Getting applications with 2 or more activities

Question

I'm writing an Launcher app for android. I can get the list of all applications and launch able activities with

ArrayList<PInfo> res = new ArrayList<PInfo>();
List<PackageInfo> packs = ctx.getPackageManager().getInstalledPackages(PackageManager.GET_ACTIVITIES);

final PackageItemInfo.DisplayNameComparator comparator = new PackageItemInfo.DisplayNameComparator(ctx.getPackageManager());

Collections.sort(packs, new Comparator<PackageInfo>() {
    @Override
    public int compare(PackageInfo lhs, PackageInfo rhs) {
        return comparator.compare(lhs.applicationInfo, rhs.applicationInfo);
    }
});

for (int i = 0; i < packs.size(); i++) {
    PackageInfo p = packs.get(i);
    if (p.packageName != null && ctx.getPackageManager().getLaunchIntentForPackage(p.packageName) != null ) {
        PInfo newInfo = new PInfo();
        if (p.applicationInfo.loadLabel(ctx.getPackageManager()).toString().length() > 15) {
            newInfo.appname = p.applicationInfo.loadLabel(ctx.getPackageManager()).toString().substring(0, 15);
        } else {
            newInfo.appname = p.applicationInfo.loadLabel(ctx.getPackageManager()).toString();
        }
        newInfo.packageName = p.packageName;
        newInfo.icon = p.applicationInfo.loadIcon(ctx.getPackageManager());
        res.add(newInfo);
    }
}

this.

But, the problem is, there is 2 launch able activities included like phone and contacts app.

I mean for example samsung included contacts launch able activity and phone launch able activity in same package. But with this code i can only get the contacts application into my view, phone app is missing. how other launchers are handling this? or what am i missing?

Answer 1

Don't look for apps. Look for launchable activities, using queryIntentActivities() on PackageManager.

For example, this activity (from this sample project) implements a home screen-style launcher using this technique:

/***
  Copyright (c) 2008-2012 CommonsWare, LLC
  Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License"); you may not
  use this file except in compliance with the License. You may obtain a copy
  of the License at http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0. Unless required
  by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software distributed under the
  License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS
  OF ANY KIND, either express or implied. See the License for the specific
  language governing permissions and limitations under the License.

  From _The Busy Coder's Guide to Android Development_
    http://commonsware.com/Android
*/

package com.commonsware.android.launchalot;

import android.app.ListActivity;
import android.content.ComponentName;
import android.content.Intent;
import android.content.pm.ActivityInfo;
import android.content.pm.PackageManager;
import android.content.pm.ResolveInfo;
import android.os.Bundle;
import android.view.View;
import android.view.ViewGroup;
import android.widget.ArrayAdapter;
import android.widget.ImageView;
import android.widget.ListView;
import android.widget.TextView;
import java.util.Collections;
import java.util.List;

public class Launchalot extends ListActivity {
  AppAdapter adapter=null;

  @Override
  public void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
    super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
    setContentView(R.layout.main);

    PackageManager pm=getPackageManager();
    Intent main=new Intent(Intent.ACTION_MAIN, null);

    main.addCategory(Intent.CATEGORY_LAUNCHER);

    List<ResolveInfo> launchables=pm.queryIntentActivities(main, 0);

    Collections.sort(launchables,
                     new ResolveInfo.DisplayNameComparator(pm)); 

    adapter=new AppAdapter(pm, launchables);
    setListAdapter(adapter);
  }

  @Override
  protected void onListItemClick(ListView l, View v,
                                 int position, long id) {
    ResolveInfo launchable=adapter.getItem(position);
    ActivityInfo activity=launchable.activityInfo;
    ComponentName name=new ComponentName(activity.applicationInfo.packageName,
                                         activity.name);
    Intent i=new Intent(Intent.ACTION_MAIN);

    i.addCategory(Intent.CATEGORY_LAUNCHER);
    i.setFlags(Intent.FLAG_ACTIVITY_NEW_TASK |
                Intent.FLAG_ACTIVITY_RESET_TASK_IF_NEEDED);
    i.setComponent(name);

    startActivity(i);    
  }

  class AppAdapter extends ArrayAdapter<ResolveInfo> {
    private PackageManager pm=null;

    AppAdapter(PackageManager pm, List<ResolveInfo> apps) {
      super(Launchalot.this, R.layout.row, apps);
      this.pm=pm;
    }

    @Override
    public View getView(int position, View convertView,
                          ViewGroup parent) {
      if (convertView==null) {
        convertView=newView(parent);
      }

      bindView(position, convertView);

      return(convertView);
    }

    private View newView(ViewGroup parent) {
      return(getLayoutInflater().inflate(R.layout.row, parent, false));
    }

    private void bindView(int position, View row) {
      TextView label=(TextView)row.findViewById(R.id.label);

      label.setText(getItem(position).loadLabel(pm));

      ImageView icon=(ImageView)row.findViewById(R.id.icon);

      icon.setImageDrawable(getItem(position).loadIcon(pm));
    }
  }
}