Import and export home screen data

Android home screen data is provided by the LauncherProvider class, which extends ContentProvider, allowing for the import and export of Launcher workspace data using XML.

Interact with the content provider

To interact with the LaunchProvider class, which extends ContentProvider, use the call method:

class LauncherProvider : ContentProvider {
    public Bundle call(String method, String arg, Bundle extras);
}

Invoke the LaunchProvider class

To invoke the LauncherProvider class from your app, use the following:

class YourClass {

    /**
     * This method imports Launcher workspace data as a XML string. Calling this method clears the old
     * data model within Launcher and replaces it with the imported data. It should be noted
     * that it doesn't need to clear all the Launcher's data, just what is similar to what is being imported.
     */
    fun importLauncherData(xmlRepresentation: String, ctx: Context): Boolean {
        val uri = try {
            getLauncherProviderUri(ctx)
        } catch (e: IllegalStateException) {
            Log.e(TAG, "Failed to get launcher provider URI", e)
            return false
        }
        val bundle = ctx.contentResolver.call(
            uri,
            LauncherProviderConstants.METHOD_IMPORT_LAYOUT_XML,
            xmlRepresentation,
            null,
        )
        return LauncherProviderConstants.SUCCESS
            .equals(bundle.getBoolean(LauncherProviderConstants.KEY_RESULT))
    }

    /**
     * Use this function to retrieve an XML string representation of the Launcher's Workspace.
     * This method doesn't return what the user sees on their home screen,
     * but rather what is in their data model at the moment it's called.
     */
    fun exportLauncherData(xmlRepresentation: String, ctx: Context): String {
        val uri = try {
            getLauncherProviderUri(ctx)
        } catch (e: IllegalStateException) {
            Log.e(TAG, "Failed to get launcher provider URI", e)
            return ""
        }
        val bundle = ctx.contentResolver.call(
            uri,
            LauncherProviderConstants.METHOD_EXPORT_LAYOUT_XML,
            null,
            null,
        )
        if (LauncherProviderConstants.FAILURE
            .equals(bundle.getBoolean(LauncherProviderConstants.KEY_RESULT))) {
            Log.e(TAG, "failed to export launcher data; review previous logs for the cause.")
        }
        return bundle.getString(LauncherProviderConstants.KEY_LAYOUT, "")
    }

    /**
     * Returns a Uri for interacting with Launcher's ContentProvider.
     *
     * Not all Launchers implement this api. This method throws an IllegalStateException
     * if the Launcher doesn't support it.
     */
    private fun getLauncherProviderUri(ctx: Context): Uri {
        val homeIntent = Intent(Intent.ACTION_MAIN).addCategory(Intent.CATEGORY_HOME)
        val launcherPackage: String =
            ctx.packageManager
                .resolveActivity(homeIntent, PackageManager.MATCH_DEFAULT_ONLY)
                ?.activityInfo
                ?.packageName ?: throw IllegalStateException("No launcher package found")
        val authority = "${launcherPackage}.settings"
        ctx.packageManager.resolveContentProvider(authority, 0)
            ?: throw IllegalStateException(
                "Launcher package '$launcherPackage' does not support LauncherProvider",
            )
        return "content://$authority".toUri()
    }
}

Parameters

These constants are used in the call method:

object LauncherProviderConstants {

    // Valid arg parameters for export and import operations
    private static final String METHOD_EXPORT_LAYOUT_XML = "EXPORT_LAYOUT_XML";
    private static final String METHOD_IMPORT_LAYOUT_XML = "IMPORT_LAYOUT_XML";

    // Bundle key and value set for determining if operation completed successfully or not
    private static final String KEY_RESULT = "KEY_RESULT";
    private static final String SUCCESS = "success";
    private static final String FAILURE = "failure";

    // Bundle key used to store exported XML-string representation of Launcher's workspace layout
    // and item metadata
    private static final String KEY_LAYOUT = "KEY_LAYOUT";
}

Use the LauncherProvider constants with the following constraints:

  • Use the contentResolver.call method with EXPORT_LAYOUT_XML as the method parameter to export an XML representation of the launcher's workspace.
  • During export, the XML representation is accessible in the returned bundle using the KEY_LAYOUT key.
  • Use the contentResolver.call method with IMPORT_LAYOUT_XML as the method parameter to import an XML representation of the launcher's workspace.
  • During import, the XML representation is provided as the call method's arg parameter.
  • For both export and import API calls, successful completion of the chosen operation return success, and interrupted or failed operations return failure.
  • The success or failure value is retrievable in the returned bundle using the KEY_RESULT key.

For an example, see Invoke the LaunchProvider class.

XML representation

Use the following guides for XML structure during import and export.

  • Workspace app:

    <?xml version='1.0' encoding='UTF-8' standalone='yes' ?>
    <workspace rows="4" columns="5">
      <autoinstall container="desktop" x="1" y="1" screen="0" className="com.android.launcher3.tests.Activity2" packageName="com.google.android.apps.nexuslauncher" />
    </workspace>
    
  • Hotseat app:

    <?xml version='1.0' encoding='UTF-8' standalone='yes' ?>
    <workspace>
      <autoinstall container="hotseat" rank="0" className="com.android.launcher3.tests.Activity2" packageName="com.google.android.apps.nexuslauncher" />
    </workspace>
    
  • Widget:

    <?xml version='1.0' encoding='UTF-8' standalone='yes' ?>
    <workspace>
      <appwidget container="desktop" spanX="2" spanY="2" x="0" y="1" screen="0" className="PlaceholderWidget" packageName="com.test.pending" />
    </workspace>
    
  • Folder:

    <?xml version='1.0' encoding='UTF-8' standalone='yes' ?>
    <workspace>
      <folder container="desktop" x="1" y="1" screen="1" titleText="CustomFolder">
        <autoinstall className="com.android.launcher3.tests.Activity1" packageName="com.google.android.apps.nexuslauncher" />
        <autoinstall className="com.android.launcher3.tests.Activity2" packageName="com.google.android.apps.nexuslauncher" />
        <autoinstall className="com.android.launcher3.tests.Activity3" packageName="com.google.android.apps.nexuslauncher" />
      </folder>
    </workspace>
    
  • Deep shortcut:

    <?xml version='1.0' encoding='UTF-8' standalone='yes' ?>
    <workspace>
      <shortcut shortcutId="shortcut2" packageName="com.google.android.apps.nexuslauncher.tests" />
    </workspace>
    
  • App pair:

    <?xml version='1.0' encoding='UTF-8' standalone='yes' ?>
    <workspace>
      <apppair container="desktop" x="1" y="1" screen="1" titleText="CustomFolder">
        <autoinstall className="com.android.launcher3.tests.Activity1" packageName="com.google.android.apps.nexuslauncher" />
        <autoinstall className="com.android.launcher3.tests.Activity2" packageName="com.google.android.apps.nexuslauncher" />
      </apppair>
    </workspace>
    

Behavioral assumptions

The following are behavioral assumptions for the LaunchProvider class.

  • Methods are atomic and blocking.
  • Analogous data in the launcher is overwritten during import, leaving only the newly imported data.
  • Imported data is immediately accessible; exporting right after import returns the new data.