How to start an application using android ADB tools?

Question

How do I send an intent using Android\'s ADB tools?

Answer 1

We can as well start an application by knowing application type and feeding it with data:

adb shell am start -d "file:///sdcard/sample.3gp" -t "video/3gp" -a android.intent.action.VIEW

This command displays available Video Players to play sample.3gp file

Answer 2

adb shell
am start -n com.package.name/com.package.name.ActivityName

Or you can use this directly:

adb shell am start -n com.package.name/com.package.name.ActivityName

You can also specify actions to be filter by your intent-filters:

am start -a com.example.ACTION_NAME -n com.package.name/com.package.name.ActivityName 

Answer 3

monkey --pct-syskeys 0 for development boards

Without this argument, the app won't open on a development board without keys / display:

adb shell monkey --pct-syskeys 0 -p com.cirosantilli.android_cheat.textviewbold 1

and fails with error:

SYS_KEYS has no physical keys but with factor 2.0%

Tested on HiKey960, Android O AOSP.

Learned from: https://github.com/ARM-software/lisa/pull/408

Also asked at: monkey test : If the Android system doesnt has physical keys ,what are the parameters need to be includeded in the command

Answer 4

It's possible to run application specifying package name only using monkey tool by follow this pattern:

adb shell monkey -p your.app.package.name -c android.intent.category.LAUNCHER 1

Command is used to run app using monkey tool which generates random input for application. The last part of command is integer which specify the number of generated random input for app. In this case the number is 1, which in fact is used to launch the app (icon click).

Answer 5

Step 1: First get all the package name of the apps installed in your Device, by using:

adb shell pm list packages

Step 2: You will get all the package names, copy the one you want to start using adb.

Step 3: Add your desired package name in the below command.

adb shell monkey -p 'your package name' -v 500

For Example:
adb shell monkey -p com.estrongs.android.pop -v 500 to start the Es explorer.

Answer 6

open ~/.bash_profile and add these bash functions to the end of the file

function androidinstall(){
   adb install -r ./bin/$1.apk
}
function androidrun(){
   ant clean debug
   adb shell am start -n $1/$1.$2
}

then open the Android project folder

androidinstall app-debug && androidrun com.example.app MainActivity