Hide an application from Android application list - android

Is there any way to hide an application icon from Android applications list ? The application should be downloaded from Market and opened some GUI for configuring my application. I don't want to see any icon of my application in applications list. User should not be able to run it.
By the way I know some way:
remove this line from manifest category android:name="android.intent.category.LAUNCHER"
But it is not worked for me, because the GUI is not shown.
Thanks very much !

Removing the launcher category is correct.
Try adding android.intent.category.DEFAULT to the intent filter to be able to call the activity.

Thanks for replay.
I found a way to hide application icon from application list;
PackageManager pm = getApplicationContext().getPackageManager();
pm.setComponentEnabledSetting(getComponentName(), PackageManager.COMPONENT_ENABLED_STATE_DISABLED, PackageManager.DONT_KILL_APP);
But in time of application reinstalling occurs error "Activity class does not exist" and it is not possible to reinstall application without uninstalling it. .... what's the problem ?
There is also variant of Launcher Pro. But this is an application. My app should be downloaded from Android Market and there is no guarantee that all users have Launcher Pro.
I want programmatically hide application icon from application list. The method with PackageManager works for me ... but there is a problem regarding reinstalling. It is important when you want to update the application from Market.

I have found a way for this to work when you reinstall the app.
Add a broadcast receiver with intent filter action android.intent.action.PACKAGE_ADDED.
In the onReceived method you must activate your disabled component :
ComponentName componentToEnable = new ComponentName(context, Your_disabled_class.class);
PackageManager pm = context.getPackageManager();
pm.setComponentEnabledSetting(componentToEnable, PackageManager.COMPONENT_ENABLED_STATE_ENABLED, PackageManager.DONT_KILL_APP);
Complete AndroidManifest.xml for receiver:
<receiver android:name="PackageChangeReceiver">
<intent-filter>
<action android:name="android.intent.action.PACKAGE_ADDED"/>
<action android:name="android.intent.action.PACKAGE_REPLACED"/>
<action android:name="android.intent.action.PACKAGE_REMOVED"/>
<data android:scheme="package"/>
</intent-filter>
</receiver>

Related

Intent.ACTION_PACKAGE_CHANGED - Broadcast for App component disabled not received

I am developing a launcher app for android and for that i need my app to get notified for the system broadcast with actions like ACTION_PACKAGE_REMOVED, ACTION_PACKAGE_CHANGED, etc that impacts the activities available for launch with the user(to be displayed by my app).
Broadcast for package installed, package removed, package updated & package disabled/enabled are working as usual but the problem is when whole of the package is disabled like through Titanium backup or some similar app its get notified to my Broadcast receiver through system broadcast invoked having action Intent.ACTION_PACKAGE_CHANGED but when an app component like an activity is disabled individually from apps like MyAndroidTools it does not get notified to my Broadcast receiver i.e no broadcast(broadcast with Intent.ACTION_PACKAGE_CHANGED) is received from the system to my app due to disabling individual app component.
Here is my Manifest declaration of Broadcast receiver with requisite intent filter:
<receiver android:name=".LauncherBroadcastReceiver">
<intent-filter android:priority="100">
<action android:name="android.intent.action.PACKAGE_ADDED"/>
<action android:name="android.intent.action.PACKAGE_CHANGED"/>
<action android:name="android.intent.action.PACKAGE_REPLACED"/>
<action android:name="android.intent.action.PACKAGE_REMOVED" />
<data android:scheme="package" />
</intent-filter>
</receiver>
Everything is working as intented but only when whole of the package is disabled or enabled but not when a single component(say activity) is disabled or enabled.
There is definately some way of doing it as i have test checked it with some other launchers i.e. when a single component is disabled it gets reflected(disappeared in app drawer) in the launcher & vice versa for enabling the component. So those launchers are receiving this info may be some listener or broadcast.
`<receiver android:name=".LauncherBroadcastReceiver" exported="true" enabled="true">`
One probable solution(not ideal) for my problem is to get the list of disabled launchable activites in Activity onResume method and than update to reflect the changes.
To get the list of disabled launchable activities:
Query package manager for all launchable activities(including disabled ones)
Intent mainLaunchIntent = new Intent(Intent.ACTION_MAIN);
mainLaunchIntent.addCategory(Intent.CATEGORY_LAUNCHER);
mainLaunchIntent.addFlags(PackageManager.MATCH_DISABLED_COMPONENTS);
List<ResolveInfo> activitiesInformationList = packageManager.queryIntentActivities(mainLaunchIntent, 0);
Query package manager for only enabled launchable activities
Intent mainLaunchIntent = new Intent(Intent.ACTION_MAIN);
mainLaunchIntent.addCategory(Intent.CATEGORY_LAUNCHER);
List<ResolveInfo> activitiesInformationList = packageManager.queryIntentActivities(mainLaunchIntent, 0);
List(1-2) will be the list of disabled activities. I haven't tested the same since not ideal for me would like to wait for more answers but if some1 found the same helpful can use it.

How to delete icon from Homescreen programmatically on Android

i am use this code for delete icon from homescreen:
PackageManager p = getPackageManager();
p.setComponentEnabledSetting(getComponentName(), PackageManager.COMPONENT_ENABLED_STATE_DISABLED, PackageManager.DONT_KILL_APP);
But after click button "Delete Icon", app closes, I need to remove the icon and use the application on.
You can't disable the app and still continue using it.
Your code above puts the app into disabled state. The PackageManager will not allow the app to run unless it is re-enabled.
If you want your app to still run, but not have an icon in the all apps drawer of your homescreen, you can by removing the <category android:name="android.intent.category.LAUNCHER" /> from your activity reference in your AndroidMainfest.xml:
<activity android:name=".HiddenActivity">
<intent-filter>
<action android:name="android.intent.action.MAIN" />
</intent-filter>
</activity>
The app will not appear in the all apps drawer of your home screen, but can be launched from other apps using the following code:
Intent intent = new Intent();
intent.setClassName("app_package_name", "app_package_name.HiddenActivity");
startActivity(intent);
Note: The app with the HiddenActivity must have been started by the user after installing, otherwise the app will be in Stopped state and can't be launched from another application.

Get notified when PlayStore adds app icon to home screen

Does PlayStore send any broadcast message with "com.android.launcher.action.INSTALL_SHORTCUT" action, when it adds app shortcut to home screen before/after the app get installed?
I heard of the following method:
Add <uses-permission android:name="com.android.launcher.permission.INSTALL_SHORTCUT" /> to manifest.xml
Extend BroadcastReceiver class, then override onReceive() method
Is it true that the above 2 steps will let app get notified when Play Store add app shortcut to home screen?
Here I don't think there is any listener available to listen shortcuts directly. but you could go through some tricky way like :
1) Listen to application install using listener. you could achieve it by registering following way :
<receiver android:name=".apps.AppListener">
<intent-filter android:priority="999">
<action android:name="android.intent.action.PACKAGE_ADDED"/>
<action android:name="android.intent.action.PACKAGE_INSTALL"/>
<data android:scheme="package"/>
</intent-filter>
2) In your AppListener broadcast receiver whenever you will get it triggered, keep delay of 5 to 10 second and perform action to get all installed applications using :
List<ApplicationInfo> packs = pm.getInstalledApplications(0);
Now you have all installed packages, iterate through them and callgetLaunchIntentForPackage() on each item
If a valid intent is returned, that means it exists on launcher, else if it returns null, the package doesn't launch from home screen.
REASON : Home screens shortcuts are subset of the launcher apps :)

How do I complete the actual uninstall/removal of my android app using an uninstall activity?

I added an activity with an intent filter to intercept the uninstall of my app so I can add some additional processing/cleanup when a user uninstalls my app. My activity get called just fine but I seem unable to complete the removal of the package from the device.
<activity
android:name=".Uninstall"
android:label="#string/app_name">
<intent-filter>
<action android:name="android.intent.action.DELETE" />
<category android:name="android.intent.category.DEFAULT" />
<data android:scheme="package" />
</intent-filter>
</activity>
When I use the package manager to try to complete the uninstall it just pops up the same chooser dialog.
Intent intent = new Intent(Intent.ACTION_DELETE, Uri.fromParts("package", Uninstall.this.getPackageName(), null));
startActivity(intent);
If I am providing an alternative uninstall activity for my app how do I complete the actual uninstall of the apk from the device?
Thanks.
You should take a look at the reference documentation for your intents. The intent ACTION_DELETE has to do with the deletion of items from a container, and not of applications/packages. The intent that handles the removal of applications/packages is ACTION_PACKAGE_REMOVED but as the documentation states:
An existing application package has been removed from the device. The data contains the name of the package. The package that is being (un)installed does not receive this Intent.
So the short answer to your question is that it cannot be done. If you play by the book, you don't need to perform additional tasks at uninstall time.

How can we hide icon from Drawer / Launcher / Application Manager programatically in android

Can any one Help me out "How can we hide or unhide application icon everywhere from phone by any other utility application"
Try this,
PackageManager p = getPackageManager();
p.setComponentEnabledSetting(getComponentName(), PackageManager.COMPONENT_ENABLED_STATE_DISABLED, PackageManager.DONT_KILL_APP);
This will remove launcher icon from drawer, not applicable for application manager.
No. This is not possible, for security reasons you cannot hide the app from the app listings. The best you can do is to give your app an obscure name or put something like "preferences" behind its title.
remove
<intent-filter >
<action android:name="android.intent.action.MAIN" />
<category android:name="android.intent.category.LAUNCHER" />
</intent-filter>
from the manifest, so your app won't be listed in the launcher anymore ;)
Hiding it completely from the appListing in the deeps of the settings shouldn't be possible afaik.

Categories

Resources