How to `getTopActivity` name or get currently running application package name in lollipop?

Question

I am creating a app lock application. How to get current running task in lollipop? getRunningTaskinfo method is deprecated in lollipop API, then how to overcome this problem?

Answer 1

try this:

ActivityManager mActivityManager =(ActivityManager)this.getSystemService(Context.ACTIVITY_SERVICE);

if(Build.VERSION.SDK_INT > 20){
String mPackageName = mActivityManager.getRunningAppProcesses().get(0).processName;
}
else{
  String mpackageName = mActivityManager.getRunningTasks(1).get(0).topActivity.getPackageName();
}

we can get using UsageStats:

public static String getTopAppName(Context context) {
    ActivityManager mActivityManager = (ActivityManager) context.getSystemService(Context.ACTIVITY_SERVICE);
    String strName = "";
    try {
        if (Build.VERSION.SDK_INT >= Build.VERSION_CODES.LOLLIPOP) {
            strName = getLollipopFGAppPackageName(context);
        } else {
            strName = mActivityManager.getRunningTasks(1).get(0).topActivity.getClassName();
        }
    } catch (Exception e) {
        e.printStackTrace();
    }
    return strName;
}


private static String getLollipopFGAppPackageName(Context ctx) {

    try {
        UsageStatsManager usageStatsManager = (UsageStatsManager) ctx.getSystemService("usagestats");
        long milliSecs = 60 * 1000;
        Date date = new Date();
        List<UsageStats> queryUsageStats = usageStatsManager.queryUsageStats(UsageStatsManager.INTERVAL_DAILY, date.getTime() - milliSecs, date.getTime());
        if (queryUsageStats.size() > 0) {
            Log.i("LPU", "queryUsageStats size: " + queryUsageStats.size());
        }
        long recentTime = 0;
        String recentPkg = "";
        for (int i = 0; i < queryUsageStats.size(); i++) {
            UsageStats stats = queryUsageStats.get(i);
            if (i == 0 && !"org.pervacio.pvadiag".equals(stats.getPackageName())) {
                Log.i("LPU", "PackageName: " + stats.getPackageName() + " " + stats.getLastTimeStamp());
            }
            if (stats.getLastTimeStamp() > recentTime) {
                recentTime = stats.getLastTimeStamp();
                recentPkg = stats.getPackageName();
            }
        }
        return recentPkg;
    } catch (Exception e) {
        e.printStackTrace();
    }
    return "";
}

// TO ENABLE USAGE_STATS

    // Declare USAGE_STATS permisssion in manifest

    <uses-permission
    android:name="android.permission.PACKAGE_USAGE_STATS"
    tools:ignore="ProtectedPermissions" />


    Intent intent = new Intent(Settings.ACTION_USAGE_ACCESS_SETTINGS);
    startActivity(intent);

Answer 2

Best solution of get Running app in API 21 or up is below try it. this work for me

private String retriveNewApp() {
    if (VERSION.SDK_INT >= 21) {
        String currentApp = null;
        UsageStatsManager usm = (UsageStatsManager) this.getSystemService(Context.USAGE_STATS_SERVICE);
        long time = System.currentTimeMillis();
        List<UsageStats> applist = usm.queryUsageStats(UsageStatsManager.INTERVAL_DAILY, time - 1000 * 1000, time);
        if (applist != null && applist.size() > 0) {
            SortedMap<Long, UsageStats> mySortedMap = new TreeMap<>();
            for (UsageStats usageStats : applist) {
                mySortedMap.put(usageStats.getLastTimeUsed(), usageStats);
            }
            if (mySortedMap != null && !mySortedMap.isEmpty()) {
                currentApp = mySortedMap.get(mySortedMap.lastKey()).getPackageName();
            }
        }
        Log.e(TAG, "Current App in foreground is: " + currentApp);

        return currentApp;

    }
    else {

        ActivityManager manager = (ActivityManager) getSystemService(Context.ACTIVITY_SERVICE);
        String mm=(manager.getRunningTasks(1).get(0)).topActivity.getPackageName();
        Log.e(TAG, "Current App in foreground is: " + mm);
        return mm;
    }
}

Answer 3

You can use the AccessibilityService to get current Running app. Accessibility Service provides the onAccessibilityEvent event.

Following is some sample code.

@Override
    public void onAccessibilityEvent(AccessibilityEvent event) {
        if (event.getEventType() == AccessibilityEvent.TYPE_WINDOW_STATE_CHANGED) {
            if (event.getPackageName() != null && event.getClassName() != null) {
                Log.d("Foreground App", event.getPackageName().toString());  

            }
        }
    }

You can find more info about Accessibility Service here

Answer 4

according to this ; the following code worked perfectly for me :

MOVE_TO_FOREGROUND and MOVE_TO_BACKGROUND added in sdk 21 and deprecated in sdk 29

ACTIVITY_RESUMED and ACTIVITY_PAUSED added in sdk 29

public static String getTopPkgName(Context context) {
    String pkgName = null;

    UsageStatsManager usageStatsManager = (UsageStatsManager) context
            .getSystemService(Context.USAGE_STATS_SERVICE);

    final long timeTnterval= 1000 * 600;
    final long endTime = System.currentTimeMillis();
    final long beginTime = endTime - timeTnterval;
    final UsageEvents myUsageEvents = usageStatsManager .queryEvents(beginTime , endTime );
    while (myUsageEvents .hasNextEvent()) {
        UsageEvents.Event myEvent = new UsageEvents.Event();
        myUsageEvents .getNextEvent(myEvent );
        if (Build.VERSION.SDK_INT >= Build.VERSION_CODES.Q) {
            switch (myEvent .getEventType()) {
                case UsageEvents.Event.ACTIVITY_RESUMED:
                    pkgName = myEvent .getPackageName();
                    break;
                case UsageEvents.Event.ACTIVITY_PAUSED:
                    if (myEvent .getPackageName().equals(pkgName )) {
                        pkgName = null;
                    }
            }
        }else {
            switch (event.getEventType()) {
                case UsageEvents.Event.MOVE_TO_FOREGROUND:
                    pkgName = myEvent .getPackageName();
                    break;
                case UsageEvents.Event.MOVE_TO_BACKGROUND:
                    if (myEvent .getPackageName().equals(pkgName )) {
                        pkgName = null;
                    }
            }
        }
    }

    return pkgName ;
}

Answer 5

Are you sure? As I can see according to the latest Android docs, LOLLIPOP update doesnt allow you to know any info about other apps than your own!?

http://developer.android.com/reference/android/app/ActivityManager.html You can see that all those methods are deprecated!

Answer 6

Try this.. This worked for me.

ActivityManager activityManager = (ActivityManager) getSystemService (Context.ACTIVITY_SERVICE);

if (Build.VERSION.SDK_INT == Build.VERSION_CODES.LOLLIPOP)    
{

String packageName = activityManager.getRunningAppProcesses().get(0).processName;
} 
else if(Build.VERSION.SDK_INT > Build.VERSION_CODES.LOLLIPOP)
{
String packageName =  ProcessManager.getRunningForegroundApps(getApplicationContext()).get(0).getPackageName();

}
else
{
String packageName = activityManager.getRunningTasks(1).get(0).topActivity.getPackageName();
}

Answer 7

@Manish Godhani's answer (https://stackoverflow.com/a/38829083/8179249) works very well, but you have to give the right permissions for this !

See the two first points of that answer : https://stackoverflow.com/a/42560422/8179249

It works for me (before adding permissions I was getting 'null' too), as shown below :

Answer 8

Can be achieved like this.....

ActivityManager am =(ActivityManager)context.getSystemService(ACTIVITY_SERVICE);
List<ActivityManager.RunningTaskInfo> tasks = am.getRunningTasks(1);
ActivityManager.RunningTaskInfo task = tasks.get(0); // current task
ComponentName rootActivity = task.baseActivity;


rootActivity.getPackageName();//*currently active applications package name*

For lollipop:

ActivityManager mActivityManager =(ActivityManager)this.getSystemService(Context.ACTIVITY_SERVICE);

if(Build.VERSION.SDK_INT > 20){
    String activityName =mActivityManager.getRunningAppProcesses().get(0).processName;
 }
else{
 String activityName =   mActivityManager.getRunningTasks(1).get(0).topActivity.getPackageName();
}

for complete example check this out...

Answer 9

There are three ways exist for getting the current activity name on the screen.

Via UsageStatsManager

This way needs an extra permission for the user and the user needs manually enable this permission for your app.

You need to first add permission to your manifest

<uses-permission 
android:name="android.permission.PACKAGE_USAGE_STATS"
tools:ignore="ProtectedPermissions" />

Then redirect the user to enable this permission with this code:

val intent = Intent(Settings.ACTION_USAGE_ACCESS_SETTINGS)
startActivity(intent)

After this permission is added you can get the current activity name with this code:

var lastActivityName: String? = null
private fun getCurrentActivityName(): String? {
    val usageStatsManager =
        applicationContext.getSystemService(USAGE_STATS_SERVICE) as UsageStatsManager
    try {
        val currentTimeMillis = System.currentTimeMillis()
        var activityName: String? = null
        var packageName: String? = null
        val queryEvents = usageStatsManager.queryEvents(
            currentTimeMillis - 60000.toLong(),
            currentTimeMillis
        )
        while (queryEvents.hasNextEvent()) {
            val event = UsageEvents.Event()
            queryEvents.getNextEvent(event)
            if (event.eventType == 1) {
                packageName = event.packageName
                activityName = event.className
            }
            else if (event.eventType == 2) {
                if (event.packageName != packageName) {
                    break
                }
                packageName = null
            }
        }
        return if (packageName != null && activityName != null) {
            lastActivityName = activityName
            activityName
        } else lastActivityName
    } catch (e: Exception) {
        e.printStackTrace()
    }
    return null
}

I added lastActivityName because you may sometimes get null in the same activity, so you can remove it.

Via Accessibility

This can be possible via Accessibility Service. But since Android 11 you can't retrieve the list of other package names without adding this special permission

<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.QUERY_ALL_PACKAGES"/>

<queries>
    <intent>
        <action android:name="android.intent.action.MAIN" />
    </intent>
</queries>

But the issue is GooglePlay may reject your app if you have no good explanation.

I will first show you how to get the current activity name with this special permission then will add a trick to how to get activity without adding this permission via only accessibility service.

For setting up the accessibility service you need to add this to res/xml/accessibility_setting.xml (the name of the file can be anything)

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>

<accessibility-service xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
   android:accessibilityFeedbackType="feedbackGeneric"
   android:accessibilityFlags="flagDefault|flagReportViewIds|flagIncludeNotImportantViews"
   android:accessibilityEventTypes="typeWindowStateChanged"
   android:canRequestFilterKeyEvents="true"
   android:canRetrieveWindowContent="true" />

Then you need to add your Accessibility service to the Manifest.xml like below:

<service
     android:name=".services.MyAccessibilityService"
     android:label="@string/app_name"
     android:permission="android.permission.BIND_ACCESSIBILITY_SERVICE"
     android:exported="true">

        <intent-filter>
            <action android:name="android.accessibilityservice.AccessibilityService" />
        </intent-filter>

        <meta-data
            android:name="android.accessibilityservice"
            android:resource="@xml/accessibility_setting" />
</service>

The next would be defining our MyAccessibilityService service class and the function to retrieve the current activity name:

It should be like that:

class MyAccessibilityService : AccessibilityService() {

   var currentActivityName : String? = null

   override fun onServiceConnected() {
       //Define your initial configs here
   }

   @Synchronized
   override fun onAccessibilityEvent(event: AccessibilityEvent) {
       checkForCurrentActivity(event)
   }

   override fun onInterrupt() {
       // define your interruption code here
   }

Then the checkForCurrentActivity(event) would be:

private fun checkForCurrentActivity(event: AccessibilityEvent) {
    if (event.eventType == AccessibilityEvent.TYPE_WINDOW_STATE_CHANGED) {
        if (event.packageName != null && event.className != null) {
            val componentName = ComponentName(
                event.packageName.toString(),
                event.className.toString()
            )
            if (isActivity(componentName)) {
                val componentFlattenName = componentName.flattenToShortString()
                currentActivityName = componentFlattenName.replace("/.", ".")
                if (currentActivityName.contains("/")) {
                    currentActivityName = currentActivityName.split("/".toRegex())[1]
                }
            }
        }
    }
}

private fun isActivity(componentName: ComponentName): Boolean {
    return try {
        packageManager.getActivityInfo(componentName, 0)
    } catch (e: PackageManager.NameNotFoundException) {
        null
    } != null
}

And finally, you can easily obtain the current activity name by using currentActivityName

Via Accessibility (with no extra permissions)

In the end, I will show you a hack to get the current activity name just with accessibility permission, without using QUERY_ALL_PACKAGES.

This solution is based on the second solution but with a small difference. For this hack, you need to replace the isActivity(componentName) with:

private fun isActivity(componentName: ComponentName):Boolean {
    val name = componentName.flattenToShortString()
    return name.contains("/") &&
        !name.contains("com.android.systemui") &&
        !name.contains("Layout") &&
        !name.contains(".widget") &&
        !name.contains("android.view") &&
        !name.contains("android.material") &&
        !name.contains("android.inputmethodservice") &&
        !name.contains("$") &&
        !name.contains("android.view") &&
        !name.contains("android.app.dialog")
}

And just like before you can easily obtain the current activity name by using currentActivityName

This hack works with almost 99% of accuracy.