Calling startActivity from my app to return to Pokemon Go causes Pokemon Go to restart

Question

I'm wondering if there is another way to switch to a different app? The built-in task switcher doesn't cause Pokemon Go to restart. Is there a way to invoke that?

I have been using this to switch from my app and open Pokemon Go

PackageManager manager = context.getPackageManager();
Intent intent = manager.getLaunchIntentForPackage("com.nianticlabs.pokemongo");
intent.addCategory(Intent.CATEGORY_LAUNCHER);

A few months ago, this started Pokemon Go to open to a black screen. The workaround for this was to close Pokemon go, and start Pokemon Go by switching to it through my app. The first time would start with Pokemon Go's loading screen as expected, but would properly switch between apps after that.

The latest release of Pokemon Go seems to have fixed the black screen problem by always restarting Pokemon Go everytime it is switch to. I found this other intent filter in their AndroidManifest.xml and it works, but it also causes the app to restart.

Uri uri = Uri.parse("http://pokemongolive.com/launchapp");
Intent pokemonGoIntent = new Intent(Intent.ACTION_VIEW, uri);
if (pokemonGoIntent.resolveActivity(getPackageManager()) != null)
     startActivity(pokemonGoIntent);

Is another way to switch to another app? Even when my app is loaded and running, the built-in task switcher doesn't cause Pokemon Go to restart.

Answer 1

After taking a look at some log files, I saw some suspicious messages. I found the corresponding API calls and this seems to be working for me.

Intent intent = new Intent();
intent.setAction(Intent.ACTION_MAIN);
intent.addCategory(Intent.CATEGORY_LAUNCHER);
intent.setComponent(new ComponentName("com.nianticlabs.pokemongo", "com.nianticproject.holoholo.libholoholo.unity.UnityMainActivity"));
intent.setFlags(Intent.FLAG_RECEIVER_FOREGROUND | Intent.FLAG_ACTIVITY_RESET_TASK_IF_NEEDED);
startActivity(intent);

Answer 2

I finally managed to find a solution, after a whole day of testing. It works for me:

Intent poGoIntent = activity.getPackageManager().getLaunchIntentForPackage("com.nianticlabs.pokemongo");
poGoIntent.addFlags(Intent.FLAG_ACTIVITY_SINGLE_TOP);
activity.startActivity(poGoIntent);

Let me know if it helps!