How to set default activity for Android application

By mkyong | Updated: August 29, 2012

Viewed: 3,858 (+37 pv/w)

Tags: android android activity

In Android, you can configure the starting activity (default activity) of your application via following “intent-filter” in “AndroidManifest.xml“.

See following code snippet to configure a activity class “logoActivity” as the default activity.

File : AndroidManifest.xml

        <activity
            android:label="Logo"
            android:name=".logoActivity" >
             <intent-filter >
                <action android:name="android.intent.action.MAIN" />
                <category android:name="android.intent.category.LAUNCHER" />
            </intent-filter>
        </activity>

For example, let said you have two activities class, and you want to set the “ListMobileActivity” activity as the starting activity of your application.

File : AndroidManifest.xml

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<manifest xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
    package="com.mkyong.android"
    android:versionCode="1"
    android:versionName="1.0" >

    <uses-sdk android:minSdkVersion="10" />

    <application
        android:icon="@drawable/ic_launcher"
        android:label="@string/app_name" >
        <activity
            android:label="List of Mobile OS"
            android:name=".ListMobileActivity" >
            <intent-filter >
                <action android:name="android.intent.action.MAIN" />
                <category android:name="android.intent.category.LAUNCHER" />
            </intent-filter>
        </activity>
        <activity
            android:label="List of Fruits"
            android:name=".ListFruitActivity" >
        </activity>
    </application>

</manifest>

On the other hand, If you want to set the “ListFruitActivity” activity as your starting activity, just cut and paste the “intent-filter” like following :

File : AndroidManifest.xml

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<manifest xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
    package="com.mkyong.android"
    android:versionCode="1"
    android:versionName="1.0" >

    <uses-sdk android:minSdkVersion="10" />

    <application
        android:icon="@drawable/ic_launcher"
        android:label="@string/app_name" >
        <activity
            android:label="List of Mobile OS"
            android:name=".ListMobileActivity" >
        </activity>
        <activity
            android:label="List of Fruits"
            android:name=".ListFruitActivity" >
             <intent-filter >
                <action android:name="android.intent.action.MAIN" />
                <category android:name="android.intent.category.LAUNCHER" />
            </intent-filter>
        </activity>
    </application>

</manifest>