Difference between getApplicationContext() and getActivity()

Question

What is the difference between getApplicationContext() and getActivity() and this in Android?

Answer 1

There is a lot of difference between :

View.getContext(): Returns the context the view is currently running in. Usually the currently active Activity.

Activity.getApplicationContext(): Returns the context for the entire application (the process all the Activities are running inside of). Use this instead of the current Activity context if you need a context tied to the lifecycle of the entire application, not just the current Activity.

ContextWrapper.getBaseContext(): If you need access to a Context from within another context, you use a ContextWrapper. The Context referred to from inside that ContextWrapper is accessed via getBaseContext().

Also check :

https://stackoverflow.com/a/10641257/4018207 https://developer.android.com/reference/android/view/View.html#getContext%28%29

Answer 2

There is huge difference. An android application can have more than one activity, when you say getApplicationContext(), it gives you the context of entire application: see details :

However when you say getActivity() it just gives you the instance of activity which you are currently in.