Develop Reference

Android Start VPNClient (com.ipsec.vpnclient) Programmatically

I have an android application that requires VPN. My users will be using Galaxy Note 3's and will be using the built in "VPN Client" (com.ipsec.vpnclient). I need to find a way to launch this application from my application, in the instance of the VPN dropping. I've already figured out a way to determine if the VPN dropped, but I still need a way to launch the application.
ANSWER:
Thanks to help from #Muthu I was able to get it working with the following method.
final Intent intent = new Intent("android.intent.action.VIEW");
intent.setComponent(new ComponentName("com.ipsec.vpnclient", "com.ipsec.vpnclient.MainActivity"));
EDIT:
To add to the confusion, I am easily able to add a shortcut to the activity (com.ipsec.vpnclient.MainActivity) via another Launcher like ADW or Nova. I also tried using com.ipsec.vpnclient.MainActivity instead of com.ipsec.vpnclient in the method below, to no avail.
Intent intent = getPackageManager().getLaunchIntentForPackage("com.ipsec.vpnclient");
intent.addFlags(Intent.FLAG_ACTIVITY_NEW_TASK);
startActivity(intent);
The above method works with other packages, but I can't seem to get this one to launch.
Here is the application when viewed in Android System Info.
Any ideas on how to launch this application programmatically?

You can Start any installed application by using intent. in your case like this
Intent LaunchVPN = getPackageManager().getLaunchIntentForPackage("com.ipsec.vpnclient");
startActivity( LaunchVPN );
Edit
You can open pre installed apps that can be found inside settings page by
final Intent i = new Intent("android.intent.action.VIEW");
i.setComponent(new ComponentName("com.android.settings","com.android.settings.InstalledAppDetails"));
startActivity(i);

Android Secret code- usage statistics

Is there any intent or method to get the values which show in the usage statistics? We can get that manually by dialing secret code ##4636##
Intent in = new Intent(Intent.ACTION_MAIN);
in.setClassName("com.android.settings", "com.android.settings.UsageStats");
startActivity(in);
This will shows the UsageStatitics Activity. But i need to show in my application not in the default..
Thanks

There is a way, but it requires being a system app. Also, since it's very hack-y, it might not work on some devices. Anyway, here it is:
http://jhshi.me/2014/04/02/get-package-usage-statistics-in-android/
or:
http://www.phonesdevelopers.com/1816323/

Programmatically enter secret code like *#*#4636#*#* on Android

On many Android devices you can get into a secret settings menu from Phone app by typing in
*#*#4636#*#*
http://technology-headlines.com/2010/09/17/4636-android-secret-codes/
There are also some other codes.
Is it also possible to open this stuff programmatically?
I've tried this:
Intent intent = new Intent(Intent.ACTION_CALL);
intent.setData(Uri.parse("tel:*#*#4636#*#*"));
startActivity(intent);
But it just tries to initiate a phone call and of course fails, hangs up and closes the Phone app.
EDIT: The phone *#*#4636#*#* gets saved to my Contact list as "Unknown" but the call just fails. In fact, the secret code only works when you type manually on buttons in Phone app without pressing Call in the end. Is it probably just a hidden feature of Phone app which has nothing to do with calling?
If so, one could open the Phone app programmatically and simulate typing on the buttons.
According to this post
Programmatically press a button in another appplication's activity
this should NOT be possible because if any app on non-rooted phone could just start other apps and press something there, it could take over control of the whole device and do bad things.
Here are some more details but I guess the post is a bit old and even if it worked it may have been changed in current Android versions:
http://mylifewithandroid.blogspot.de/2009/01/generating-keypresses-programmatically.html
So, no easier way to enter secret code?

Is it also possible to open this stuff programmatically?
Yes:
Intent in = new Intent(Intent.ACTION_MAIN);
in.setClassName("com.android.settings", "com.android.settings.TestingSettings");
startActivity(in);
You just need to watch logcat output to learn what this magic combination actually opens:
I/ActivityManager(31362): START {act=android.intent.action.MAIN
flg=0x10000000 cmp=com.android.settings/.TestingSettings} from pid
4257

Secret codes exist and work independent of the dialer application. The dialer application just provides a handy interface for these codes. It recognizes the special string and then calls a special intent to invoke the action. You shouldn't use the dialer to call these dialogs. Instead you can call the secret codes directly yourself like the dialer does internally:
Invoking built in secret codes:
What the dialer really does when you enter the code is extracting the number between *#*# and #*#* and then broadcasting the following intent:
sendBroadcast(new Intent("android.provider.Telephony.SECRET_CODE", Uri.parse("android_secret_code://4636")));
Register your own secret codes (if you like):
You can even register your own secret code actions using:
<action android:name="android.provider.Telephony.SECRET_CODE" />
<data android:scheme="android_secret_code" android:host="4636" />
Source: http://android.amberfog.com/?p=422
Edit: Fixed a bug in the original code (see comment)

try this
String ussdCode = "*" +Uri.encode ("#")+"*"+Uri.encode ("#")+ "4636" + Uri.encode ("#")+"*"+Uri.encode ("#")+"*";
startActivity (new Intent ("android.intent.action.CALL", Uri.parse ("tel:" + ussdCode)));
finally you must encode '#' using Uri.encode()

ACTION_DIAL sends the user to the dialer with the given code (it does not call). So that would be :
Intent intent = new Intent(Intent.ACTION_DIAL);
intent.setData(Uri.parse("tel:*#*#4636#*#*"));
startActivity(intent);
It would appear that codes are to be dialed, rather than to be called

looking for this
Intent intent = new Intent("android.intent.action.MAIN");
intent.setClassName("com.android.settings", "com.android.settings.Settings$TestingSettingsActivity");
startActivity(intent);

There are different activities for different phone, we can jump to the activity through typing in ##4636##.
And use
adb shell dumsys activity activities
to find the realActivity package and name.
e.g: Xiaomi 8
Intent intent = new Intent("android.intent.action.MAIN");
intent.setClassName("com.android.settings", "com.android.settings.Settings$TestingSettingsActivity");
startActivity(intent);

Open my application from another in android

My boss asked me to prove that my application behaves properly when summoned by another application (dunno why he asked that).
So I have two apps here, one launches a second one. How I launch the specific app I want? Using Intent launch seemly any generic app that reaches a certain goal, not the app I really want.

Give this a try.
Intent secondIntent = new Intent();
secondIntent.setAction(Intent.ACTION_MAIN);
secondIntent.setClassName("com.example", "com.example.YourSecondApp");
startActivity(secondIntent);
I should point out that com.example should be the package of your second application (the one you want to call) and com.example.YourSecondapp is the class name where you have your onCreate() method.

Intent secondApp = new Intent("com.test.SecondApp");
startActivity(secondApp);
Check out for more examples
http://developer.android.com/resources/faq/commontasks.html#opennewscreen

Create one Intent using the following code
Explicit Intent
When you know the particular component(activity/service) to be loaded
Intent intent = new Intent();
intent.setClass("className/package name");
start<Activity/Service>(intent);
Imlicit Intent
When we do not have the idea which class to load and we know the Action to be perform by the launched application we can go with this intent.
Action needs to set, and the Android run time fallows the intent Resolution technique and list out(one or more components) the components to perform the action. from the list out components (if more than one), user will get the chance to launch his chosen application

Launching external application from my app

I would like to launch an app the user selects from within my application. However, I'm not sure how I'd go about doing this. I've tried this:
Intent intent = new Intent();
intent.setAction(Contacts.Intents.SHOW_OR_CREATE_CONTACT);
startActivity(intent);
But this seems to throw an error and force close my application. I also tried adding:
<action android:name="Contacts.Intents.SHOW_OR_CREATE_CONTACT"/>
in the AndroidManifest file, but to no avail.
A look at Logcat shows that it's an "IOexception - no such file or directory". A couple of questions arise from this. I read through the Android docs and noticed that the Contact.Intents class is deprecated. However, it's successor, ContactContracts is aimed at API level 5 whereas I'm targeting API level 3. Could this be the problem? Also, I've hardcoded this application into the code. Is there a way to retrieve the intents of any application the user selects so that they can be launched?

You need to pass extra information into the intent to tell Android what you want to show or create. Otherwise Android doesn't know what activity to start and (presumably in your case) throws an ActivityNotFoundException.
For a contact, you use the generic Intent.ACTION_INSERT_OR_EDIT then use the MIME type of an individual contact (Contacts.People.CONTENT_ITEM_TYPE).
For example:
Intent intent = new Intent(Intent.ACTION_INSERT_OR_EDIT);
intent.setType(People.CONTENT_ITEM_TYPE);
intent.putExtra(Contacts.Intents.Insert.PHONE, "+1234567890");
intent.putExtra(Contacts.Intents.Insert.PHONE_TYPE, Contacts.PhonesColumns.TYPE_MOBILE);
That will bring up the contacts app, prompting you to select an existing contact to add the phone number to, or to create a new contact.
You don't need to add anything special to your manifest to start external activities. Only if you were to directly manipulate the contacts ContentProvider would you need to add the appropriate CONTACT permissions to your manifest.

I use this code for that purpose:
Intent intent = new Intent(Intent.ACTION_MAIN);
intent.setClassName("com.android.settings", "com.android.settings.Settings");
startActivity(intent);
This will launch the Settings app, you can use these also:
intent.setClassName("com.android.music", "com.android.music.MediaPlaybackActivityStarter");
intent.setClassName("com.android.contacts", "com.android.contacts.DialtactsContactsEntryActivity");
intent.setClassName("com.android.contacts", "com.android.contacts.DialtactsActivity");
The first starts the default music app, the second the contacts, and the third the dialer.
Hope this helps.

You need to pass in valid arguments to the apps you start. A lot of apps expect the data URI and / or certain extras to be valid.

Please try the following code:
Intent intent = new Intent(Contacts.Intents.SHOW_OR_CREATE_CONTACT);
this.startActivity(intent);
(sorry if there is something wrong on the syntax, I dont have android in this computer)
And remove the action from the manifest. that is not needed.
The action method is used for something else.
For more info, please look at the android site: http://developer.android.com/reference/android/content/Intent.html
Daniel

The activity you are calling should appear not only in the Manifest for its own package, but in the Manifest for the CALLING package, too.