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1page.title=Interacting with Other Apps
2
3trainingnavtop=true
4startpage=true
5next.title=Sending the User to Another App
6next.link=sending.html
7
8@jd:body
9
10<div id="tb-wrapper">
11<div id="tb">
12
13<h2>Dependencies and prerequisites</h2>
14<ul>
15  <li>Basic understanding of the Activity lifecycle (see <a
16href="{@docRoot}training/basics/activity-lifecycle/index.html">Managing the Activity
17Lifecycle</a>)</li>
18</ul>
19
20
21<h2>You should also read</h2>
22<ul>
23  <li><a href="{@docRoot}training/sharing/index.html">Sharing Content</a></li>
24  <li><a
25href="http://android-developers.blogspot.com/2009/11/integrating-application-with-intents.html">
26Integrating Application with Intents (blog post)</a></li>
27  <li><a href="{@docRoot}guide/components/intents-filters.html">Intents and Intent
28Filters</a></li>
29</ul>
30
31</div>
32</div>
33
34<p>An Android app typically has several <a
35href="{@docRoot}guide/components/activities.html">activities</a>. Each activity displays a
36user interface that allows the user to perform a specific task (such as view a map or take a photo).
37To take the user from one activity to another, your app must use an {@link
38android.content.Intent} to define your app's "intent" to do something. When you pass an
39{@link android.content.Intent} to the system with a method such as {@link
40android.app.Activity#startActivity startActivity()}, the system uses the {@link
41android.content.Intent} to identify and start the appropriate app component. Using intents even
42allows your app to start an activity that is contained in a separate app.</p>
43
44<p>An {@link android.content.Intent} can be <em>explicit</em> in order to start a specific component
45(a specific {@link android.app.Activity} instance) or <em>implicit</em> in order to start any
46component that can handle the intended action (such as "capture a photo").</p>
47
48<p>This class shows you how to use an {@link android.content.Intent} to perform some basic
49interactions with other apps, such as start another app, receive a result from that app, and
50make your app able to respond to intents from other apps.</p>
51
52<h2>Lessons</h2>
53
54<dl>
55  <dt><b><a href="sending.html">Sending the User to Another App</a></b></dt>
56  <dd>Shows how you can create implicit intents to launch other apps that can perform an
57action.</dd>
58  <dt><b><a href="result.html">Getting a Result from an Activity</a></b></dt>
59  <dd>Shows how to start another activity and receive a result from the activity.</dd>
60  <dt><b><a href="filters.html">Allowing Other Apps to Start Your Activity</a></b></dt>
61  <dd>Shows how to make activities in your app open for use by other apps by defining
62intent filters that declare the implicit intents your app accepts.</dd>
63</dl>
64
65