The Android Intent class

The Intent class is appropriately named. It is a class that demonstrates the intent of an Activity instance from our app. It makes intent clear and it also facilitates it.

All our apps so far have had just one Activity instance but many Android apps comprise more than one.

In perhaps its most common use, an Intent object allows us to switch between Activity instances. But, of course, Activity instances are made from classes. So, what happens to the data when we switch between these classes? The Intent class handles this problem for us as well by allowing us to pass data between them.

Intent classes aren't just about wiring up the Activities of our app. They also make it possible to interact with other apps, too. For example, we could provide a link in our app for the user to send an email, make a phone call, interact with social media, or open a web page in a browser, and have the email, dialer, web browser, or relevant social media app do all the work.

There...