How to pass an object from one activity to another on Android

One option could be letting your custom class implement the Serializable interface and then you can pass object instances in the intent extra using the putExtra(Serializable..) variant of the Intent#putExtra() method.

Actual Code:

In Your Custom Model/Object Class:

public class YourClass implements Serializable {

At other class where using the Custom Model/Class:

//To pass:
intent.putExtra("KEY_NAME", myObject);

myObject is of type "YourClass". Then to retrieve from another activity, use getSerializableExtra get the object using same Key name. And typecast to YourClass is needed:

// To retrieve object in second Activity
myObject = (YourClass) getIntent().getSerializableExtra("KEY_NAME");

Note: Make sure each nested class of your main custom class has implemented Serializable interface to avoid any serialization exceptions. For example:

class MainClass implements Serializable {
    
    public MainClass() {}

    public static class ChildClass implements Serializable {
         
        public ChildClass() {}
    }
}

---

Implement your class with Serializable. Let's suppose that this is your entity class:

import java.io.Serializable;

@SuppressWarnings("serial") //With this annotation we are going to hide compiler warnings
public class Deneme implements Serializable {

    public Deneme(double id, String name) {
        this.id = id;
        this.name = name;
    }

    public double getId() {
        return id;
    }

    public void setId(double id) {
        this.id = id;
    }

    public String getName() {
        return this.name;
    }

    public void setName(String name) {
        this.name = name;
    }

    private double id;
    private String name;
}

We are sending the object called dene from X activity to Y activity. Somewhere in X activity;

Deneme dene = new Deneme(4,"Mustafa");
Intent i = new Intent(this, Y.class);
i.putExtra("sampleObject", dene);
startActivity(i);

In Y activity we are getting the object.

Intent i = getIntent();
Deneme dene = (Deneme)i.getSerializableExtra("sampleObject");

That's it.

---

Use gson to convert your object to JSON and pass it through intent. In the new Activity convert the JSON to an object.

In your build.gradle, add this to your dependencies

implementation 'com.google.code.gson:gson:2.8.4'

In your Activity, convert the object to json-string:

Gson gson = new Gson();
String myJson = gson.toJson(vp);
intent.putExtra("myjson", myjson);

In your receiving Activity, convert the json-string back to the original object:

Gson gson = new Gson();
YourObject ob = gson.fromJson(getIntent().getStringExtra("myjson"), YourObject.class);

For Kotlin it's quite the same

Pass the data

val gson = Gson()
val intent = Intent(this, YourActivity::class.java)
intent.putExtra("identifier", gson.toJson(your_object))
startActivity(intent)

Receive the data

val gson = Gson()
val yourObject = gson.fromJson<YourObject>(intent.getStringExtra("identifier"), YourObject::class.java)

---

Using global static variables is not good software engineering practice.

Converting an object's fields into primitive data types can be a hectic job.

Using serializable is OK, but it's not performance-efficient on the Android platform.

Parcelable is specifically designed for Android and you should use it. Here is a simple example: Passing custom objects between Android activities

You can generate Parcelable code for you class using this site.

---

While calling an activity

Intent intent = new Intent(fromClass.this,toClass.class).putExtra("myCustomerObj",customerObj);

In toClass.java receive the activity by

Customer customerObjInToClass = getIntent().getExtras().getParcelable("myCustomerObj");

Please make sure that customer class implements parcelable

public class Customer implements Parcelable {

    private String firstName, lastName, address;
    int age;

    /* all your getter and setter methods */

    public Customer(Parcel in ) {
        readFromParcel( in );
    }

    public static final Parcelable.Creator CREATOR = new Parcelable.Creator() {
        public LeadData createFromParcel(Parcel in ) {
            return new Customer( in );
        }

        public Customer[] newArray(int size) {
            return new Customer[size];
        }
    };


    @Override
    public void writeToParcel(Parcel dest, int flags) {

        dest.writeString(firstName);
        dest.writeString(lastName);
        dest.writeString(address);
        dest.writeInt(age);
    }

    private void readFromParcel(Parcel in ) {

        firstName = in .readString();
        lastName  = in .readString();
        address   = in .readString();
        age       = in .readInt();
    }

---

In my experience there are three main solutions, each with their disadvantages and advantages:

Implementing Parcelable Implementing Serializable Using a light-weight event bus library of some sort (for example, Greenrobot's EventBus or Square's Otto)

Parcelable - fast and Android standard, but it has lots of boilerplate code and requires hard-coded strings for reference when pulling values out the intent (non-strongly typed).

Serializable - close to zero boilerplate, but it is the slowest approach and also requires hard-coded strings when pulling values out the intent (non-strongly typed).

Event Bus - zero boilerplate, fastest approach, and does not require hard-coded strings, but it does require an additional dependency (although usually lightweight, ~40 KB)

I posted a very detailed comparison around these three approaches, including efficiency benchmarks.

---

I found a simple & elegant method:

NO Parcelable

NO Serializable

NO Static Field

No Event Bus

Method 1

Code for the first activity:

    final Object objSent = new Object();
    final Bundle bundle = new Bundle();
    bundle.putBinder("object_value", new ObjectWrapperForBinder(objSent));
    startActivity(new Intent(this, SecondActivity.class).putExtras(bundle));        
    Log.d(TAG, "original object=" + objSent);

Code for the second activity:

    final Object objReceived = ((ObjectWrapperForBinder)getIntent().getExtras().getBinder("object_value")).getData();
    Log.d(TAG, "received object=" + objReceived);

you will find objSent & objReceived have the same hashCode, so they are identical.

But why can we pass a java object in this way?

Actually, android binder will create global JNI reference for java object and release this global JNI reference when there are no reference for this java object. binder will save this global JNI reference in the Binder object.

*CAUTION: this method ONLY work unless the two activities run in the same process, otherwise throw ClassCastException at (ObjectWrapperForBinder)getIntent().getExtras().getBinder("object_value") *

class ObjectWrapperForBinder defination

public class ObjectWrapperForBinder extends Binder {

    private final Object mData;

    public ObjectWrapperForBinder(Object data) {
        mData = data;
    }

    public Object getData() {
        return mData;
    }
}

Method 2

for the sender, use custom native method to add your java object to JNI global reference table(via JNIEnv::NewGlobalRef) put the return integer (actually, JNIEnv::NewGlobalRef return jobject, which is a pointer, we can cast it to int safely) to your Intent(via Intent::putExtra)

use custom native method to add your java object to JNI global reference table(via JNIEnv::NewGlobalRef)

put the return integer (actually, JNIEnv::NewGlobalRef return jobject, which is a pointer, we can cast it to int safely) to your Intent(via Intent::putExtra)

for the receiver get integer from Intent(via Intent::getInt) use custom native method to restore your java object from JNI global reference table (via JNIEnv::NewLocalRef) remove item from JNI global reference table(via JNIEnv::DeleteGlobalRef),

get integer from Intent(via Intent::getInt)

use custom native method to restore your java object from JNI global reference table (via JNIEnv::NewLocalRef)

remove item from JNI global reference table(via JNIEnv::DeleteGlobalRef),

But Method 2 has a little but serious issue, if the receiver fail to restore the java object (for example, some exception happen before restore the java object, or the receiver Activity does not exist at all), then the java object will become an orphan or memory leak, Method 1 don't have this issue, because android binder will handle this exception

Method 3

To invoke the java object remotely, we will create a data contract/interface to describe the java object, we will use the aidl file

IDataContract.aidl

package com.example.objectwrapper;
interface IDataContract {
    int func1(String arg1);
    int func2(String arg1);
}

Code for the first activity

    final IDataContract objSent = new IDataContract.Stub() {

        @Override
        public int func2(String arg1) throws RemoteException {
            // TODO Auto-generated method stub
            Log.d(TAG, "func2:: arg1=" + arg1);
            return 102;
        }

        @Override
        public int func1(String arg1) throws RemoteException {
            // TODO Auto-generated method stub
            Log.d(TAG, "func1:: arg1=" + arg1);
            return 101;
        }
    };
    final Bundle bundle = new Bundle();
    bundle.putBinder("object_value", objSent.asBinder());
    startActivity(new Intent(this, SecondActivity.class).putExtras(bundle));
    Log.d(TAG, "original object=" + objSent);

Code for the second activity:

change the android:process attribute in AndroidManifest.xml to a non-empty process name to make sure the second activity run in another process

    final IDataContract objReceived = IDataContract.Stub.asInterface(getIntent().getExtras().getBinder("object_value"));
    try {
        Log.d(TAG, "received object=" + objReceived + ", func1()=" + objReceived.func1("test1") + ", func2()=" + objReceived.func2("test2"));
    } catch (RemoteException e) {
        // TODO Auto-generated catch block
        e.printStackTrace();
    }

In this way, we can pass an interface between two activities even though they run in different process, and call the interface method remotely

Method 4

method 3 seem not simple enough because we must implement an aidl interface. If you just want to do simple task and the method return value is unnecessary, we can use android.os.Messenger

Code for the first activity( sender):

public class MainActivity extends Activity {
    private static final String TAG = "MainActivity";

    public static final int MSG_OP1 = 1;
    public static final int MSG_OP2 = 2;

    public static final String EXTRA_MESSENGER = "messenger";

    private final Handler mHandler = new Handler() {

        @Override
        public void handleMessage(Message msg) {
            // TODO Auto-generated method stub
            Log.e(TAG, "handleMessage:: msg=" + msg);
            switch (msg.what) {
            case MSG_OP1:

                break;
            case MSG_OP2:
                break;

            default:

                break;
            }
            super.handleMessage(msg);
        }

    };
    @Override
    protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
        super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
        setContentView(R.layout.activity_main);

        startActivity(new Intent(this, SecondActivity.class).putExtra(EXTRA_MESSENGER, new Messenger(mHandler)));
    }
}

Code for the second activity ( receiver ):

public class SecondActivity extends Activity {

    @Override
    protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
        super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
        setContentView(R.layout.activity_second);

        final Messenger messenger = getIntent().getParcelableExtra(MainActivity.EXTRA_MESSENGER);
        try {
            messenger.send(Message.obtain(null, MainActivity.MSG_OP1, 101, 1001, "10001"));
            messenger.send(Message.obtain(null, MainActivity.MSG_OP2, 102, 1002, "10002"));
        } catch (RemoteException e) {
            // TODO Auto-generated catch block
            e.printStackTrace();
        }

    }
}

All the Messenger.send will execute in a Handler asynchronously and sequentially.

Actually, android.os.Messenger is also an aidl interface, if you have the android source code, you can find a file named IMessenger.aidl

package android.os;

import android.os.Message;

/** @hide */
oneway interface IMessenger {
    void send(in Message msg);
}

---

You could also write the object's data into temporary Strings and ints, and pass them to the activity. Of course that way, you get the data transported, but not the object itself.

But if you just want to display them, and not use the object in another method or something like that, it should be enough. I did it the same way to just display data from one object in another activity.

String fName_temp   = yourObject.getFname();
String lName_temp   = yourObject.getLname();
String age_temp     = yourObject.getAge();
String address_temp = yourObject.getAddress();

Intent i = new Intent(this, ToClass.class);
i.putExtra("fname", fName_temp);
i.putExtra("lname", lName_temp);
i.putExtra("age", age_temp);
i.putExtra("address", address_temp);

startActivity(i);

You could also pass them in directly instead of the temp ivars, but this way it's clearer, in my opinion. Additionally, you can set the temp ivars to null so that they get cleaned by the GarbageCollector sooner.

Good luck!

On a side note: override toString() instead of writing your own print method.

As mentioned in the comments below, this is how you get your data back in another activity:

String fName = getIntent().getExtras().getInt("fname");

---

I made a singleton helper class that holds temporary objects.

public class IntentHelper {

    private static IntentHelper _instance;
    private Hashtable<String, Object> _hash;

    private IntentHelper() {
        _hash = new Hashtable<String, Object>();
    }

    private static IntentHelper getInstance() {
        if(_instance==null) {
            _instance = new IntentHelper();
        }
        return _instance;
    }

    public static void addObjectForKey(Object object, String key) {
        getInstance()._hash.put(key, object);
    }

    public static Object getObjectForKey(String key) {
        IntentHelper helper = getInstance();
        Object data = helper._hash.get(key);
        helper._hash.remove(key);
        helper = null;
        return data;
    }
}

Instead of putting your objects within Intent, use IntentHelper:

IntentHelper.addObjectForKey(obj, "key");

Inside your new Activity, you can get the object:

Object obj = (Object) IntentHelper.getObjectForKey("key");

Bear in mind that once loaded, the object is removed to avoid unnecessary references.

---

There are a couple of ways by which you can access variables or objects in other classes or Activity.

A. Database

B. Shared preferences.

C. Object serialization.

D. A class which can hold common data can be named as Common Utilities. It depends on you.

E. Passing data through Intents and Parcelable Interface.

It depends upon your project needs.

A. Database

SQLite is an open source database which is embedded into Android. SQLite supports standard relational database features like SQL syntax, transactions and prepared statements.

Tutorials

B. Shared preferences

Suppose you want to store username. So there will now be two things, a key username, value value.

How to store

 // Create object of SharedPreferences.
 SharedPreferences sharedPref = PreferenceManager.getDefaultSharedPreferences(this);

 //Now get Editor
 SharedPreferences.Editor editor = sharedPref.edit();

 //Put your value
 editor.putString("userName", "stackoverlow");

 //Commits your edits
 editor.commit();

Using putString(), putBoolean(), putInt(), putFloat(), and putLong() you can save your desired dtatype.

How to fetch

SharedPreferences sharedPref = PreferenceManager.getDefaultSharedPreferences(this);
String userName = sharedPref.getString("userName", "Not Available");

http://developer.android.com/reference/android/content/SharedPreferences.html

C. Object serialization

Object serlization is used if we want to save an object state to send it over a network or you can use it for your purpose also.

Use Java beans and store in it as one of his fields and use getters and setter for that.

JavaBeans are Java classes that have properties. Think of properties as private instance variables. Since they're private, the only way they can be accessed from outside of their class is through methods in the class. The methods that change a property's value are called setter methods, and the methods that retrieve a property's value are called getter methods.

public class VariableStorage implements Serializable  {

    private String inString;

    public String getInString() {
        return inString;
    }

    public void setInString(String inString) {
        this.inString = inString;
    }
}

Set the variable in your mail method by using

VariableStorage variableStorage = new VariableStorage();
variableStorage.setInString(inString);

Then use object serialzation to serialize this object and in your other class deserialize this object.

In serialization an object can be represented as a sequence of bytes that includes the object's data as well as information about the object's type and the types of data stored in the object.

After a serialized object has been written into a file, it can be read from the file and deserialized. That is, the type information and bytes that represent the object and its data can be used to recreate the object in memory.

If you want tutorial for this refer to:

Serialization in Java (blog post)

Get variable in other classes (Stack Overflow)

D. CommonUtilities

You can make a class by yourself which can contain common data which you frequently need in your project.

Sample

public class CommonUtilities {

    public static String className = "CommonUtilities";

}

E. Passing data through intents

Please refer the tutorial Android – Parcel data to pass between Activities using Parcelable classes for this option of passing data.

---

Create your own class Customer as following:

import import java.io.Serializable;
public class Customer implements Serializable
{
    private String name;
    private String city;

    public Customer()
    {

    }
    public Customer(String name, String city)
    {
        this.name= name;
        this.city=city;
    }
    public String getName() 
    {
        return name;
    }
    public void setName(String name) 
    {
        this.name = name;
    }
    public String getCity() 
    {
        return city;
    }
    public void setCity(String city) 
    {
        this.city= city;
    }

}

In your onCreate() method

@Override
protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) 
{
    super.onCreate(savedInstanceState); 
    setContentView(R.layout.activity_top);

    Customer cust=new Customer();
    cust.setName("abc");
    cust.setCity("xyz");

    Intent intent=new Intent(abc.this,xyz.class);
    intent.putExtra("bundle",cust);
    startActivity(intent); 
}

In xyz activity class you need to use the following code:

Intent intent=getIntent();
Customer cust=(Customer)intent.getSerializableExtra("bundle");
textViewName.setText(cust.getName());
textViewCity.setText(cust.getCity());

---

public class MyClass implements Serializable{
    Here is your instance variable
}

Now you want to pass the object of this class in startActivity. Simply use this:

Bundle b = new Bundle();
b.putSerializable("name", myClassObject);
intent.putExtras(b);

This works here because MyClass implements Serializable.

---

The best way is to have a class (call it Control) in your application that will hold a static variable of type 'Customer' (in your case). Initialize the variable in your Activity A.

For example:

Control.Customer = CustomerClass;

Then go to Activity B and fetch it from Control class. Don't forget to assign a null after using the variable, otherwise memory will be wasted.

---

If you choose use the way Samuh describes, remember that only primitive values can be sent. That is, values that are parcable. So, if your object contains complex objects these will not follow. For example, variables like Bitmap, HashMap etc... These are tricky to pass by the intent.

In general I would advice you to send only primitive datatypes as extras, like String, int, boolean etc. In your case it would be: String fname, String lname, int age, and String address.

My opinion: More complex objects are better shared by implementing a ContentProvider, SDCard, etc. It's also possible to use a static variable, but this may fastly lead to error-prone code...

But again, it's just my subjective opinion.

---

I am using parcelable to send data from one activity to another acivity. Here is my code that works fine in my project.

public class Channel implements Serializable, Parcelable {

    /**  */
    private static final long serialVersionUID = 4861597073026532544L;

    private String cid;
    private String uniqueID;
    private String name;
    private String logo;
    private String thumb;


    /**
     * @return The cid
     */
    public String getCid() {
        return cid;
    }

    /**
     * @param cid
     *     The cid to set
     */
    public void setCid(String cid) {
        this.cid = cid;
    }

    /**
     * @return The uniqueID
     */
    public String getUniqueID() {
        return uniqueID;
    }

    /**
     * @param uniqueID
     *     The uniqueID to set
     */
    public void setUniqueID(String uniqueID) {
        this.uniqueID = uniqueID;
    }

    /**
     * @return The name
     */
    public String getName() {
        return name;
    }

    /**
     * @param name
     *            The name to set
     */
    public void setName(String name) {
        this.name = name;
    }

    /**
     * @return the logo
     */
    public String getLogo() {
        return logo;
    }

    /**
     * @param logo
     *     The logo to set
     */
    public void setLogo(String logo) {
        this.logo = logo;
    }

    /**
     * @return the thumb
     */
    public String getThumb() {
        return thumb;
    }

    /**
     * @param thumb
     *     The thumb to set
     */
    public void setThumb(String thumb) {
        this.thumb = thumb;
    }


    public Channel(Parcel in) {
        super();
        readFromParcel(in);
    }

    public static final Parcelable.Creator<Channel> CREATOR = new Parcelable.Creator<Channel>() {
        public Channel createFromParcel(Parcel in) {
            return new Channel(in);
        }

        public Channel[] newArray(int size) {

            return new Channel[size];
        }
    };

    public void readFromParcel(Parcel in) {
        String[] result = new String[5];
        in.readStringArray(result);

        this.cid = result[0];
        this.uniqueID = result[1];
        this.name = result[2];
        this.logo = result[3];
        this.thumb = result[4];
    }

    public int describeContents() {
        return 0;
    }

    public void writeToParcel(Parcel dest, int flags) {

        dest.writeStringArray(new String[] { this.cid, this.uniqueID,
                this.name, this.logo, this.thumb});
    }
}

In activityA use it like this:

Bundle bundle = new Bundle();
bundle.putParcelableArrayList("channel",(ArrayList<Channel>) channels);
Intent intent = new Intent(ActivityA.this,ActivityB.class);
intent.putExtras(bundle);
startActivity(intent);

In ActivityB use it like this to get data:

Bundle getBundle = this.getIntent().getExtras();
List<Channel> channelsList = getBundle.getParcelableArrayList("channel");

---

You can try to use that class. The limitation is that it can't be used outside of one process.

One activity:

 final Object obj1 = new Object();
 final Intent in = new Intent();
 in.putExtra(EXTRA_TEST, new Sharable(obj1));

Other activity:

final Sharable s = in.getExtras().getParcelable(EXTRA_TEST);
final Object obj2 = s.obj();

public final class Sharable implements Parcelable {

    private Object mObject;

    public static final Parcelable.Creator < Sharable > CREATOR = new Parcelable.Creator < Sharable > () {
        public Sharable createFromParcel(Parcel in ) {
            return new Sharable( in );
        }


        @Override
        public Sharable[] newArray(int size) {
            return new Sharable[size];
        }
    };

    public Sharable(final Object obj) {
        mObject = obj;
    }

    public Sharable(Parcel in ) {
        readFromParcel( in );
    }

    Object obj() {
        return mObject;
    }


    @Override
    public int describeContents() {
        return 0;
    }


    @Override
    public void writeToParcel(final Parcel out, int flags) {
        final long val = SystemClock.elapsedRealtime();
        out.writeLong(val);
        put(val, mObject);
    }

    private void readFromParcel(final Parcel in ) {
        final long val = in .readLong();
        mObject = get(val);
    }

    /////

    private static final HashMap < Long, Object > sSharableMap = new HashMap < Long, Object > (3);

    synchronized private static void put(long key, final Object obj) {
        sSharableMap.put(key, obj);
    }

    synchronized private static Object get(long key) {
        return sSharableMap.remove(key);
    }
}

---

Start another activity from this activity and pass parameters via Bundle Object

Intent intent = new Intent(getBaseContext(), YourActivity.class);
intent.putExtra("USER_NAME", "xyz@gmail.com");
startActivity(intent);

Retrive data on another activity (YourActivity)

String s = getIntent().getStringExtra("USER_NAME");

This is ok for simple kind of data type. But if u want to pass complex data in between activity. U need to serialize it first.

Here we have Employee Model

class Employee{
    private String empId;
    private int age;
    print Double salary;

    getters...
    setters...
}

You can use Gson lib provided by google to serialize the complex data like this

String strEmp = new Gson().toJson(emp);
Intent intent = new Intent(getBaseContext(), YourActivity.class);
intent.putExtra("EMP", strEmp);
startActivity(intent);

Bundle bundle = getIntent().getExtras();
String empStr = bundle.getString("EMP");
            Gson gson = new Gson();
            Type type = new TypeToken<Employee>() {
            }.getType();
            Employee selectedEmp = gson.fromJson(empStr, type);

---

This question is also discussed in another Stack Overflow question. Please have a look at a solution to Passing data through intent using Serializable. The main point is about using Bundle object which stores the necessary data inside Intent.

 Bundle bundle = new Bundle();

 bundle.putSerializable(key1, value1);
 bundle.putSerializable(key2, value2);
 bundle.putSerializable(key3, value3);

 intent.putExtras(bundle);

To extract values:

 Bundle bundle = new Bundle();

 for (String key : bundle.keySet()) {
 value = bundle.getSerializable(key));
 }

Advantage of Serializable is its simplicity. However, you should consider using Parcelable method if you need many data to be transferred, because Parcelable is specifically designed for Android and it is more efficient than Serializable. You can create Parcelable class using:

an online tool - parcelabler a plugin for Android Studio - Android Parcelable code generator

---

Crete a class like bean class and implement the Serializable interface. Then we can pass it through the intent method, for example:

intent.putExtra("class", BeanClass);

Then get it from the other activity, for example:

BeanClass cb = intent.getSerializableExtra("class");

---

Create two methods in your custom Class like this

public class Qabir {

    private int age;
    private String name;

    Qabir(){
    }

    Qabir(int age,String name){
        this.age=age; this.name=name;
    }   

    // method for sending object
    public String toJSON(){
        return "{age:" + age + ",name:\"" +name +"\"}";
    }

    // method for get back original object
    public void initilizeWithJSONString(String jsonString){

        JSONObject json;        
        try {
            json =new JSONObject(jsonString );
            age=json.getInt("age");
            name=json.getString("name");
        } catch (JSONException e) {
            e.printStackTrace();
        } 
    }
}

Now in your sender Activity do like this

Qabir q= new Qabir(22,"KQ");    
Intent in=new Intent(this,SubActivity.class);
in.putExtra("obj", q.toJSON());
startActivity( in);

And in your receiver Activity

Qabir q =new Qabir();
q.initilizeWithJSONString(getIntent().getStringExtra("obj"));

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Android Activity objects can be destroyed and reconstituted. So, you will need to use another approach to look them - or any object they create!!! - up. That is, you could pass as static class reference but then the object handle (Java calls these "references", as does SmallTalk; but they are not references in the sense of C or assembly) will be possibly invalid later because a "feature" of Android OE is any Activity can be annihilated and reconstituted later.

The original question asked "How to pass object from one activity to another in Android" and nobody has answered that. For sure, you can serialized (Serializable, Parcelable, to/from JSON) and pass a copy of the object's data and a new object having the same data could be created; but it will NOT have the same references/handles. Also, many others mentioned you can store the reference in a static store. And that will work unless Android decides to onDestroy your Activity.

So, to really solve the original question you would need a static lookup plus each object will update its reference when/if it is recreated. E.g. each Android Activity would relist itself if its onCreate is called. You can also see how some people use the task list to search out an Activity by name. (system is temporarily destroying this instance of the activity to save space..getRunningTasks, the task list is effectively a specialized listing of the most recent object instance of each Activity).

For reference:

Stopped: "The activity is completely obscured by another activity (the activity is now in the "background"). A stopped activity is also still alive (the Activity object is retained in memory, it maintains all state and member information, but is not attached to the window manager). However, it is no longer visible to the user and it can be killed by the system when memory is needed elsewhere." onDestroy "system is temporarily destroying this instance of the activity to save space."

So, the Message Bus is a workable solution. It basically "punts". Rather than try to have references to objects; then you re-architect your design to use MessagePassing instead of SequentialCode. Exponentially harder to debug; but it lets you ignore these sort of OperatingEnvironment understandings. Effectively, each object method access is inverted so the caller posts a Message and the object itself defines a handler for that message. Lots more code but can make it robust with the Android OE restrictions.

If all you want is the top Activity (typical thing in Android apps due to "Context" being needed everywhere), then you can just have each Activity lists itself as "top" in the static global space whenever its onResume is called. Then your AlertDialog or whatever which needs a context can just grab it from there. Also, its a bit yucky to use a global but can simplifying passing a Context up and down everywhere and, for sure, when you use a MessageBus then IT IS global anyways.

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Yeah, using a static object is by far the easiest way of doing this with custom non-serialisable objects.

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I know that static is bad, but it seems that we're forced to use it here. The problem with parceables/seriazables is that the two activities have duplicate instances of the same object = waste of memory and CPU. public class IntentMailBox { static Queue