Develop Reference

Android tries to verify host despite android:autoVerify="false"

In my app I have 3 activities, MainActivity, SecondaryActivity and TertiaryActivity. I want SecondaryActivity to be a default app link handler for a particular domain on Android 6, as described in this guide. At the same time, I want another activity, TertiaryActivity, to be able to handle links from another domain, but not be a default handler, as I don't own the domain. Here's my AndroidManifest to illustrate:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<manifest package="com.antonc.applinktest"
xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android">
<application
android:allowBackup="true"
android:icon="#mipmap/ic_launcher"
android:label="#string/app_name"
android:supportsRtl="true"
android:theme="#style/AppTheme">
<activity
android:name=".MainActivity"
android:label="#string/app_name"
android:theme="#style/AppTheme.NoActionBar">
<intent-filter>
<action android:name="android.intent.action.MAIN"/>
<category android:name="android.intent.category.LAUNCHER"/>
</intent-filter>
</activity>
<activity android:name=".SecondaryActivity"
android:label="#string/app_name"
android:theme="#style/AppTheme.NoActionBar">
<intent-filter android:autoVerify="true"> <!-- TRUE -->
<data android:scheme="https"
android:host="secondary.com"/>
<action android:name="android.intent.action.VIEW"/>
<category android:name="android.intent.category.DEFAULT"/>
<category android:name="android.intent.category.BROWSABLE"/>
</intent-filter>
</activity>
<activity android:name=".TertiaryActivity"
android:label="#string/app_name"
android:theme="#style/AppTheme.NoActionBar">
<intent-filter android:autoVerify="false"> <!-- FALSE -->
<data android:scheme="https"
android:host="tertiary.com"/>
<action android:name="android.intent.action.VIEW"/>
<category android:name="android.intent.category.DEFAULT"/>
<category android:name="android.intent.category.BROWSABLE"/>
</intent-filter>
</activity>
</application>
</manifest>
I read through this extensive guide on app links that explains the mechanics of app link handling and app verification on Android, and here's the messages I see in logcat related to app verification:
03-25 17:54:45.640 1481-1481/com.google.android.gms D/IntentFilterVerificationReceiver: Received ACTION_INTENT_FILTER_NEEDS_VERIFICATION.
03-25 17:54:45.644 1481-30947/com.google.android.gms I/IntentFilterIntentService: Verifying IntentFilter. verificationId:12 scheme:"https" hosts:"tertiary.com secondary.com" package:"com.antonc.applinktest".
03-25 17:54:46.762 1481-30947/com.google.android.gms I/IntentFilterIntentService: Verification 12 complete. Success:false. Failed hosts:tertiary.com,secondary.com.
As you can see it attempts to verify both secondary.com and tertiary.com, even though I explicitly set android:autoVerify="false" for the intent filter on tertiary.com!
Is this an Android bug? How do I make sure that IntentFilterIntentService only verifies the intent filter for which I have set android:autoVerify="true" and leaves the other one out?

Is this an Android bug?
Since the behavior appears to be documented, I would describe it as a limitation. Quoting the documentation:
When the android:autoVerify attribute is present, installing your app causes the system to attempt to verify all hosts associated with the web URIs in all of your app's intent filters.
(emphasis added)
My interpretation of that is that if auto-verify behavior is all-or-nothing at the app level. It is unclear to me why they wrote it that way. If that is the long-term plan, I would have expected the autoVerify attribute to be on <application>.
How do I make sure that IntentFilterIntentService only verifies the intent filter for which I have set android:autoVerify="true" and leaves the other one out?
Put them in separate apps, I guess.

I think you should leave out that android:autoVerify="false" instead of setting it.
Reading the documentation it says only if the attribute it present. It wont check the value.
When the android:autoVerify attribute is present, installing your app
causes the system to attempt to verify all hosts associated with the
web URIs in all of your app's intent filters.

If you do not add
android.intent.category.BROWSABLE
This will prevent Android from auto verifying that particular intent-filter.

What is the purpose of a receiver for APPWIDGET_UPDATE

I'm working on an Android app written by someone no longer with the company, and not understanding what the purpose is of creating a receiver for AppWidget updates. The manifest has the main activity which runs when the app is launched. As far as I can tell, the appwidget is never used and its code is separate from the rest of the app. I can't tell if this is a left-over and can be removed or if it is still in use. All of the tutorials and examples I find explain how to implement this, but not really why one would, especially in this case.
Code from the manifest file:
<application
android:debuggable="true"
android:icon="#drawable/icon"
android:label="#string/app_name"
android:theme="#style/ConnectTheme" >
<activity
android:name="com.globalcrossing.connect.ConferenceListView"
android:label="#string/listTitle" >
<intent-filter android:label="#string/app_name" >
<action android:name="android.intent.action.MAIN" />
<category android:name="android.intent.category.LAUNCHER" />
</intent-filter>
</activity>
<activity
android:name="com.globalcrossing.connect.Preferences"
android:label="#string/set_preferences" >
</activity>
<!-- Broadcast Receiver that will process AppWidget updates -->
<receiver
android:name="com.globalcrossing.connect.ConferenceWidget"
android:label="#string/app_name" >
<intent-filter>
<action android:name="android.appwidget.action.APPWIDGET_UPDATE" />
</intent-filter>
<meta-data
android:name="android.appwidget.provider"
android:resource="#xml/widget_provider" />
</receiver>
... more activities I understand, deleted for brevity
</application>

as in Doc:
ACTION_APPWIDGET_UPDATE :
Sent when it is time to update your AppWidget.
means ACTION_APPWIDGET_UPDATE Action faire when:
1. an new instance of Your AppWidget added to Home Screen from AppWidget Chooser( from AppWidget provider),
2. when requested update interval having lapsed which you have provided in AppWidget meta-data file using android:updatePeriodMillis attribute , and
3. when device reboot

If the application has a corresponding home screen widget, which can be found under the widgets section in the all programs list, then you will need APPWIDGET_UPDATE. Otherwise it will be unnecessary noise to your application with no purpose.

Android first app, all activities visible in menu

I just created my first Android app, all works fine, but all of the activities are shown on my Android menu. What did I do wrong?
Screenshot: imgur.com/9CmXU
I want to have one icon, directing to MainActivity, not all activities
<!-- language-all: lang-html -->
<manifest xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
package="com.myApps.birthdaymeter"
android:versionCode="1"
android:versionName="1.0" >
<uses-sdk
android:minSdkVersion="8"
android:targetSdkVersion="15" />
<application
android:icon="#drawable/my_logo"
android:label="#string/app_name"
android:theme="#style/AppTheme" >
<activity
android:name=".MainActivity"
android:label="#string/title_activity_main" >
<intent-filter>
<action android:name="android.intent.action.MAIN" />
<category android:name="android.intent.category.LAUNCHER" />
</intent-filter>
</activity>
<activity
android:name=".BirthdayMeter"
android:label="#string/title_activity_birthday_meter" >
<intent-filter>
<action android:name="android.intent.action.MAIN" />
<category android:name="android.intent.category.LAUNCHER" />
</intent-filter>
</activity>
<activity
android:name=".AboutWindow"
android:label="#string/title_activity_about_window" >
<intent-filter>
<action android:name="android.intent.action.MAIN" />
<category android:name="android.intent.category.LAUNCHER" />
</intent-filter>
</activity>
<activity
android:name=".ShowResult"
android:label="#string/title_activity_show_result" >
<intent-filter>
<action android:name="android.intent.action.MAIN" />
<category android:name="android.intent.category.LAUNCHER" />
</intent-filter>
</activity>
</application>
</manifest>
This is my manifest, changing logo didn't help

The <intent-filter> tag is used to describe the type of Intents that each Activity will respond to. The "android.intent.action.MAIN" action says that this Activity is an entrance point for your Application (think the main method that a java program requires). The "android.intent.category.LAUNCHER" category tells the OS to display the Activity in your list of Applications. Adding the DEFAULT category is ok, but effectively the same as omitting the <intent-filter> tag completely (which I find to make for much cleaner and easier to read code). You should only be using the <intent-filter> tag with these two actions and categories on the Activity that starts when a user opens your app. If wanted an Activity within your application to be able to respond to some special intents, you would use the tag to define which it responds to.
Here's a link to the google dev pages to help you learn more about Intent Filters.
http://developer.android.com/guide/components/intents-filters.html
Here's the documentation for the <intent-filter> tag. It's not the easiest to understand though.
http://developer.android.com/guide/topics/manifest/intent-filter-element.html
And here's the docs for the Manifest file and the Intent class. Both of these are good for reference if you're not sure about which tags to use in your Manifest. Good luck!
http://developer.android.com/guide/topics/manifest/manifest-intro.html
http://developer.android.com/reference/android/content/Intent.html

You phrased your question extremely generally, so I am not sure what to answer. It seems like you haven't called nameOfActivity.this.finish() when you launched another activity

If you post your manifest file I can help a little more, but it looks to me like you have not declared your activities correctly.
It should be setup somewhat like this:
<application android:icon="#drawable/icon" android:label="#string/app_name">
<activity android:name="Activity1"></activity>
<activity android:name="Activity2"></activity>
<activity android:name="Activity3"></activity>
</application>
Essentially, create an application declaration, and then include each activity within it.

Android Custom Intent Cannot Start Activity (Yes, I include the DEFAULT category)

I have searched and searched and cannot seem to find the answer to this specific question about a custom intent.
I have an application with 4 activities, 1 is the main that sets things up and the other 3 represent the different screens I present to the user. I am trying to use custom intents to start the different activities.
Here is my AndroidManifext.xml:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<application android:icon="#drawable/icon" android:label="#string/app_name">
<activity android:name=".Activities.REDB_main" android:label="#string/app_name"
android:launchMode="singleTop">
<intent-filter>
<action android:name="android.intent.action.MAIN" />
<category android:name="android.intent.category.LAUNCHER" />
</intent-filter>
</activity>
<activity android:name=".Activities.ChooseCards" android:launchMode="singleTop">
<intent-filter>
<action android:name="#string/ACTION_VIEW" />
<action android:name="#string/ACTION_REFRESH" />
<category android:name="#string/CATEGORY_SHUFFLE" />
<category android:name="android.intent.category.DEFAULT" />
</intent-filter>
</activity>
<activity android:name=".Activities.SelectSets" android:launchMode="singleTop">
<intent-filter>
<action android:name="#string/ACTION_VIEW" />
<action android:name="#string/ACTION_REFRESH" />
<category android:name="#string/CATEGORY_SELECT_SETS" />
<category android:name="android.intent.category.DEFAULT" />
</intent-filter>
</activity>
<activity android:name=".Activities.SelectCards" android:launchMode="singleTop"
android:permission="android.permission.ACCESS_CHECKIN_PROPERTIES">
<intent-filter>
<action android:name="#string/ACTION_VIEW" />
<action android:name="#string/ACTION_REFRESH" />
<category android:name="#string/CATEGORY_SELECT_CARDS" />
<category android:name="android.intent.category.DEFAULT" />
</intent-filter>
</activity>
</application>
I create a category for each application and then the two kinds of actions I want it to handle. I know that I could use explicit intents, but since I want to have different actions I figured that making the implicit intents would work better.
I call the first of my real activities from within my main with this:
Intent intent = new Intent().setAction(getString(R.string.ACTION_VIEW));
intent.addCategory(getString(R.string.CATEGORY_SHUFFLE));
startActivity(intent);
Of course, the reason I am here is because the above can never find the activity that matches the intent. The error messages states the action and category correctly and unless I'm wrong, the above manifest creates the intent-filters correctly.
Searching around online, I always seem to find examples with data also being used. I messed around with adding data just to see if it was necessary but it did not seem to matter.
On a slightly different note, is there a different way I should be controlling the flow of my program besides intents? The reason I have two actions is because 1 switches the view while the other is there to just refresh the data so that when the user switches to the screen later, they don't see it quickly refresh the data but instead just the new stuff.

I know that I could use explicit intents, but since I want to have different actions I figured that making the implicit intents would work better.
I rather doubt that. Mostly you use <intent-filter> when you want things other than your own app to start the component (e.g., third party apps).
Also, I doubt you want android:launchMode="singleTop" on all of those. And I am very certain that you do not want android:permission="android.permission.ACCESS_CHECKIN_PROPERTIES" on the last one, as you won't be able to launch your own activity then, most likely.
The error messages states the action and category correctly and unless I'm wrong, the above manifest creates the intent-filters correctly.
I have never seen an Android application use a string resource for a <category> element. Perhaps that is contributing to your difficulty. Also, since the <category> elements are not doing you any good that I can see (except your LAUNCHER one), I am unclear why you put them there.
I suggest that you just drop the <intent-filter> elements and use explicit Intents.

Don't use resource strings to make intents actions, use android.intent.action.VIEW instead

How to hide application icon from the Android Desktop?

I defined an application which is only used from my other application. So I would like to hide the icon of this application, so that the user can't see it on the desktop of his phone (or how do you call the thing where all apps are listed?). My manifest file looks the following way:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<manifest xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
package="xyz.games.pacman.controller"
android:versionCode="1"
android:versionName="1.0">
<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.BLUETOOTH"/>
<application android:icon="#drawable/icon" android:label="#string/app_name">
<activity android:name=".PacmanGame"
android:label="#string/app_name"
android:screenOrientation="portrait">
<intent-filter>
<action android:name="pacman.intent.action.Launch" />
<category android:name="android.intent.category.DEFAULT" />
</intent-filter>
</activity>
<receiver android:name="xyz.games.pacman.network.MessageListener">
<intent-filter>
<action android:name="xyz.games.pacman.controller.BROADCAST" />
</intent-filter>
</receiver>
</application>
<uses-sdk android:minSdkVersion="7" />
</manifest>
I already read this question:
How to hide an application icon in Android emulator?
but if i just remove the line
<category android:name="android.intent.category.DEFAULT" />
in my manifest, the activity isn't working at all (ActivityNotFoundException in the calling activity).
Any hints how to solve this problem? I already tried android.intent.category.EMBEDDED but this doesn't work too.
In the Internet I found CommonsWare answer http://osdir.com/ml/Android-Developers/2010-06/msg03617.html that it can be done using PackageManager. Unfortunately, it isn't explained how exactly and I couldn't find a solution by browsing the PackageManager API.

You need to create a custom intent filter and then create an intent which uses that filter.
For example, in my Funky Expenses application external apps can add transactions. This is achieved by the manifest for Funky Expenses containing
<activity android:name="com.funkyandroid.banking.android.ExternalEntryActivity">
<intent-filter>
<action android:name="com.funkyandroid.action.NEW_TRANSACTION" />
<category android:name="android.intent.category.DEFAULT" />
</intent-filter>
</activity>
and then external application can access my activity in the following way;
Intent launchIntent = new Intent();
launchIntent.setAction("com.funkyandroid.action.NEW_TRANSACTION");
... code to set parameters to be passed to activity ...
startActivity(launchIntent);
Pay special attention to the setAction call which sets the correct intent.

why would you write an actual (executable) second application that merely exists to do something when it receives sth from another app?
i'd suggest, you implement this "app" as a service (remote or local). this service would then run in the background and do stuff for you and there won't be any icons to be displayed on the screen for it...
if neccessary, you can implement this service to be remote, meaning it runs in a totally different process then the first app. and: you actually can communicate via broadcast intents as you seem to do by now so you won't need to change your first app...

Try removing the intent-filter and instead of trying to launch the 2nd activity with the filter lounch directly the activity:
Intent second = new Intent(context, xyz.games.pacman.controller.PacmanGame.class);
startActivity(second);

You must remove the whole <intent-filter>, not just the <category>