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

Question

I asked a similar question to this earlier this week but I'm still not understanding how to get a list of all installed applications and then pick one to run.

I've tried:

Intent intent = new Intent(ACTION_MAIN);
intent.addCategory(CATEGORY_LAUNCHER);

and this only shows application that are preinstalled or can run the ACTION_MAIN Intent type.

I also know I can use PackageManager to get all the installed applications, but how do I use this to run a specific application?

How can you only get the information about the picked app in the list ? — Pedrum, Feb 06 '14 at 01:01
Are you trying to start a specific set of apps, like, a gallery app. Or a set of apps that can offer you a service, like getting a file? — Ahmad Sattout, Nov 20 '20 at 17:31

score 436 · Answer 1 · edited Apr 05 '19 at 07:00

436

Here's a cleaner way using the PackageManager

final PackageManager pm = getPackageManager();
//get a list of installed apps.
List<ApplicationInfo> packages = pm.getInstalledApplications(PackageManager.GET_META_DATA);

for (ApplicationInfo packageInfo : packages) {
    Log.d(TAG, "Installed package :" + packageInfo.packageName);
    Log.d(TAG, "Source dir : " + packageInfo.sourceDir);
    Log.d(TAG, "Launch Activity :" + pm.getLaunchIntentForPackage(packageInfo.packageName)); 
}
// the getLaunchIntentForPackage returns an intent that you can use with startActivity()

More info here http://qtcstation.com/2011/02/how-to-launch-another-app-from-your-app/

edited Apr 05 '19 at 07:00

CopsOnRoad

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answered Feb 23 '11 at 22:10

Nelson Ramirez

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Works gr8. But when tried this on Android 4.0.3, nothing gets printed !! Any clue ?? – Saurabh Verma Jul 24 '12 at 08:13
Make sure you are not filtering out debug log statements. – QED Dec 27 '13 at 21:22
This code is working however, do you have any idea on how to put those list of application in a ListView? – androidBoomer Jan 22 '14 at 03:40
@androidBoomer im doing the same. read this here - http://www.vogella.com/tutorials/AndroidListView/article.html – David T. Jan 24 '14 at 00:43
1

@DavidT. I already figured it out. Now, I'm working on how can I access those installed app in order to create a shortcut inside my App. Is that possible? – androidBoomer Jan 24 '14 at 01:35
@androidBoomer i think so. you should be able to get each app's icons, and then launch them based on the intent that they specified to accept. you can ask as a question, and tag me for me to answer. i don't have much space here (commenting) to answer. – David T. Jan 24 '14 at 20:55
@DavidT. here's my question. I really need your help. http://stackoverflow.com/questions/21371491/create-app-shortcut-inside-the-custom-launcher-in-android – androidBoomer Jan 27 '14 at 01:13
This works great but can take a few seconds depending on the number of apps installed. Is there a faster way to load this? – Pkmmte Apr 19 '14 at 19:50
@Nelson Ramirez is it possible to find memory size consumed by each installed app ? how can i find ? – user3233280 Nov 23 '14 at 17:39
I have tried this on Andriod 6.0 it still shows an application as installed after it has been uninstalled. – user10186832 Oct 19 '20 at 09:13

score 286 · Accepted Answer · edited Jan 03 '18 at 08:14

286

Following is the code to get the list of activities/applications installed on Android :

Intent mainIntent = new Intent(Intent.ACTION_MAIN, null);
mainIntent.addCategory(Intent.CATEGORY_LAUNCHER);
List<ResolveInfo> pkgAppsList = context.getPackageManager().queryIntentActivities( mainIntent, 0);

You will get all the necessary data in the ResolveInfo to start a application. You can check ResolveInfo javadoc here.

edited Jan 03 '18 at 08:14

frogatto

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answered Apr 23 '10 at 06:21

Karan

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How can I start one of these? I got the activityInfo inside ResolveInfo, but I can't manage to start it. – Spidey Sep 29 '10 at 19:56
2

Nevermind, found it. I should create a new Intent using the full class name (package + class). – Spidey Sep 29 '10 at 20:00
How can you only get the information about the picked app in the list ? – Pedrum Feb 06 '14 at 01:01
1

I wanted to understand the android /play store policy about the my app reading and storing a list of all apps, and potentially communicating with a server. Is there any guidelines? – dowjones123 Jun 30 '15 at 20:07
@Karan how can we find the default file manager's package name from the list? Any idea/solution ? – Karthikeyan Ve May 10 '16 at 08:35
1

@dowjones123 Did u happen to find the guidelines regarding this ? – RmK Jul 27 '16 at 08:52
VersionName? Did I miss? – Sabri Meviş Nov 07 '18 at 11:46
can I filter paid and unpaid apps? – Pemba Tamang Nov 28 '18 at 09:10
can we access getPackageManager from a service? – Nadir Laskar Dec 01 '19 at 12:40

score 64 · Answer 3 · edited Aug 05 '19 at 08:01

64

Another way to filter on system apps (works with the example of king9981):

/**
 * Return whether the given PackageInfo represents a system package or not.
 * User-installed packages (Market or otherwise) should not be denoted as
 * system packages.
 * 
 * @param pkgInfo
 * @return
 */
private boolean isSystemPackage(PackageInfo pkgInfo) {
    return ((pkgInfo.applicationInfo.flags & ApplicationInfo.FLAG_SYSTEM) != 0);
}

edited Aug 05 '19 at 08:01

Ahmed Sellami

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answered Dec 13 '11 at 03:16

Kenneth Evans

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This is the best answer for filtering out system apps. – Bjorn Jan 04 '12 at 09:31
5

But I t filters appliaction like settings , maps , or ... , how to list them too – Ata Apr 05 '12 at 12:32
8

The "? true : false" part of your return statement is redundant – k2col May 26 '17 at 16:07
simplify return ((pkgInfo.applicationInfo.flags & ApplicationInfo.FLAG_SYSTEM) != 0); – Bhavesh Rangani Oct 05 '17 at 12:01
how to filter paid apps? – Pemba Tamang Nov 28 '18 at 09:11
Thumbs down for using a bitwise operator with a != :( – Ondrej Sotolar Apr 24 '19 at 14:04
@Ondrej Sotolar What do you suggest? I see there are unneeded parentheses, but I don't understand your comment. – Kenneth Evans Apr 27 '19 at 06:59
It's just a matter of style. For me, bitwise operators break readability big time. Instead of just flying through a simple if statement I have to actually stop and think about the implications of the operator. – Ondrej Sotolar Apr 29 '19 at 09:36
This is not working in case of samsung devices. becasuse it is counting facebook app as systems signed appp – Abdul Waheed Jul 27 '20 at 08:28

score 62 · Answer 4 · edited Nov 25 '15 at 23:36

Here a good example:

class PInfo {
    private String appname = "";
    private String pname = "";
    private String versionName = "";
    private int versionCode = 0;
    private Drawable icon;
    private void prettyPrint() {
        Log.v(appname + "\t" + pname + "\t" + versionName + "\t" + versionCode);
    }
}

private ArrayList<PInfo> getPackages() {
    ArrayList<PInfo> apps = getInstalledApps(false); /* false = no system packages */
    final int max = apps.size();
    for (int i=0; i<max; i++) {
        apps.get(i).prettyPrint();
    }
    return apps;
}

private ArrayList<PInfo> getInstalledApps(boolean getSysPackages) {
    ArrayList<PInfo> res = new ArrayList<PInfo>();        
    List<PackageInfo> packs = getPackageManager().getInstalledPackages(0);
    for(int i=0;i<packs.size();i++) {
        PackageInfo p = packs.get(i);
        if ((!getSysPackages) && (p.versionName == null)) {
            continue ;
        }
        PInfo newInfo = new PInfo();
        newInfo.appname = p.applicationInfo.loadLabel(getPackageManager()).toString();
        newInfo.pname = p.packageName;
        newInfo.versionName = p.versionName;
        newInfo.versionCode = p.versionCode;
        newInfo.icon = p.applicationInfo.loadIcon(getPackageManager());
        res.add(newInfo);
    }
    return res; 
}

How do you execute one of those if you need to? I mean, can you get the Intent? — Ton, Jun 11 '13 at 23:16
Great. Thanks for your answer. I have used your answer in my application and I have a small problem with the size of icon. most of them are normal and some of them are very big or small. How can I fix that. Do you have any idea? thanks — Meysam Valueian, Aug 25 '16 at 22:40

score 38 · Answer 5 · edited Jun 01 '16 at 12:20

Getting list of installed non-system apps

public static void installedApps()
{
    List<PackageInfo> packList = getPackageManager().getInstalledPackages(0);
    for (int i=0; i < packList.size(); i++)
    {
        PackageInfo packInfo = packList.get(i);
        if (  (packInfo.applicationInfo.flags & ApplicationInfo.FLAG_SYSTEM) == 0)
        {
            String appName = packInfo.applicationInfo.loadLabel(getPackageManager()).toString();
            Log.e("App № " + Integer.toString(i), appName);
        }
    }
}

score 20 · Answer 6 · edited Aug 16 '14 at 22:22

20

To filter on sytem based apps :

private boolean isSystemPackage(ResolveInfo ri) {
    return (ri.activityInfo.applicationInfo.flags & ApplicationInfo.FLAG_SYSTEM) != 0;
}

edited Aug 16 '14 at 22:22

Jared Burrows

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answered Jan 10 '11 at 11:44

SamCsharpAs3

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score 18 · Answer 7 · edited Jun 01 '17 at 08:36

18

To get al installed apps you can use Package Manager..

    List<PackageInfo> apps = getPackageManager().getInstalledPackages(0);

To run you can use package name

Intent launchApp = getPackageManager().getLaunchIntentForPackage(“package name”)
startActivity(launchApp);

For more detail you can read this blog http://codebucket.co.in/android-get-list-of-all-installed-apps/

edited Jun 01 '17 at 08:36

Community

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answered Mar 16 '12 at 05:43

Arvind

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This is more to the point. We can set a proper check by finding out our required app. – Noman Feb 26 '14 at 07:26

score 14 · Answer 8 · edited Aug 06 '12 at 13:32

You can Find the List of installed apps in Android Device by using below code, "packageInfo" Contains Installed Application Information in Device. we can retrive Intent for the application installed from the packageinfo object and by using startactivity(intent), can start application. it is up to you how you organize the UI either Listview or Gridview. so on click event based on position, you can retrive intent object and start activity intent.

final PackageManager pm = getPackageManager();

List<ApplicationInfo> packages = pm.getInstalledApplications(PackageManager.GET_META_DATA);


for (ApplicationInfo packageInfo : packages) 

{
 if(pm.getLaunchIntentForPackage(packageInfo.packageName)!= null &&   

                   !pm.getLaunchIntentForPackage(packageInfo.packageName).equals(""))


{

    System.out.println("Package Name :" + packageInfo.packageName);

    System.out.println("Launch Intent For Package :"   +  
                  pm.getLaunchIntentForPackage(packageInfo.packageName));

    System.out.println("Application Label :"   + pm.getApplicationLabel(packageInfo));

    System.out.println("Application Label :"   + 
                           pm.getApplicationIcon(packageInfo.packageName).toString());

    System.out.println("i : "+i);

    /*if(i==2)

    {
         startActivity(pm.getLaunchIntentForPackage(packageInfo.packageName));

     break;

    }*/

    i++;

}
}

score 13 · Answer 9 · edited Oct 19 '15 at 21:45

I had a requirement to filter out the system apps which user do not really use(eg. "com.qualcomm.service", "update services", etc). Ultimately I added another condition to filter down the app list. I just checked whether the app has 'launcher intent'.

So, the resultant code looks like...

PackageManager pm = getPackageManager();
        List<ApplicationInfo> apps = pm.getInstalledApplications(PackageManager.GET_GIDS);

        for (ApplicationInfo app : apps) {
            if(pm.getLaunchIntentForPackage(app.packageName) != null) {
                // apps with launcher intent
                if((app.flags & ApplicationInfo.FLAG_UPDATED_SYSTEM_APP) != 0) {
                    // updated system apps

                } else if ((app.flags & ApplicationInfo.FLAG_SYSTEM) != 0) {
                    // system apps

                } else {
                    // user installed apps

                }
                appsList.add(app);
            }

        }

Thanks. The getLaunchIntentForPackage is very useful to get the apps present in the App Drawer :-) — Gabriel Hautclocq, Jun 04 '20 at 16:21

score 10 · Answer 10 · answered Nov 06 '12 at 04:37

If there are multiple launchers in a one package above code has a problem. Eg: on LG Optimus Facebook for LG, MySpace for LG, Twitter for LG contains in a one package name SNS and if you use above SNS will repeat. After hours of research I came with below code. Seems to work well.

private List<String> getInstalledComponentList()
            throws NameNotFoundException {
        final Intent mainIntent = new Intent(Intent.ACTION_MAIN, null);
        mainIntent.addCategory(Intent.CATEGORY_LAUNCHER);
        List<ResolveInfo> ril = getPackageManager().queryIntentActivities(mainIntent, 0);
        List<String> componentList = new ArrayList<String>();
        String name = null;

        for (ResolveInfo ri : ril) {
            if (ri.activityInfo != null) {
                Resources res = getPackageManager().getResourcesForApplication(ri.activityInfo.applicationInfo);
                if (ri.activityInfo.labelRes != 0) {
                    name = res.getString(ri.activityInfo.labelRes);
                } else {
                    name = ri.activityInfo.applicationInfo.loadLabel(
                            getPackageManager()).toString();
                }
                componentList.add(name);
            }
        }
        return componentList;
    }

score 8 · Answer 11 · answered Feb 06 '11 at 01:13

@Jas: I don't have that code anymore, but I've found something close. I've made this to search for "components" of my application, they are just activities with a given category.

private List<String> getInstalledComponentList() {
    Intent componentSearchIntent = new Intent();
    componentSearchIntent.addCategory(Constants.COMPONENTS_INTENT_CATEGORY);
    componentSearchIntent.setAction(Constants.COMPONENTS_INTENT_ACTION_DEFAULT);
    List<ResolveInfo> ril = getPackageManager().queryIntentActivities(componentSearchIntent, PackageManager.MATCH_DEFAULT_ONLY);
    List<String> componentList = new ArrayList<String>();
    Log.d(LOG_TAG, "Search for installed components found " + ril.size() + " matches.");
    for (ResolveInfo ri : ril) {
        if (ri.activityInfo != null) {
            componentList.add(ri.activityInfo.packageName);// + ri.activityInfo.name);
            Log.d(LOG_TAG, "Found installed: " + componentList.get(componentList.size()-1));
        }
    }
    return componentList;
}

I've commented the part where it gets the activity name, but it's pretty straightforward.

score 7 · Answer 12 · answered Sep 22 '15 at 09:12

Clean solution that filter successfuly out system apps

The idea behind this solution is that the main activity of every system app does not have a custom activity icon. This method gives me an excellent result:

 public static Set<PackageInfo> getInstalledApps(Context ctx) {
    final PackageManager packageManager = ctx.getPackageManager();

    final List<PackageInfo> allInstalledPackages = packageManager.getInstalledPackages(PackageManager.GET_META_DATA);
    final Set<PackageInfo> filteredPackages = new HashSet();

    Drawable defaultActivityIcon = packageManager.getDefaultActivityIcon();

    for(PackageInfo each : allInstalledPackages) {
        if(ctx.getPackageName().equals(each.packageName)) {
            continue;  // skip own app
        }

        try {
            // add only apps with application icon
            Intent intentOfStartActivity = packageManager.getLaunchIntentForPackage(each.packageName);
            if(intentOfStartActivity == null)
                continue;

            Drawable applicationIcon = packageManager.getActivityIcon(intentOfStartActivity);
            if(applicationIcon != null && !defaultActivityIcon.equals(applicationIcon)) {
                filteredPackages.add(each);
            }
        } catch (PackageManager.NameNotFoundException e) {
            Log.i("MyTag", "Unknown package name " + each.packageName);
        }
    }

    return filteredPackages;
}

score 4 · Answer 13 · answered Nov 20 '20 at 17:29

context.getPackageManager().getInstalledApplications(PackageManager.GET_META_DATA); Should return the list of all the installed apps but in android 11 it'll only return the list of system apps. To get the list of all the applications(system+user) we need to provide an additional permission to the application i.e

<uses-permission android:name"android.permission.QUERY_ALL_PACKAGES">

score 3 · Answer 14 · edited Jan 06 '13 at 06:59

private static boolean isThisASystemPackage(Context context, PackageInfo  packageInfo ) {
        try {
            PackageInfo sys = context.getPackageManager().getPackageInfo("android", PackageManager.GET_SIGNATURES);
            return (packageInfo != null && packageInfo.signatures != null &&
                    sys.signatures[0].equals(packageInfo.signatures[0]));
        } catch (NameNotFoundException e) {
            return false;
        }
    }

score 3 · Answer 15 · answered Nov 16 '17 at 12:39

Get All the apps:

    PackageManager pm = getContext().getPackageManager();
    List<ApplicationInfo> apps = pm.getInstalledApplications(0);

Check if installed app then open:

if((app.flags & (ApplicationInfo.FLAG_UPDATED_SYSTEM_APP | ApplicationInfo.FLAG_SYSTEM)) > 0) {
                String app_package = app.packageName;
Intent launchIntent = context.getPackageManager().getLaunchIntentForPackage(app_package);
context.startActivity(launchIntent);

score 2 · Answer 16 · answered May 26 '15 at 20:34

I have another solution:

ArrayList<AppInfo> myAppsToUpdate;

    // How to get the system and the user apps.
    public ArrayList<AppInfo> getAppsToUpdate() {

        PackageManager pm = App.getContext().getPackageManager();
        List<ApplicationInfo> installedApps = pm.getInstalledApplications(0);
        myAppsToUpdate = new ArrayList<AppInfo>();
        for (ApplicationInfo aInfo : installedApps) {

            if ((aInfo.flags & ApplicationInfo.FLAG_SYSTEM) != 0) {
                // System apps 
            } else {
                // Users apps
                AppInfo appInfo = new AppInfo();
                appInfo.setAppName(aInfo.loadLabel(pm).toString());
                appInfo.setPackageName(aInfo.packageName);
                appInfo.setLaunchActivity(pm.getLaunchIntentForPackage(aInfo.packageName).toString());
                try {
                    PackageInfo info = pm.getPackageInfo(aInfo.packageName, 0);
                    appInfo.setVersionName(info.versionName.toString());
                    appInfo.setVersionCode("" + info.versionCode);
                    myAppsToUpdate.add(appInfo);
                } catch (NameNotFoundException e) {
                    Log.e("ERROR", "we could not get the user's apps");
                }

            }
        }
        return myAppsToUpdate;
    }

score 1 · Answer 17 · answered Oct 18 '20 at 23:13

Since Android 11 (API level 30), most user-installed apps are not visible by default. You must either statically declare which apps and/or intent filters you are going to get info about in your manifest like this:

<manifest>
    <queries>
        <!-- Explicit apps you know in advance about: -->
        <package android:name="com.example.this.app"/>
        <package android:name="com.example.this.other.app"/>

        <!-- Intent filter signatures that you are going to query: -->
        <intent>
            <action android:name="android.intent.action.SEND" />
            <data android:mimeType="image/jpeg" />
        </intent>
    </queries>
    
    ...
</manifest>

Or require the QUERY_ALL_PACKAGES permission.

After doing the above, the other answers here still apply.

Learn more here:

score 0 · Answer 18 · answered Feb 27 '15 at 08:57

you can use this :

PackageManager pm = getApplicationContext().getPackageManager();
                List<ResolveInfo> activityList = pm.queryIntentActivities(shareIntent, 0);
                for (final ResolveInfo app : activityList) 
                {
                   if ((app.activityInfo.name).contains("facebook")) 
                   {
                     // facebook  
                   }

                   if ((app.activityInfo.name).contains("android.gm")) 
                   {
                     // gmail  
                   }

                   if ((app.activityInfo.name).contains("mms")) 
                   {
                     // android messaging app
                   }

                   if ((app.activityInfo.name).contains("com.android.bluetooth")) 
                   {
                     // android bluetooth  
                   }
                }

score 0 · Answer 19 · answered Apr 26 '18 at 18:27

0

public static List<ApplicationInfo> getApplications(Context context) {
    return context.getPackageManager().getInstalledApplications(PackageManager.GET_META_DATA);
}

answered Apr 26 '18 at 18:27

Reza

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

19 Answers19

Clean solution that filter successfuly out system apps

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