start application knowing package name

Question

How can i start a new application using its package name? I don't have information about what activity is the main one.

score 166 · Answer 1 · edited Sep 11 '21 at 05:45

166

Just use these following two lines, so you can launch any installed application whose package name is known:

Intent launchIntent = getPackageManager().getLaunchIntentForPackage("com.example.abc");
startActivity( launchIntent );

If you don't know the package name of application that you wanted to launch then try your hand on:

PackageManager pm;
pm = getPackageManager();
//  get a list of installed apps.
packages = pm.getInstalledApplications(0);

For more information, refer to this link: Using Package Manager.

edited Sep 11 '21 at 05:45

BSMP

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answered Apr 02 '12 at 12:10

patric_cena

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Does this launch a complete new Instance? I want to launch the existing one. How do I do that? – JohnyTex Apr 14 '14 at 08:45
@hohny tex do you find a solution for your problem – Menna-Allah Sami May 06 '15 at 09:35
@JohnyTex I know it's kind of late but you could try `LaunchIntent.setFlags("Intent.FLAG_ACTIVITY_NEW_TASK");` and `LaunchIntent.setFlags("Intent.FLAG_ACTIVITY_SINGLE_TOP");` – KISHORE_ZE Aug 31 '15 at 09:00
Is this still a reliable solution after Package Visibility changes on Android 11? – argenkiwi Apr 28 '21 at 21:29

score 104 · Accepted Answer · answered Aug 06 '10 at 10:15

104

Try using PackageManager and getLaunchIntentForPackage()

answered Aug 06 '10 at 10:15

CommonsWare

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Sir Why cant i launch the Launcher by getting its package name its giving java.lang.NullPointer Exception? – TechArcSri Dec 16 '13 at 07:38
Does launch a complete new Instance? I want to launch the existing one. How do I do that? – JohnyTex Apr 14 '14 at 08:44
I would add the flags (Intent.FLAG_ACTIVITY_NEW_TASK | Intent.FLAG_ACTIVITY_RESET_TASK_IF_NEEDED) to ensure the app state is the same if it was already opened. – JacksOnF1re Feb 24 '16 at 13:58
I got a problem when i tried to pass extras to the target app. Only if the target app's process doesn't exist then it can get the extras or else it will get nothing. – Allen Vork Aug 24 '17 at 09:44
1

Is this still a reliable solution after Package Visibility changes on Android 11? – argenkiwi Apr 28 '21 at 21:29
1

@argenkiwi: I very rarely use this method. I expect that either it will work "out of the box", or you would need `` for a `MAIN`/`LAUNCHER` `Intent` structure. AFAIK, it is not completely broken. – CommonsWare Apr 28 '21 at 22:02
@argenkiwi you mean android 12? – Nick May 11 '21 at 01:25
No, I meant Android 11 as per this section of the docs: https://developer.android.com/about/versions/11/privacy/package-visibility – argenkiwi May 13 '21 at 01:24

score 23 · Answer 3 · answered Jul 28 '15 at 18:35

23

You can get the launch intent through the PackageManager class:

PackageManager pm = context.getPackageManager();
Intent launchIntent = pm.getLaunchIntentForPackage("com.example.package");
context.startActivity(launchIntent);

Note that getLaunchIntentForPackage returns null if the package isn't found. So you might want to add a null check:

if (launchIntent != null) {
    context.startActivity(launchIntent);
} else {
    Toast.makeText(context, "Package not found", Toast.LENGTH_SHORT).show();
}

answered Jul 28 '15 at 18:35

Anubian Noob

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This answer is only very slightly different from the older answers, except that it's 3 years newer. I don't see how the upvotes are justified. – hBrent Jul 27 '17 at 20:43
But at least he posted that the method returns null if no package, I was about to try catching activity not found exception.@hBrent – Xenolion Nov 12 '20 at 15:09

score 3 · Answer 4 · edited Oct 25 '19 at 06:07

3

Intent intent;                                        
PackageManager pm = getActivity().getPackageManager();

intent = pm.getLaunchIntentForPackage("com.package.name");                       
intent.addFlags(Intent.FLAG_ACTIVITY_CLEAR_TOP);

startActivity(intent);

edited Oct 25 '19 at 06:07

Vidya L

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answered Oct 25 '19 at 05:54

Siddhi Mandodi

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score 2 · Answer 5 · edited Sep 11 '21 at 06:44

2

    Intent intent = getPackageManager().getLaunchIntentForPackage("app.package.name");
    intent.addFlags(Intent.FLAG_ACTIVITY_CLEAR_TOP);
    if (intent != null) {
        startActivity(intent);
    } else {
        Toast.makeText(context, "Package not found", Toast.LENGTH_SHORT).show();
    }

edited Sep 11 '21 at 06:44

Dharman

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answered Sep 11 '21 at 06:38

Pratik Fagadiya

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score 2 · Answer 6 · answered Dec 19 '21 at 04:20

val packageName = "com.google.android.youtube"
var intent = activity!!.packageManager.getLaunchIntentForPackage(packageName)

          if (intent == null) {
            if (intent == null) {
                    intent = try {
                        Intent(Intent.ACTION_VIEW, Uri.parse("market://details?id=$packageName"))
                    } catch (e: Exception) {
                        Intent(Intent.ACTION_VIEW, Uri.parse("https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=$packageName"))
                    }
                }
             startActivity(intent)

For Android 11 (API level 30) or higher, in AndroidManifest.xml,

<queries>
    <package android:name="com.google.android.youtube" />
    <package android:name="com.example.app" />
</queries>

Or simply we can allow for all packages (not recommended)

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

References

Package visibility filtering on Android

start application knowing package name

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