Interacting with Other Apps

An Android app typically has several activities. Each activity displays a user interface that allows the user to perform a specific task (such as view a map or take a photo). To take the user from one activity to another, your app must use an Intent to define your app's "intent" to do something. When you pass an Intent to the system with a method such as startActivity(), the system uses the Intent to identify and start the appropriate app component. Using intents even allows your app to start an activity that is contained in a separate app.

An Intent can be explicit in order to start a specific component (a specific Activity instance) or implicit in order to start any component that can handle the intended action (such as "capture a photo").

This class shows you how to use an Intent to perform some basic interactions with other apps, such as start another app, receive a result from that app, and make your app able to respond to intents from other apps.

Lessons

Sending the User to Another App: Shows how you can create implicit intents to launch other apps that can perform an action.
Getting a Result from an Activity: Shows how to start another activity and receive a result from the activity.
Allowing Other Apps to Start Your Activity: Shows how to make activities in your app open for use by other apps by defining intent filters that declare the implicit intents your app accepts.
Managing Package Visibility: Shows how to make other apps visible to your app, if those other apps aren't visible by default. Applies only to apps that target Android 11 (API level 30) or higher.
Configuring Package Visibility Based on Use Cases: Shows several types of app interactions that might require you to update your app's manifest file in order for other apps to be visible to your app. Applies only to apps that target Android 11 (API level 30) or higher.

For additional information about the topics on this page, see: