Am I able to record somehow with app what users either have open or have already installed on their phone?

Question

Is there a way of knowing what other apps either users have open or have installed on their phone through my own app?

For example: I have a shop that sells toys and my app can check if the user is currently running or have installed something like PokemnGo. Then I can personalize my shop for them with Pokemn related products.

This would be across both IOS and Android (either/or)

Would this be a breach of privacy? (will ask at installation anyway)

Unfortunately it isn't always a good idea to ask a single question that covers both iOS and android since the answers will be different. The answer on iOS is no (thankfully) — Paulw11, Feb 01 '17 at 12:54
Thats true but I need to develop both apps for both platforms...So there is no way of tracking app installs or active apps on IOS? — Stary, Feb 01 '17 at 13:11

nishith kumar · Answer 1 · 2017-02-01T12:52:11.043

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You can get the list of package names of all the installed apps using :

Intent mainIntent = new Intent(Intent.ACTION_MAIN, null);
mainIntent.addCategory(Intent.CATEGORY_LAUNCHER);
List<ResolveInfo> pkgAppsList = context.getPackageManager().queryIntentActivities( mainIntent, 0);

You can iterate through pkgAppsList to search for your desired apps.

To get the list of all the running apps use:

ActivityManager actvityManager = (ActivityManager)
this.getSystemService( ACTIVITY_SERVICE );
List<RunningAppProcessInfo> runningProcesses = actvityManager.getRunningAppProcesses();

edited Feb 01 '17 at 12:52

answered Feb 01 '17 at 12:37

nishith kumar

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Also is this just installed or currently running? – Stary Feb 01 '17 at 12:49
This is only for all the installed apps. Check edited answer for list of running apps. – nishith kumar Feb 01 '17 at 12:50
Your amazing thanks, would this also work on IOS or is it solely Android? – Stary Feb 01 '17 at 13:08
This is only for android. There should be something similar for iOS as well. Please post it separately for iOS. If my answer is useful and it worked please mark it as the accepted answer. – nishith kumar Feb 02 '17 at 04:47

score 0 · Answer 2 · answered Feb 01 '17 at 12:40

0

You can use PackageManager.getInstalledApplications() and PackageManager. getInstalledPackages() to get the list.

Doc for PackageManager

answered Feb 01 '17 at 12:40

xizzhu

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@Stary It's for Android only. – xizzhu Feb 01 '17 at 13:11

score 0 · Answer 3 · edited May 23 '17 at 12:33

For Android, there are methods for doing this, as others have noted, using the PackageManager and ActivityManager.

Unfortunately, on iOS, there's no way to do this that won't get you rejected by Apple from the app store. There are methods that may work if your app is internally distributed and doesn't need to go through Apple's review process (ad-hoc / enterprise apps). See more details here.

Am I able to record somehow with app what users either have open or have already installed on their phone?

3 Answers3