Creating a Widget only application in Android?

Question

To clarify the question:

I have seen multiple Apps in the Playstore that are widget only Apps without visible activities. I tried to create one myself but I need to define a launcher Activity. Once I use the configuration Activity of the Widget as a launcher the app becomes visible in the app overview in Android.

https://i.sstatic.net/jLUUd.png

If I dont define a launcher Activity I cant even deploy the app on the emulator.

The developerguide on https://developer.android.com/guide/topics/appwidgets/index.html about Widgets isnt really clear about how to handle this case.

Any help or directions where to find information is appreciated.

Answer 1

If you want to create a widget only android application without any activity. You don't have to declare any intents for your activity. Just pass the intent filter for android.appwidget.action.APPWIDGET_CONFIGURE It will make the activity load when the user adds it to their home screen. Now you can simply declare your configuration class with your widget layout xml file with android:configure attribute liking to the class file the widget runs on.

Hope this helps.