
in accordance with a determination that the third input meets dismissal criteria for closing the first window of the second application:
ceasing to display the first representation of the first window while maintaining display of the second representation of the second window for the second application; and
in accordance with a determination that the second representation of the second window for the second application is a representation of an only window for the second application, maintaining display of the second representation of the second window for the second application in the second region of the display area.

### Claim 10 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, including:
displaying an affordance for opening a new window of the second application concurrently with the first representation of the first window and the second representation of the second window for the second application;
detecting a plurality of inputs directed to the second region of the display area; and
in response to detecting the plurality of inputs:
in accordance with a determination that the plurality of inputs meet dismissal criteria for closing the first window and the second window of the second application:
ceasing to display the first representation of the first window and the second representation of the second window for the second application; and
in accordance with a determination that there is no window for the second application represented in the second region, maintaining display of the affordance for opening a new window of the second application in the second region of the display area.

### Claim 11

A system, comprising:
one or more processor that are in communication with a display generation component and one or more input devices; and
memory including instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the processors to perform operations including:
displaying, via the display generation component, a dock containing a plurality of application icons concurrently with a first user interface of a first application, wherein the plurality of application icons correspond to different applications;
while displaying the dock containing the plurality of application icons concurrently with the first user interface of the first application, detecting a first input directed to an application icon corresponding to a second application in the dock that includes movement into a first region of a display area of the display generation component followed by an end of the first input in the first region of the display area; and
in response to detecting the first input:
in accordance with a determination that the second application is associated with multiple windows, displaying, via the display generation component, a first representation of a first window for the second application and a second representation of a second window for the second application concurrently with the first user interface of the first application in a second region of the display area; and
in accordance with a determination that the second application is associated with only a single window, displaying, via the display generation component, a second user interface of the second application concurrently with the first user interface of the first application, wherein the second user interface of the second application is displayed in the second region of the display area.

### Claim 12 (depends on 11)

The system of claim 11, wherein the second region is a predefined region of the display area.

### Claim 13 (depends on 11)

The system of claim 11, wherein the operations include:
displaying, concurrently with the first representation of the first window and the second representation of the second window for the second application, a first affordance for opening a document in the second application;
while displaying the first affordance for opening a document in the second application, detecting an input activating the first affordance; and
in response to detecting the input activating the first affordance:
displaying a user interface for selecting a document to display in a new window in the second region of the display area.

### Claim 14 (depends on 11)

The system of claim 11, wherein the operations include:
displaying, concurrently with the first representation of the first window and the second representation of the second window for the second application, a first affordance for creating a new document in the second application;
while displaying the first affordance for creating a new document in the second application, detecting an input activating the first affordance; and
in response to detecting the input activating the first affordance:
displaying a new window of the second application in the second region of the display area.

### Claim 15 (depends on 11)

The system of claim 11, wherein the operations include:
while displaying the first representation of the first window and the second representation of the second window for the second application, detecting a second input directed to the second region of the display area, including movement across the second region of the display area followed by an end of the second input; and
in response to detecting the second input:
in accordance with a determination that the second input meets dismissal criteria, and a location of the second input corresponds to the first representation of the first window of the second application, ceasing to display the first representation of the first window while maintaining display of the second representation of the second window for the second application; and
in accordance with a determination that the second input meets the dismissal criteria, and the location of the second input corresponds to the second representation of the second window of the second application, ceasing to display the second representation of the second window while maintaining display of the first representation of the first window for the second application.

### Claim 16 (depends on 11)

The system of claim 11, wherein displaying the second user interface of the second application concurrently with the first user interface of the first application includes displaying the second user interface of the second application adjacent to the first user interface of the first application.

### Claim 17 (depends on 11)

The system of claim 11, wherein displaying the second user interface of the second application concurrently with the first user interface of the first application includes displaying the second user interface of the second application overlaying a portion of the first user interface of the first application.

### Claim 18 (depends on 11)

The system of claim 11, wherein the operations include:
while displaying the first representation of the first window and the second representation of the second window for the second application, detecting a third input directed to the second region of the display area; and
in response to detecting the third input:
in accordance with a determination that the third input meets dismissal criteria for closing the first window of the second application:
ceasing to display the first representation of the first window while maintaining display of the second representation of the second window for the second application; and
in accordance with a determination that the second representation of the second window for the second application is a representation of an only window for the second application:
ceasing to display the second representation of the second window; and
displaying the second window in the second region of the display area.

### Claim 19 (depends on 11)

The system of claim 11, wherein the operations include:
while displaying the first representation of the first window and the second representation of the second window for the second application, detecting a third input directed to the second region of the display area; and
in response to detecting the third input:
in accordance with a determination that the third input meets dismissal criteria for closing the first window of the second application:
ceasing to display the first representation of the first window while maintaining display of the second representation of the second window for the second application; and
in accordance with a determination that the second representation of the second window for the second application is a representation of an only window for the second application, maintaining display of the second representation of the second window for the second application in the second region of the display area.

### Claim 20 (depends on 11)

The system of claim 11, wherein the operations include:
displaying an affordance for opening a new window of the second application concurrently with the first representation of the first window and the second representation of the second window for the second application;
detecting a plurality of inputs directed to the second region of the display area; and
in response to detecting the plurality of inputs:
in accordance with a determination that the plurality of inputs meet dismissal criteria for closing the first window and the second window of the second application:
ceasing to display the first representation of the first window and the second representation of the second window for the second application; and
in accordance with a determination that there is no window for the second application represented in the second region, maintaining display of the affordance for opening a new window of the second application in the second region of the display area.

### Claim 21

A computer-readable storage medium including instructions that, when executed by one or more processors that are in communication with a display generation component and one or more input devices, cause the one or more processors to:
display, via the display generation component, a dock containing a plurality of application icons concurrently with a first user interface of a first application, wherein the plurality of application icons correspond to different applications;
while displaying the dock containing the plurality of application icons concurrently with the first user interface of the first application, detect a first input directed to an application icon corresponding to a second application in the dock that includes movement into a first region of a display area of the display generation component followed by an end of the first input in the first region of the display area; and
in response to detecting the first input:
in accordance with a determination that the second application is associated with multiple windows, display, via the display generation component, a first representation of a first window for the second application and a second representation of a second window for the second application concurrently with the first user interface of the first application in a second region of the display area; and
in accordance with a determination that the second application is associated with only a single window, display, via the display generation component, a second user interface of the second application concurrently with the first user interface of the first application, wherein the second user interface of the second application is displayed in the second region of the display area.