How to run (not only install) an android application using .apk file?

Question

Is there any command on cmd.exe that would allow me to start the main activity of a particular android application using the .apk file of that application. Please note that I know this command which only installs an android application:

adb install myapp.apk 

This command will only install myapp onto the emulator and I have to manually run this application from the emulator (by performing single click on its icon).

What I want to do is use a command which not only installs the application but also starts its main activity (please note that I have only its .apk file so I don't know what the package name or any activity name is).

Answer 1

You can't install and run in one go - but you can certainly use adb to start your already installed application. Use adb shell am start to fire an intent - you will need to use the correct intent for your application though. A couple of examples:

adb shell am start -a android.intent.action.MAIN -n com.android.settings/.Settings  

will launch Settings, and

adb shell am start -a android.intent.action.MAIN -n com.android.browser/.BrowserActivity  

will launch the Browser. If you want to point the Browser at a particular page, do this

adb shell am start -a android.intent.action.VIEW -n com.android.browser/.BrowserActivity http://www.google.co.uk 

If you don't know the name of the activities in the APK, then do this

aapt d xmltree <path to apk> AndroidManifest.xml 

the output content will includes a section like this:

   E: activity (line=32)     A: android:theme(0x01010000)=@0x7f080000     A: android:label(0x01010001)=@0x7f070000     A: android:name(0x01010003)="com.anonymous.MainWindow"     A: android:launchMode(0x0101001d)=(type 0x10)0x3     A: android:screenOrientation(0x0101001e)=(type 0x10)0x1     A: android:configChanges(0x0101001f)=(type 0x11)0x80     E: intent-filter (line=33)       E: action (line=34)         A: android:name(0x01010003)="android.intent.action.MAIN"         XE: (line=34) 

That tells you the name of the main activity (MainWindow), and you can now run

adb shell am start -a android.intent.action.MAIN -n com.anonymous/.MainWindow