Android Add and Remove Application Shortcut in Home Screen Example

One of my friend is asking
When i am installing any application from the android market .I seen shortcut of the application in my mobile home screen.

how to create programmatically can u know ?

Based on that request Here i was creating one example how to create shortcut and remove shortcut on home screen.

Android provide intent class com.android.launcher.action.INSTALL_SHORTCUT which can be used to add shortcuts to home screen.

intent class com.android.launcher.permission.UNINSTALL_SHORTCUT which can be used to remove shortcut from home screen.

Here i created Activity with two buttons one for Add shortcut and other one for remove shortcut.And i was using preferences to store state of shortcut (already created or not)

Android Activity(MainActivity.java)

package com.androidsurya.shortcuts;

import android.app.Activity;
import android.content.Context;
import android.content.Intent;
import android.content.SharedPreferences;
import android.os.Bundle;
import android.preference.PreferenceManager;
import android.view.View;
import android.view.View.OnClickListener;
import android.widget.Button;

public class MainActivity extends Activity {
Context mContext = MainActivity.this;
SharedPreferences appPreferences;

@Override
public void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {

super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
setContentView(R.layout.activity_main);
// Preferences to store all ready created or not finding purpose.
appPreferences = PreferenceManager.getDefaultSharedPreferences(this);
// Add listener to add shortcut button
Button add = (Button) findViewById(R.id.AddShortcut);
add.setOnClickListener(new OnClickListener() {

@Override
public void onClick(View v) {
if (!(appPreferences.getBoolean("isShortcutCreated", false))) {
addShortcut(); // Add shortcut on Home screen

}

}
});

// Add listener to remove shortcut button
Button remove = (Button) findViewById(R.id.RemoveShortcut);
remove.setOnClickListener(new OnClickListener() {

@Override
public void onClick(View v) {
removeShortcut(); // Remove shortcut from Home screen
}
});
}

private void addShortcut() {
// Adding shortcut for MainActivity
// on Home screen
Intent shortcutIntent = new Intent(getApplicationContext(),
MainActivity.class);
shortcutIntent.setAction(Intent.ACTION_MAIN);
Intent addIntent = new Intent();
addIntent.putExtra(Intent.EXTRA_SHORTCUT_INTENT, shortcutIntent);
addIntent.putExtra(Intent.EXTRA_SHORTCUT_NAME, "Shortcut Example");
addIntent.putExtra(Intent.EXTRA_SHORTCUT_ICON_RESOURCE,
Intent.ShortcutIconResource.fromContext(
getApplicationContext(), R.drawable.ic_launcher));
addIntent.setAction("com.android.launcher.action.INSTALL_SHORTCUT");
getApplicationContext().sendBroadcast(addIntent);
SharedPreferences.Editor editor = appPreferences.edit();
editor.putBoolean("isShortcutCreated", true);
editor.commit();
}

private void removeShortcut() {
// Deleting shortcut for MainActivity
// on Home screen
Intent shortcutIntent = new Intent(getApplicationContext(),
MainActivity.class);
shortcutIntent.setAction(Intent.ACTION_MAIN);
Intent addIntent = new Intent();
addIntent.putExtra(Intent.EXTRA_SHORTCUT_INTENT, shortcutIntent);
addIntent.putExtra(Intent.EXTRA_SHORTCUT_NAME, "Shortcut Example");
addIntent.setAction("com.android.launcher.action.UNINSTALL_SHORTCUT");
getApplicationContext().sendBroadcast(addIntent);
SharedPreferences.Editor editor = appPreferences.edit();
editor.putBoolean("isShortcutCreated", false);
editor.commit();
}

}

Android UI layout (activity_main.xml)

<LinearLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
    xmlns:tools="http://schemas.android.com/tools"
    android:layout_width="match_parent"
    android:layout_height="match_parent"
    android:orientation="vertical" >

    <Button
        android:id="@+id/AddShortcut"
        android:layout_width="fill_parent"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:text="Add Shortcut" />

    <Button
        android:id="@+id/RemoveShortcut"
        android:layout_width="fill_parent"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:text="Remove Shortcut" />

</LinearLayout>

Note: 
 Don't Forget Register this Below permissions  In Manifest File 

<uses-permission
         android:name="com.android.launcher.permission.INSTALL_SHORTCUT" />
    <uses-permission
         android:name="com.android.launcher.permission.UNINSTALL_SHORTCUT" />

Output Screenshot:

   

Tags : Android application,app shortcut in homescreen,android homescreen with application shortcut,application shortcut,remove shortcut from home screen,how to add shortcut of application in home screen.