Version: 4.0

Fix Android Launch From Home

note

This documentation is a work in progress. It should suffice to fix this particular issue but additional changes are likely to be made.

Cordova and Capacitor applications, when launched on an Android device, will startup and display the webview your application is served in. However, for Auth Connect this may not be the behavior you want when a user is on the login page: you will likely want your application to return to the login page.

To make this behavior possible you'll need to alter your Cordova or Capacitor application using the following instructions.

Capacitor

In your Capacitor project create a new activity with the following code replacing io.ionic.starter with your projects identifier.


_16package io.ionic.starter;
_16
_16import android.content.Intent;
_16import android.os.Bundle;
_16import androidx.appcompat.app.AppCompatActivity;
_16
_16public class LauncherActivity extends AppCompatActivity {
_16    @Override
_16    protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
_16        super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
_16        Intent i = new Intent(this, MainActivity.class);
_16        i.replaceExtras(this.getIntent());
_16        startActivity(i);
_16        finish();
_16    }
_16}

Update the AndroidManifest.xml to set the new Activity as the launcher activity, and keep the MainActivity launchMode as singleTask

note

make sure to remove the intent-filter on the MainActivity that defines it as the launcher


_16 <activity android:name="io.ionic.starter.LauncherActivity"
_16    android:label="@string/title_activity_main"
_16    android:theme="@style/AppTheme.NoActionBarLaunch">
_16    <intent-filter>
_16        <action android:name="android.intent.action.MAIN" />
_16        <category android:name="android.intent.category.LAUNCHER" />
_16    </intent-filter>
_16</activity>
_16
_16<activity
_16    android:configChanges="orientation|keyboardHidden|keyboard|screenSize|locale|smallestScreenSize|screenLayout|uiMode"
_16    android:name="io.ionic.starter.MainActivity"
_16    android:label="@string/title_activity_main"
_16    android:theme="@style/AppTheme.NoActionBarLaunch"
_16    android:launchMode="singleTask">
_16</activity>

Be sure to run npx cap sync after applying these changes.

Cordova

There are a few steps to apply on a Cordova project.

Create a scripts folder in your project.
Create a file called LaunchActivity.java in the scripts folder and paste below in the contents.
Replace the line package io.ionic.starter with the id from your config.xml


_16package io.ionic.starter;
_16
_16import android.content.Intent;
_16import android.os.Bundle;
_16import androidx.appcompat.app.AppCompatActivity;
_16
_16public class LauncherActivity extends AppCompatActivity {
_16    @Override
_16    protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
_16        super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
_16        Intent i = new Intent(this, MainActivity.class);
_16        i.replaceExtras(this.getIntent());
_16        startActivity(i);
_16        finish();
_16    }
_16}

Create a file called update-launcher.js in the scripts folder and paste the below file
Set the path of LAUNCHER_DESTINATION in update-launcher.js to match your id from config.xml


_178var ANDROID_PROJECT_ROOT = "platforms/android/app/src/main";
_178var LAUNCHER_DESTINATION =
_178  "platforms/android/app/src/main/java/io/ionic/starter";
_178var LAUNCHER_SOURCE = "scripts/LauncherActivity.java";
_178var fs = require("fs");
_178var path = require("path");
_178var xml2js = require("xml2js");
_178
_178function copyJavaLauncher() {
_178  return new Promise((resolve, reject) => {
_178    fs.access(LAUNCHER_DESTINATION, (err) => {
_178      if (err) {
_178        reject("INVALID LAUNCHER DESTINATION");
_178        return;
_178      }
_178      copyFile(
_178        LAUNCHER_SOURCE,
_178        path.join(LAUNCHER_DESTINATION, "LauncherActivity.java")
_178      );
_178    });
_178  });
_178}
_178
_178function copyFile(src, dest) {
_178  return new Promise((resolve, reject) => {
_178    let readStream = fs.createReadStream(src);
_178
_178    readStream.once("error", (err) => {
_178      reject(err);
_178    });
_178
_178    readStream.once("end", () => {
_178      resolve("done");
_178    });
_178
_178    readStream.pipe(fs.createWriteStream(dest));
_178  });
_178}
_178
_178function readManifest() {
_178  return new Promise((resolve, reject) => {
_178    fs.readFile(
_178      path.join(ANDROID_PROJECT_ROOT, "AndroidManifest.xml"),
_178      "utf-8",
_178      (err, input) => {
_178        if (!!err) {
_178          reject(err);
_178        } else {
_178          resolve(input);
_178        }
_178      }
_178    );
_178  });
_178}
_178
_178function writeManifest(data) {
_178  return new Promise((resolve, reject) => {
_178    fs.writeFile(
_178      path.join(ANDROID_PROJECT_ROOT, "AndroidManifest.xml"),
_178      data,
_178      (err) => {
_178        if (!!err) {
_178          reject(err);
_178        } else {
_178          resolve();
_178        }
_178      }
_178    );
_178  });
_178}
_178
_178function convertToJson(input) {
_178  return new Promise((resolve, reject) => {
_178    xml2js.parseString(input, (err, result) => {
_178      if (!!err) {
_178        reject(err);
_178      } else {
_178        resolve(result);
_178      }
_178    });
_178  });
_178}
_178
_178function convertToXML(input) {
_178  return new Promise((resolve, reject) => {
_178    let builder = new xml2js.Builder();
_178    let xml = builder.buildObject(input);
_178    resolve(xml);
_178  });
_178}
_178
_178function removeLegacyActivityIntent(data) {
_178  return new Promise((resolve, reject) => {
_178    let applications = data.manifest.application;
_178    if (!applications) {
_178      reject();
_178      return;
_178    }
_178    applications.forEach((application) => {
_178      if (!!application.activity) {
_178        application.activity.forEach((activity) => {
_178          if (activity["intent-filter"]) {
_178            activity["intent-filter"].forEach((intent, idx) => {
_178              let shouldRemove = false;
_178              if (intent.action) {
_178                intent.action.forEach((action) => {
_178                  if (action["$"]["android:name"].includes("MAIN")) {
_178                    shouldRemove = true;
_178                  }
_178                });
_178              }
_178              if (shouldRemove) {
_178                delete activity["intent-filter"][idx];
_178              }
_178            });
_178          }
_178        });
_178      }
_178    });
_178    resolve(data);
_178  });
_178}
_178
_178function addLauncherActivityIntent(data) {
_178  return new Promise((resolve, reject) => {
_178    let applications = data.manifest.application;
_178    if (!applications) {
_178      reject();
_178      return;
_178    }
_178    applications.forEach((application) => {
_178      if (typeof application.activity === "undefined") {
_178        application.activity = [];
_178      }
_178      application.activity.push({
_178        $: {
_178          "android:name": "LauncherActivity",
_178          "android:label": "@string/app_name",
_178          "android:theme": "@android:style/Theme.DeviceDefault.NoActionBar",
_178        },
_178        "intent-filter": [
_178          {
_178            action: {
_178              $: {
_178                "android:name": "android.intent.action.MAIN",
_178              },
_178            },
_178            category: {
_178              $: {
_178                "android:name": "android.intent.category.LAUNCHER",
_178              },
_178            },
_178          },
_178        ],
_178      });
_178    });
_178    resolve(data);
_178  });
_178}
_178
_178module.exports = function (context) {
_178  return new Promise((resolve, reject) => {    
_178    readManifest()
_178      .then((input) => convertToJson(input))
_178      .then((data) => removeLegacyActivityIntent(data))
_178      .then((data) => addLauncherActivityIntent(data))
_178      .then((data) => convertToXML(data))
_178      .then((input) => writeManifest(input))
_178      .then(() => copyJavaLauncher())
_178      .then((data) => {
_178        resolve("done");
_178      })
_178      .catch((err) => {
_178        console.log(err);
_178        reject("done");
_178      });
_178  });
_178};

Next step is to install xml2js with:


_10npm install xml2js --save-dev

Finally update config.xml by adding the following line underneath <platform name="android">:


_10<hook src="scripts/update-launcher.js" type="after_platform_add" />

This script will run when you add the Android platform is added so to test it you can run: ionic cordova platform remove android ionic cordova platform add android

note

Be sure that the package line in LaunchActivity.java and the LAUNCHER_DESTINATION match what is used for your id in config.xml.

Testing

To test that you have correctly applied these changes:

Launch your application with an Android device
Go to the login page
Return to the home screen of your Android device
Launch your app again by pressing the icon
Your application should now open displaying the login page in the state it was left in

Capacitor​

Cordova​

Testing​

Contents

Capacitor

Cordova

Testing