Add option to set HA as launcher #5348

fpetrovski · 2025-05-22T18:33:30Z

jpelgrom

jpelgrom · 2025-05-22T21:53:03Z

app/src/main/res/xml/preferences.xml

@@ -37,6 +37,11 @@
    </PreferenceCategory>
    <PreferenceCategory
        android:title="@string/other_settings">
+        <Preference


Does this need this amount of promotion (in settings! the first item!) for a feature 99% of users will not use?

I decided to position it there since it's somewhat related to fullscreen, screen orientation and keep screen on, in the sense that it changes how the device behaves.
I can move it below those 3.

Although this largely compliments most of the apps WebView features this feels like a big behavior change for a device that not every user will want to enable on every device. Maybe a new category is a good idea for this so we can also describe why a user may want to set the app as the launcher? They may not understand that they will need to do things like updating the dashboard to add links to apps etc...

One of the reasons why its not good to list it at the top is that users may enable it on accident and that may not lead to a good experience.

Another thought: make the launcher an activity-alias that can be enabled/disabled and require the user to opt-in to the setting to choose HA as a launcher (= enable the activity alias). We should avoid the possibility that users accidentally set HA as a launcher.

make the launcher an activity-alias that can be enabled/disabled

@jpelgrom I can create a new SwitchPreference for this.

Maybe a new category is a good idea for this

@dshokouhi, would it be acceptable if I add the switch and based on the state show or hide the current Preference item that navigates to the settings? The new category could be simply named "Launcher" or "Kiosk", although for it to be truly a kiosk app, a few other things need to be implemented.

Another option is to open a new page like "Manage Sensors" or "Notification History", but I'm not sure if it makes sense to have an entire page just for one option. Additionally if the app is being slowly converted to JetpackCompose, adding another fragment does not help :)

@dshokouhi, would it be acceptable if I add the switch and based on the state show or hide the current Preference item that navigates to the settings?

Yup sounds good with me, I like @jpelgrom suggestion to make it explicit opt-in

The new category could be simply named "Launcher" or "Kiosk", although for it to be truly a kiosk app, a few other things need to be implemented.

Could be a good start to a set of new features ;) We can maybe leave it as generic and update it if anything else gets added to compliment it.

Another option is to open a new page like "Manage Sensors" or "Notification History", but I'm not sure if it makes sense to have an entire page just for one option. Additionally if the app is being slowly converted to JetpackCompose, adding another fragment does not help :)

That is an option and in fact some of the sub settings pages have already been converted to Compose so we can interchange them. For now with just 1 option it may not make sense. However a dedicated page is a good place for an extended description if required.

jpelgrom · 2025-05-22T21:53:20Z

app/src/main/kotlin/io/homeassistant/companion/android/settings/SettingsFragment.kt

@@ -58,6 +58,8 @@ import kotlinx.coroutines.sync.Mutex
 import kotlinx.coroutines.sync.withLock
 import timber.log.Timber

+private const val UNKNOWN_LAUNCHER_LABEL = "unknown app"


Should be translated

Absolutely, thanks for pointing it out.

app/src/main/kotlin/io/homeassistant/companion/android/settings/SettingsPresenterImpl.kt

.../src/main/kotlin/io/homeassistant/companion/android/common/data/prefs/PrefsRepositoryImpl.kt

fpetrovski · 2025-06-12T15:08:57Z

TimoPtr

TimoPtr · 2025-06-20T08:21:42Z

app/src/main/kotlin/io/homeassistant/companion/android/settings/SettingsFragment.kt

+        findPreference<SwitchPreference>("enable_ha_launcher")?.let { switchPreference ->
+            switchPreference.setOnPreferenceClickListener {
+                findPreference<Preference>("set_launcher_app")?.isVisible = switchPreference.isChecked
+                true
+            }
+        }
+
+        findPreference<Preference>("set_launcher_app")?.let {
+            it.isVisible = findPreference<SwitchPreference>("enable_ha_launcher")?.isChecked ?: false
+            it.summary = getString(commonR.string.default_launcher_prompt_def, getDefaultLauncherInfo())
+            it.setOnPreferenceClickListener {
+                val intent = Intent(Settings.ACTION_HOME_SETTINGS)
+                    .addFlags(Intent.FLAG_ACTIVITY_NEW_TASK)
+                startActivity(intent)
+                true
+            }
+        }


The class is already quite big (same for the function itself) I would be in favor of grouping this two findPref into one private method.

TimoPtr · 2025-06-20T08:27:33Z

app/src/main/kotlin/io/homeassistant/companion/android/settings/SettingsPresenterImpl.kt

+        view.getPackageManager()?.setComponentEnabledSetting(
+            launcherAliasComponent,
+            if (enable) PackageManager.COMPONENT_ENABLED_STATE_ENABLED else PackageManager.COMPONENT_ENABLED_STATE_DISABLED,
+            PackageManager.DONT_KILL_APP


Does it make sense to keep this flag when we set the state to disable?

home-assistant bot added the cla-signed label May 22, 2025

dshokouhi linked an issue May 22, 2025 that may be closed by this pull request

Allow the app to be the launcher #5023

Open

fpetrovski force-pushed the feature/launcher branch from ef632b8 to 1712549 Compare May 22, 2025 18:44

jpelgrom reviewed May 22, 2025

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github-advanced-security bot found potential problems Jun 12, 2025

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fpetrovski force-pushed the feature/launcher branch 2 times, most recently from e5411e8 to eed5c27 Compare June 12, 2025 15:00

fpetrovski requested a review from dshokouhi June 14, 2025 13:23

fpetrovski force-pushed the feature/launcher branch from eed5c27 to 59b0721 Compare June 16, 2025 15:30

fpetrovski added 4 commits June 19, 2025 12:03

Add option to set HA as launcher

0496573

Extract string

8c4a0ec

Add Launcher activity alias

661169c

Create switch preference to enable launcher mode

8c153fc

fpetrovski force-pushed the feature/launcher branch from 59b0721 to 8c153fc Compare June 19, 2025 10:03

TimoPtr reviewed Jun 20, 2025

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