Checking if an Android application is running in the background

Question

By background, I mean none of the application\'s activities are currently visible to the user?

Answer 1

What about using getApplicationState().isInForeground() ?

Answer 2

I recommend reading through this page: http://developer.android.com/reference/android/app/Activity.html

In short, your activity is no longer visible after onStop() has been called.

Answer 3

The only one correct solution:

MainActivity.java:

public class MainActivity extends AppCompatActivity {

    @Override
    protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
        MyApp.mainActivity = this;
        super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
        ...
    }

MyApp.java:

public class MyApp extends Application implements LifecycleObserver {

    public static MainActivity mainActivity = null;

    @Override
    public void onCreate() {
        super.onCreate();
        ProcessLifecycleOwner.get().getLifecycle().addObserver(this);
    }

    @OnLifecycleEvent(Lifecycle.Event.ON_STOP)
    void onAppBackgrounded() {
        // app in background
        if (mainActivity != null) {
            ...
        }
    }

    @OnLifecycleEvent(Lifecycle.Event.ON_START)
    void onAppForegrounded() {
        // app in foreground
        if (mainActivity != null) {
            ...
        }
    }

}

Answer 4

Since it isn't already mentioned, I will suggest the readers to explore ProcessLifecycleOwner available through Android Architecture components

Answer 5

See the comment in the onActivityDestroyed function.

Works with SDK target version 14> :

import android.app.Activity;
import android.app.Application;
import android.os.Bundle;
import android.util.Log;

public class AppLifecycleHandler implements Application.ActivityLifecycleCallbacks {

    public static int active = 0;

    @Override
    public void onActivityStopped(Activity activity) {
        Log.i("Tracking Activity Stopped", activity.getLocalClassName());
        active--;
    }

    @Override
    public void onActivityStarted(Activity activity) {
        Log.i("Tracking Activity Started", activity.getLocalClassName());
        active++;
    }

    @Override
    public void onActivitySaveInstanceState(Activity activity, Bundle outState) {
        Log.i("Tracking Activity SaveInstanceState", activity.getLocalClassName());
    }

    @Override
    public void onActivityResumed(Activity activity) {
        Log.i("Tracking Activity Resumed", activity.getLocalClassName());
        active++;
    }

    @Override
    public void onActivityPaused(Activity activity) {
        Log.i("Tracking Activity Paused", activity.getLocalClassName());
        active--;
    }

    @Override
    public void onActivityDestroyed(Activity activity) {
        Log.i("Tracking Activity Destroyed", activity.getLocalClassName());
        active--;

        // if active var here ever becomes zero, the app is closed or in background
        if(active == 0){
            ...
        }

    }

    @Override
    public void onActivityCreated(Activity activity, Bundle savedInstanceState) {
        Log.i("Tracking Activity Created", activity.getLocalClassName());
        active++;
    }
}

Answer 6

Activity gets paused when a Dialog comes above it so all the recommended solutions are half-solutions. You need to create hooks for dialogs as well.