Using activity-alias as MAIN/LAUNCHER activity will throw an incorrect error when using flutter run

When using an activity-alias in the AndroidManifest.xml for your main activity it is not picked up by the Flutter tools and will thrown an error even though it's a valid state. (see https://developer.android.com/guide/topics/manifest/activity-alias-element )
The application will run correctly when using ./gradlew installDebug, confirming that it's a valid state.
Only the detection in https://github.com/flutter/flutter/blob/master/packages/flutter_tools/lib/src/application_package.dart#L209 is incorrect.

Steps to Reproduce

run flutter create activity_alias
remove the intent-filter from the .MainActivity
add an activity-alias

        <activity-alias android:name="this.doesnt.matter" android:targetActivity=".MainActivity">
            <intent-filter>
                <action android:name="android.intent.action.MAIN"/>
                <category android:name="android.intent.category.LAUNCHER"/>
            </intent-filter>
        </activity-alias>

run flutter run

Logs

[  +36 ms] package identifier or launch activity not found.
[   +1 ms] Please check /Users/peter/dev/github/activity_alias/android/app/src/main/AndroidManifest.xml for errors.
[   +3 ms] No application found for TargetPlatform.android_x86.
           Is your project missing an android/app/src/main/AndroidManifest.xml?
           Consider running "flutter create ." to create one.

#0      throwToolExit (package:flutter_tools/src/base/common.dart:28:3)
#1      RunCommand.runCommand (package:flutter_tools/src/commands/run.dart:475:7)
<asynchronous suspension>
#2      FlutterCommand.verifyThenRunCommand (package:flutter_tools/src/runner/flutter_command.dart:478:18)
<asynchronous suspension>
#3      FlutterCommand.run.<anonymous closure> (package:flutter_tools/src/runner/flutter_command.dart:383:33)
<asynchronous suspension>
#4      AppContext.run.<anonymous closure> (package:flutter_tools/src/base/context.dart:153:29)
<asynchronous suspension>
#5      _rootRun (dart:async/zone.dart:1124:13)
#6      _CustomZone.run (dart:async/zone.dart:1021:19)
#7      _runZoned (dart:async/zone.dart:1516:10)
#8      runZoned (dart:async/zone.dart:1463:12)
#9      AppContext.run (package:flutter_tools/src/base/context.dart:152:18)
<asynchronous suspension>
#10     FlutterCommand.run (package:flutter_tools/src/runner/flutter_command.dart:375:20)
#11     CommandRunner.runCommand (package:args/command_runner.dart:197:27)
<asynchronous suspension>
#12     FlutterCommandRunner.runCommand.<anonymous closure> (package:flutter_tools/src/runner/flutter_command_runner.dart:396:21)
<asynchronous suspension>
#13     AppContext.run.<anonymous closure> (package:flutter_tools/src/base/context.dart:153:29)
<asynchronous suspension>
#14     _rootRun (dart:async/zone.dart:1124:13)
#15     _CustomZone.run (dart:async/zone.dart:1021:19)
#16     _runZoned (dart:async/zone.dart:1516:10)
#17     runZoned (dart:async/zone.dart:1463:12)
#18     AppContext.run (package:flutter_tools/src/base/context.dart:152:18)
<asynchronous suspension>
#19     FlutterCommandRunner.runCommand (package:flutter_tools/src/runner/flutter_command_runner.dart:356:19)
<asynchronous suspension>
#20     CommandRunner.run.<anonymous closure> (package:args/command_runner.dart:112:25)
#21     new Future.sync (dart:async/future.dart:224:31)
#22     CommandRunner.run (package:args/command_runner.dart:112:14)
#23     FlutterCommandRunner.run (package:flutter_tools/src/runner/flutter_command_runner.dart:242:18)
#24     run.<anonymous closure>.<anonymous closure> (package:flutter_tools/runner.dart:62:22)
<asynchronous suspension>
#25     _rootRun (dart:async/zone.dart:1124:13)
#26     _CustomZone.run (dart:async/zone.dart:1021:19)
#27     _runZoned (dart:async/zone.dart:1516:10)
#28     runZoned (dart:async/zone.dart:1500:12)
#29     run.<anonymous closure> (package:flutter_tools/runner.dart:60:18)
<asynchronous suspension>
#30     AppContext.run.<anonymous closure> (package:flutter_tools/src/base/context.dart:153:29)
<asynchronous suspension>
#31     _rootRun (dart:async/zone.dart:1124:13)
#32     _CustomZone.run (dart:async/zone.dart:1021:19)
#33     _runZoned (dart:async/zone.dart:1516:10)
#34     runZoned (dart:async/zone.dart:1463:12)
#35     AppContext.run (package:flutter_tools/src/base/context.dart:152:18)
<asynchronous suspension>
#36     runInContext (package:flutter_tools/src/context_runner.dart:56:24)
<asynchronous suspension>
#37     run (package:flutter_tools/runner.dart:51:10)
#38     main (package:flutter_tools/executable.dart:62:9)
<asynchronous suspension>
#39     main (file:///Users/peter/dev/sdk/flutter/packages/flutter_tools/bin/flutter_tools.dart:8:3)
#40     _startIsolate.<anonymous closure> (dart:isolate-patch/isolate_patch.dart:299:32)
#41     _RawReceivePortImpl._handleMessage (dart:isolate-patch/isolate_patch.dart:172:12)

Analyzing activity_alias...                                             
No issues found! (ran in 1.1s)

[✓] Flutter (Channel stable, v1.7.8+hotfix.4, on Mac OS X 10.14.6 18G87, locale en-BE)
    • Flutter version 1.7.8+hotfix.4 at /Users/peter/dev/sdk/flutter
    • Framework revision 20e59316b8 (5 weeks ago), 2019-07-18 20:04:33 -0700
    • Engine revision fee001c93f
    • Dart version 2.4.0

[✓] Android toolchain - develop for Android devices (Android SDK version 29.0.1)
    • Android SDK at /Users/peter/dev/sdk/Android
    • Android NDK location not configured (optional; useful for native profiling support)
    • Platform android-29, build-tools 29.0.1
    • ANDROID_HOME = /Users/peter/dev/sdk/Android
    • Java binary at: /Applications/Android Studio.app/Contents/jre/jdk/Contents/Home/bin/java
    • Java version OpenJDK Runtime Environment (build 1.8.0_202-release-1483-b49-5587405)
    • All Android licenses accepted.

[✓] Xcode - develop for iOS and macOS (Xcode 10.3)
    • Xcode at /Applications/Xcode.app/Contents/Developer
    • Xcode 10.3, Build version 10G8
    • CocoaPods version 1.7.5

[✓] iOS tools - develop for iOS devices
    • ios-deploy 1.9.4

[✓] Android Studio (version 3.5)
    • Android Studio at /Applications/Android Studio.app/Contents
    • Flutter plugin version 37.1.1
    • Dart plugin version 191.8405
    • Java version OpenJDK Runtime Environment (build 1.8.0_202-release-1483-b49-5587405)

[✓] IntelliJ IDEA Ultimate Edition (version 2019.2)
    • IntelliJ at /Applications/IntelliJ IDEA.app
    • Flutter plugin version 38.2.4
    • Dart plugin version 192.6459

[✓] VS Code (version 1.37.0)
    • VS Code at /Applications/Visual Studio Code.app/Contents
    • Flutter extension version 3.3.0

[✓] Connected device (1 available)
    • Android SDK built for x86 • emulator-5554 • android-x86 • Android 9 (API 28) (emulator)

• No issues found!

Same issue here...

@TahaTesser

@TahaTesser Could you add the customer:solaris to this ticket? As the duplicate (#80532 ) is seen there.

And is there any good workaround for this?

@PieterAelse

@PieterAelse You can work around this issue by recreating an activity on your old location.

<activity android:name="your.old.package.YourOldActivity">
    <intent-filter>
        <action android:name="android.intent.action.MAIN"/>
        <category android:name="android.intent.category.LAUNCHER"/>
    </intent-filter>
</activity>

Which then launches the actual flutter activity

class YourOldActivity : AppCompatActivity() {
    override fun onCreate(savedInstanceState: Bundle?) {
        super.onCreate(savedInstanceState)
        startActivity(Intent(this, FlutterActivity::class.java))
        finish()
    }
}

Any update?

any updates on this? 3 years old issue....

Any updates? Is there a way for us to fix this bug on flutter?

Anyone found a way to deal with this?

Is there any solution with this issue? it's useful for multi-flavors with different intent-filters

A workaround is to add <category android:name="android.intent.category.LAUNCHER"/> to main/AndroidManifest.xml, and to remove that particular node from your build flavor(s) (eg. flavor/AndroidManifest.xml):

<intent-filter>
    <action android:name="android.intent.action.MAIN"/>
    <category android:name="android.intent.category.LAUNCHER" tools:node="remove"/>
</intent-filter>

@SNNafi

Hi @SNNafi thanks for the PR but I see that it is closed. If you’re not planning to take it on, would it be okay for someone else to pick it up?

@chaudharydeepanshu

Thanks. Please do @chaudharydeepanshu

A workaround is to add <category android:name="android.intent.category.LAUNCHER"/> to main/AndroidManifest.xml, and to remove that particular node from your build flavor(s) (eg. flavor/AndroidManifest.xml):

Saved my day

Support activity-alias in Android launcher activity detection (flutte…

This thread has been automatically locked since there has not been any recent activity after it was closed. If you are still experiencing a similar issue, please open a new bug, including the output of flutter doctor -v and a minimal reproduction of the issue.

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Using activity-alias as MAIN/LAUNCHER activity will throw an incorrect error when using `flutter run` #38965

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Using activity-alias as MAIN/LAUNCHER activity will throw an incorrect error when using flutter run #38965

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muarachmann commented on Dec 18, 2020

PieterAelse commented on Apr 16, 2021

petermnt commented on Apr 16, 2021

danielalonsomendez commented on Dec 16, 2021

armandojimenez commented on Apr 1, 2022

neokree commented on Jun 9, 2022

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vishnukvmd commented on Mar 12, 2025

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Using activity-alias as MAIN/LAUNCHER activity will throw an incorrect error when using `flutter run` #38965