Auto Launching Apps/Widgets

[Guest Sami Beck]

Is this possible to autolaunch apps/widgets on boot on a custom rom?

[Guest t0mm13b]

Yes it is.

There's a broadcast message that is sent upon boot up called ACTION_BOOT_COMPLETED. A broadcast receiver is rigged up in place to "listen" for the intent message.

public class MyAppBoot extends BroadcastReceiver{

        private static final String TAG = "MyAppBoot";

        @Override

        public void onReceive(Context context, Intent intent) {

                if (intent != null && intent.getAction().equals(Intent.ACTION_BOOT_COMPLETED)){

                        AlarmManager mgr=(AlarmManager)context.getSystemService(Context.ALARM_SERVICE);

                        Intent i=new Intent(context, MyAppBootAlarm.class);

                        PendingIntent pi=PendingIntent.getBroadcast(context, 0, i, 0);

                        mgr.set(AlarmManager.ELAPSED_REALTIME_WAKEUP, SystemClock.elapsedRealtime()+45, pi);

                }

        }

}

Once the message is received, best practice dictates that you set a timer after the boot message is processed, in order to give the system a chance to "settle" down, in the above example, a broadcast for the alarm will trigger in 45 seconds.

It is considered bad practice to hog up the boot process. Once the alarm gets fired it will trigger a broadcast message similar to the above sample and from there, spin up the app.

There is such an app - if you look in the market for Auto run or auto start

But be careful not to hog up your handset when booting - which would slow it down and lead you to thinking that something is wrong.