Which actions does the back button/back key on Android trigger? - android

I am really confused. I have read that the back button
calls onDestroy()
can close up your currently-running activity
calls onPause()
I think onPause() should be right. But this is an side effect, because the Activity gets into the background. I found nothing in the docs. But maybe I have overlooked something.
Can someone please explain to me what the back button is supposed to do programmatically? Some references would also be nice. :-)

I have read that the back button calls onDestroy(), can close up your currently-running activity, calls onPause()
All three are correct.
I found nothing in the docs.
Quoting the Android documentation:
When the user presses the BACK key, the current activity is popped from the top of the stack (the activity is destroyed) and the previous activity resumes (the previous state of its UI is restored).
To elaborate, if there is nothing else that will consume the BACK button press (e.g., an open options menu), your Activity will be called with onBackPressed(). The default implementation of this calls finish(). This will take your activity from the running to the destroyed states, calling onPause(), onStop(), and onDestroy() in sequence, as shown in the event flow diagram:

Just to add, browser application overrides onBackPressed() to go back to previously opened tabs (if available) and it not, closes the application.

Related

Confusion in understanding methods in android

I want to play audio on lock screen and I know for this I have to use service. But I am little confused So I have following questions.
I want to know on home and back button press which method is called i.e. onPause or onStop?
If my app running and someone call me and I pick the call then which method is called i.e. onPause or onStop?
On screen lock which method is called?
first onPause() will be called for each of your question and onStop() will be called when another activity comes in foreground and your previous one goes in background.
The Basic difference is that when onStop() called the previous activity in not visible and new activity comes in foreground and overlap the previous one.
On home press: onPause->onStop. On back press: onBackPressed->onPause->onStop->onDestroy
Same as pressing home essentially.
Same as 2.
Have a look at the documentation:
http://developer.android.com/reference/android/app/Activity.html#ActivityLifecycle

Life cycle of Android Activity after pressing Back button

I am little confused between the life cycle of two activities.
Suppose I have Activity A and Activity B.
B is called From A i.e A ----> B.
Now currently B is on the screen and I pressed back button. Here I want know:- is there any memory still available for B(Active) or B's memory is flushed(Inactive).
The following activity call back methods are called, after pressing back button.
onPause()
onStop()
onDestroy()
The activity is destroyed.
And it recreates when launched again. These are the callback methods when it launches again.
onCreate()
onStart()
onResume()
I know the answer is been accepcted, still if this helps someone I am putting it.
When app is opening for the first time, by clicking the Icon
onCreate()
onStart()
onResume()
When home button is pressed
onPause()
onStop()
when app is again opened by clicking the app icon or launched from recent
onRestart()
onStart()
onResume()
when app is opened and then back button is pressed
onPause()
onStop()
onDestroy()
The onDestroy method is called after back press. Then activity will be popped from the Activity back stack.
From docs:
If an activity is paused or stopped, the system can drop the activity from memory by either asking it to finish, or simply killing its process. When it is displayed again to the user, it must be completely restarted and restored to its previous state.
onDestroy() from docs:
The final call you receive before your activity is destroyed. This can happen either because the activity is finishing (someone called finish() on it, or because the system is temporarily destroying this instance of the activity to save space. You can distinguish between these two scenarios with the isFinishing() method.
Activity B will be destroyed and will no longer remain in memory.
For more information please visit the official documentation for android and have a look at the activity life cycle figure.
Once you press the back key the activity's onDestroy() method will be called and the activity will be flushed out of the memory. You will then be required to restart the activity by calling the startActivity() method which will in turn call its onCreate() Method.
I would suggest to refer following link for activity lifecycle
http://stackoverflow.com/a/8516056/3110609
and following link for launch mode of activity.
www.intridea.com/blog/2011/6/16/android-understanding-activity-launchmode
After pressing the back button, Activity B will b destroyed. You see, Android Manages Activities like a Stack(an explanation of a stack). Everytime you start an activity, it pushes into the Activity Stack. So when Activity A calls Activity B, Activity B is now on top of Activity B, and when you press the back button, it also does a pop in the Activity Stack. So in concept, Activity B is gone. Pressing a Home Button is different from pressing back, it pauses the Activity, therefore it still eats a little of the phone's memory.
Here is a good explanation of how Android Manages Activities.

How to complete the application when pressed buttons Home i Back?

How to complete the application when pressed buttons Home and Back? Provided that in my memory holds many pictures.
When pressed on the Back button - application restarts... When pressed on the Home button - quit application, but when it restart - does not start Splashstsreen.
Hard to see without code but it sounds like your activity is resuming rather then starting from scratch (as it should behave). It sounds like it's behaving correctly in that case. If you insist in wanting your application to truly quit after the back button is clicked perhaps you can override onBackPressed() then have your Activity call its finish() method.
I don't think it's good programming practice to fiddle and interfering with the activities lifecycle. It's the OS responsibility to manage the lifecycle, including pause and finish activities.
Instead you should use other methods to handle your problem with not showing splash screen, these methods are onResume and maybe also onStart(). Also you should get familiar with the activity lifecycle(link submitted by #ss1271).
Press Home will let the activity to enter onPause(). however, if you insist to quit the application when press HOME, which is obviously not a good practise, you can do like this:
Override onPause() and onBackPressed()
add finish(); to these methods.
I am sure by adding finish(); to onBackPressed() will quit the app when Back button pressed, but I haven't tried on Home.
Please refer to Activity Lifecycle for more info.

Android back button behaviour

Let's say we have a default, empty activity with default behaviour, launched with default intent flags. User presses back button on the device. The activity disappear... but how, actually?
Is pressing back button behaving the same way like finish()?
Is the activity immedietely destroyed (onDestroy is called)?
Is the activity guaranteed to be destroyed, but not immedietely?
Is there any chance the activity won't be destroyed and this instance will be reused when this activity is launched in the future? (so only onPause and onStop -> onStart and onResume are called?)
I'm looking for a reliable answer, so please do not answer if you are not absolutely sure what happens here.
http://developer.android.com/training/basics/activity-lifecycle/recreating.html
This is a subchapter from the official Android documentation that addresses your question. It is a subchapter of the topic Managing the Activity Lifecycle, which can be read here:
http://developer.android.com/training/basics/activity-lifecycle/index.html
It is definitely worth reading the whole chapter to get to know the details about Androids Activity behaviour. But the subchapter ( first link ) is the relevant part to this question.
you use should look into this try this
and please tell specific what you wish to do with back button for your default activities ......
When you press back, (if not intercepted by anything like the keyboard, fragment, activity, etc) the OS (via ActivityManager probably) will try to show the user the previous activity in your current task (again, ignoring fragments' back stack).
If there is no such activity, the task will be terminated and you'll go to the previous task - the home screen most of the times or some other application that might have launched your app.
You'll get onDestroy called soon (it depends on how long it takes to start the next activity but on a good phone it should be under 100-200ms).
Your activity instance won't be reused after onFinish. This happens before the activity is destroyed so if you need another activity of the same type, the OS will create another instance.
When the user presses the BACK key, the current activity is popped from the top of the stack (the activity is guaranteed to be destroyed, but not immediately, may be when the system resources are low) and the previous activity resumes (the previous state of its UI is restored).
Which actions does the back button/back key on Android trigger?
Definitly onDestroy() is called .....There are a few scenarios in which your activity is destroyed due to normal app behavior, such as when the user presses the Back button or your activity signals its own destruction by calling finish().

Difference between android Home key and Back key and their behaviour

Can anyone point me out or explain what is the difference between android Home key and Back key and their respective behavior related to an android app/activity.
Thank you.
Back Key :
If you press Back Key, onPause(), onStop() and onDestroy() callbacks will called.
Activity will created again by system calls onCreate() callback, then onStart() and onResume() callbacks will be followed.
Home Key :
If you press Home Key, onPause() and onStop() callbacks will called.
Here Activity will restart by system calls onRestart() callback, then onStart() and onResume() callbacks will be followed.
In addition to #Fosco's comments, using back will usually cause an app to exit, where home will leave it running. This is dependent on the application, but the general pattern is to exit the app when using back on the last activity.
Back key destroys the current Activity, home key doesn't. In the Activity lyfecycle, pressing back calls all the way to current activity's onDestroy() method. On the other hand, pressing home pauses the Activity, which stays alive in background.
The home key takes you to the home screen, the back key takes you back to the previous activity (or home if there's no activity to go back to.)
If you are at the home screen and launch Messaging, then hit back, it's the same as hitting the home key.
If you're in Email and get an alert for a text message, and you choose the notification which takes you to Messaging, then hit Back, you'll go back to Email.
edit: as mentioned by Tim Coker, when the back button takes you to the home screen, it usually terminates the activity. I think this is based on the app, whether it terminates or stays resident.

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