android: open a pdf from my app using the built in pdf viewer

Question

This was my original question:

I want to be able to open a pdf file in my app using the android's built in pdf viewer app, but i dont know how to start other apps. I'm sure i have to call start activity, i just dont know how to identify the app im opening and how to pass the file to that specific app.

Anyone have a clue?

I just learned that the pdf viewer i have on my phone is actually made by HTC and that Adobe just barely released their android pdf viewer (which is great). So the new question is this: how do i verify that the user has installed adobe's viewer, and then how do i open the file in that app from my app?

Answer 1

You can programmatically determine whether a suitable application exists on the user's device, without catching exceptions.

Intent intent = new Intent(Intent.ACTION_VIEW,
        Uri.parse("path-to-document"));
intent.setType("application/pdf");
PackageManager pm = getPackageManager();
List<ResolveInfo> activities = pm.queryIntentActivities(intent, 0);
if (activities.size() > 0) {
    startActivity(intent);
} else {
    // Do something else here. Maybe pop up a Dialog or Toast
}