CHAPTER 5

Android Activity Lifecycle and

Intents
(Coding the application)
 Course Outline Chapter 5

• Coding the application

• Activities
• Creating Activities
• Working with framework class
• Installing application
• Responding to error
 Activity

 An activity is a single, focused thing that the user can do.

 Serve as the entry point for a user's interaction with an app
 An activity provides the window in which the app draws its
UI.
 Most apps contain multiple screens, which means they
comprise multiple activities.
 Each activity is only loosely bound to the other activities;
there are usually minimal dependencies among the
activities in an app.
 Often presented to the user as full-screen windows, can
also be used as floating windows or embedded inside of
another activity.
Create Activities
Android
Activity
LifeCycle
Starting Activities
 Android applications don't start with a call to
main(String[])
 Instead callbacks invoked corresponding to app state.
 Examples:
 When activity is created, its onCreate( ) method invoked (like
constructor)
 When activity is paused, its onPause( ) method invoked

 callback methods also invoked to destroy Activity /app

Activity Callbacks
 onCreate() Already saw this (initially called)

 onStart()
 onResume()
 onPause()
 onStop()
 onRestart()
 onDestroy()
 Understanding Android
Lifecycle
 Many disruptive things could happen while app is running
 Incoming call or text message, user switches to another app, etc

 Well designed app should NOT:

Crash if interrupted, or user switches to other app
 Lose the user's state/progress (e.g state of chess game app) if
they leave your app and return later
 Crash or lose the user's progress when the screen rotates
between landscape and portrait orientation.
 E.g. Youtube video should continue at correct point after rotation
 To handle these situations, appropriate callback methods
must be invoked appropriately

http://developer.android.com/training/basics/activity-lifecycle/starting.html
 OnCreate( )
 Initializes activity once created
 Operations typically performed in onCreate() method:
 Inflate widgets and place them on screen
 (e.g. using layout files with setContentView( ) )
 Getting references to inflated widgets ( using
findViewbyId( ) )
 Setting widget listeners to handle user interaction
 Example

 Note: AŶdroid OS calls apps’ oŶCreate; Ϳ ŵethod

 Activity State Diagram: Running
App
 A running app is one that user is currently
using or interacting with
 Visible, in foreground
 Activity State Diagram: Paused App
 An app is paused if it is visible but no longer in
foreground
 E.g. blocked by a pop-up dialog box
 App’s onPause( ) method is called during
transition from running to paused state

Paused

Running
 Activity State Diagram: onPause( ) Method
 Typical actions taken in onPause( ) method
 Stop animations or CPU intensive tasks

 Stop listening for GPS, broadcast

information
 Release handles to sensors (e.g GPS,
camera)
 Stop audio and video if appropriate

Paused

Running
 Activity State Diagram: Resuming Paused
App
 A paused app resumes running if it becomes fully
visible and in foreground
 E.g. pop-up dialog box blocking it goes away
 App’s onResume( ) method is called during
transition from paused to running state
 Restart videos, animations, GPS checking, etc

Paused

Running
 Activity State Diagram: Stopped App
 An app is stopped if it no longer visible and no
longer in foreground
 E.g. user starts using another app
 App’s onStop( ) method is called during transition
from paused to stopped state

Running
 onStop() Method
 An activity is stopped when:
 User receives phone call

 User starts a new application

 Activity 1 launches new Activity 2

 Activity instance and variables of stopped app

are retained but no code is being executed by
the activity
 If activity is stopped, in onStop( ) method, well
behaved apps should
 save progress to enable seamless restart later

 Release all resources, save info (persistence)

 Activity State Diagram: Stopped App
 A stopped app can go back into running state if
becomes visible and in foreground
 App’s onStart( ) and onResume( ) methods
called
to transition from stopped to running state

Running
 Activity State Diagram: Starting New
 App
To start new app, app is
launched
 App’s onCreate( ), onStart( ) and
onResume( ) methods are called
 Afterwards new app is running
Logging Errors in
Android
Logging Errors in
Android
 Android can log and display various types of
errors/warnings
 Error logging is in Log class of android.util package
import android.util.Log;
 Turn on logging of different message types by calling
appropriate method
 Logged errors/warnings displayed in Android Studio window

Ref: Introduction to Android

Programming, Annuzzi, Darcey &
Conder
 QuizActivity.java
 A good way to understand
Android lifecycle methods is to
print debug messages when they
are called
 E.g. print debug message from
onCreate method below
 QuizActivity.java
 Debug (d) messages have the
form

 E.g.

 Then declare string for

TAG
 QuizActivity.java
 Putting it all together
 QuizActivity.java
 Can overide more
lifecycle methods

 Print debug
messages from each
method

 Superclass calls called

in each method
 QuizActivity.java Debug Messages

 Launching GeoQuiz app creates, starts and

resumes
an activity

 Pressing Back button destroys the activity

(calls onPause, onStop and onDestroy)
Rotating Device
 Rotating Device: Using Different Layouts
 Rotating device (e.g. portrait to landscape) kills current
activity and creates new activity in landscape mode
 Rotation changes device configuration
 Device configuration: screen orientation/density/size,
keyboard type, dock mode, language, etc.
 Apps can specify different resources (e.g. XML layout
files, images) to use for different device configurations

 E.g. use different app layouts for portrait vs landscape

screen orientation
 Rotating Device: Using Different Layouts
 When device in landscape, uses layout (XML) file
in
res/layout-land/
 Copy XML layout file (activity_quiz.xml) from
res/layout to res/layout-land/ and tailor it
 When configuration changes, current activity
destroyed, onCreate (setContentView
(R.layout.activity_quiz) called again
 Dead or Destroyed Activity

 onDestroy( ) called to destroy a stopped

app
Saving State
Data
Activity Destruction
 App may be destroyed
 On its own by calling finish

 If user presses back button

 Before Activity destroyed, system calls

onSaveInstanceState
 Saves state required to recreate Activity
later
 E.g. Save current positions of game pieces
onSaveInstanceState
onRestoreInstanceState()
 Systems write info about views to Bundle
 other (app-specific) information must be
saved by programmer
 E.g. board state in a board game such as
mastermind
 When Activity recreated Bundle sent to
onCreate and onRestoreInstanceState()
 Can use either method to restore state
data
/ instance variables
Saving State on Activity
Destruction

Can restore state data in either method

 Saving Data Across Device Rotation
 Since rotation causes activity to be destroyed and
new
one created, values of variables lost or reset
 To stop lost or reset values, save them using
onSaveInstanceState before activity is destroyed
 E.g. called before portrait layout is destroyed
 System calls onSaveInstanceState before onPause( ),
onStop( ) and onDestroy( )
 Saving Data Across Device Rotation
 For example, if we want to save the value of a
variable
mCurrentIndex during rotation
 First, create a constant as a key for storing data in the
bundle

 Then override onSaveInstanceState

method
Quiz
 Whenever I watch YouTube video on my
phone, if I receive a phone call and
video stops at 2:31, after call, when app
resumes, it should restart at 2:31.
 How do you think this is implemented?
 In which Activity life cycle method
should code be put into?
 How?
Intents
 Intent
 Intent: a messaging object used by a component to
request action from another app or component
 3 main use cases for Intents
 Case 1 (Activity A starts Activity B, no result back):
 Call startActivity( ), pass an Intent
 Intent describes Activity to start, carries any necessary data
Intent: Result Received
Back
 Case 2 (Activity A starts Activity B, gets result back):
 Call startActivityForResult( ), pass an Intent
 Separate IŶteŶt received iŶ Activity A’s onActivityResult( ) callback

 Case 3 (Activity A starts a Service):

 E.g. Activity A starts service to download big file in the
background
 Activity A calls StartService( ), passes an Intent
 Intent describes Service to start, carries any necessary data
 Implicit Vs Explicit
Intents
 Explicit Intent: If components sending and receiving
Intent
are in same app
 E.g. Activity A starts Activity B in same app

 Implicit Intent: If components sending and receiving

Intent are in different apps
Intent Example:
Starting Activity
2
from Activity 1
 Allowing User to Cheat
Ref: Android Nerd Ranch (2nd edition) pg 87
 Goal: Allow user to cheat by getting answer to
quiz
 Screen 2 pops up to show Answer
Activity 1 Activity 2

Correct
Answer

User clicks here Ask again.

to cheat Click here
to cheat
If user
cheated
Add Strings for Activity 1 and Activity 2
to strings.xml
Create Blank Activity (for Activity 2) in
Android Studio
Specify Name and XML file for Activity
2

Screen 2 Java
code in
CheatActivity.java
Layout
uses activity_cheat.xml
Design Layout for Screen 2
Activity 2
Write XML Layout Code for Screen 2

Activity 2
 Declare New Activity in
AndroidManifest.xml
Create new activity (CheatActivity) in Android
Studio

Activity 1
Activity 2 (CheatActivity)

Activity 2 (CheatActivity)
 Starting Activity 2 from Activity 1
 Activity 1 starts activity 2
 through the Android OS
 by calling startActivity(Intent)
 Passes Intent (object for communicating with Android
OS)

 Intent specifies which (target) Activity

Android
 Starting Activity 2 from Activity 1
 Intents have many different constructors. We will use
form:

 Actual code looks like

this

Build Intent
Use Intent to Start new
Activity
Parent
New Activity 2
Activity
Implicit vs Explicit
Intents
 Previous example is called an explicit intent
 Activity 1 and activity 2 are in same app
 If Activity 2 were in another app, an implicit intent
would have to be created instead
 Can also pass data between Activities 1 and 2
 E.g. Activity 1 can tell new activity correct answer (True/False)
 Passing Data Between

Activities
Need to pass answer (True/False from QuizActivity to
CheatActivity)

 Pass answer as extra on the Intent passed into StartActivity

 Extras are arbitrary data calling activity can include with
intent
 Passing Answer (True/False) as Intent
Extra
To add extra to Intent, use putExtra( ) command
 Encapsulate Intent creation into a method
newIntent( )

 When user clicks cheat button, build Intent, start new

Activity

Intent
Passing Answer (True/False) as Intent
Extra
 Activity receiving the Intent retrieves it using
getBooleanExtra( )

Calls
getIntent( )

Intent

Important: Read Android Nerd

Ranch (2nd edition) pg 87
 Implicit
 Intents
Implicit Intent: Does not name component to start.
 Specifies
 Action (what to do, example visit a web page)

 Data (to perform operation on, e.g. web page url)

 System decides component to receive intent based on action, data,

category
 Example Implicit Intent to share data

ACTION (No receiving Activity

specified)

Data type
References
 Android Nerd Ranch, 1st edition
 Busy Coder’s guide to AŶdroid versioŶ 4.4
 CS 65/165 slides, Dartmouth College, Spring
2014
 CS 371M slides, U of Texas Austin, Spring 2014