Open another application from your own (intent)

Question

I know how to update my own programs, and I know how to open programs using the a predefined Uri (for sms or email for example)

I need to know how I can create an Intent to open MyTracks or any other application that I don't know what intents they listen to.

I got this info from DDMS, but I havn't been succesful in turning this to an Intent I can use. This is taken from when opening MyTracks manually.

Thanks for your help

05-06 11:22:24.945: INFO/ActivityManager(76): Starting activity: Intent { act=android.intent.action.MAIN cat=[android.intent.category.LAUNCHER] flg=0x10200000 cmp=com.google.android.maps.mytracks/com.google.android.apps.mytracks.MyTracks bnds=[243,338][317,417] }
05-06 11:22:25.005: INFO/ActivityManager(76): Start proc com.google.android.maps.mytracks for activity com.google.android.maps.mytracks/com.google.android.apps.mytracks.MyTracks: pid=1176 uid=10063 gids={3003, 1015}
05-06 11:22:26.995: INFO/ActivityManager(76): Displayed activity com.google.android.maps.mytracks/com.google.android.apps.mytracks.MyTracks: 1996 ms (total 1996 ms)

Answer 1

If you're attempting to start a SERVICE rather than activity, this worked for me:

Intent intent = new Intent();
intent.setClassName("com.example.otherapplication", "com.example.otherapplication.ServiceName");
context.startService(intent);

If you use the intent.setComponent(...) method as mentioned in other answers, you may get an "Implicit intents with startService are not safe" warning.

Answer 2

I have work it like this,

/** Open another app.
 * @param context current Context, like Activity, App, or Service
 * @param packageName the full package name of the app to open
 * @return true if likely successful, false if unsuccessful
 */
public static boolean openApp(Context context, String packageName) {
    PackageManager manager = context.getPackageManager();
    try {
        Intent i = manager.getLaunchIntentForPackage(packageName);
        if (i == null) {
            return false;
            //throw new ActivityNotFoundException();
        }
        i.addCategory(Intent.CATEGORY_LAUNCHER);
        context.startActivity(i);
        return true;
    } catch (ActivityNotFoundException e) {
        return false;
    }
}

Example usage:

openApp(this, "com.google.android.maps.mytracks");

Hope it helps someone.

Answer 3

If you already have the package name you wish to activate, you can use the following code which is a bit more generic:

PackageManager pm = context.getPackageManager();
Intent appStartIntent = pm.getLaunchIntentForPackage(appPackageName);
if (null != appStartIntent)
{
    context.startActivity(appStartIntent);
}

I found that it works better for cases where the main activity was not found by the regular method of start the MAIN activity.

Answer 4

This is the code of my solution base on MasterGaurav solution:

private void  launchComponent(String packageName, String name){
    Intent launch_intent = new Intent("android.intent.action.MAIN");
    launch_intent.addCategory("android.intent.category.LAUNCHER");
    launch_intent.setComponent(new ComponentName(packageName, name));
    launch_intent.setFlags(Intent.FLAG_ACTIVITY_NEW_TASK);

    activity.startActivity(launch_intent);
}

public void startApplication(String application_name){
    try{
        Intent intent = new Intent("android.intent.action.MAIN");
        intent.addCategory("android.intent.category.LAUNCHER");

        intent.addFlags(Intent.FLAG_ACTIVITY_NO_ANIMATION);
        List<ResolveInfo> resolveinfo_list = activity.getPackageManager().queryIntentActivities(intent, 0);

        for(ResolveInfo info:resolveinfo_list){
            if(info.activityInfo.packageName.equalsIgnoreCase(application_name)){
                launchComponent(info.activityInfo.packageName, info.activityInfo.name);
                break;
            }
        }
    }
    catch (ActivityNotFoundException e) {
        Toast.makeText(activity.getApplicationContext(), "There was a problem loading the application: "+application_name,Toast.LENGTH_SHORT).show();
    }
}

Answer 5

You can use this command to find the package names installed on a device:

adb shell pm list packages -3 -f

Reference: http://www.aftvnews.com/how-to-determine-the-package-name-of-an-android-app/

Answer 6

// This works on Android Lollipop 5.0.2

public static boolean launchApp(Context context, String packageName) {

    final PackageManager manager = context.getPackageManager();
    final Intent appLauncherIntent = new Intent(Intent.ACTION_MAIN);
    appLauncherIntent.addCategory(Intent.CATEGORY_LAUNCHER);

    List<ResolveInfo> resolveInfos = manager.queryIntentActivities(appLauncherIntent, 0);
    if ((null != resolveInfos) && (!resolveInfos.isEmpty())) {
        for (ResolveInfo rInfo : resolveInfos) {
            String className = rInfo.activityInfo.name.trim();
            String targetPackageName = rInfo.activityInfo.packageName.trim();
            Log.d("AppsLauncher", "Class Name = " + className + " Target Package Name = " + targetPackageName + " Package Name = " + packageName);
            if (packageName.trim().equals(targetPackageName)) {
                Intent intent = new Intent();
                intent.setClassName(targetPackageName, className);
                intent.setFlags(Intent.FLAG_ACTIVITY_NEW_TASK);
                context.startActivity(intent);
                Log.d("AppsLauncher", "Launching Package '" + packageName + "' with Activity '" + className + "'");
                return true;
            }
        }
    }
    return false;
}