How to get a value from another android application?

Question

I'm building 2 applications.

The first application, on start, asks a value (for example an integer) to the second application, which may or may not be installed and may or may not be running.

I don't think shared files or preferences are the best option, because I want to provide different output when the second application is present or not.

Should I use Intents? Content provider? Anything else?

Answer 1

I solved by creating an Intent with putExtra and finish() (to return to first app). 4 lines of code on each app.

Answer 2

Use Intents and Activities, if you want to retrieve a user entered value, or something that requires user interaction.

ContentProvider would also work, depending on your requirements.