getLaunchIntentForPackage is null for some apps

Question

I'm building a service that sends a list of installed apps from an Android TV or a Fire TV to a mobile phone. The phone then sends back the package name of the app it wants to launch and the service launches it.

This is the code that creates the list

public List<InstalledApp> GetInstalledApps(boolean isAndroid) {
    PackageManager pm = getPackageManager();
    List<ApplicationInfo> allPackages = pm.getInstalledApplications(PackageManager.GET_META_DATA);
    List<InstalledApp> userPackages = new ArrayList<InstalledApp>();

    for (ApplicationInfo packageInfo : allPackages) {

        if (isSystemPackage(packageInfo)) continue;

        InstalledApp app = new InstalledApp();
        app.setPackageName(packageInfo.packageName);
        app.setAppName(pm.getApplicationLabel(packageInfo).toString());
        if (!isAndroid) {
            app.setIcon(pm.getApplicationIcon(packageInfo));
        }
        app.setAccentColor(getAccentColor(pm.getApplicationIcon(packageInfo)));


        userPackages.add(app);
    }

    return userPackages;
}

This is how I launch the apps

public void launchApp(String packageName) {
    PackageManager pm = getPackageManager();
    Intent intent = pm.getLaunchIntentForPackage(packageName);
    startActivity(intent);
}

On the Fire TV everything works perfectly but on the Android TV the intent for many of the apps is always null. These are just a few.

• com.haystack.android
• com.netflix.ninja
• tv.pluto.android
• com.bamnetworks.mlbtv

However with the same code, these apps work just fine.

• com.hulu.livingroomplus
• com.sling
• com.frogmind.badland
• com.songza.tv

Could anyone provide any insight on what I might be doing wrong?

Thanks!

EDIT: I've also tried this and I get the exception

android.content.ActivityNotFoundException: No Activity found to handle Intent { cat=[android.intent.category.LEANBACK_LAUNCHER] flg=0x10000000 pkg=com.netflix.ninja }

public void launchApp(String packageName) {
    Intent intent = new Intent();
    intent.setPackage(packageName);
    intent.addCategory("android.intent.category.LEANBACK_LAUNCHER");
    intent.setFlags(Intent.FLAG_ACTIVITY_NEW_TASK);
    startActivity(intent);
}

EDIT 2:

This is the code that works for me:

public void launchApp(String packageName) {
    Intent intent = new Intent();
    intent.setPackage(packageName);

    PackageManager pm = getPackageManager();
    List<ResolveInfo> resolveInfos = pm.queryIntentActivities(intent, 0);
    Collections.sort(resolveInfos, new ResolveInfo.DisplayNameComparator(pm));

    if(resolveInfos.size() > 0) {
        ResolveInfo launchable = resolveInfos.get(0);
        ActivityInfo activity = launchable.activityInfo;
        ComponentName name=new ComponentName(activity.applicationInfo.packageName,
                activity.name);
        Intent i=new Intent(Intent.ACTION_MAIN);

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

        startActivity(i);
    }
}

Answer 1

To create a home screen-style launcher, don't look for apps and then try to get launch Intents for each. 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));
    }
  }
}

On an Android TV device, you should also search for LEANBACK_LAUNCHER activities, as that's what Android TV uses, and TV-specific APKs might not have a regular LAUNCHER activity, or at best have one that is not necessarily ideal for use on a TV.