install / uninstall APKs programmatically (PackageManager vs Intents)

Question

My application installs other applications, and it needs to keep track of what applications it has installed. Of course, this could be achieved by simply keeping a list of i

Answer 1

API level 14 introduced two new actions: ACTION_INSTALL_PACKAGE and ACTION_UNINSTALL_PACKAGE. Those actions allow you to pass EXTRA_RETURN_RESULT boolean extra to get an (un)installation result notification.

Example code for invoking the uninstall dialog:

String app_pkg_name = "com.example.app";
int UNINSTALL_REQUEST_CODE = 1;

Intent intent = new Intent(Intent.ACTION_UNINSTALL_PACKAGE);  
intent.setData(Uri.parse("package:" + app_pkg_name));  
intent.putExtra(Intent.EXTRA_RETURN_RESULT, true);
startActivityForResult(intent, UNINSTALL_REQUEST_CODE);

And receive the notification in your Activity#onActivityResult method:

@Override
protected void onActivityResult(int requestCode, int resultCode, Intent data) {
    super.onActivityResult(requestCode, resultCode, data);
    if (requestCode == UNINSTALL_REQUEST_CODE) {
        if (resultCode == RESULT_OK) {
            Log.d("TAG", "onActivityResult: user accepted the (un)install");
        } else if (resultCode == RESULT_CANCELED) {
            Log.d("TAG", "onActivityResult: user canceled the (un)install");
        } else if (resultCode == RESULT_FIRST_USER) {
            Log.d("TAG", "onActivityResult: failed to (un)install");
        }
    }
}