android - ACTION_MY_PACKAGE_REPLACED not received

Question

I am using ACTION_MY_PACKAGE_REPLACED to receive when my app is updated or resinstalled. My problem is that the event is never triggered (I tried Eclipse and real device). This is what I do:

Manifest:

<receiver android:name=".MyEventReceiver" >
    <intent-filter android:priority="1000" >
        <action android:name="android.intent.action.ACTION_MY_PACKAGE_REPLACED" />
    </intent-filter>
</receiver>

Code:

public class MyEventReceiver extends BroadcastReceiver
{  
   @Override public void onReceive(Context context, Intent intent)
   {  
      if ("android.intent.action.ACTION_MY_PACKAGE_REPLACED".equals(intent.getAction())) 
      {  //Restart services
      }
   }      
}

This code is simple, in real one I used other events like BOOT_COMPLETED and others, and they work but ACTION_MY_PACKAGE_REPLACED. Thanks.

Answer 1

for some reason, a google developer (named "Dianne Hackborn") thinks it is possible to register to the PACKAGE_REPLACED intent of the current app alone (read archived version here, original link here).

however, i can't find any way of doing it correctly, so i've made a compromise: it will use the newest API when available.

Sadly, I can't find out why it can't be debugged, but it does work (you can write to the log if you wish).

here's the code:

manifest:

    <receiver
        android:name=".OnUpgradeBroadcastReceiver"
        android:enabled="@bool/is_at_most_api_11" >
        <intent-filter>
            <action android:name="android.intent.action.PACKAGE_REPLACED" />
            <data android:scheme="package" />
        </intent-filter>
    </receiver>
    <receiver
        android:name=".OnUpgradeBroadcastReceiver"
        android:enabled="@bool/is_at_least_api_12" >
        <intent-filter>
            <action android:name="android.intent.action.MY_PACKAGE_REPLACED" />
        </intent-filter>
    </receiver>

res/values/version_checks.xml

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<resources>

    <item name="is_at_least_api_12" type="bool">false</item>
    <item name="is_at_most_api_11" type="bool">true</item>

</resources>

res/values-v12/version_checks.xml

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<resources>

    <item name="is_at_least_api_12" type="bool">true</item>
    <item name="is_at_most_api_11" type="bool">false</item>

</resources>

OnUpgradeBroadcastReceiver.java

public class OnUpgradeBroadcastReceiver extends BroadcastReceiver {

    @Override
    public void onReceive(final Context context, final Intent intent) {
        if (VERSION.SDK_INT <= VERSION_CODES.HONEYCOMB
                && !context.getPackageName().equals(intent.getData().getSchemeSpecificPart())) {
            android.util.Log.d("AppLog", "other apps were upgraded");
            return;
        }
        android.util.Log.d("AppLog", "current app was upgraded");

---

EDIT: In today's Android versions, when you should set minSdk to be at least 14, you don't need this, and indeed you should just use MY_PACKAGE_REPLACED and that's it. No need for the booleans etc...