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US 8,751,524 B2Granted
Application store concierge
AssigneeMicrosoft Corporation
InventorsJoseph Futty, Miller T. Abel, Eric P. Gilmore, Kamran Rajabi Zargahi, John Clavin, Viswanath Vadlamani
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An application sequence may be composed in response to a user query. The application sequence may be based upon user data accessed by the application concierge service. Each application within the personalized chain of applications may request and receive data from the application concierge service about the other applications within the chain.
Claims20
A computer-implemented method comprising:
- receiving a query from a user requesting identification of a plurality of software applications for use by the user to perform a task identified in the query;
- referencing user data relevant to the task identified in the query;
- responsive to the user query, automatically identifying, by searching one or more application stores, an application sequence comprising a plurality of software applications that each perform separate portions of the task such that the application sequence enables the user to perform the entire task, the identifying based at least in part on the task, application programming interface (API) descriptions of inputs and outputs for each of the plurality of software applications, and the user data, wherein features and behavior of the plurality of software applications in the one or more application stores are described in descriptive data that is associated with the plurality of software applications;
- combining, by a processor, the plurality of software applications in a workflow in which each software application of the plurality of software applications occupies a sequential position and at least one of the plurality of software applications provides data to an immediately subsequent software application in the workflow;
- and
- determining a confidence score indicating a likelihood that the workflow performs the task identified in the query, the determining based at least in part on a history of user actions relevant to the task.
3 more elements
A system comprising:
- a memory;
- one or more processors coupled to the memory;
- and
- a software application concierge service operable by the one or more processors, the software application concierge service comprising:
- an application data service configured to automatically identify a plurality of software applications from an application store that each perform separate portions of a task such that the plurality of software applications enables a user to perform an entirety of the task based at least in part on the task, application programming interface (API) descriptions of inputs and outputs for each of the plurality of software applications, and user data relevant to the task, wherein the task is identified in a query from the user, and wherein features and behavior of the plurality of applications in the application store are described in descriptive data that is associated with the plurality of applications;
- a sequencer configured to generate a workflow in which each of the plurality of software applications occupies a sequential position and at least one of the plurality of software applications provides data to an immediately subsequent software application in the workflow;
- and
- a confidence module configured to determine a confidence score indicating a likelihood that the workflow performs the task identified in the query based at least in part on a history of user actions relevant to the task.
5 more elements
One or more computer instruction storages accessible by a computing device, the computer instruction storages storing computer-executable instructions which, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform operations comprising:
- receiving a query from a user requesting identification of a plurality of software applications for use by the user to perform a task identified in the query;
- referencing user data relevant to the task;
- responsive to the user query, automatically identifying, by searching one or more application stores, an application sequence comprising the plurality of software applications that each perform separate portions of the task such that the application sequence enables the user to perform an entirety of the task, the identifying based at least in part on the task, application programming interface (API) descriptions of inputs and outputs for each of the plurality of software applications, and the user data, wherein features and behavior of the plurality of software applications in the one or more application stores are described in descriptive data that is associated with the plurality of software applications;
- combining the plurality of software applications in a workflow in which each software application occupies a sequential position and at least one of the plurality of software applications provides data to an immediately subsequent software application in the workflow;
- and
- determining a confidence score indicating a likelihood that the workflow performs the task identified in the query, the determining based at least in part on a history of user actions relevant to the task.
3 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.