XPost: alt.comp.software.firefox, comp.mobile.android
On Mon, 12 May 2025 08:47:59 +0200, R.Wieser wrote :
most descriptions abut Android "Activities" & Android "Intents"
are for Android app developers, and not necessarily from the
perspective of the user.
:-) It the other way around : where those developer (people-in-the-know) would be about the first people to refer to something by its given name
(just to be clear what they are talking about), they too are using the "shortcut" name for it instead of "intents".
The way I use the word "shortcut" for Android is similar to how I use the
same word for Windows in that it's a "one-tap icon" that "does something".
*How to manually create a homescreen shortcut*
<
https://xdaforums.com/t/how-to-manually-create-a-homescreen-shortcut-to-a-known-unique-android-activity.4336833/>
<
https://xdaforums.com/t/tutorial-illustrated-mostly-privacy-based-one-tap-shortcuts-so-that-you-can-access-in-a-single-tap-any-buried-android-setting-or-app-activity.4625951/>
IOW, that Android programs create their own shortcuts is out of necessity, because neither drag-and-drop really exists, nor does it have a way to start apps by a user-created ... something (bash, script, other).
For me, the "official" definition of a "shortcut" is...
"A shortcut is a direct link on your home screen or within an
app launcher that takes you directly to a specific app, a specific
action within an app, or a piece of content within an app."
Note that's different from a Wizard in that a single pre-defined action is performed and that it can be placed anywhere (e.g., inside a folder).
On Android, that is called an Intent.
And neither those developpers nor you are using that name. :-p
The way I'm using the word shortcut doesn't distinguish between what the "something" is that the shortcut does, whether that something is to
exercise an Intent or open up an Activity five levels deep inside an app.
Top me, the shortcut is the pretty thing you tap.
Whether it activates an Intent or opens an Activity it's still a shortcut.
Of course, that's DIFFERENT from a Wizard, which is defined as...
"A wizard is a guided, multi-step process that helps users complete
a complex task. It breaks down the task into a series of screens
or steps, prompting the user for information or choices along the way."
Note that Wizards can't be placed inside of folders (AFAIK).
Shortcuts can (and should) be placed inside of folders (for organization).
As for the users ? They use whichever name is easiest to remember. And as Windows has been using the "shortcuts" name for a very similar thing for decades, its rather likely that the users will use that, instead of a new, whatever-it-may-actually-mean "intents" name.
As far as I'm aware, the official definition of an Android shortcut allows
it to run a single well-defined immediate action, whether that action "that takes you directly to a specific app, a specific action within an app, or a piece of content within an app."
From the perspective of the user, what I love about Android
"Activities", is that if the activity is declared by the app,
then any user can easily create a shortcut to that "Activity"
without any programming necessary.
:-) Even you are calling it a shortcut.
While I get your point that the ACTION of what I call a shortcut can be to execute (a) an Application, (b) an Intent or (c) open an Activity, it's my understanding that the pretty thing we tap on is a shortcut for all three.
A Wizard is different though.
On Windows I can drag-and-drop most every document, regardless of if it is
an executable or something else, and have a shortcut. Heck, this thread is about internet shortcuts - which are as easy to create as document
shortcuts. Just drag-and-drop. Furthermore, programs on Windows /could/ create their own shortcuts, but there seems to be very little need for it.
As far as I am aware, you can create a shortcut that opens up any file on Android (where that file could be a document). I don't do it often though.
*How hard can it be to find a simple text editor that edits any text file stored anywhere you want it to be stored on your internal or external sdcard?*
<
https://xdaforums.com/t/how-hard-can-it-be-to-find-a-simple-text-editor-that-edits-any-text-file-stored-anywhere-you-want-it-to-be-stored-on-your-internal-or-external-sdcard.4529815/>
An example is when I create a TEXT file on Windows and copy it to Android.
Then on Android I tap on that file and it asks me what program to open it
in. Often (if not always, as I recall) that changes the icon to the icon
used for whatever text editor I selected in the Activity chooser.
However, I do agree that most files on Android usually open in the program
that created them, so they don't work the same way as that text file does.
After that I can open that Windows shortcut and change it any way I want - giving me full freedom over what happens.
Android is a tad different. Its is created for knobchen-druecken users, always starting apps from the "home screen". I would not be amazed if only a small percentage would know of the filebrowser and even less how to use
it. A commandline interface ? Whats that ?
Well, while I don't disagree that most people don't know about Termux as
one of the command-line interfaces to Android, most would start apps from folders which are themselves "inside" the homescreen (one level deeper).
As for the file manager (aka file browser), I think every Android phone
comes with a default file browser. I must have more than a dozen myself.
<
https://i.postimg.cc/Hxj3qWZS/filemgr01.jpg> File Managers on Old phone
<
https://i.postimg.cc/3Rgyzbjj/filemgr04.jpg> File Managers on New phone
Also, on Android there seems to be no way to alter or even just inspect
whats in a shortcut.
Funny story. See the above grayed-out icons? When you tap them, they go to
the Google Play Store repository to get themselves. It's really neat.
Once they get themselves (off the Google Play Store repo), they ungray themselves. It's really neat.
I'll wager only one in a million Android users ports an old phone to a new phone keeping the EXACT location of all the shortcuts to all the apps.
Same folder. Same name. Same app it brings up. Exactly. No differences.
I think that's yet another cool feature of Android that no other common consumer operating system does - which is replicate itself automatically.
IOW, that Android programs create their own shortcuts is outof necessity, because neither drag-and-drop really exists, nor does it have a way to start apps by a user-created ... something (bash, script, other).
I don't disagree with you that it's not easy to see what's inside a
shortcut, although there are programs which will tell you what it did.
*What is a replacement app for the freeware com.cemique.shortcutwidgets Shortcut Widgets (+Inspector)*
<
https://xdaforums.com/t/what-is-a-replacement-app-for-the-freeware-com-cemique-shortcutwidgets-shortcut-widgets-inspector.4627267/>
Lord knows I've often tried to figure out what many shortcuts do.
*Is it possible to find the shortcut activity Google Maps uses to turn on "Google Location Accuracy"*
<
https://xdaforums.com/t/privacy-is-it-possible-to-find-the-shortcut-activity-google-maps-uses-to-turn-on-google-location-accuracy.4285243/>
I have a few threads on that topic, where I agree with you that it's not at
all easy, on Android, to figure out what any given shortcut actually does.
*What Android debugging tools will analyze any active homescreen shortcut to report the exact ACTIVITY and/or INTENT calls made by that app shortcut?*
<
https://xdaforums.com/t/what-android-debugging-tools-will-analyze-any-active-homescreen-shortcut-to-report-the-exact-activity-and-or-intent-calls-made-by-that-app-shortcut.4624939/>
Android doesn't even make it easy to *find* all your shortcuts!
*There MUST be a way to search for user-created Android SHORTCUTS (not widgets); but how?*
<
https://xdaforums.com/t/there-must-be-a-way-to-search-for-user-created-android-shortcuts-not-widgets-but-how.4733365/>
On Android, that is called an Intent.
And neither those developers nor you are using that name. :-p
The way I use the word shortcut (as opposed to a wizard), is the shortcut
is a single tap on a pretty icon on the homescreen or inside a folder that
does something immediately and very specific, whether that something is to
(a) launch an app, or (b) open up an Activity, or (c) activate an Intent.
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