Android: It is a good practice to get Context statically? [duplicate]

Question

currently, in my App I have the following class:

public class MyApp extends Application {

    private static Context context;

    public void onCreate(){
        super.onCreate();
        MyApp.context = getApplicationContext();
    }

    public static Context getContext() {
        return MyApp.context;
    }
}

I use this to have Context in classes that are neither Activities nor Fragment. It's there any difference between use the context stored on this class and use and activity as context? It is a good practice to have this class or should I provide an activity as context to any class who needs it?

Thanks.

Answer 1

It's there any difference between use the context stored on this class and use and activity as context?

Yes. Please read Dave Smith's epic blog post on the subject. In summary: only use an Application when you know why Application is the right answer... and it rarely is.

It is a good practice to have this class

IMHO, not usually. You may sometimes need an Application object, but you do not need your own custom subclass, and you do not need to make it a singleton.

should I provide an activity as context to any class who needs it?

You supply the right Context instance to any method that needs it. As Dave Smith describes in that blog post, not all Context instances are created equal. Only use Application when Application is the right sort of Context.