Intents are super important when building Android apps. They help different parts of your app talk to each other and manage what happens when your app is used. Think of an Intent as a message that asks another part of your app, or even another app, to do something. This makes intents really useful for starting new activities, sharing data, and reacting to what users do.
There are two main types of intents you should know about:
Explicit Intents: These are used when you know exactly which part of the app you want to start. For example, if you want to open a specific screen in your app, you would use an explicit intent like this:
Intent intent = new Intent(this, SecondActivity.class);
startActivity(intent);
Implicit Intents: These are not specific. Instead, they say what general action you want to perform. For example, if you want to open a webpage, you would use an implicit intent like this:
Intent intent = new Intent(Intent.ACTION_VIEW, Uri.parse("http://www.example.com"));
startActivity(intent);
When one part of your app starts another using an intent, it can also send information along. This is often done with something called extras. For example:
Intent intent = new Intent(this, SecondActivity.class);
intent.putExtra("KEY_NAME", "value");
startActivity(intent);
Then, in SecondActivity, you can get that data:
String value = getIntent().getStringExtra("KEY_NAME");
Every time an activity is started with an intent, Android makes a new version of that activity. This kicks off its special methods like onCreate(), onStart(), and onResume().
Knowing how intents connect with these lifecycle methods is very important. It helps manage resources well and keeps everything running smoothly for users.
If an activity is already open and gets a new intent, it can handle it in the onNewIntent() method. This is helpful for activities that only need one version open at a time but can change with new information.
Intents are essential for helping parts of your app talk to one another. They also play a key role in managing how activities work, which lets developers create fun and interactive apps.
Intents are super important when building Android apps. They help different parts of your app talk to each other and manage what happens when your app is used. Think of an Intent as a message that asks another part of your app, or even another app, to do something. This makes intents really useful for starting new activities, sharing data, and reacting to what users do.
There are two main types of intents you should know about:
Explicit Intents: These are used when you know exactly which part of the app you want to start. For example, if you want to open a specific screen in your app, you would use an explicit intent like this:
Intent intent = new Intent(this, SecondActivity.class);
startActivity(intent);
Implicit Intents: These are not specific. Instead, they say what general action you want to perform. For example, if you want to open a webpage, you would use an implicit intent like this:
Intent intent = new Intent(Intent.ACTION_VIEW, Uri.parse("http://www.example.com"));
startActivity(intent);
When one part of your app starts another using an intent, it can also send information along. This is often done with something called extras. For example:
Intent intent = new Intent(this, SecondActivity.class);
intent.putExtra("KEY_NAME", "value");
startActivity(intent);
Then, in SecondActivity, you can get that data:
String value = getIntent().getStringExtra("KEY_NAME");
Every time an activity is started with an intent, Android makes a new version of that activity. This kicks off its special methods like onCreate(), onStart(), and onResume().
Knowing how intents connect with these lifecycle methods is very important. It helps manage resources well and keeps everything running smoothly for users.
If an activity is already open and gets a new intent, it can handle it in the onNewIntent() method. This is helpful for activities that only need one version open at a time but can change with new information.
Intents are essential for helping parts of your app talk to one another. They also play a key role in managing how activities work, which lets developers create fun and interactive apps.