Develop Reference

cannot close recent apps using adb shell input keyevent

I use the following code:
adb shell input keyevent KEYCODE_APP_SWITCH
adb shell input keyevent 20
adb shell input keyevent DEL
the 1st line of code works.. it does indeed open the recent app window.. however i wanted it to press the close or X button
any idea ?

you should be able to do it using the following command
adb shell input tap x y
replace x and y with the X button position on the screen.

you may simulate swipe the screen with the following command
adb shell input swipe 500 500 500 1000 100

Creating a new contact by using ADB

How can I create new contact using adb?
I'm using the following command:
adb shell "am start -a android.intent.action.INSERT -t vnd.android.cursor.dir/contact -e name 'Bo Lawson' -e phone 123456789"
But now, Should I need to click on Save, So how can I do it fully automatic using adb?

Try adb shell input keyevent 3 This will take your phone back to the home screen which will automatically save the contact.

You can use adb to simulate touch events by using the following command
adb shell input tap x y

Wake up Android with use adb or Eclipse (just before debug)?

How to wake up Android with use adb - I want to wake up (if asleep) Android terminal before debugging every new version of application.
Typical flow is:
1. I do some changes in Eclipse.
2. In the meantime screen goes off or not.
3. I run "debug" and want force screen to wake up.
I found a method with "power key" emulation but it does not turn it on but rather toggles the power state. I do not want to add extra code to my application. What are the other methods to do such trivial task, please help.

adb shell input keyevent KEYCODE_WAKEUP
As described here, this wakes up the device. Behaves somewhat like KEYCODE_POWER but it has no effect if the device is already awake.
To toggle sleep/wake with one command you can issue
adb shell input keyevent KEYCODE_POWER

Just use :
adb shell input keyevent 26

Here's what I came up with:
adb shell dumpsys power | grep "mScreenOn=true" | xargs -0 test -z && adb shell input keyevent 26
This will first check to see if the screen is on. If it isn't, it will emulate the power key, which will turn on the device's screen.

if you execute
adb shell input keyevent KEYCODE_POWER and got Killed, you should use root user by execute su before.
sleep:(adb shell) input keyevent KEYCODE_SLEEP
wakeup:(adb shell) input keyevent KEYCODE_WAKEUP
toggle:(adb shell) input keyevent KEYCODE_POWER

You can check device's current power state (including display) via adb with dumpsys power command and send the power key press event only if the display is off. The easier solution would be disabling the display timeout altogether "while connected to USB" in the Developer options.

you could also add the following flags to your onCreate() in your main activity:
getWindow().addFlags(WindowManager.LayoutParams.FLAG_DISMISS_KEYGUARD);
getWindow().addFlags(WindowManager.LayoutParams.FLAG_SHOW_WHEN_LOCKED);
getWindow().addFlags(WindowManager.LayoutParams.FLAG_KEEP_SCREEN_ON);
getWindow().addFlags(WindowManager.LayoutParams.FLAG_TURN_SCREEN_ON);
This way your device should wake up when it is loaded onto the device through Eclipse.

I know that this is the opposite of what the OP requested, but I wanted to point out the definition of "truly asleep" for other readers:
If adb is active, then the device is not truly asleep, since USB is on and the command prompt is running (how else is adb shell going to work?). When fully asleep, only the physical power button will wake it (unless other buttons are selected as a wake source in the BSP). My project draws about 120ma with screen off, but only 23ma in sleep mode (disconnect USB cable). "adb shell input keyevent 26" does not work in this mode. Neither does the serial console.
My test fixture does have access to the battery and external power line separately. I can toggle the power line (with battery connected) to wake it up. I also have a switched USB hub that disconnects the USB specifically for the sleep portion of the test.
I hope this can be some help to someone.

For Windows and Eclipse you can use .bat file:
#ECHO OFF
setlocal
for /f "delims= tokens=1*" %%a in ('adb shell dumpsys power ^| findstr.exe "mScreenOn="') DO (
for /f "delims== tokens=2*" %%S in ("%%a") do (
if "%%S" == "false" (goto move1) else (goto move2)
)
)
:move1
adb shell input keyevent 26
goto end
:move2
goto end
:end
exit
It will check, if screen is off it will switch the power state.
To use it with Eclipse this .bat file should be used as "External tool" (just fill the path to the .bat) and linked to the project in it's properties (Builders - Import - ).

I used the following to wake up remote devices for automated tests. If the screen isn't on, then it will press the power button followed by the menu button.
(
cd ${platform-tools};
./adb shell dumpsys power | grep -i 'SCREEN_ON' >/dev/null;
if [ $? -eq 0 ]; then
echo "Screen is on...";
else
echo "Pressing buttons to wake-up...";
# http://developer.android.com/reference/android/view/KeyEvent.html
./adb shell input keyevent 26; # Power
./adb shell input keyevent 82; # Menu
echo "Pausing for state to settle...";
sleep 1;
./adb shell dumpsys power | grep -i 'SCREEN_ON';
fi;
echo '---';
./adb shell dumpsys power | grep -i 'SCREEN'
)

Bash script to launch app and login - gets stuck, cursor doesn't move down the page

What I want to do: Clear the data, then launch my app. On the first page, tab down and agree to conditions, then on next page tab down to the sign-in textfields, enter the username, password, then tap sign in.
What happens is the data is cleared, the app is launched, then the app just sits on the terms/conditions screen, and the cursor does not move down to the buttons.
What am I missing? Do I need to bring the focus to the screen so that the cursor gets a location before I move it?
#!/bash/src
adb shell pm clear com.myapp.package
adb shell am start -n com.myapp.package/com.myapp.package.Main
adb shell input keyevent 20
adb shell input keyevent 20
adb shell input keyevent 20
adb shell input keyevent 20
adb shell input keyevent 21
adb shell input keyevent 66
adb shell input text "username"
adb shell input keyevent 20
adb shell input text "password"
adb shell input keyevent 20
adb shell input keyevent 66

you could try sending a back button to see if you can dismiss the Terms and conditions:
adb shell input keyevent 4

Adb shell commands to change settings or perform tasks on a phone

How do I use adb to perform some automated tasks on my android phone? I need to find commands that I can issue from the command line (ideally, using a .bat file) that will be capable of more than simply opening an application or sending an input keyevent (button press).
For instance, I want to toggle Airplane Mode on or off from the command line. Currently, the best I can do is launch the Wireless & network settings menu and then use input keyevents to click Airplane mode:
adb shell am start -a android.settings.AIRPLANE_MODE_SETTINGS
adb shell input keyevent 19 & adb shell input keyevent 23
There are quite a few drawbacks to this method, primarily that the screen has to be on and unlocked. Also, the tasks I want to do are much broader than this simple example. Other things I'd like to do if possible:
1.Play an mp3 and set it on repeat. Current solution:
adb shell am start -n com.android.music/.MusicBrowserActivity
adb shell input keyevent 84
adb shell input keyevent 56 & adb shell input keyevent 66 & adb shell input keyevent 67 & adb shell input keyevent 19
adb shell input keyevent 23 & adb shell input keyevent 21
adb shell input keyevent 19 & adb shell input keyevent 19 & adb shell input keyevent 19 & adb shell input keyevent 22 & adb shell input keyevent 22 & adb shell input keyevent 23 & adb shell input keyevent 23
2.Play a video. (current solution: open MediaGallery, send keyevents, similar to above)
3.Change the volume (current solution: send volume-up button keyevents)
4.Change the display timeout (current solution: open sound & display settings, send keyevents)
As before, these all require the screen to be on and unlocked. The other major drawback to using keyevents is if the UI of the application is changed, the keyevents will no longer perform the correct function. If there is no easier way to do these sort of things, is there at least a way to turn the screen on (using adb) when it is off? Or to have keyevents still work when the screen is off?
I'm not very familiar with java. That said, I've seen code like the following (source: http://yenliangl.blogspot.com/2009/12/toggle-airplane-mode.html) to change a setting on the phone:
Settings.System.putInt(Settings.System.AIRPLANE_MODE_ON, 1 /* 1 or 0 */);
How do I translate something like the above into an adb shell command? Is this possible, or the wrong way to think about it?
I can provide more details if needed. Thanks!

Although question is old, it might help someone else.
For video playback, you can try this:
adb shell am start -a android.intent.action.VIEW -d "file:///mnt/sdcard/DCIM/Camera/test.3gp" -t "video/*"
^gives you a prompt of all capable players that can play this file.
adb shell am start -a android.intent.action.VIEW -d "file:///mnt/sdcard/DCIM/Camera/test.3gp" -t "video/*" -n "com.alensw.PicFolder/.PlayerActivity"
^plays in player specified by switch -n.

I'm working on the same set of issues. (I mostly solved the context issue with straight button presses by using the keyevent HOME and then MENU, but -- somehow -- even that's unreliable.) I'm currently investigating SL4A (Scripting Layer for Android), which has promise. It allows Perl, Python, Lua, and other scripting languages to interact with the Android API from your PC after starting an SL4A server on the device -- which can also be done from the PC. I'm finding "Pro Android Python with SL4A" to be an excellent resource; I would have saved myself days of trial-and-error and hunting on the Web if I had started with that book

The Java example you show is for a program that is running on the phone itself. You might be able to program some kind of an interpreter on the phone that handles adb commands. That way you are not dependent anymore on keyevents. This is not a minor undertaking, however.

MonkeyRunner also looks like it has promise, though I haven't dug deep enough to find its limits yet.
Android ScreenCast lets you view and control your device's screen from your PC, which also has potential for automation. It does have present some logistical issues for that application, though.
By the way, you can get past the locked homescreen with a MENU keyevent and a set of sendevents (in place of keyevents).