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androidandroid-intentintentfilteractivity-finish

where will android finish() return to

I have an activity than can be called from my parent activity and from other application via intent filter (i.e. ACTION_VIEW).

When I call finish() inside my activity, how to return to the correct caller?

i.e: other application -> my activity -> finish() -> other application

currently if my main activity is still running, the finish() will return to my main activity, although it was called from other application.

Solution

  • Read up on Tasks - by calling the activity from a different task (/application), you're bringing the existing Task to the foreground, which might include other Activities in the back stack that you don't want. I would suggest specifying the android:taskAffinity of the Activity that can be started from other Applications. Since this will ensure that this Activity will be the only one in the Task, it doesn't matter if it is started from within it's own app, or another.

    EDIT: Figure 4 in the Tasks link shows your situation.