What is intent in Android?

The intent is a messaging object which passes between components like

services, content providers, activities, etc. Normally startActivity() method is
used for invoking any activity. Some of the general functions of intent are:
1. Start service
2. Launch Activity
3. Display web page
4. Display contact list
5. Message broadcasting
Methods and their Description
Methods Description

This is to launch a new activity or get an existing activity to be

Context.startActivity()
action.

This is to start a new service or deliver instructions for an

Context.startService()
existing service.

Context.sendBroadcast() This is to deliver the message to broadcast receivers.

Intent Classification:
There are two types of intents in android
1. Implicit Intent
2. Explicit Intent
Implicit Intent
Using implicit Intent, components can’t be specified. An action to be performed
is declared by implicit intent. Then android operating system will filter out
components that will respond to the action. For Example,
XML

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>

<androidx.constraintlayout.widget.ConstraintLayout
xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"

xmlns:app="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res-auto"

xmlns:tools="http://schemas.android.com/tools"

android:layout_width="match_parent"

android:layout_height="match_parent"

tools:context=".MainActivity">

<EditText

android:id="@+id/editText"

android:layout_width="match_parent"

android:layout_height="wrap_content"

app:layout_constraintBottom_toBottomOf="parent"

app:layout_constraintEnd_toEndOf="parent"

app:layout_constraintStart_toStartOf="parent"

app:layout_constraintTop_toTopOf="parent" />

<Button

android:id="@+id/btn"

android:text="Search"

android:onClick="search"

android:layout_width="wrap_content"

android:layout_height="wrap_content"

app:layout_constraintBottom_toBottomOf="parent"

app:layout_constraintEnd_toEndOf="parent"

app:layout_constraintStart_toStartOf="parent"

app:layout_constraintTop_toBottomOf="@+id/editText" />

</androidx.constraintlayout.widget.ConstraintLayout>
Java
import androidx.appcompat.app.AppCompatActivity;

import android.content.Intent;

import android.net.Uri;

import android.os.Bundle;

import android.view.View;

import android.widget.Button;

import android.widget.EditText;

public class MainActivity extends AppCompatActivity {

@Override

protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {

EditText editText;

Button button;

super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);

setContentView(R.layout.activity_main);

button = findViewById(R.id.btn);

editText = (EditText) findViewById(R.id.editText);

button.setOnClickListener(new View.OnClickListener() {

@Override

public void onClick(View view) {

String url=editText.getText().toString();

Intent intent = new Intent(Intent.ACTION_VIEW, Uri.parse(url));

startActivity(intent);

});

}
 Android Explicit intent specifies the component to be invoked from activity. In other
words, we can call another activity in android by explicit intent.

We can also pass the information from one activity to another using explicit intent.

Here, we are going to see an example to call one activity from another and vice-versa.

Android calling one activity from another activity

example
Let's see the simple example of android explicit example that calls one activity from
another and vice versa.

activity_main.xml

File: activity_main.xml
1. <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
2. <android.support.constraint.ConstraintLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.androi
d.com/apk/res/android"
3. xmlns:app="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res-auto"
4. xmlns:tools="http://schemas.android.com/tools"
5. android:layout_width="match_parent"
6. android:layout_height="match_parent"
7. tools:context="example.javatpoint.com.explicitintent.FirstActivity">
8.
9. <TextView
10. android:layout_width="wrap_content"
11. android:layout_height="wrap_content"
12. android:layout_marginEnd="8dp"
13. android:layout_marginStart="8dp"
14. android:layout_marginTop="8dp"
15. android:text="First Activity"
16. app:layout_constraintBottom_toBottomOf="parent"
17. app:layout_constraintEnd_toEndOf="parent"
18. app:layout_constraintHorizontal_bias="0.454"
19. app:layout_constraintLeft_toLeftOf="parent"
20. app:layout_constraintRight_toRightOf="parent"
21. app:layout_constraintStart_toStartOf="parent"
22. app:layout_constraintTop_toTopOf="parent"
23. app:layout_constraintVertical_bias="0.06" />
24.
25. <Button
26. android:id="@+id/button"
27. android:layout_width="wrap_content"
28. android:layout_height="wrap_content"
29. android:layout_marginEnd="8dp"
30. android:layout_marginStart="8dp"
31. android:layout_marginTop="392dp"
32. android:onClick="callSecondActivity"
33. android:text="Call second activity"
34. app:layout_constraintEnd_toEndOf="parent"
35. app:layout_constraintStart_toStartOf="parent"
36. app:layout_constraintTop_toTopOf="parent" />
37.
38. </android.support.constraint.ConstraintLayout>

ActivityOne class

File: MainActivityOne.java
1. package example.javatpoint.com.explicitintent;
2.
3. import android.content.Intent;
4. import android.support.v7.app.AppCompatActivity;
5. import android.os.Bundle;
6. import android.view.View;
7.
8. public class FirstActivity extends AppCompatActivity {
9.
10. @Override
11. protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
12. super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
13. setContentView(R.layout.activity_first);
14. }
15. public void callSecondActivity(View view){
16. Intent i = new Intent(getApplicationContext(), SecondActivity.class);
17. i.putExtra("Value1", "Android By Javatpoint");
18. i.putExtra("Value2", "Simple Tutorial");
19. // Set the request code to any code you like, you can identify the
20. // callback via this code
21. startActivity(i);
22. }
23.
24. }

activitytwo_main.xml

File: activitytwo_main.xml
1. <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
2. <android.support.constraint.ConstraintLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.androi
d.com/apk/res/android"
3. xmlns:app="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res-auto"
4. xmlns:tools="http://schemas.android.com/tools"
5. android:layout_width="match_parent"
6. android:layout_height="match_parent"
7. tools:context="example.javatpoint.com.explicitintent.SecondActivity">
8.
9. <TextView
10. android:layout_width="wrap_content"
11. android:layout_height="wrap_content"
12. android:layout_marginEnd="8dp"
13. android:layout_marginStart="8dp"
14. android:layout_marginTop="8dp"
15. android:text="Second Activity"
16. app:layout_constraintBottom_toBottomOf="parent"
17. app:layout_constraintEnd_toEndOf="parent"
18. app:layout_constraintHorizontal_bias="0.454"
19. app:layout_constraintLeft_toLeftOf="parent"
20. app:layout_constraintRight_toRightOf="parent"
21. app:layout_constraintStart_toStartOf="parent"
22. app:layout_constraintTop_toTopOf="parent"
23. app:layout_constraintVertical_bias="0.06" />
24.
25. <Button
26. android:id="@+id/button"
27. android:layout_width="wrap_content"
28. android:layout_height="wrap_content"
29. android:layout_marginEnd="8dp"
30. android:layout_marginStart="8dp"
31. android:layout_marginTop="392dp"
32. android:onClick="callFirstActivity"
33. android:text="Call first activity"
34. app:layout_constraintEnd_toEndOf="parent"
35. app:layout_constraintStart_toStartOf="parent"
36. app:layout_constraintTop_toTopOf="parent" />
37. </android.support.constraint.ConstraintLayout>

ActivityTwo class

File: MainActivityTwo.java
1. package example.javatpoint.com.explicitintent;
2.
3. import android.content.Intent;
4. import android.support.v7.app.AppCompatActivity;
5. import android.os.Bundle;
6. import android.view.View;
7. import android.widget.Toast;
8.
9. public class SecondActivity extends AppCompatActivity {
10.
11. @Override
12. protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
13. super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
14. setContentView(R.layout.activity_second);
15. Bundle extras = getIntent().getExtras();
16. String value1 = extras.getString("Value1");
17. String value2 = extras.getString("Value2");
18. Toast.makeText(getApplicationContext(),"Values are:\n First value: "+value1+
19. "\n Second Value: "+value2, Toast.LENGTH_LONG).show();
20. }
21. public void callFirstActivity(View view){
22. Intent i = new Intent(getApplicationContext(), FirstActivity.class);
23. startActivity(i);
24. }
25.
26. }
Android Activity Lifecycle

Android Activity Lifecycle is controlled by 7 methods of android.app.Activity class. The

android Activity is the subclass of ContextThemeWrapper class.

An activity is the single screen in android. It is like window or frame of Java.

By the help of activity, you can place all your UI components or widgets in a single
screen.

The 7 lifecycle method of Activity describes how activity will behave at different states.

Android Activity Lifecycle methods

Let's see the 7 lifecycle methods of android activity.

Method Description

onCreate called when activity is first created.

onStart called when activity is becoming visible to the user.

onResume called when activity will start interacting with the user.

onPause called when activity is not visible to the user.

onStop called when activity is no longer visible to the user.

onRestart called after your activity is stopped, prior to start.

onDestroy called before the activity is destroyed.

 File: activity_main.xml
1. <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
2. <android.support.constraint.ConstraintLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.androi
d.com/apk/res/android"
3. xmlns:app="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res-auto"
4. xmlns:tools="http://schemas.android.com/tools"
5. android:layout_width="match_parent"
6. android:layout_height="match_parent"
7. tools:context="example.javatpoint.com.activitylifecycle.MainActivity">
8.
9. <TextView
10. android:layout_width="wrap_content"
11. android:layout_height="wrap_content"
12. android:text="Hello World!"
13. app:layout_constraintBottom_toBottomOf="parent"
14. app:layout_constraintLeft_toLeftOf="parent"
15. app:layout_constraintRight_toRightOf="parent"
16. app:layout_constraintTop_toTopOf="parent" />
17.
18. </android.support.constraint.ConstraintLayout>
import android.support.v7.app.AppCompatActivity;

import android.os.Bundle;

import android.widget.Toast;

public class MainActivity extends AppCompatActivity {

@Override

protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {

super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);

setContentView(R.layout.activity_main);

Toast toast = Toast.makeText(getApplicationContext(), "onCreate Called",

Toast.LENGTH_LONG).show();

protected void onStart() {

super.onStart();

Toast toast = Toast.makeText(getApplicationContext(), "onStart Called",

Toast.LENGTH_LONG).show();

@Override

protected void onRestart() {

super.onRestart();

Toast toast = Toast.makeText(getApplicationContext(), "onRestart Called",

Toast.LENGTH_LONG).show();

protected void onPause() {

super.onPause();
 Toast toast = Toast.makeText(getApplicationContext(), "onPause Called",
Toast.LENGTH_LONG).show();

protected void onResume() {

super.onResume();

Toast toast = Toast.makeText(getApplicationContext(), "onResume Called",

Toast.LENGTH_LONG).show();

protected void onStop() {

super.onStop();

Toast toast = Toast.makeText(getApplicationContext(), "onStop Called",

Toast.LENGTH_LONG).show();

protected void onDestroy() {

super.onDestroy();

Toast toast = Toast.makeText(getApplicationContext(), "onDestroy Called",

Toast.LENGTH_LONG).show();