Anatomy of an Android App
Anatomy of an Android app refers to its core structure and essential components that work together to create a fully functioning Android application.
An Android application is made of the core components: Activities, Services, Broadcast Receivers, and Content Providers. These components are declared in the AndroidManifest.xml file and work together with resources (Layouts, Images, MP3 Files, etc) to create Android application.
- Components of Android App
- Activities
- Services
- Broadcast Receivers
- Content Providers
- Manifests
- Resources
Components of Android Application
Application components are the essential building blocks of an Android application. These components are loosely coupled by manifest file AndroidManifest.xml which contains the description of each component and how they interact.
| Component | Description |
|---|---|
Activities |
The presentation layer of our applications |
Services |
Services are like invisible workers of our app |
Content Providers |
Handle data and database also share data beyond app |
Broadcast Receivers |
Handle communication between Android OS and applications |
1. Activities
An activity represents a single screen in Android App. Activities, By using fragments and views set the layout and display the output and also respond to the user’s actions.
An activity is implemented as a subclass of class Activity.
public class NewMailActivity extends Activity {}
2. Services
A service is a component that runs in the Background to perform long-running operations. For example, a service might play music in the background while the user is in a different application, or it might upload an image to the server without blocking user interaction.
A Service is implemented as a subclass of Service class as follows:
public class UploadVideoService extends Service {}
3. Content Providers
Content Providers are manage and persist the application data also typically interacts with the SQL database. They are also responsible for sharing the data beyond the application boundaries.
A Content Provider should be a sub-class of ContentProvider.
public class ContnetProviderName extends ContentProvider {
public void onCreate(){}
}
4. Broadcast Receivers
Broadcast Receivers simply respond to broadcast messages from other applications or from the system. For example when device is plugged in it shows notification that the device is on charging.
A Broadcast Receiver is implemented as a subclass of BroadCastRecevier.
public class RecevierName extends BroadCastRecevier {
public void onReceive(context, intent){}
}
Android Manifest File
- The AndroidManifest.xml is the configuration file for an Android app.
- Every app must have an Android Manifest File. You can Think Of It as Table Of Content for Your app
- Android System First Look at Manifest file Before it runs any code of your app
Android Manifest File Contains:
- Permissions
- Package Name
- Android Version Support
- Activities
- MainActivity (Entry Point of app)
- hardware features support
- Services
- other configurations
Resource Folder
In Android Resource folder or res folder, Contains all the resources for an Android App.
- Drawable
- layouts
- mipmap
- Colors
- Themes
- Strings
- raw files
- anim
- xml
🧠 Final Thoughts
An Android app isn’t just code and UI it’s a structured ecosystem of components that work together. Understanding the anatomy of an Android app helps you debug better, write cleaner code, and scale efficiently.
FAQs
Q1: What are the 4 main components of Android?
A: Activity, Service, BroadcastReceiver, and ContentProvider.
Q2: What is the role of AndroidManifest.xml?
A: It defines all app components, permissions, and metadata.
Q3: Can an app have multiple Activities?
A: Yes, most apps have several Activities to manage different screens.
Q4: What’s the difference between a Service and an Activity?
A: An Activity has a UI, while a Service runs in the background without a UI.
Related Posts
Stay Connected
Follow me on Instagram for Java tips, coding reels, and much more.
Subscribe to my YouTube Channel for learning the art of programming.
