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finish activity in which a pending intent starts

In my app, i created a custom notification that contain a button that show recent apps(instead of home button long press)
when user open main activity and press home button to go to home screen then drag the notification drawer and click on the button:
Desired result is that the recent apps are shown and the main activity is one of the recent apps.
Actual result is that the recent apps are shown but the main activity is not in them and the main activity resumes.
My code to start "RecentApps (is a dummy class that show recent apps)" class with pending intent
Intent recentAppIntent = new Intent(getBaseContext(), RecentApps.class);
PendingIntent pendingrecentAppIntent = PendingIntent.getActivity(getBaseContext(), 1, recentAppIntent, 0);
notificationView.setOnClickPendingIntent(R.id.recentAppButt, pendingrecentAppIntent);
I think that the problem is getBaseContext, so when the main activity is alive and not finished the recent apps are shown but with context is the main activity.
I tried getApplication and getApplicationContext but not working.
I also tried to use flags for "recentAppIntent" but it is not working, It is a half solution to use
recentAppIntent.setFlags(Intent.FLAG_ACTIVITY_CLEAR_TASK);
but it not what i need.
So, my question is "How to finish the main activity in which the pending intent starts".
Thanks in advance, Mostafa

You need to ensure that your MainActivity and your RecentApps don't belong to the same task. The "Recent apps" doesn't actually show recent apps. It shows recent tasks.
To make sure that your RecentApps isn't in the same task as your MainActivity, you can add the following to the <activity> definition in the manifest for RecentApps:
aandroid:taskAffinity=""
Also, when creating the notification, add FLAG_ACTIVITY_NEW_TASK to the Intent, like this:
Intent recentAppIntent = new Intent(getBaseContext(), RecentApps.class);
recentAppIntent.addFlags(Intent.FLAG_ACTIVITY_NEW_TASK);
PendingIntent pendingrecentAppIntent = PendingIntent.getActivity(getBaseContext(), 1, recentAppIntent, 0);
notificationView.setOnClickPendingIntent(R.id.recentAppButt, pendingrecentAppIntent);

I think FLAG_ACTIVITY_CLEAR_TOP will help as a flag.
intent.addFlags(Intent.FLAG_ACTIVITY_CLEAR_TOP);
Explanation for Intent flags are available here: link

Activity not closing after being started my Notification

I am experiencing a weird behavior on my android application. When I open my application, I see my DashboardActivity, then I hit home button or back button and my application closes. This is ok. Then I receive a push message and with this push message I create a notification. The notification works fine, I click the notification and it opens my activity, using the code below:
Intent notificationIntent = new Intent(context, BookingOfferActivity.class);
notificationIntent.setFlags(Intent.FLAG_ACTIVITY_CLEAR_TOP | Intent.FLAG_ACTIVITY_SINGLE_TOP);
Bundle b = new Bundle();
b.putSerializable("booking", booking);
notificationIntent.putExtras(b);
PendingIntent contentIntent = PendingIntent.getActivity(context, 0, notificationIntent, 0);
Then I execute some task in this BookingOfferActivity activity and call the method finish() to make sure this activity will be finished no matter what. Then I open my application again, but instead of seeing the DashboardActivity I am still seeing BookingOfferActivity.
I have tried the solution proposed here:
Prevent new activity instance after clicking on notification
but it just doesnt work.
Is there a way to force my application to always open on the DashboardActivity?
Thanks
T

That is strange behaviour considering you are calling finish()
Try setting
android:noHistory="true"
android:launchMode="singleInstance"
in the manifest for the BookingOfferActivity

i don't know exactly, but u can try to finish all activities in onStop() method.
in onResume() method start your DashboardActivity.

Try removing SINGLE_TOP from your intent. CLEAR_TOP should be all you want.
From the Android Developer documentation
FLAG_ACTIVITY_SINGLE_TOP -> If set, the activity will not be launched if
it is already running at the top of the history stack.

Widget launching a second instance of application

I am having problems launching my application from my widget when it's clicked upon.
Here is a cut of some code
// Create an Intent to launch activity
Intent intent = new Intent(context, Entry_MainTabView.class);
PendingIntent pendingIntent = PendingIntent.getActivity(context, 0, intent, 0);
updateViews.setOnClickPendingIntent(R.id.Widget, pendingIntent);
Now take the scenario.
I launch my app, exit to the home page , then click on my widget.
It launches a second instance of the application, so when I hit "back" , the application goes away and reveals the other copy. I then hit back again and finally go back to the homescreen.
How can I make the Intent only create a new instance if none already exists in ram ?

Have you looked at singleInstance and singleTask launch modes of an activity? This extract from Pro Android 2 indicates that there is no documented way of ensuring that there is only one instance of the widget running.

How do you separate an Android App Widget Activity stack from the Application Activity stack?

I've got an Android App Widget that when clicked uses a PendingIntent to start an Activity, which the main Application associated with the App Widget also uses. After the user is done with the Activity started from the App Widget, and presses the back button, the user is taken to the Activity on the top of the MAIN application Activity stack. I'd like the back button to take the user back to the Android desktop/home screen.
In short, I'd like separate Activity stacks for my App Widget and Application. Not sure why Android wants to combine these.
This is what I've got now in the App Widget and it's not working. Neither Intent.FLAG_ACTIVITY_CLEAR_TOP or Intent.FLAG_ACTIVITY_NEW_TASK seems to have any impact on the stack.
Intent intent = buildWidgetIntent(context, info);
intent.addFlags(Intent.FLAG_ACTIVITY_CLEAR_TOP);
intent.addFlags(Intent.FLAG_ACTIVITY_NEW_TASK);
PendingIntent pendingIntent = PendingIntent.getActivity(context,
mRequestCode++, intent, PendingIntent.FLAG_UPDATE_CURRENT);
Thanks for any help with this one.

I haven't faced this exact situation, but Intent.FLAG_ACTIVITY_NO_HISTORY is what I needed to make my widget-launched Activity always go Back to the Home screen.

Android: How to give focus to a background Activity belonging to a different task?

Say that the user has started my App and then switched off to use the Browser (so we have 2 sets of Tasks running). After a while, something happens to my app that requires the user's attention, so it posts a notification to notify the user. Is there a way to bring my App's task (and the Activity on top of the stack) out from the background when user clicks on my notification?

In your notification you call an intent to start your app, if you ensure it has the following flags then it will be brought to front rather than creating another instance:
Intent contentIntent = new Intent(this, ABC.class);
contentIntent.setFlags(Intent.FLAG_ACTIVITY_CLEAR_TOP | INTENT.FLAG_ACTIVITY_SINGLE_TOP);

A notification usually comes with a PendingIntent (Notification.contentIntent). Set this intent to your app to start an activity of your app.
There is only one Activity that is currently active - as soon as you switch to a different screen, the system will pause your activity (onPause, and very likely onDestroy), so you'll need to use an intent to bring resume your activity and bring it to the main screen.