Is it possible to launch another application from an instant app?

Question

Normally, of course, it's easy: getLaunchIntentForPackage("com.package") gives an Intent that you can just pass to startActivity().

But when executed in an instant app, getLaunchIntentForPackage() returns null even if the target app is installed!

Looking at comments at the linked question, I'm not the only one hitting this problem or limitation. However, there were no solutions, and seems like no SO question about this, yet.

Is there any way to get around this limitation?

Answer 1

Browsing Google Play Instant developer documentation a bit more, I found an explanation:

Google Play Instant runs instant-enabled app bundles in a special kind of SELinux sandbox for added security. This sandbox permits a subset of permissions, as well as limited types of interactions with other apps.

And more specifically, under which circumstances other apps can be accessed:

Access to installed apps

When developing an instant experience, keep in mind that it cannot interact with installed apps on a device unless one of the following is true:

• One or more activities within an installed app has set its android:visibleToInstantApps element to true – This element is available to apps running Android 8.0 (API level 26) or higher.
• An installed app contains an intent filter that includes CATEGORY_BROWSABLE.
• The instant experience is sending an intent using either the ACTION_SEND, ACTION_SENDTO, or ACTION_SEND_MULTIPLE action.

So that explains this and seems reasonable enough.

I'll investigate if some of these works in my case and report back later...

Edit: yes, android:visibleToInstantApps works!

In my case, I was trying to launch another app of the same client company, meaning I have control over that codebase too.

In AndroidManifest of the target app, add android:visibleToInstantApps="true" to one of the activities. This works on Android 8 and higher, and can be used even if the minSdkVersion is lower.