How would one go about launching the browser from an activity without specifying a url. I would like to open the browser so the user can continue browsing without changing the page they were on?
SOLUTION:
Answer below was correct and worked, but to be more specific for future readers, here is the working code:
Intent i = new Intent();
i.setAction(Intent.ACTION_MAIN);
i.addCategory(Intent.CATEGORY_LAUNCHER);
i.setAction("com.android.browser");
ComponentName comp = new ComponentName("com.android.browser", "com.android.browser.BrowserActivity");
i.setComponent(comp);
i.setFlags(Intent.FLAG_ACTIVITY_NEW_TASK);
startActivity(i);
Thanks!
Use Intent#setComponent() to set the Browser's package and class name. Then start the activity.
In case it (the ComponentName("com.android.browser", "com.android.browser.BrowserActivity")) changes in the future, you may try something like the following code:
public static ComponentName getDefaultBrowserComponent(Context context) {
Intent i = new Intent()
.setAction(Intent.ACTION_VIEW)
.setData(new Uri.Builder()
.scheme("http")
.authority("x.y.z")
.appendQueryParameter("q", "x")
.build()
);
PackageManager pm = context.getPackageManager();
ResolveInfo default_ri = pm.resolveActivity(i, 0); // may be a chooser
ResolveInfo browser_ri = null;
List<ResolveInfo> rList = pm.queryIntentActivities(i, 0);
for (ResolveInfo ri : rList) {
if (ri.activityInfo.packageName.equals(default_ri.activityInfo.packageName)
&& ri.activityInfo.name.equals(default_ri.activityInfo.name)
) {
return ri2cn(default_ri);
} else if ("com.android.browser".equals(ri.activityInfo.packageName)) {
browser_ri = ri;
}
}
if (browser_ri != null) {
return ri2cn(browser_ri);
} else if (rList.size() > 0) {
return ri2cn(rList.get(0));
} else if (default_ri == null) {
return null;
} else {
return ri2cn(default_ri);
}
}
private static ComponentName ri2cn(ResolveInfo ri) {
return new ComponentName(ri.activityInfo.packageName, ri.activityInfo.name);
}
Basically, here I construct an intent to view a dummy http page, get the list of activities that may handle the intent, compare it to the default handler returned by resolveActivity() and return something. I do not need to check if there's a launcher MAIN action (my code uses the VIEW action), but you probably should.
this answer may help. from How to open the default android browser without specifying an URL?
PackageManager pm = getPackageManager();
Intent queryIntent = new Intent(Intent.ACTION_VIEW, Uri.parse("http://www.google.com"));
ActivityInfo af = queryIntent.resolveActivityInfo(pm, 0);
Intent launchIntent = new Intent(Intent.ACTION_MAIN);
launchIntent.setClassName(af.packageName, af.name);
startActivity(launchIntent);