How to start an application using Android ADB tools
AndroidAdbAndroid Problem Overview
How do I send an intent using Android's ADB tools?
Android Solutions
Solution 1 - Android
adb shell
am start -n com.package.name/com.package.name.ActivityName
Or you can use this directly:
adb shell am start -n com.package.name/com.package.name.ActivityName
You can also specify actions to be filter by your intent-filters:
am start -a com.example.ACTION_NAME -n com.package.name/com.package.name.ActivityName
Solution 2 - Android
It's possible to run an application specifying the package name only using the monkey tool by follow this pattern:
adb shell monkey -p your.app.package.name -c android.intent.category.LAUNCHER 1
The command is used to run the app using the monkey tool which generates random input for the application. The last part of the command is an integer which specifies the number of generated random input for the app. In this case the number is 1, which in fact is used to launch the app (icon click).
Solution 3 - Android
Or, you could use this:
adb shell am start -n com.package.name/.ActivityName
Solution 4 - Android
Linux and Mac users can also create a script to run an APK file with something like the following:
Create a file named "adb-run.sh" with these three lines:
pkg=$(aapt dump badging $1|awk -F" " '/package/ {print $2}'|awk -F"'" '/name=/ {print $2}')
act=$(aapt dump badging $1|awk -F" " '/launchable-activity/ {print $2}'|awk -F"'" '/name=/ {print $2}')
adb shell am start -n $pkg/$act
Then "chmod +x adb-run.sh" to make it executable.
Now you can simply:
adb-run.sh myapp.apk
The benefit here is that you don't need to know the package name or launchable activity name. Similarly, you can create "adb-uninstall.sh myapp.apk"
Note: This requires that you have Android Asset Packaging Tool (aapt
) in your path. You can find it under the new build tools folder in the SDK.
Solution 5 - Android
Step 1: First get all the package names of the apps installed in your device, by using:
adb shell pm list packages
Step 2: You will get all the package names. Copy the one you want to start using ADB.
Step 3: Add your desired package name in the below command.
adb shell monkey -p 'your package name' -v 500
For example,
adb shell monkey -p com.estrongs.android.pop -v 500
to start the Es explorer.
Solution 6 - Android
Also, I want to mention one more thing.
When you start an application from adb shell am
, it automatically adds FLAG_ACTIVITY_NEW_TASK flag which makes behavior change. See the code.
For example, if you launch a Play Store activity from adb shell am
, pressing the 'Back' button (hardware back button) wouldn't take you your app. Instead, it would take you previous Play Store activity if there was some (if there was not a Play store task, then it would take you to your app). FLAG_ACTIVITY_NEW_TASK documentation says:
> if a task is already running for the activity you are now starting, then a new activity will not be started; instead, the current task will simply be brought to the front of the screen with the state it was last in
This caused me to spend a few hours to find out what went wrong.
So, keep in mind that adb shell am
add FLAG_ACTIVITY_NEW_TASK flag.
Solution 7 - Android
We can as well start an application by knowing the application type and feeding it with data:
adb shell am start -d "file:///sdcard/sample.3gp" -t "video/3gp" -a android.intent.action.VIEW
This command displays available *video players to play a sample.3gp file.
Solution 8 - Android
Open file ~/.bash_profile, and add these Bash functions to the end of the file
function androidinstall(){
adb install -r ./bin/$1.apk
}
function androidrun(){
ant clean debug
adb shell am start -n $1/$1.$2
}
Then open the Android project folder:
androidinstall app-debug && androidrun com.example.app MainActivity
Solution 9 - Android
The shortest command yet is the following:
adb shell monkey -p your.app.package.name 1
This will launch the default activity for the package that is in the launcher.
Thanks to Androiderson for the tip.
Solution 10 - Android
monkey --pct-syskeys 0
for development boards
This argument is needed for development boards without keys/display:
adb shell monkey --pct-syskeys 0 -p com.cirosantilli.android_cheat.textviewbold 1
Without it, the app won't open, and you will get an error message like:
SYS_KEYS has no physical keys but with factor 2.0%
It was tested on HiKey960, Android O AOSP.
Learned from: this GitHub issue
Solution 11 - Android
You can find your app package name by the below command:
adb shell pm list packages
The above command returns a package list of all apps. Example:
org.linphone.debug
.
.
com.android.email
Now I want to start app linphone by using the below command and this worked for me:
adb shell am start org.linphone.debug
Solution 12 - Android
Use:
adb shell am start -n '<appPackageName>/.<appActitivityName>
Example:
adb shell am start -n 'com.android.settings/.wifi.WifiStatusTest'
You can use the APK-INFO application to know the list of app activities with respect to each app package.
Solution 13 - Android
adb shell am start -n com.app.package.name/com.java.package.name.ActivityName
Example
adb shell am start -n com.google.android.googlequicksearchbox/com.google.android.search.core.google.GoogleSearch
If the Java package is the same, then it can be shortened:
adb shell am start -n com.example.package/.subpackage.ActivityName
Solution 14 - Android
Try this, for opening an Android photo app and with the specific image file to open as a parameter.
adb shell am start -n com.google.android.apps.photos/.home.HomeActivity -d file:///mnt/user/0/primary/Pictures/Screenshots/Screenshot.png
It will work on latest version of Android. No pop up will come to select an application to open as you are giving the specific app to which you want to open your image with.
Solution 15 - Android
When you try to open a Flutter app, you can use this command:
adb shell am start -n com.package.name/io.flutter.embedding.android.FlutterActivity
Replace com.package.name
with your package name. You find your package in your app/build.gradle
at applicationId
.