How to get a list of installed android applications and pick one to run

Question

I asked a similar question to this earlier this week but I\'m still not understanding how to get a list of all installed applications and then pick one to run.

I\'v

Answer 1

To filter on sytem based apps :

private boolean isSystemPackage(ResolveInfo ri) {
    return (ri.activityInfo.applicationInfo.flags & ApplicationInfo.FLAG_SYSTEM) != 0;
}

Answer 2

@Jas: I don't have that code anymore, but I've found something close. I've made this to search for "components" of my application, they are just activities with a given category.

private List<String> getInstalledComponentList() {
    Intent componentSearchIntent = new Intent();
    componentSearchIntent.addCategory(Constants.COMPONENTS_INTENT_CATEGORY);
    componentSearchIntent.setAction(Constants.COMPONENTS_INTENT_ACTION_DEFAULT);
    List<ResolveInfo> ril = getPackageManager().queryIntentActivities(componentSearchIntent, PackageManager.MATCH_DEFAULT_ONLY);
    List<String> componentList = new ArrayList<String>();
    Log.d(LOG_TAG, "Search for installed components found " + ril.size() + " matches.");
    for (ResolveInfo ri : ril) {
        if (ri.activityInfo != null) {
            componentList.add(ri.activityInfo.packageName);// + ri.activityInfo.name);
            Log.d(LOG_TAG, "Found installed: " + componentList.get(componentList.size()-1));
        }
    }
    return componentList;
}

I've commented the part where it gets the activity name, but it's pretty straightforward.

Answer 3

Here a good example:

class PInfo {
    private String appname = "";
    private String pname = "";
    private String versionName = "";
    private int versionCode = 0;
    private Drawable icon;
    private void prettyPrint() {
        Log.v(appname + "\t" + pname + "\t" + versionName + "\t" + versionCode);
    }
}

private ArrayList<PInfo> getPackages() {
    ArrayList<PInfo> apps = getInstalledApps(false); /* false = no system packages */
    final int max = apps.size();
    for (int i=0; i<max; i++) {
        apps.get(i).prettyPrint();
    }
    return apps;
}

private ArrayList<PInfo> getInstalledApps(boolean getSysPackages) {
    ArrayList<PInfo> res = new ArrayList<PInfo>();        
    List<PackageInfo> packs = getPackageManager().getInstalledPackages(0);
    for(int i=0;i<packs.size();i++) {
        PackageInfo p = packs.get(i);
        if ((!getSysPackages) && (p.versionName == null)) {
            continue ;
        }
        PInfo newInfo = new PInfo();
        newInfo.appname = p.applicationInfo.loadLabel(getPackageManager()).toString();
        newInfo.pname = p.packageName;
        newInfo.versionName = p.versionName;
        newInfo.versionCode = p.versionCode;
        newInfo.icon = p.applicationInfo.loadIcon(getPackageManager());
        res.add(newInfo);
    }
    return res; 
}

Answer 4

Here's a cleaner way using the PackageManager

final PackageManager pm = getPackageManager();
//get a list of installed apps.
List<ApplicationInfo> packages = pm.getInstalledApplications(PackageManager.GET_META_DATA);

for (ApplicationInfo packageInfo : packages) {
    Log.d(TAG, "Installed package :" + packageInfo.packageName);
    Log.d(TAG, "Source dir : " + packageInfo.sourceDir);
    Log.d(TAG, "Launch Activity :" + pm.getLaunchIntentForPackage(packageInfo.packageName)); 
}
// the getLaunchIntentForPackage returns an intent that you can use with startActivity() 

More info here http://qtcstation.com/2011/02/how-to-launch-another-app-from-your-app/

Answer 5

private static boolean isThisASystemPackage(Context context, PackageInfo  packageInfo ) {
        try {
            PackageInfo sys = context.getPackageManager().getPackageInfo("android", PackageManager.GET_SIGNATURES);
            return (packageInfo != null && packageInfo.signatures != null &&
                    sys.signatures[0].equals(packageInfo.signatures[0]));
        } catch (NameNotFoundException e) {
            return false;
        }
    }

Answer 6

Get All the apps:

    PackageManager pm = getContext().getPackageManager();
    List<ApplicationInfo> apps = pm.getInstalledApplications(0);

Check if installed app then open:

if((app.flags & (ApplicationInfo.FLAG_UPDATED_SYSTEM_APP | ApplicationInfo.FLAG_SYSTEM)) > 0) {
                String app_package = app.packageName;
Intent launchIntent = context.getPackageManager().getLaunchIntentForPackage(app_package);
context.startActivity(launchIntent);