Can two different apps have the same packageName?

Question

I have this code to get a list of all apps on system:

    PackageManager pm = getPackageManager();

    Intent mainIntent = new Intent(Intent.ACTION_MAIN);

    List<ResolveInfo> installedApps = pm.queryIntentActivities( mainIntent, 0);

    for(ResolveInfo elem : installedApps) {
            String PackageName = elem.activityInfo.applicationInfo.packageName;
            Log.i("TAG",PackageName);
    }

But the result in installedApps shows many repeated PackageNames. Is this possible? It's 'cause a "failure" of the intent or because many apps packageNames have the same name?

Answer 1

Is this possible?

Sure.

It's 'cause a "failure" of the intent

No, at least not for my definition of "failure".

or because many apps packageNames have the same name?

No.

It is because you are querying for activities, not applications. An application can have zero, one, two, or a million activities that will respond to an ACTION_MAIN Intent.

Answer 2

Every application must have a uniqe package name. To quote from the API guide: "The package name serves as a unique identifier for the application" and "Once you publish your application, you cannot change the package name. The package name defines your application's identity, so if you change it, then it is considered to be a different application and users of the previous version cannot update to the new version."

Note that having multiple ACTION_MAIN entries in a single manifest is perfectly valid as they represent alternative entry points into the application. See this question for more information.