ADB Shell am PM usage

Using Activity Manager (AM)

Within an adb shell, you can issue commands with the Activity Manager (AM) tool to perform various system actions, such as Start an activity, force-stop A-process, broadcast an intent, modify the device-screen properties, and more. While in a shell, the syntax is:

Am <command>

You can also issue an activity Manager command directly from ADB without entering a remote shell. For example:

ADB shell am start-a Android.intent.action.VIEW

Table 2. Available Activity Manager Commands

Command	Description
start [options] <INTENT>	Start an Activity specified by <intent>. See the specification for <INTENT> arguments. Options are: -d:enable Debugging. -w:wait for launch to complete. --start-profiler <file>: Start Profiler and send results to <file>. -P <file>: Like--start-profiler, but profiling stops when the app goes idle. -r:repeat the activity launch <COUNT> times. Prior to each repeat, the top activity would be finished. -s:force Stop the target app before starting the activity. --opengl-trace:enable tracing of OpenGL functions. --user <USER_ID> | current:specify which user to run as; if not specified and then run as the current user.
StartService [Options] <INTENT>	Start the Service specified by <intent>. See the specification for <INTENT> arguments. Options are: --user <USER_ID> | Current:specify which user to run as; If not specified and then run as the current user.
Force-stop <PACKAGE>	Force stop everything associated with <PACKAGE> (the app's package name).
Kill [Options] <PACKAGE>	Kill all processes associated with <PACKAGE> (the app's package name). This command kills only processes that is safe to kill and that would not impact the user experience. Options are: --user <USER_ID> | All | Current:specify user whose processes to kill; All users if not specified.
Kill-all	Kill all background processes.
Broadcast [options] <INTENT>	Issue a broadcast intent. See the specification for <INTENT> arguments. Options are: [--user <USER_ID> | all | current]: Specify which user to send to; If not specified then the send to all users.
instrument [Options] <COMPONENT>	Start monitoring with an instrumentation instance. Typically the target <COMPONENT> is the form <test_package>/<runner_class>. Options are: -r:print Raw Results (otherwise decode <REPORT_KEY_STREAMRESULT>). Use with [-e perf true] to generate raw output for performance measurements. -E <NAME> <value>: Set argument <NAME> to <value>. For test runners a common form is-e <testrunner_flag> <value>[,<value> ...]. -P <file>: Write profiling data to <file>. -w:wait for instrumentation to finish before returning. Required for test runners. --no-window-animation:turn off window animations while running. --user <USER_ID> | current:specify which user instrumentation runs in; Current user if not specified.
Profile Start <PROCESS> <FILE>	Start Profiler on <process>, write results to <file>.
Profile Stop <PROCESS>	Stop Profiler on <process>.
dumpheap [Options] <PROCESS> <FILE>	Dump the heap of <process>, write to <file>. Options are: --user [<user_id>|current]: When supplying a process name, specify user of the process to dump; Uses current user if not specified. -n:dump native heap instead of managed heap.
Set-debug-app [Options] <PACKAGE>	Set application <PACKAGE> to debug. Options are: -w:wait for debugger when application starts. --persistent:retain this value.
Clear-debug-app	Clear the package previous set for debugging with Set-debug-app.
Monitor [options]	Start monitoring for crashes or ANRS. Options are: --gdb:start GD Bserv on the given port at Crash/anr.
Screen-compat [On|off] <PACKAGE>	Control screen compatibility mode of <PACKAGE>.
Display-size [Reset|<wxh>]	Override emulator/device display size. This command was helpful for testing your app across different screens sizes by mimicking a small screen resolution using a Device with a large-screen, and vice versa. Example: Am Display-size 1280x800
Display-density <dpi>	Override emulator/device display density. This command was helpful for testing your app across different screens densities on high-density screen environment using a Low density screens, and vice versa. Example: AM display-density 480
To-uri <INTENT>	Print the given intent specification as a URI. See the specification for <INTENT> arguments.
To-intent-uri <INTENT>	Print the given intent specification as an Intent:uri. See the specification for <INTENT> arguments.

Using Package Manager (PM)

Within an adb shell, you can issue commandswith the Package Manager (PM) tool to perform actions and queries Onapplication Packages installed on the device. While in a shell, the syntax is:

PM <command>

You can also issue a package managercommand directly from ADB without entering a remote shell. For example:

adb shell pm Uninstall com.example.MyApp

Table 3. Available Package Manager Commands.

Command	Description
list packages [Options] <FILTER>	Prints All packages, optionally-those whose package name contains the text in <filter>. Options: -f:see their associated file. -d:filter to only show disabled packages. -e:filter to only show enabled packages. -s:filter to only show system packages. -3:filter to only show third party packages. -i:see the installer for the packages. -u:also include uninstalled packages. --user <user_id>: The user space to query.
List permission-groups	Prints all known permission groups.
List permissions [options] <GROUP>	Prints All known permissions, optionally only those in <group>. Options: -g:organize by group. -f:print all information. -s:short Summary. -d:only List dangerous permissions. -u:list only the permissions users would see.
List instrumentation	List all test Packages. Options: -f:list the APK file for the test package. <TARGET_PACKAGE>: List Test Packages for the This app.
List features	Prints all features of the system.
List libraries	Prints all the libraries supported by the current device.
List users	Prints all users on the system.
Path <PACKAGE>	Print the path to the APK of the given <package>.
Install [options] <PATH>	Installs a package (specified by <PATH>) to the system. Options: -l:install the package with forward lock. -r:reinstall an exisiting app, keeping it data. -t:allow test APKs to be installed. -I <installer_package_name>: Specify the INSTALLER package NAME. -s:install package on the shared mass storage (such as SDcard). -f:install package on the internal system memory. -d:allow version code downgrade.
uninstall [Options] <PACKAGE>	Removes a package from the system. Options: -k:keep the data and cache directories around after package removal.
Clear <PACKAGE>	Deletes all data associated and a package.
Enable <PACKAGE_OR_COMPONENT>	Enable the given package or component (written as "Package/class").
Disable <PACKAGE_OR_COMPONENT>	Disable the given package or component (written as "Package/class").
Disable-user [Options] <PACKAGE_OR_COMPONENT>	Options: --user <user_id>: the user to disable.
Grant <PACKAGE_PERMISSION>	Grant permissions to applications. Only optional permissions The application have declared can be granted.
Revoke <PACKAGE_PERMISSION>	Revoke permissions to applications. Only optional permissions The application have declared can be revoked.
Set-install-location <LOCATION>	Changes the default install location. Location values: 0:auto-let system decide the best location. 1:internal-install on Internal device storage. 2:external-install on External Media. Note: This was only intended for debugging; Using this can cause applications to break and the other undesireable behavior.
Get-install-location	Returns the current install location. Return values: 0 [Auto]: Lets system decide the best location 1 [internal]: Installs on internal device storage 2 [external]: Installs on external media
set-permission-enforced <PERMISSION> [True|false]	Specifies whether the given permission should be enforced.
Trim-caches <DESIRED_FREE_SPACE>	Trim cache files to reach the given free space.
Create-user <USER_NAME>	Create a new user with the given <user_name>, printing the new user identifier of the user.
Remove-user <USER_ID>	Remove the user with the given <user_identifier>, deleting all data associated with that user
Get-max-users	Prints the maximum number of users supported by the device.

ADB Shell am PM usage