Android Broadcast Receiver

In the Android operating system, a broadcast receiver is a component that listens for system-wide broadcast events and performs actions in response to those events. Broadcast receivers are used to respond to system events or to communicate between different components of an app.

Some common uses of broadcast receivers in Android include:

1. System events: Broadcast receivers can be used to respond to system events, such as when the battery level changes or when the device is connected to or disconnected from a power source.
2. Notifications: Broadcast receivers can be used to receive and handle system notifications, such as when a new email arrives or when a text message is received.
3. Custom events: Broadcast receivers can be used to create and respond to custom events within an app, such as when a button is pressed or a specific action is taken by the user.
4. Inter-component communication: Broadcast receivers can be used to facilitate communication between different components of an app, such as when one activity needs to update the data displayed in another activity.
5. Background processing: Broadcast receivers can be used to perform background processing tasks, such as downloading data from the internet, when triggered by a system event.

To register an application, you have to include the receiver element in the AndroidManfest.xml file. And in its name attribute, you have to pass the name of your class. You have to put dot operator (.) before the class. An example of this is given below.

  <receiver android :name = ".yourclassname" >
  </receiver>

You can use intent-filter tag inside receiver tags.

  <receiver android :name = ".yourclassname" >
  <intent-filter>
  <action android :name = "action_name" >
  </intent-filter>
  </receiver>

Broadcast receivers are an important part of the Android architecture, allowing apps to respond to events and communicate with other components of the system or other apps. They provide a powerful and flexible way to design apps that can respond to changes in the system or user interactions in real-time.