Android Override Explicit Intent - android

My app needs to have a intent-filter that responds to a Intent that has it's component set (a explicit intent.) Here is a example.
Intent i = new Intent();
i.setClassName("com.compareeverywhere","com.compareeverywhere.ScanActivity");
startActivity(i);
Just a simple intent-filter will not do - because the Intent is made for a specific component (Activity,) it just launches that without looking for intents at all. Is there a way to do this?
Thanks, Isaac Waller
P.S: Please don't reply "No."

No.
:) That being said, imagine what would happen if Android allowed people to hijack Intents for specific components. Don't like a competitor's app? Just have yours hijack his main Activity with your own to display porn. Intents can specify specific components specifically because the authors don't want others to be able to replace them.
You have two options. If this is your own code, replace it with a generic intent, or if it belongs to someone else, contact them, and ask nicely for them to change it to a generic intent along with some good reasons why that is necessary.

Related

Im looking to start a specific application using intent in android studio

I am looking to start a specific application(Dictionary app) from my app. Using intents, how would I go about launching that specific app and use it to look up the word.
There are implicit intents and explicit intents, you want an explicit intent to get your desirable.
Here is how you can do it.
Intent intent = new Intent();
intent.setComponent(new ComponentName("com.example", "com.example.MyExampleActivity"));
startActivity(intent);
in the setComponent method your Dictionary app information should go in.
CommonsWare addition to this answer,
Using an explicit Intent to talk to a third-party app is rarely the right thing to do. This code will break if the activity is not exported, or requires permissions, or the developer refactors the code and changes the class name or package, etc.
If the author of the app is documenting that your recipe is the correct way to work with that activity on that app, then that is fine, as the developer presumably intends to support this use case.

How to configure the android intent actions in android manifest

I have a webview in my app, on trying to do actions like making a call (Tapping call button from results displayed in webview), sending mails and other actions, my webview doesn't perform those actions
I Found a solution to add the intent actions in my web view activity as
Intent intent = new Intent(Intent.ACTION_DIAL, Uri.parse(url));
startActivity(intent)
Instead of doing so is there any way to add in the android manifest file
or Is there any way to turn on all of the intent actions for the webview so that
there wont be further issues in handling the actions
Can someone help me on this pls
Your answer seems to me a bit strange, I think you are a bit confuse about the difference between Intent and manifest permission. The first one are the system used by android to let app communicate with each other, the second one allow you to use some feature of the device like wifi and direct phone call that need the explicit agreement of the user to be used (the prompt that popup when you make the first install of an app).
With this clarification it is clear that if you want to do something that require another app you will have to make an Intent. This Intent, if well formed, will be elaborated by the os that will take care of sending it to the correct application able to accomplish the Intentrequirement.
So the answer to your question, as far as i know, is no, you have to use intent if you have the need of calling external app. It's also a good practice to set in the manifest only the permission really needed by the app, this way the user know what the app really can do and and what it can't do.
Hope i understand your question and answer it.

Opening a Calculator in Android

I'm looking to open a calculator from within my Activity. Here's my code right now and it works:
Intent i = new Intent();
i.setClassName("com.android.calculator2",
"com.android.calculator2.Calculator");
I would like to make this an implicit call because I don't know what calculator the use would like to use and I would like to leave the option open to receive a value from the calculator, which the android one apparently doesn't do. I haven't been able to find a good example of how to implicitly ask for a type of application.
I've looked at http://www.openintents.org/en/intentstable but I guess I don't completely understand how to use that site.
I think I understand the intent of intents, but maybe I just don't have a firm grasp on how to use them.
What you have is probably the best you can do. I just checked the AndroidManifest.xml for com.android.calculator2.Calculator and it doesn't listen for any other intents.

calling one app from another, Android sdk?

My question is, is it possible to call one app from another?
It would be very helpful if anyone had an answer or solution.
-Chris-
Yes, by using intents.
For example:
final Intent intent = new Intent();
intent.setAction(Intent.ACTION_MAIN);
intent.setClassName("com.example.theotherapp", "com.example.theotherapp.MainActivity");
startActivity(intent);
This is called an explicit intent, because you're explicitly stating which component should respond to it. You can also use implicit intents, in which you specify what kind of component you expect and the OS and/or the user selects the most appropriate one.
If you can choose, implicit intents are preferred.
You should take a look at http://developer.android.com/guide/topics/fundamentals.html, more specifically at the "Application Components" section.
There are many ways to make two applications talk to each other - and they're explained there.

Android: Proper way to reuse my app's activities?

What's the proper way for other people to reuse my Activities? Should they hard code the intent actions in their app or is it customary to provide them with a jar file enumerating my app's intent actions? Is there a less tightly-coupled way to lookup the intent actions?
First of all, take a look at openintents.org and see if there's any match to what your activity does.
Secondly, documentation is always a good idea.
Having the intent details hardcoded in their applications should work just fine. After all, the intents are part of your public interface and shouldn't change.
Your applications manifest should announce what sorts of things your activity can handle, via intent-filters. Outside users can read the manifest to determine what actions you support, and invoke them via action intents.
See intents and intent filters for more details.

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