How to get a list of installed android applications and pick one to run

How to get a list of installed android applications and pick one to run

To get a list of installed Android applications and allow the user to pick one to run, you can use the PackageManager to retrieve a list of installed applications and then launch the selected application using an Intent. Here's how you can do it in an Android application:

import android.content.Intent; import android.content.pm.ApplicationInfo; import android.content.pm.PackageManager; import android.os.Bundle; import android.widget.ArrayAdapter; import android.widget.ListView; import android.widget.Toast; import androidx.appcompat.app.AppCompatActivity; import java.util.ArrayList; import java.util.List; public class MainActivity extends AppCompatActivity { private PackageManager packageManager; private List<ApplicationInfo> installedApps; private ListView listView; @Override protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) { super.onCreate(savedInstanceState); setContentView(R.layout.activity_main); packageManager = getPackageManager(); installedApps = packageManager.getInstalledApplications(PackageManager.GET_META_DATA); listView = findViewById(R.id.listView); List<String> appNames = new ArrayList<>(); for (ApplicationInfo appInfo : installedApps) { appNames.add(appInfo.loadLabel(packageManager).toString()); } ArrayAdapter<String> adapter = new ArrayAdapter<>(this, android.R.layout.simple_list_item_1, appNames); listView.setAdapter(adapter); listView.setOnItemClickListener((parent, view, position, id) -> { ApplicationInfo appInfo = installedApps.get(position); Intent launchIntent = packageManager.getLaunchIntentForPackage(appInfo.packageName); if (launchIntent != null) { startActivity(launchIntent); } else { Toast.makeText(MainActivity.this, "Unable to launch app", Toast.LENGTH_SHORT).show(); } }); } }

In this code:

  • We retrieve a list of installed applications using packageManager.getInstalledApplications(PackageManager.GET_META_DATA).
  • We create a list of application names from the ApplicationInfo objects.
  • We use a ListView to display the list of application names.
  • We set an OnItemClickListener on the ListView to handle item clicks.
  • When an item is clicked, we retrieve the ApplicationInfo for the selected application and obtain the launch intent using packageManager.getLaunchIntentForPackage().
  • If a launch intent is available, we start the activity using startActivity(). Otherwise, we display a toast message indicating that the app cannot be launched.

Don't forget to add the necessary permissions to your AndroidManifest.xml:

<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.INTERNET" /> <uses-permission android:name="android.permission.GET_TASKS" />

This example will allow users to pick an installed application from the list and launch it.

Examples

  1. "Android list installed applications programmatically"

    • Description: This query focuses on finding methods to programmatically retrieve a list of all installed applications on an Android device.
    • Code Implementation:
      PackageManager packageManager = getPackageManager(); List<ApplicationInfo> apps = packageManager.getInstalledApplications(PackageManager.GET_META_DATA); for (ApplicationInfo appInfo : apps) { Log.d("InstalledApp", "App: " + appInfo.packageName); }

  2. "Android get installed applications list and launch one"

    • Description: This query targets solutions to list installed applications on Android and subsequently launch a selected one.
    • Code Implementation:
      Intent intent = new Intent(Intent.ACTION_MAIN, null); intent.addCategory(Intent.CATEGORY_LAUNCHER); PackageManager packageManager = getPackageManager(); List<ResolveInfo> appsList = packageManager.queryIntentActivities(intent, 0); for (ResolveInfo resolveInfo : appsList) { Log.d("InstalledApp", "App: " + resolveInfo.activityInfo.packageName); }

  3. "Android list installed apps and open one on click"

    • Description: This query aims to find solutions to display a list of installed applications on Android and open a selected one upon user interaction.
    • Code Implementation:
      Intent mainIntent = new Intent(Intent.ACTION_MAIN, null); mainIntent.addCategory(Intent.CATEGORY_LAUNCHER); PackageManager packageManager = getPackageManager(); List<ResolveInfo> appsList = packageManager.queryIntentActivities(mainIntent, 0); ArrayAdapter<String> adapter = new ArrayAdapter<>(this, android.R.layout.simple_list_item_1); for (ResolveInfo resolveInfo : appsList) { String appName = resolveInfo.loadLabel(packageManager).toString(); adapter.add(appName); } listView.setAdapter(adapter); listView.setOnItemClickListener((parent, view, position, id) -> { ResolveInfo resolveInfo = appsList.get(position); String packageName = resolveInfo.activityInfo.packageName; Intent launchIntent = packageManager.getLaunchIntentForPackage(packageName); if (launchIntent != null) { startActivity(launchIntent); } });

  4. "Android list installed apps and launch using RecyclerView"

    • Description: This query seeks solutions to display a list of installed applications using RecyclerView on Android and launch a selected one.
    • Code Implementation:
      Intent mainIntent = new Intent(Intent.ACTION_MAIN, null); mainIntent.addCategory(Intent.CATEGORY_LAUNCHER); PackageManager packageManager = getPackageManager(); List<ResolveInfo> appsList = packageManager.queryIntentActivities(mainIntent, 0); RecyclerView recyclerView = findViewById(R.id.recyclerView); recyclerView.setLayoutManager(new LinearLayoutManager(this)); InstalledAppsAdapter adapter = new InstalledAppsAdapter(appsList, packageManager); recyclerView.setAdapter(adapter);

  5. "Android list installed apps and open one on button click"

    • Description: This query targets solutions to list installed applications on Android and open a selected one upon clicking a button.
    • Code Implementation:
      Button launchButton = findViewById(R.id.launchButton); launchButton.setOnClickListener(v -> { Intent mainIntent = new Intent(Intent.ACTION_MAIN, null); mainIntent.addCategory(Intent.CATEGORY_LAUNCHER); PackageManager packageManager = getPackageManager(); List<ResolveInfo> appsList = packageManager.queryIntentActivities(mainIntent, 0); String selectedPackage = "com.example.selected.package"; // Replace with selected package for (ResolveInfo resolveInfo : appsList) { if (resolveInfo.activityInfo.packageName.equals(selectedPackage)) { Intent launchIntent = packageManager.getLaunchIntentForPackage(selectedPackage); if (launchIntent != null) { startActivity(launchIntent); } break; } } });

  6. "How to list and run installed apps in Android Kotlin"

    • Description: This query focuses on Kotlin solutions to list installed applications on Android and run a selected one.
    • Code Implementation:
      val mainIntent = Intent(Intent.ACTION_MAIN, null) mainIntent.addCategory(Intent.CATEGORY_LAUNCHER) val packageManager = packageManager val appsList: List<ResolveInfo> = packageManager.queryIntentActivities(mainIntent, 0) for (resolveInfo in appsList) { Log.d("InstalledApp", "App: ${resolveInfo.activityInfo.packageName}") }

  7. "Android list installed apps and open one using AlertDialog"

    • Description: This query targets solutions to display a list of installed applications on Android using an AlertDialog and open a selected one.
    • Code Implementation:
      AlertDialog.Builder builder = new AlertDialog.Builder(this); builder.setTitle("Choose an app"); String[] appNames = new String[appsList.size()]; for (int i = 0; i < appsList.size(); i++) { appNames[i] = appsList.get(i).loadLabel(packageManager).toString(); } builder.setItems(appNames, (dialog, which) -> { String packageName = appsList.get(which).activityInfo.packageName; Intent launchIntent = packageManager.getLaunchIntentForPackage(packageName); if (launchIntent != null) { startActivity(launchIntent); } }); AlertDialog dialog = builder.create(); dialog.show();

  8. "Android list installed apps with icons and launch"

    • Description: This query seeks solutions to display a list of installed applications on Android along with their icons and launch a selected one.
    • Code Implementation:
      PackageManager packageManager = getPackageManager(); Intent mainIntent = new Intent(Intent.ACTION_MAIN, null); mainIntent.addCategory(Intent.CATEGORY_LAUNCHER); List<ResolveInfo> appsList = packageManager.queryIntentActivities(mainIntent, 0); for (ResolveInfo resolveInfo : appsList) { Drawable icon = resolveInfo.loadIcon(packageManager); String appName = resolveInfo.loadLabel(packageManager).toString(); Log.d("InstalledApp", "App: " + appName); // Display icon and app name in UI }

  9. "Android get installed apps list and start one using intents"

    • Description: This query targets solutions to list installed applications on Android and start a selected one using intents.
    • Code Implementation:
      Intent mainIntent = new Intent(Intent.ACTION_MAIN, null); mainIntent.addCategory(Intent.CATEGORY_LAUNCHER); PackageManager packageManager = getPackageManager(); List<ResolveInfo> appsList = packageManager.queryIntentActivities(mainIntent, 0); String selectedPackage = "com.example.selected.package"; // Replace with selected package for (ResolveInfo resolveInfo : appsList) { if (resolveInfo.activityInfo.packageName.equals(selectedPackage)) { Intent launchIntent = packageManager.getLaunchIntentForPackage(selectedPackage); if (launchIntent != null) { startActivity(launchIntent); } break; } }

  10. "Android list installed applications and open one using Fragment"

    • Description: This query focuses on solutions to display a list of installed applications on Android using a Fragment and open a selected one.
    • Code Implementation:
      FragmentManager fragmentManager = getSupportFragmentManager(); InstalledAppsFragment fragment = new InstalledAppsFragment(); fragmentManager.beginTransaction().replace(R.id.fragment_container, fragment).commit();
      (Inside InstalledAppsFragment)
      @Override public void onItemClick(AdapterView<?> parent, View view, int position, long id) { ResolveInfo resolveInfo = appsList.get(position); String packageName = resolveInfo.activityInfo.packageName; Intent launchIntent = packageManager.getLaunchIntentForPackage(packageName); if (launchIntent != null) { startActivity(launchIntent); } }

More Tags

android-architecture-components classnotfound logfiles android-database flutter-doctor continuous-integration wpf flops android-gui spark-structured-streaming

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