| Use Cases | Launch Mode | Multiple Instances? | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|
| Normal launches for most activities | “standard“ |
Yes | Default. The system always creates a new instance of the activity in the target task and routes the intent to it. |
“singleTop“ |
Conditionally | If an instance of the activity already exists at the top of the target task, the system routes the intent to that instance through a call to its onNewIntent() method, rather than creating a new instance of the activity. |
|
| Specialized launches (not recommended for general use) |
“singleTask“ |
No | The system creates the activity at the root of a new task and routes the intent to it. However, if an instance of the activity already exists, the system routes the intent to existing instance through a call to its onNewIntent()method, rather than creating a new one. |
“singleInstance“ |
No | Same as “singleTask", except that the system doesn’t launch any other activities into the task holding the instance. The activity is always the single and only member of its task. |
References
https://developer.android.com/guide/topics/manifest/activity-element#lmode