Question

I am not clear about what is the difference between category home and category launcher. From Android documentation page:

CATEGORY_HOME : This is the home activity, that is the first activity
that is displayed when the device boots.

CATEGORY_LAUNCHER : Should be displayed in the top-level launcher.

To test the difference I made a simple app with this manifest:

 <application
        android:icon="@drawable/ic_launcher"
        android:label="@string/app_name" >
        <activity
            android:name=".IntentCategoriesActivity"
            android:label="@string/app_name" >
            <intent-filter>
                <action android:name="android.intent.action.MAIN" />

                <category android:name="android.intent.category.LAUNCHER" />
            </intent-filter>

        </activity>
        <activity
            android:name=".Second"
            android:label="Whatever" >
            <intent-filter>
                <action android:name="android.intent.action.MAIN" />

                <category android:name="android.intent.category.HOME" />
            </intent-filter>

        </activity>

    </application>

But all I see is my launcher activity not the second activity.

Can somebody please explain what am I missing? Thanks.

Answer 1

android.intent.category.HOME is used for Home Screen activities like ADW Launcher, Launcher Pro, etc. If you want to create a new home screen use this.

android.intent.category.LAUNCHER is used to specify which of your activities can be launched. I.e. which ones show up in the app drawer.