What exactly happens when I install an android application?

Question

My guess is that the contents of .apk package are extracted somewhere, and the application is registered at some directory so that the application launcher or whatever can f

Answer 1

Android defines an intent as "an abstract description of an operation to be performed." Not only do intents let you use activities made by others, but they are also used to launch applications. I'm sure you've seen these lines in every app you've written:

This intent filter allows the launcher to find the starting activity of each app. Lookup "intent resolution" for more details on this process... I'd say it's more elegant than simply registering the application at some random directory.

As stated in, http://developer.android.com/guide/topics/intents/intents-filters.html, "Android system populates the application launcher, the top-level screen that shows the applications that are available for the user to launch, by finding all the activities with intent filters that specify the "android.intent.action.MAIN" action and "android.intent.category.LAUNCHER" category. It then displays the icons and labels of those activities in the launcher"