What are cases where activity can be destroyed in android - devrath/AndroidQuestionsAlchemy GitHub Wiki

In Android development, there are cases where the system may destroy and recreate activities. This process is known as activity lifecycle management. Here are some scenarios where this can happen:

1. Configuration Changes:

   • Screen rotation: When the device is rotated, the screen configuration changes, causing the activity to be destroyed and recreated unless you handle the configuration changes manually using methods like onSaveInstanceState() and onRestoreInstanceState().

2. Low Memory Conditions:

   • The Android system might destroy activities in the background if the device is running low on memory. In such cases, the system prioritizes resources and may reclaim memory by destroying activities that are not currently visible.

3. Process Death and Restoration:

   • If the app's process is killed by the system to free up resources, the activities within that process will be destroyed. The system later attempts to restore the app's state by recreating the necessary activities.

4. Explicit Finishing:

   • If an activity calls finish() or if another component requests the activity to be finished, it will be destroyed.

5. Navigation Up and Parent Activities:

   • If the user navigates up in the app and the parent activity is not on the back stack, the current activity might be destroyed and the parent activity recreated.

6. System-Initiated Changes:

   • Certain system events, such as a change in language settings or theme, might lead to the recreation of activities to reflect the new configurations.

Developers can handle these situations to ensure a smooth user experience. Techniques like saving and restoring instance state, handling configuration changes, and using appropriate lifecycle callbacks can be employed to manage the recreation of activities without losing important data or the user's progress.