How to get current foreground activity context in android?

Question

Whenever my broadcast is executed I want to show alert to foreground activity.

Answer 1

(Note: An official API was added in API 14: See this answer https://stackoverflow.com/a/29786451/119733)

DO NOT USE PREVIOUS (waqas716) answer.

You will have memory leak problem, because of the static reference to the activity. For more detail see the following link http://android-developers.blogspot.fr/2009/01/avoiding-memory-leaks.html

To avoid this, you should manage activities references. Add the name of the application in the manifest file:

<application
    android:name=".MyApp"
    ....
 </application>

Your application class :

  public class MyApp extends Application {
        public void onCreate() {
              super.onCreate();
        }

        private Activity mCurrentActivity = null;
        public Activity getCurrentActivity(){
              return mCurrentActivity;
        }
        public void setCurrentActivity(Activity mCurrentActivity){
              this.mCurrentActivity = mCurrentActivity;
        }
  }

Create a new Activity :

public class MyBaseActivity extends Activity {
    protected MyApp mMyApp;

    public void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
        super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
        mMyApp = (MyApp)this.getApplicationContext();
    }
    protected void onResume() {
        super.onResume();
        mMyApp.setCurrentActivity(this);
    }
    protected void onPause() {
        clearReferences();
        super.onPause();
    }
    protected void onDestroy() {        
        clearReferences();
        super.onDestroy();
    }

    private void clearReferences(){
        Activity currActivity = mMyApp.getCurrentActivity();
        if (this.equals(currActivity))
            mMyApp.setCurrentActivity(null);
    }
}

So, now instead of extending Activity class for your activities, just extend MyBaseActivity. Now, you can get your current activity from application or Activity context like that :

Activity currentActivity = ((MyApp)context.getApplicationContext()).getCurrentActivity();

Answer 2

I expand on the top of @gezdy's answer.

In every Activities, instead of having to "register" itself with Application with manual coding, we can make use of the following API since level 14, to help us achieve similar purpose with less manual coding.

public void registerActivityLifecycleCallbacks (Application.ActivityLifecycleCallbacks callback)

http://developer.android.com/reference/android/app/Application.html#registerActivityLifecycleCallbacks%28android.app.Application.ActivityLifecycleCallbacks%29

In Application.ActivityLifecycleCallbacks, you can get which Activity is "attached" to or "detached" to this Application.

However, this technique is only available since API level 14.

Answer 3

Update 3: There is an official api added for this, please use ActivityLifecycleCallbacks instead.

Answer 4

Knowing that ActivityManager manages Activity, so we can gain information from ActivityManager. We get the current foreground running Activity by

ActivityManager am = (ActivityManager)context.getSystemService(Context.ACTIVITY_SERVICE);
ComponentName cn = am.getRunningTasks(1).get(0).topActivity;

UPDATE 2018/10/03
getRunningTasks() is DEPRECATED. see the solutions below.

This method was deprecated in API level 21. As of Build.VERSION_CODES.LOLLIPOP, this method is no longer available to third party applications: the introduction of document-centric recents means it can leak person information to the caller. For backwards compatibility, it will still return a small subset of its data: at least the caller's own tasks, and possibly some other tasks such as home that are known to not be sensitive.

Answer 5

I did the Following in Kotlin

1. Create Application Class

2. Edit the Application Class as Follows

   class FTApplication: MultiDexApplication() {
   override fun attachBaseContext(base: Context?) {
       super.attachBaseContext(base)
       MultiDex.install(this)
   }
   
   init {
       instance = this
   }
   
   val mFTActivityLifecycleCallbacks = FTActivityLifecycleCallbacks()
   
   override fun onCreate() {
       super.onCreate()
   
       registerActivityLifecycleCallbacks(mFTActivityLifecycleCallbacks)
   }
   
   companion object {
       private var instance: FTApplication? = null
   
       fun currentActivity(): Activity? {
   
           return instance!!.mFTActivityLifecycleCallbacks.currentActivity
       }
   }
   
    }
   

3. Create the ActivityLifecycleCallbacks class

   class FTActivityLifecycleCallbacks: Application.ActivityLifecycleCallbacks {
   
   var currentActivity: Activity? = null
   
   override fun onActivityPaused(activity: Activity?) {
       currentActivity = activity
   }
   
   override fun onActivityResumed(activity: Activity?) {
       currentActivity = activity
   }
   
   override fun onActivityStarted(activity: Activity?) {
       currentActivity = activity
   }
   
   override fun onActivityDestroyed(activity: Activity?) {
   }
   
   override fun onActivitySaveInstanceState(activity: Activity?, outState: Bundle?) {
   }
   
   override fun onActivityStopped(activity: Activity?) {
   }
   
   override fun onActivityCreated(activity: Activity?, savedInstanceState: Bundle?) {
       currentActivity = activity
   }
   
   }
   

4. you can now use it in any class by calling the following: FTApplication.currentActivity()

Answer 6

getCurrentActivity() is also in ReactContextBaseJavaModule.
(Since the this question was initially asked, many Android app also has ReactNative component - hybrid app.)

class ReactContext in ReactNative has the whole set of logic to maintain mCurrentActivity which is returned in getCurrentActivity().

Note: I wish getCurrentActivity() is implemented in Android Application class.

Answer 7

For backwards compatibility:

ComponentName cn;
ActivityManager am = (ActivityManager) getApplicationContext().getSystemService(Context.ACTIVITY_SERVICE);
if (android.os.Build.VERSION.SDK_INT >= android.os.Build.VERSION_CODES.M) {
    cn = am.getAppTasks().get(0).getTaskInfo().topActivity;
} else {
    //noinspection deprecation
    cn = am.getRunningTasks(1).get(0).topActivity;
}

Answer 8

I could not find a solution that our team would be happy with so we rolled our own. We use ActivityLifecycleCallbacks to keep track of current activity and then expose it through a service. More details here: https://stackoverflow.com/a/38650587/10793

Answer 9

by using this part of code you detect when your app goes background/foreground and you access the current activity name and context.

My answer is based on this article : Android: How to detect when App goes background/foreground

First, create a class that extends the android.app.Application and implements the ActivityLifecycleCallbacks interface. In the Application.onCreate(), register the callback.

public class App extends Application implements ActivityLifecycleCallbacks
@Override
public void onCreate() {
    super.onCreate();
    registerActivityLifecycleCallbacks(this);
}

Register the “App” class in the Manifest as below,

<application
    android:name=".App"

This is how the ActivityLifecycleCallbacks interface looks like,

public interface ActivityLifecycleCallbacks {
    void onActivityCreated(Activity activity, Bundle savedInstanceState);
    void onActivityStarted(Activity activity);
    void onActivityResumed(Activity activity);
    void onActivityPaused(Activity activity);
    void onActivityStopped(Activity activity);
    void onActivitySaveInstanceState(Activity activity, Bundle outState);
    void onActivityDestroyed(Activity activity);
}

So, when any of your Activity(Activities you created or included by your Libraries) goes through any of the above mentioned lifecycle methods, these callbacks will be called. There will be at least one Activity in the started state when the app is in the foreground and there will be no Activity in the started state when the app is in the background. Declare 2 variables as below in the “App” class.

private int activityReferences = 0;
private boolean isActivityChangingConfigurations = false;

activityReferences will keep the count of number of Activities in the started state. isActivityChangingConfigurations is a flag to indicate if the current Activity is going through configuration change like orientation switch. Using the following code you can detect if the App comes foreground.

@Override
public void onActivityStarted(Activity activity) {
    if (++activityReferences == 1 && !isActivityChangingConfigurations) {
        // App enters foreground
    }
}

You can access context in this method like this :

activity.getBaseContext()

This is how to detect if the App goes background.

Override
public void onActivityStopped(Activity activity) {

    isActivityChangingConfigurations = activity.isChangingConfigurations();
    if (--activityReferences == 0 && !isActivityChangingConfigurations) {
        // App enters background
    }
}

Now you can access the current foreground activity name and context.

Answer 10

Best solution so far Create a class name ActivityManager in your app (java)

public class ActivityManager implements Application.ActivityLifecycleCallbacks {

    private Activity activity;


    public ActivityManager(App myApplication) {
        myApplication.registerActivityLifecycleCallbacks(this);
    }

    public Activity getActivity(){
        return activity;
    }
    @Override
    public void onActivityCreated(@NonNull Activity activity, @Nullable Bundle bundle) {
        this. activity = activity;

    }

    @Override
    public void onActivityStarted(@NonNull Activity activity) {
       this. activity = activity;
    }

    @Override
    public void onActivityResumed(@NonNull Activity activity) {
        this. activity = activity;

    }

    @Override
    public void onActivityPaused(@NonNull Activity activity) {

    }

    @Override
    public void onActivityStopped(@NonNull Activity activity) {

    }

    @Override
    public void onActivitySaveInstanceState(@NonNull Activity activity, @NonNull Bundle bundle) {

    }

    @Override
    public void onActivityDestroyed(@NonNull Activity activity) {

    }
}

Then initialize it in your Application (kotlin)

class App : Application() {

    override fun onCreate() {
     
        appOpenManager =  AppOpenManager(this);
    }
  companion object {
        lateinit var appOpenManager: AppOpenManager
    }
}

Then use like

App.activityManager.getActivity()

Answer 11

Personally I did as "Cheok Yan Cheng" said, but I used a "List" to have a "Backstack" of all my activities.

If you want to check Which is the Current Activity you just need to get the last activity class in the list.

Create an application which extends "Application" and do this:

public class MyApplication extends Application implements Application.ActivityLifecycleCallbacks,
EndSyncReceiver.IEndSyncCallback {

private List<Class> mActivitiesBackStack;
private EndSyncReceiver mReceiver;
    private Merlin mMerlin;
    private boolean isMerlinBound;
    private boolean isReceiverRegistered;

@Override
    public void onCreate() {
        super.onCreate();
        [....]
RealmHelper.initInstance();
        initMyMerlin();
        bindMerlin();
        initEndSyncReceiver();
        mActivitiesBackStack = new ArrayList<>();
    }

/* START Override ActivityLifecycleCallbacks Methods */
    @Override
    public void onActivityCreated(Activity activity, Bundle bundle) {
        mActivitiesBackStack.add(activity.getClass());
    }

    @Override
    public void onActivityStarted(Activity activity) {
        if(!isMerlinBound){
            bindMerlin();
        }
        if(!isReceiverRegistered){
            registerEndSyncReceiver();
        }
    }

    @Override
    public void onActivityResumed(Activity activity) {

    }

    @Override
    public void onActivityPaused(Activity activity) {

    }

    @Override
    public void onActivityStopped(Activity activity) {
        if(!AppUtils.isAppOnForeground(this)){
            if(isMerlinBound) {
                unbindMerlin();
            }
            if(isReceiverRegistered){
                unregisterReceiver(mReceiver);
            }
            if(RealmHelper.getInstance() != null){
                RealmHelper.getInstance().close();
                RealmHelper.getInstance().logRealmInstanceCount("AppInBackground");
                RealmHelper.setMyInstance(null);
            }
        }
    }

    @Override
    public void onActivitySaveInstanceState(Activity activity, Bundle bundle) {

    }

    @Override
    public void onActivityDestroyed(Activity activity) {
        if(mActivitiesBackStack.contains(activity.getClass())){
            mActivitiesBackStack.remove(activity.getClass());
        }
    }
    /* END Override ActivityLifecycleCallbacks Methods */

/* START Override IEndSyncCallback Methods */
    @Override
    public void onEndSync(Intent intent) {
        Constants.SyncType syncType = null;
        if(intent.hasExtra(Constants.INTENT_DATA_SYNC_TYPE)){
            syncType = (Constants.SyncType) intent.getSerializableExtra(Constants.INTENT_DATA_SYNC_TYPE);
        }
        if(syncType != null){
            checkSyncType(syncType);
        }
    }
    /* END IEndSyncCallback Methods */

private void checkSyncType(Constants.SyncType){
    [...]
    if( mActivitiesBackStack.contains(ActivityClass.class) ){
         doOperation()     }
}

}

In my case I used "Application.ActivityLifecycleCallbacks" to:

• Bind/Unbind Merlin Instance (used to get event when the app lose or get connection, for example when you close mobile data or when you open it). It is useful after the "OnConnectivityChanged" intent action was disabled. For more info about MERLIN see: MERLIN INFO LINK

• Close my last Realm Instance when the application is closed; I will init it inside a BaseActivity wich is extended from all others activities and which has a private RealmHelper Instance. For more info about REALM see: REALM INFO LINK For instance I have a static "RealmHelper" instance inside my "RealmHelper" class which is instantiated inside my application "onCreate". I have a synchronization service in which I create I new "RealmHelper" because Realm is "Thread-Linked" and a Realm Instance can't work inside a different Thread. So in order to follow Realm Documentation "You Need To Close All Opened Realm Instances to avoid System Resources Leaks", to accomplish this thing I used the "Application.ActivityLifecycleCallbacks" as you can see up.

• Finally I have a receiver wich is triggered when I finish to synchronize my application, then when the sync end it will call the "IEndSyncCallback" "onEndSync" method in which I look if I have a specific Activity Class inside my ActivitiesBackStack List because I need to update the data on the view if the sync updated them and I could need to do others operations after the app sync.

That's all, hope this is helpful. See u :)

Answer 12

You can use this Class for flexible lifecycle handling

Usage:

    //Initialization
    val lifeCycleHandler = ActivityLifeCycleHandler<Activity>()

    //Detect only a specific type of activities
    val lifeCycleHandler = ActivityLifeCycleHandler<MainActivity>()

    //Get current activity
    val instance = lifeCycleHandler.currentReference

    //Get current activity state
    val state = lifeCycleHandler.currentState

    //Use listeners
    lifeCycleHandler.addStateChangeListener { newState ->
        //TODO: handle new state
    }

    lifeCycleHandler.addSpecificStateChangeListener(ActivityLifeCycleHandler.ActivityState.STARTED) {
        //TODO: handle new state
    }

    //Removable listeners
    val listener = { newState: Int ->

    }

    lifeCycleHandler.addStateChangeListener(listener)
    lifeCycleHandler.removeStateChageListener(listener)


    //Start listening
    App.app.registerActivityLifecycleCallbacks(lifeCycleHandler)

    //Stop listening
    lifeCycleHandler.releaseListeners()
    App.app.unregisterActivityLifecycleCallbacks(lifeCycleHandler)

Answer 13

If you're using kotlin then it can help yoy to get current activity name. However getRecentTasks() method is deprecated in Java.

 val am: ActivityManager = applicationContext.getSystemService(Context.ACTIVITY_SERVICE) as ActivityManager
 val activityName: String = am.getRecentTasks(1, 0).get(0).topActivity.toString()

Answer 14

The answer by waqas716 is good. I created a workaround for a specific case demanding less code and maintenance.

I found a specific work around by having a static method fetch a view from the activity I suspect to be in the foreground. You can iterate through all activities and check if you wish or get the activity name from martin's answer

ActivityManager am = (ActivityManager)context.getSystemService(Context.ACTIVITY_SERVICE);
ComponentName cn = am.getRunningTasks(1).get(0).topActivity; 

I then check if the view is not null and get the context via getContext().

View v = SuspectedActivity.get_view();

if(v != null)
{
    // an example for using this context for something not 
    // permissible in global application context. 
    v.getContext().startActivity(new Intent("rubberduck.com.activities.SomeOtherActivity"));
}

Answer 15

Use the is operator or its negated form !is to perform a runtime check that identifies whether an object conforms to a given type:

if (this !is OneActivity) {
// do something
} else if (this !is TwoActivity) {
// do something 2
}

Answer 16

I don't like any of the other answers. The ActivityManager is not meant to be used for getting the current activity. Super classing and depending on onDestroy is also fragile and not the best design.

Honestly, the best I have came up with so far is just maintaining an enum in my Application, which gets set when an activity is created.

Another recommendation might be to just shy away from using multiple activities if possible. This can be done either with using fragments, or in my preference custom views.

Answer 17

A rather simple solution is to create a singleton manager class, in which you can store a reference to one or more Activities, or anything else you want access to throughout the app.

Call UberManager.getInstance().setMainActivity( activity ); in the main activity's onCreate.

Call UberManager.getInstance().getMainActivity(); anywhere in your app to retrieve it. (I am using this to be able to use Toast from a non UI thread.)

Make sure you add a call to UberManager.getInstance().cleanup(); when your app is being destroyed.

import android.app.Activity;

public class UberManager
{
    private static UberManager instance = new UberManager();

    private Activity mainActivity = null;

    private UberManager()
    {

    }

    public static UberManager getInstance()
    {
        return instance;
    }

    public void setMainActivity( Activity mainActivity )
    {
        this.mainActivity = mainActivity;
    }

    public Activity getMainActivity()
    {
        return mainActivity;
    }

    public void cleanup()
    {
        mainActivity = null;
    }
}

Answer 18

I'm like 3 years late but I'll answer it anyway in case someone finds this like I did.

I solved this by simply using this:

    if (getIntent().toString().contains("MainActivity")) {
        // Do stuff if the current activity is MainActivity
    }

Note that "getIntent().toString()" includes a bunch of other text such as your package name and any intent filters for your activity. Technically we're checking the current intent, not activity, but the result is the same. Just use e.g. Log.d("test", getIntent().toString()); if you want to see all the text. This solution is a bit hacky but it's much cleaner in your code and the functionality is the same.