Microsoft patents shared browser tabs for group web browsing
Microsoft has been granted a patent for a system that lets multiple people browse the web together in real-time. The technology creates a shared group of browser tabs where changes made by one person are instantly synchronized across all participants' devices.
In the filing’s own words
Aspects of the technology described herein provide a collaborative browsing experience in which real-time browsing activity and saved browsing activity of session collaborators in a collaborative browsing session are shared with the collaborators. A collaborative session may be initiated, which may create a tab group associated with the session and linked to a collaborator. Other collaborators may be invited to join the session, and additional tab groups for each collaborator may be created. The tab groups of the collaborators may be included in a collective tab group, which may be updated in real-time with changes made by any of the collaborators. For example, client changes may be handled locally and communicated to a service to which each client is connected. The service may sequence and broadcast the ordered changes to the clients, which may each implement the changes according to the sequence to synchronize a shared state amongst clients.
What exactly they claim (claim 1)
1. A system comprising: a processor; and computer memory storing computer-readable instructions that, when executed, perform operations comprising: including, in a collective tab group, a first tab group associated with a first collaborative browsing client operating on a first client computing device, wherein the first tab group includes a first tab corresponding to a first webpage open in a web browser of the first client computing device during a browsing session; and applying a first active tab indicator to the first tab to indicate the first tab is currently being displayed on the first client computing device.
Facts
- Company
- Microsoft (Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLC)
- Official title
- Collaborative browsing
- Patent number
- US12739290B2
- Application number
- 18798893
- Filed
- Aug 9, 2024
- Granted
- Sep 15, 2026
- Inventors
- 3
- Claims
- 20
Classified under
H04L 65/401 Electricity & electronicsG06F 3/0483 Physics & computingMore from Microsoft in AI & software
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Summaries are simplified from the filing’s own abstract and first claim. A patent filing is not a product announcement.
Patent data and drawings: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). Nebula is not affiliated with or endorsed by the USPTO.