Android Get Installed Apps List – Code and Examples

Retrieving a list of installed applications on an Android device is a common requirement for launcher apps, analytics dashboards, app managers, or utilities. Android’s PackageManager API provides a robust way to query installed packages, application labels, icons, and metadata.

In this guide, you’ll learn how to:

• Get all installed apps
• Distinguish between user and system apps
• Retrieve labels and icons
• Handle modern Android permission requirements

Overview – PackageManager and Installed Apps

The Android PackageManager is the central API for interacting with installed apps. It can return:

• Installed packages
• App labels (names)
• App icons
• Version details
• Permissions requested by apps

The key methods used are:

• getInstalledApplications()
• getInstalledPackages()

Both return lists you can iterate over and extract details.

Basic Implementation – Get All Installed Apps

Here’s how to get a list of apps installed on a device:

PackageManager pm = getPackageManager();
List<ApplicationInfo> apps = pm.getInstalledApplications(PackageManager.GET_META_DATA);

for (ApplicationInfo appInfo : apps) {
    String packageName = appInfo.packageName;
    CharSequence label = pm.getApplicationLabel(appInfo);
    Drawable icon = pm.getApplicationIcon(appInfo);

    Log.d("InstalledApp", label + " (" + packageName + ")");
}

Explanation:

• getInstalledApplications() returns all apps (user + system).
• pm.getApplicationLabel(appInfo) gets the app name.
• pm.getApplicationIcon(appInfo) gets the app’s icon.

This is the simplest approach to enumerate installed apps.

Filter for Only Launchable Apps

By default, some entries may be system services or background apps — not user-launchable apps. To filter only launchable apps:

Intent launchIntent = pm.getLaunchIntentForPackage(appInfo.packageName);
if (launchIntent != null) {
    // This app has a launcher icon
}

Putting it together:

List<ApplicationInfo> apps = pm.getInstalledApplications(PackageManager.GET_META_DATA);
for (ApplicationInfo appInfo : apps) {
    Intent intent = pm.getLaunchIntentForPackage(appInfo.packageName);
    if (intent != null) {
        String label = pm.getApplicationLabel(appInfo).toString();
        Log.d("LaunchableApp", label);
    }
}

This ensures you list only apps that the user can launch from the launcher.

Filter System vs User Installed Apps

Often you need to separate system apps (pre-installed by OEM) from user-installed apps. You can use application flags to determine that:

boolean isSystemApp = (appInfo.flags & ApplicationInfo.FLAG_SYSTEM) != 0;

Example – Only User Installed Apps

for (ApplicationInfo appInfo : apps) {
    if ((appInfo.flags & ApplicationInfo.FLAG_SYSTEM) == 0) {
        String name = pm.getApplicationLabel(appInfo).toString();
        Log.d("UserApp", name);
    }
}

This filters out system packages.

Retrieve App Icons Efficiently

Since icons are drawable objects, retrieving them in large lists can be slow. To optimize:

✔ Load icons asynchronously (e.g., on a background thread)
✔ Cache icons with an LRU cache for repeated use
✔ Don’t load icons on main UI thread

Example with asynchronous loading:

new Thread(() -> {
    Drawable icon = pm.getApplicationIcon(appInfo);
    runOnUiThread(() -> imageView.setImageDrawable(icon));
}).start();

This avoids UI freezes for large app lists.

Advanced: Get Package Info (Version, Permissions)

With getInstalledPackages() you can retrieve more info:

List<PackageInfo> packageList = pm.getInstalledPackages(0);

for (PackageInfo pkg : packageList) {
    String name = pkg.packageName;
    int versionCode = pkg.versionCode;
    String versionName = pkg.versionName;

    Log.d("PackageInfo", name + " v" + versionName + " (" + versionCode + ")");
}

This helps if you need version or permission details along with app listings.

Run in Background (Best Practice)

Enumerating installed apps can be slow on devices with many apps. Always run this task off the UI thread:

✔ Use AsyncTask (simple)
✔ Use ExecutorService or ThreadPool
✔ Use Coroutines (Kotlin)
✔ Use LiveData + ViewModel to update UI reactively

Example using AsyncTask:

new AsyncTask<Void, Void, List<ApplicationInfo>>() {
    @Override
    protected List<ApplicationInfo> doInBackground(Void... voids) {
        return pm.getInstalledApplications(PackageManager.GET_META_DATA);
    }

    @Override
    protected void onPostExecute(List<ApplicationInfo> apps) {
        // Update UI with listed apps
    }
}.execute();

This prevents UI blocking.

Android 11+ and Package Visibility

Starting with Android 11 (API level 30), you must declare package visibility in AndroidManifest.xml if your app queries installed apps:

<queries>
    <package android:name="com.example.someapp"/>
    <intent>
        <action android:name="android.intent.action.MAIN"/>
        <category android:name="android.intent.category.LAUNCHER"/>
    </intent>
</queries>

This controls what packages your app can query. Omitting this leads to empty results for getInstalledApplications().

Permissions & Privacy

Unlike older Android versions, you do not need a special permission to list installed apps — but with modern package visibility restrictions you do need to:

✔ Declare visible query intents in manifest
✔ Respect user privacy and not store unnecessary app data

Avoid over-broad visibility permissions — specify only what you truly need.

Displaying Installed Apps in a UI

Typical usage is displaying apps in a RecyclerView. A simple pattern:

1. Use RecyclerView + Adapter
2. Use Layout with ImageView (icon) + TextView (app name)
3. Load icon and label asynchronously
4. Bind results into the UI

For example:

<LinearLayout
    android:layout_width="match_parent"
    android:layout_height="wrap_content"
    android:orientation="horizontal">

    <ImageView
        android:id="@+id/appIcon"
        android:layout_width="48dp"
        android:layout_height="48dp"/>

    <TextView
        android:id="@+id/appName"
        android:layout_width="wrap_content"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"/>
</LinearLayout>

Then in adapter:

holder.appName.setText(pm.getApplicationLabel(appInfo));
holder.appIcon.setImageDrawable(pm.getApplicationIcon(appInfo));

Best Practices (Senior Engineering Insight)

✔ Always perform app list queries off the UI thread
✔ Filter out system apps if not relevant
✔ Respect Android 11+ package visibility behavior
✔ Cache icons/text to avoid repeated expensive operations
✔ Avoid unnecessary queries on every activity resume

These practices ensure performant and user-friendly UI.

Summary

Retrieving the installed apps list in Android is straightforward with PackageManager using:

• getInstalledApplications() for raw app info
• getLaunchIntentForPackage() to filter launchables
• Optional package visibility declarations on Android 11+

By combining background execution with efficient UI binding, you can build launchers, app explorers, or analytics dashboards that feel fast and responsive.