Develop Reference

android onActivityResult vs getIntent

Both onActivityResult and getIntent receives intent from other activities.
when one is used over another?
I think onActivityResult is called after I call startActivityForResult to receive a result.
I guess then getIntent is used to receive intent which was sent by someone other than me. Is it correct?
Below is my understanding how it's used, wonder if the understanding is correct.
I register to listen to certain intents (probably in manifest)
when registered intents get delivered, a responsible activity resumes (or gets created)
getIntent should generally be placed in onResume to check the intent
one should dispose the used intent by removing whatever data inside the intent

I think onActivityResult is called after I call startActivityForResult
to receive a result.
on onActivityResult is called when you finish() the Activity that you started with startActivityForResult. You can provide an Intent to setResult, which you will get back as part of onActivityResult
I guess then getIntent is used to receive intent which was sent by
someone other than me. Is it correct?
getIntent() returns the intent that started the current Activity

How can I know the startActivity intent from other application?

I have an Activity and assume that has been launched. When the other application use startActivity method to start my Activity, my Activity will show and run the onResume Method, but I can't find any way to get the intent which is used in startActivity method by the other application. I want to get the extra data in the intent. How can I do?
EDIT
My Activity is singleTask, and I want to get the startActivity intents form other applications. I think it is not associate with filters.

Have you tried using getIntent() ?
Then you can do:
this.getIntent().getExtras();
After that if you need new intents just override the onNewIntent function in your activity.

I simply say an example. When we need to share something. We click share button which shows a list of app by which we can share our things.
So, if you want to make that kind of app which can receive other app data then you need make your activity capable of receiving that data. In order to receive implicit intents, you must include the CATEGORY_DEFAULT category in the intent filter in manifest.
Below this link you will get some more information : http://developer.android.com/training/basics/intents/filters.html

How to differentiate From Which Activity the current intent comes

Form Activity Login I call
Intent intent=new Intent(LogIn.this,BRInfoActivity.class);
From Activity BrActivityList I Call
Intent intent=new Intent(BRActiviList.this, BRInfoActivity.class);
intent.putExtra("BRinfo", objBR);
And Now in BRInfoActivityList
Intent i = getIntent();
BrInfoEN objBR=(BrInfoEN)i.getSerializableExtra("BRinfo");
Now i want if(intent==BrActivityList)The last two above line execute otherwise does not.How to do it?

If you will start activity with
startActivityForResult().
Then you can use getCallingActivity() to get caller.

Form Activity Login call this--
Intent intent=new Intent(LogIn.this,BRInfoActivity.class);
intent.putExtra("call_from","ActivityClass");
From Activity BrActivityList Call--
Intent intent=new Intent(BRActiviList.this, BRInfoActivity.class);
intent.putExtra("call_from", "BRActivity");
Now, when you get the intent, compare the "call_from" string in an if-else block! That's it!

May this help you...
The new intent comes as part of onNewIntent(Intent). The original Intent is still available via getIntent().
You put whatever code you need to into onNewIntent in order to update the UI with the new parameters; probably similar to what you're doing in onCreate.
Also, you probably want to call setIntent(intent) in onNewIntent to make sure future calls to getIntent() within the Activity lifecycle get the most recent Intent data.

Android 2.3.3 | Differentiating Intents That Start an Activity

In Android 2.3.3, how does one differentiate Intents that start a particular Activity. For example, if both Activity_A and Activity_B have intents that call startActivityForResult( intent, requestCode), how does Activity_C differentiate between which Activity has started it? Also, I know that one passes a requestCode to the starting Activity, but how does this Activity handle the requestCode? There is no method in Intent that says getRequestCode(). Is the only way to do this to place the requestCode in a Bundle in addition to the method startActivityForResult? Thanks!

Intent API:
http://developer.android.com/reference/android/content/Intent.html
One solution would be to pass along an extra piece of identifying data. For example:
intent.putExtra("activity", "com.whatever.MyActivity");
Then the receiving Activity can read it:
Bundle extras = getIntent().getExtras();
String activityName = extras.getString("activity");
It seems like there should be an easy method call to tell what the sending Intent was, but if so, I'm not aware of it.

onActivityResult doesn't work?

I am facing with a problem related startActivityForResult()
To start SecondActivity from FirstActivity :
Intent intent = new Intent();
intent.setClass(FirstActivity.this, SecondActivity.class);
intent.putExtra("key1", "12345");
startActivityForResult(intent, 0);
And handles result :
#Override
protected void onActivityResult(int requestCode, int resultCode, Intent data) {
super.onActivityResult(requestCode, resultCode, data);
//TODO handle here.
}
To send the message to FirstActivity from SecondActivity :
in SecondActivity :
setResult(0);
I can't handle the result on onActivityResult in FirstActivity.
It never works for my application.
My OS is : 1.5
What is wrong here?

startActivityForResult is meant to be used for situations where you want to select a piece of data, or perform some sort of action that your Activity or application cannot do.
For example, you want to pick a contact, so you launch the contacts application, the user chooses the person they want, and you get sent the result. Or you want to take a photo, so you launch the camera application and ask it to send you the photo once it's done. This action is completely separate from your first activity that calls startActivityForResult.
The Activity you're launching will not send you the result until that Activity has completed, i.e. finish() has been called.
So in your case, you need to call this in SecondActivity:
setResult(...);
finish();
before FirstActivity will receive the result in its onActivityResult method. Of course, this means that SecondActivity is now gone and FirstActivity is top of the stack again.
It's not possible to send the result to FirstActivity then close it while keeping SecondActivity still active. In this case you should just handle whatever this 'result' is in SecondActivity, or send it off to a Service you define to do whatever processing it is you want.

I was stuck here for a while. Adding my problem here to make sure that you don't scratch your head as well.
The second parameter of this function has to be 0 or higher.
startActivityForResult(intent, 0); // <- this is OK
I was setting the second parameter to RESULT_OK, which is -1, and my onActivityResult callback was never getting called. So if you get stuck like me, you can also check if your second parameter is correct.
startActivityForResult(intent, RESULT_OK); // <- this is wrong
The above line will fail to call onActivityResult.

I was also stuck on the same problem - but due to a different reason as matangs. Apparently startActivityForResult only works if you have android:launchMode set to standard for main activity (in manifest). Hope it helps someone.

Your code seems ok, but do you stop your second activity ?
Try this in it :
setResult(0);
finish();

If you are doing actions on onPause (like unbinding a service) try to comment it and see if onActivityResult is called (I wasted few good hours on this..)

Thanks to #johndodo (that point to the manifiest) - I find my solution for the same problem.
removing android:noHistory=true at the manifiest" solved this problem for me.