#Using intents to open any file android android#

#Using intents to open any file android android#

Perhaps the closest thing would be the Application class in Android, but there are a lot architecture differences between them.Īs screens in devices grew bigger, the Android team added the concept of Fragments.Ģ The typical example is the News Reader app. Don't go around looking for an Android equivalent of an ApplicationDelegate there is none.

The closest thing to an Activity in iOS would be a UIViewController.

That's because the most common case for an Intent is to start an Activity.ġ Activities and Fragments, What are You Talking About? Intents are used everywhere, no matter how simple your app is even your Hello World app will use an Intent. This sounds interesting, but there's more than meets the eye. In truth, an Intent is an abstract description of an operation to be performed. The English dictionary defines an Intent as:Īccording to the official Android documentation, an Intent is a messaging object you can use to request an action from another app component. In Android, you would likely find Path in the chooser dialog. Let's say you have a picture in Instagram and you want to share it to Path (I know, not a lot of people use Path, but still…). Instagram is an easy and popular one, just like Facebook or Twitter, but there are dozens of other not-so-supported apps out there.

The biggest difference is that if the app is not supported, you just can't do it directly. Notice that if iOS apps support sharing between them, the flow is similar. If it doesn't, remove EditPhoto app and get a decent photo editor or use the built-in editor, which has gotten really good in KitKat. If EditPhoto supports sharing (I haven't seen a photo editing app that doesn't), tap it and select Instagram. Pick your EditPhoto app and make your edits. Swipe Right to see the 'Gallery,' and click the Share button. Import the recently saved photo, and then share it on Instagram with your hipster friends. Go to the Home Screen again, find Instagram, launch it… Otherwise, you will have to Save the image in the Photo Library. If EditPhoto supports sharing and Instagram is on the list, you're good to go! Go to the Home Screen, find your EditPhoto app, launch it, open existing photo, find it in the Camera Roll, make your edits. Please note: this is just a example to illustrate a point. Imagine the following scenario: you take a picture and want to retouch it with some image editing app, and later share it on Instagram. There are other simple examples where it really becomes clear how different both platforms behave. Android, on the other hand, was designed to support this behavior since day one. It was not until Apple added the ability in iOS 6 that this was really possible. Back in the days of iOS 1.0, it quickly became obvious that applications couldn't really talk to each other (at least non-Apple applications), even after the first iOS SDK was released.īefore iOS 6, attaching a photo or a video to an email you were already composing was definitely a chore. Perhaps a very distinctive thing about Android is the ability for applications to launch other apps or easily share content.