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How make a Android application that can't be closed

I'm developing an Android app for a company where those who will use it are the employees, for this reason the company asked me to develop an application that the user can not close, because if he will not use the smartphone for other purposes, but for this I need the Android native buttons do not interfere with the application.
I've deactivated the button to go back and put the application as Home.
#Override
     public void onBackPressed () {
         super.onBackPressed ();
     }
...
<category android: name = "android.intent.category.HOME" />
However if the user clicks the button that displays open applications, it can exit the application.
I researched a lot before creating resolve this question and realized several attempts to solve this problem.
One. I tried to create the same behavior as the MX Player has, when you use the lock to see a video, the MX Player is always on top of everything, leaving the user to see and click others places. However using this behavior does not i cant see My Dialogs nor Popup and also can not apply a thema, as in my case is not simply an activity is the entire application.
Reference links of my attempt
How to disable Home and other system buttons in Android?
http://www.piwai.info/chatheads-basics/
If anyone knows how to use that behavior MX Player, or if anyone knows any more how to make the user can not close the application, please help me, I know it's not just me who have this problem.
Any help is welcome!
My API is 16 - Android-4.1

Are your target devices rooted? If so, this article goes through the steps to make this possible. What you specifically ask about can be done by modifying the build.prop file to include the following line: qemu.hw.mainkeys=1. This will stop the soft-key navigation bar from ever showing up.
If the device you're running isn't rooted, I don't think that it's possible to do what you're asking.

The best way i found to the user can't access others apps, was to make a service that check which is the top activity, if don't is my then reopen my app.
ActivityManager manager = (ActivityManager) getApplicationContext().getSystemService(Context.ACTIVITY_SERVICE);
List<ActivityManager.RunningTaskInfo> runningTasks = manager.getRunningTasks(1);
if (runningTasks != null && runningTasks.size() > 0) {
ComponentName topActivity = runningTasks.get(0).topActivity;
if (!topActivity.getPackageName().startsWith("com.mypackage.")) {
Log.i("Top Activity", topActivity.getPackageName());
if (LocalCache.getInstance().isForceHome()) {
Intent intent = new Intent(HomeService.this, AuthLoginActivity.class);
intent.addFlags(Intent.FLAG_ACTIVITY_NEW_TASK);
startActivity(intent);
}
}
handler.postDelayed(this, 500);
}

Old question, but I'm facing exactly same situation:
In-house App
Can't be close
I'm going to set App as a Launcher, and block top-dowm swipe to prevent status bar appear.
I think it's good enough for an in-house App ~

Close status bar when opened: Android

I am trying to come up with some ways of disabling the status bar without hiding it completely. This is an introlude attempt at disabling status bars in 3rd party apps. For now, I want to disable it in my own app, and then eventually create a background service to see if I can do so in other apps. The app I am creating is an operating system for children, and I am trying to develop a closed system.
Here is what I have tried. My initial idea was to monitor when status bar was accessed and then closing it.
#Override
public void onWindowFocusChanged(boolean hasFocus) {
Log.i(TAG, "onWindowFocusChanged()");
try {
if (!hasFocus) {
Log.d(TAG, "close status bar attempt");
Object service = getSystemService("statusbar");
Class<?> statusbarManager = Class
.forName("android.app.StatusBarManager");
Method collapse = statusbarManager.getMethod("collapse");
collapse.setAccessible(true);
collapse.invoke(service);
}
} catch (Exception ex) {
ex.printStackTrace();
}
}
This is the method I used. It works for detecting when status bar is being accessed, however, it does not close the status bar once it has focus. What am I missing? Thanks in advance.

I have found answer to my question. First, I was missing the following permission
<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.EXPAND_STATUS_BAR" />
With that permission, the following code now works really well.
#Override
public void onWindowFocusChanged(boolean hasFocus) {
Log.i(TAG, "onWindowFocusChanged()");
try {
if (!hasFocus) {
Log.d(TAG, "close status bar attempt");
//option 1
int currentApiVersion = android.os.Build.VERSION.SDK_INT;
Object service = getSystemService("statusbar");
Class<?> statusbarManager = Class
.forName("android.app.StatusBarManager");
if (currentApiVersion <= 16) {
Method collapse = statusbarManager.getMethod("collapse");
collapse.setAccessible(true);
collapse.invoke(service);
} else {
Method collapse = statusbarManager.getMethod("collapsePanels");
collapse.setAccessible(true);
collapse.invoke(service);
}
// option 2
Intent it = new Intent(Intent.ACTION_CLOSE_SYSTEM_DIALOGS);
mContext.sendBroadcast(it);
}
} catch (Exception ex) {
ex.printStackTrace();
}
}
If you notice, there is a second option as well that I found to be working good. You can comment out option 1 if you want to use option 2, or vise versa. Both accomplish the same thing, although I believe option 2 is better.
Intent it = new Intent(Intent.ACTION_CLOSE_SYSTEM_DIALOGS);
mContext.sendBroadcast(it);
The only downfall I found is that it is slow(er) when closing. However, both methods collapse quick enough to where no one can click on any notifications or options in the status bar. Hopefully this is helpful to someone else. Good luck, Cheers!

I am also working on the same thing. With Android 5.0 Lolipop they have released Screen Pinning mode (which is essentially Kiosk mode) which does a few things:
The status bar is blank, and user notifications and status information are hidden.
The Home and Recent Apps buttons are hidden.
Other apps cannot launch new activities.
The current app can start new activities, as long as doing so does not create new tasks.
When screen pinning is invoked by a device owner, the user remains locked to your app until the app calls stopLockTask().
If screen pinning is activity by another app that is not a device owner or by the user directly, the user can exit by holding both the Back and Recent buttons.
You can read about it further in the Android 5.0 Lolipop release documentation.
However, if you are looking for a more controlable solution, then you may want to create a custom ROM. Here is a great overview on making Kiosk applications (which also require disabling status bar).
Developing Kiosk Mode Applications in Android Tutorial

Here's an updated answer if anyone is still looking for a solution to something like this: https://developer.android.com/training/system-ui/immersive.html
For me, I added the following in my onResume() method:
View decorView = getWindow().getDecorView();
int uiOptions = View.SYSTEM_UI_FLAG_FULLSCREEN | View.SYSTEM_UI_FLAG_IMMERSIVE_STICKY;
decorView.setSystemUiVisibility(uiOptions);
This allows the status bar to stay hidden but the user can still access it by swiping the edge of the screen. Then after a few seconds of inactivity it will collapse and disappear again!

Creating custom LockScreen in android [closed]

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Edit the question to include desired behavior, a specific problem or error, and the shortest code necessary to reproduce the problem. This will help others answer the question.
Closed 2 years ago.
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I am developing custom lockscreen app.its working fine in below 4.0 but above 4.0,when we press home button the app stops.is there any solution for this no apps will stop when pressing home button untill unlocking the screen.(like go locker app)

Another way to develop a LockScreen App is by using Views, let me explain it.
First of all you can "disable" in some devices the System lock screen by disabling the KEYGUARD:
((KeyguardManager)getSystemService(Activity.KEYGUARD_SERVICE)).newKeyguardLock("IN").disableKeyguard();
You should put this line of code in your Service.
After that you can launch an activity every time the screen goes off:
public class AutoStart extends BroadcastReceiver {
public void onReceive(Context arg0, Intent arg1) {
if(arg1.getAction().equals("android.intent.action.SCREEN_OFF")) {
Intent localIntent = new Intent(arg0, LockScreen.class);
localIntent.addFlags(Intent.FLAG_ACTIVITY_NEW_TASK);
localIntent.addFlags(WindowManager.LayoutParams.TYPE_SYSTEM_ERROR);
arg0.startActivity(localIntent);
}
}
}
If you read the documentation for WindowManager.LayoutParams.TYPE_SYSTEM_ERROR it explains that is a type of internal system error windows, appear on top of everything they can. In multiuser systems shows only on the owning user's window.
So now you have an activity on top of everything, but a press in HOME button will exit the activity.
Here is where the Views make their appearance. You can inflate a view from a layout resource and add it to the WindowManager as a TYPE_SYSTEM_ERROR, so will be on top of everything. And since you can control when to remove this View, the best place is in onDestroy of your Activity, because pressing the HOME button will only pause your activity, and the view will still be visible.
public WindowManager winManager;
public RelativeLayout wrapperView;
#Override
public void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
WindowManager.LayoutParams localLayoutParams = new WindowManager.LayoutParams( WindowManager.LayoutParams.TYPE_SYSTEM_ERROR,
WindowManager.LayoutParams.FLAG_NOT_FOCUSABLE|
WindowManager.LayoutParams.FLAG_NOT_TOUCH_MODAL|
WindowManager.LayoutParams.FLAG_LAYOUT_IN_SCREEN,
PixelFormat.TRANSLUCENT);
this.winManager = ((WindowManager)getApplicationContext().getSystemService(WINDOW_SERVICE));
this.wrapperView = new RelativeLayout(getBaseContext());
getWindow().setAttributes(localLayoutParams);
View.inflate(this, R.layout.lock_screen, this.wrapperView);
this.winManager.addView(this.wrapperView, localLayoutParams);
}
public void onDestroy()
{
this.winManager.removeView(this.wrapperView);
this.wrapperView.removeAllViews();
super.onDestroy();
}
To avoid the notification bar of showing I added the flags FLAG_NOT_FOCUSABLE | FLAG_NOT_TOUCH_MODAL | FLAG_LAYOUT_IN_SCREEN to consume all pointer events.
Not forget to add these two lines to your manifest:
<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.DISABLE_KEYGUARD" />
<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.SYSTEM_ALERT_WINDOW" />
From here you just need to add the logic of your Lock Screen app to let the user use his smartphone :)

A custom launcher is basically an app (you can make it behave like a grid, list, implement your own drag and drop etc) then, you only need to add these lines to the intent filter of the main activity, with this done, after you install your app and press the home button your app will appear in the list of available homescreens.
<category android:name="android.intent.category.HOME" />
<category android:name="android.intent.category.DEFAULT" />
What i cant find is a way to replace the lock screen, and hacks like disabling the lock screen on the phone and using an activity in a custom launcher isn't actually replacing the lockscreen ^^

You can use the below method to disable the Home key in android :
#Override
public void onAttachedToWindow() {
this.getWindow().setType(WindowManager.LayoutParams.TYPE_KEYGUARD);
super.onAttachedToWindow();
}

I am developing on a Samsung Galaxy S4 5.0 and what worked for me was simply changing getWindow().setFlags(..) to getWindow().addFlags(..)

I think first of all you should ask yourself if you really want to hijack the home key. Sometimes you may want it. But I think placing the app on the Android lock screen, letting the home key act normally and letting the underlying Android lock screen take care of password-protecting the device is what you actually want in a lot of cases (unless you want to change the way this is done by default).
Bottom line, letting an app be displayed on the Android lock screen comes pretty close to writing your own custom lock screen. And is decidedly easier since you don't have to manage passwords yourself. Not to mention it's safer and more reliable since you don't hijack the home key.
I did it like this and it works very well. You can see the details here:
show web site on Android lock screen
The question is about displaying a website on the lock screen, since that's what I was interested in, but the answer is more general, it works with any app.
You can see here an app that's on Google Play and has been written like this:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.a50webs.intelnav.worldtime

disable all home button and task bar features on Nexus 7

I am building an app that will form part of an exhibition. It will be displayed on a Nexus 7 which will be securely mounted. The app has touchscreen functionality and will display interactive content.
I need to be able to disable as many features as possible whilst on display as I do not want the public to be able to get to anything other than the app.
The main thing I am struggling with is the back/home/recent app list button. I have found some examples of disabling home button (child lock Android - Is It possible to disable the click of home button
) but ideally I need the buttons to be invisible, so to turn off the 'glow' (black would be fine).
Is the bottom section on a Nexus 7 protected in some way, is there another version of Android that would allow me to do this? The Nexus device will only be used for displaying this app, no other functionality is needed.
Any suggestions would be great and very much appreciated.

Your best solution without creating your own custom Android rom to remove the bottom buttons, will be to make the app full screen, override the back button, and make your app a launcher in order to override the home button.
AFAIK, there is no way of overriding the recent apps button.
Edit: One other option would to have a fullscreen app and then use a mount that will cover the buttons. (Thanks to MaciejGórski for the idea).
To make your app full screen, put the following in your activity's onCreate():
requestWindowFeature(Window.FEATURE_NO_TITLE);
getWindow().setFlags(WindowManager.LayoutParams.FLAG_FULLSCREEN, WindowManager.LayoutParams.FLAG_FULLSCREEN);
Or you can make the app full screen from within the manifest as well, thanks to #Niels:
<application android:theme="#android:style/Theme.Holo.Light.NoActionBar.Fullscreen">
To override the back button, add this method:
#Override
public void onBackPressed() {
return;
}
Now the home button is trickier, add the following to your manifest:
<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.RECEIVE_BOOT_COMPLETED"/>
and this to your manifest under the <activity>:
<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>
and this to your manifest under the <application>, make sure that the <receiver name> is the full package name path you define:
<receiver android:name="com.example.BootCompleteReceiver">
<intent-filter>
<action android:name="android.intent.action.BOOT_COMPLETED" />
</intent-filter>
</receiver>
And lastly, create a java class file called BootCompleteReceiver, and use this code:
public class BootCompleteReceiver extends BroadcastReceiver {
#Override
public void onReceive(Context context, Intent intent) {
Intent startActivityIntent = new Intent(context, YourActivityName.class);
startActivityIntent.addFlags(Intent.FLAG_ACTIVITY_NEW_TASK);
context.startActivity(parentActivityIntent);
}
}
To later disable your app as a home screen launcher, press the recent app button, swipe down from the right side, tap settings, go to apps, then tap the upper right three dots (vertically aligned), press "Reset app preferences", and then finally press "Reset apps".
I think that should just about cover it all.
EDIT 2 I just realized/tested and you do NOT necessarily need the BOOT_COMPLETED intent if you make your application a launcher. This means that the <uses-permission>, <receiver>, and BootComplete.java are not needed. You can just use the <intent-filter> that includes the MAIN, HOME, and DEFAULT attributes.
EDIT 3 More/different information available here: Home Launcher issue with Fragments after reboot

Further to the above, which all worked great, and to make sure a comprehensive answer is out there.....
AFAIK, there is no way of overriding the recent apps button.
I got around this by change onPause app behavior to start an alarmmanager. There may be a more elegant solution, but this works.
First, create repeating alarmmanager setupAlarm(seconds)( full details here and here, note I used repeating alarm rather than one off, think both will work though) that starts your activity
then change onPause to set a 2 second alarm, so whenever someone selects the recent apps button on the nav bar, a 2 second 'alarm' to start mainActivity is set.
#Override
public void onPause() {
setupAlarm(2);
finish(); //optional
super.onPause();
}
So with this and the above, any attempt to use the navigation buttons or restart the app results in app starting. So until I get round to investigating the 'kiosk' style roms this is a very good compromise.

I may be a bit late.
But i've found the, in my opinion, best solution for the Recent Apps Button Problem:
#Override
public void onWindowFocusChanged(boolean hasFocus) {
super.onWindowFocusChanged(hasFocus);
if (&& !hasFocus) {
// Close every kind of system dialog
Intent closeDialog = new Intent(Intent.ACTION_CLOSE_SYSTEM_DIALOGS);
sendBroadcast(closeDialog);
// send task back to front
ActivityManager activityManager =
(ActivityManager) getApplicationContext().getSystemService(Context.ACTIVITY_SERVICE);
activityManager.moveTaskToFront(getTaskId(), 0);
}
}
The "send task back to front" part will prevent the pull down of the Notification bar by simply sending it back up instantly and will close the Recent Apps View.
The other one is to close the "Shutdown/Restart" View when he tries to shut down his phone.
Now Excuse my English and have a nice Day.
Greetings
Jimmy

Disable System bar Android 4.0

I know there has been lot of discussion for hiding system bar on android 4.0 but no discussions on disabling the functionality of virtual button or status bar or system bar on Android 4.0 tablets?
Is this possible? Can somebody guide me to the right direction?
Thanks!

Try FLAG_FULLSCREEN, it should hide the status bar
http://developer.android.com/reference/android/view/WindowManager.LayoutParams.html#FLAG_FULLSCREEN

I have done a lot of research to design a lock screen and finally found a solution to permanently disable System bars i.e Navigation bar(Back, home, Recent apps soft keys) and the status bar. Android disabled the feature to override System bars except the back button. But there is a little work around to make this work:
Understand and implement screen pinning patiently and you will be successful.
You can create an app to control what all applications you want to implement screen pinning in or you can implement screen pinning directly in the same application you want to pin.
I'm going to show you the later implementation in this article:
1. Firstly your app should be the device owner.
You can do it in several ways and the easiest is to execute the command:
adb shell dpm set-device-owner [yourPackageName]/.[MyDeviceAdminReceiver]
Create a receiver(MyDeviceAdminReceiver) that extends DeviceAdminReceiver. You needn't have any code in here. For more info on Device owner implementation refer this link
http://florent-dupont.blogspot.com/2015/02/10-things-to-know-about-device-owner.html
Register the receiver in the AndroidManifest.xml file this way :
<receiver
android:name=".MyDeviceAdminReceiver"
android:label="#string/app_name"
android:permission="android.permission.BIND_DEVICE_ADMIN">
<meta-data
android:name="android.app.device_admin"
android:resource="#xml/device_admin" />
<intent-filter>
<action android:name="android.app.action.DEVICE_ADMIN_ENABLED" />
</intent-filter>
</receiver>
2. Your onCreate method should look like this:
#Override
public void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
setContentView(R.layout.activity_lock_screen);
ComponentName deviceAdmin = new ComponentName(this, MyDeviceAdminReceiver.class);
DevicePolicyManager mDpm = (DevicePolicyManager) getSystemService(Context.DEVICE_POLICY_SERVICE);
if (mDpm.isDeviceOwnerApp(getPackageName())) {
mDpm.setLockTaskPackages(deviceAdmin, new String[]{getPackageName()});
}
if (mDpm.isLockTaskPermitted(this.getPackageName()))
startLockTask();
3.To unpin the screen and make Navigation Bar functional:
Call the function stopLockTask() at a place in your code where you want to unpin. For example in my application, as soon as I verify that the user has typed the correct passcode, I call this function:
if (userInput.length() == 4) {
if (userInput.equals(passcode)) {
userInput = "";
etxtPasscodeDisplay.setText("");
stopLockTask(); // this is what you need
unlockHomeButton(); // A method to show home screen when
passcode is correct
finishAffinity(); //kill other activities
}
Extra Info which usually is required for lockscreens:
1. If your app is the first thing that comes up after boot:
You need a service(StartAtBootService) and a receiver (BootCompletedReceiver) for this.
2. If you want your app to show up after screen lock and unlock
(the power button is pressed to lock and unlock):
Create AEScreenOnOffService that extends service and AEScreenOnOffReceiver that extends BroadcastReceiver to launch your activity when the screen is on.
For a detailed info on everything I mentioned here, refer http://www.sureshjoshi.com/mobile/android-kiosk-mode-without-root/
This is an excellent write up which helped me a lot. Special thanks to the author.
I need at least 10 reputation to post more than two links. As I'm new to stackoverflow I don't have enough reputation so I'm sorry for not being able to share all the links I referred. Will surely update the post once I get access.