Custom Android application launcher

Question

I want to create an application "menu" which houses 4 or 5 icons which launch customs applications specific to my company. Is there a specific way to do this in Android?

I don't know what it would be called, exactly, and googling "android launcher", "menu" and "application shell" just bring up a lot of unrelated static. What's this called in android parlance?

score 4 · Accepted Answer · answered Mar 04 '11 at 16:31

4

Wufoo,

It sounds like you want an application dashboard. The Google iosched example program might get you on the right path: http://code.google.com/p/iosched/

Unless you mean to have the device ONLY launch your applications, then your app would be a complete Launcher replacement. The Launcher is described as...

The activity can be the initial activity of a task and is listed in the top-level application launcher.

But that may no be what you want.

answered Mar 04 '11 at 16:31

Will Tate

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Ahhh.. yes, the dashboard. That's the only buzzword I couldn't think of googling. Yep, in the link you sent, I want to do something like what's in the left pic. Having other stuff on the phone is fine, I just want a "main menu" type application window to launch stuff like a corporate contact list, home page app, etc. – wufoo Mar 04 '11 at 17:06
next week it'll be called a cyberdash or something. keep up! ;) – Will Tate Mar 04 '11 at 17:08

score 1 · Answer 2 · edited May 23 '17 at 10:26

1

Do you want to replace the device home screen and act as the default launcher?

If so you can use some intent filters as per this answer:

<intent-filter>
    <action android:name="android.intent.action.MAIN" />
    <category android:name="android.intent.category.HOME" />
    <category android:name="android.intent.category.DEFAULT" />
</intent-filter>

edited May 23 '17 at 10:26

Community

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answered Mar 04 '11 at 16:34

Matthew

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score 0 · Answer 3 · answered Apr 26 '12 at 05:42

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Kiosk Mode. You could customise this (disable access to menu, limit application addition etc) http://code.google.com/p/android-launcher-plus/

answered Apr 26 '12 at 05:42

rbot

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score 0 · Answer 4 · answered Mar 04 '11 at 16:37

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You can use home-screen folders to manage arbitrary groups of app launcher icons. Long-press on the home-screen background and select "Folder" to experiment.

answered Mar 04 '11 at 16:37

Graham Borland

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Custom Android application launcher

4 Answers4