Question

I want to use the user’s current homescreen as an element of an app, including their icons and layout. I do not expect it to be dynamic, just a static image of their screen upon which the app can act. The “Cracked Screen” app does this like I’m thinking.

In researching, I’ve found ways to grab a screenshot (requires root) or grab the current wallpaper (doesn’t include icons), but nothing yet about this particular issue.

Any ideas? Thanks!

Answer 1

Use the translucent theme. Set it in your AndroidManifest for the relevant activity like this:

<activity android:theme="@android:style/Theme.Translucent" 
     ...>

This sets the users homescreen with it’s icons as the background of the activity, your views float over that. Alternatively you can use @android:style/Theme.Translucent.NoTitleBar if you want to hide the title bar additionally.