How to check if the Android default browser has been opened?

Question

Possible Duplicate: How can I check if an app running on Android?

I would like to know if there is a way to check if the Android default browser (browser in Android OS) has been opened. Suppose it's opened, I would like a toast to be displayed. How can I do this programmatically?

This is the code that I used in the class that extends the Service class which listens to the logs and checks if the Android default browser has been opened. If it is then it prints a log in the LogCat stating that the Android default browser has been opened.

try {
    Process mLogcatProc = null;
    BufferedReader reader = null;
    mLogcatProc = Runtime.getRuntime().exec(new String[] { "logcat", "-d" });

    reader = new BufferedReader(new InputStreamReader(mLogcatProc.getInputStream()));

    String line;
    final StringBuilder log = new StringBuilder();
    String separator = System.getProperty("line.separator");

    while ((line = reader.readLine()) != null) {
        log.append(line);
        log.append(separator);
    }
    String w = log.toString();
    Log.d("LogService", "The log is: " + w);

    if (w.contains("Starting activity: Intent { act=android.intent.action.MAIN flg=0x10000000 cmp=com.android.browser/.BrowserActivity }")) {
        Log.d("LogService", "The browser has been opened");
    }

}
catch (Exception e) {
    Log.d("LogService", "The stacktrace is: " + e.getMessage());
}

score 2 · Accepted Answer · answered Jul 30 '12 at 08:49

2

google said on the google IO that such a behavior is considered as malware .

however , up until API 15 (including) , you can use a service that listens to the logs , and check if the desired app has started . that's because each time you run an app , android writes to the log about it .

this is considered as a workaround but a lot of apps use it and it works fine .

not sure if on the new version (API 16) reading logs would be that simple . they said that the permission to read from logs won't work anymore , and that they allow apps to read their own logs instead (without any permission needed) .

of course , if the app you are trying to monitor gives any kind of API to tell the world (via intent for example) that it has started , you can use it . i don't think that the built in web browser does that , though.

answered Jul 30 '12 at 08:49

android developer

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Thank you for your reply. I'll create a service that listens for the logs and see if that works. – Ingrid Cooper Jul 30 '12 at 09:49
you might also want to use a foreground service , in order to avoid it being killed by the OS on some cases . – android developer Jul 30 '12 at 12:37
I created a service that listens to the logs and it worked. So now I know whenever the Android default web browser has been opened. Thank you for your help. – Ingrid Cooper Jul 31 '12 at 10:22
would be nice if you wrote the relevant part of the answer code for others to read. – android developer Jul 31 '12 at 13:04
Process mLogcatProc=null;BufferedReader reader=null;mLogcatProc=Runtime.getRuntime().exec(new String[]{"logcat", "-d"});reader=new BufferedReader(new InputStreamReader(mLogcatProc.getInputStream()));String line;final StringBuilder log=new StringBuilder();String separator=System.getProperty("line.separator");while ((line=reader.readLine())!=null){log.append(line);log.append(separator);}String w = log.toString();if(w.contains("Starting activity:Intent { act=android.intent.action.MAIN flg=0x10000000 cmp=com.android.browser/.BrowserActivity }")){Log.d("LogService","The browser has been opened");}} – Ingrid Cooper Aug 01 '12 at 05:33
This is the code that I used in the class that extends the Service class which listens to the logs and checks if the Android default browser has been opened. If it is then it prints a log in the Logcat stating that the Android default browser has been opened. – Ingrid Cooper Aug 01 '12 at 05:35
ummm... in comments , code is not readable and it's not formatted in any way. you'd better edit the original post (the question) and add there the answer&code. – android developer Aug 01 '12 at 05:51

How to check if the Android default browser has been opened?

1 Answers1