It's not directly possible, and Android developers have stated that they do not want any app changing the user's preferences. However, there is a workaround based on how Android maintains these preferences.
Make your manifest look like this:
<activity android:name="MyLauncherActivity" android:exported="true" /> <activity-alias android:name="LauncherAlias1" android:targetActivity="MyLauncherActivity" > <intent-filter> <action android:name="android.intent.action.MAIN" /> <category android:name="android.intent.category.HOME" /> <category android:name="android.intent.category.DEFAULT" /> </intent-filter> </activity-alias> <activity-alias android:name="LauncherAlias2" android:enabled="false" android:targetActivity="MyLauncherActivity" > <intent-filter> <action android:name="android.intent.action.MAIN" /> <category android:name="android.intent.category.HOME" /> <category android:name="android.intent.category.DEFAULT" /> </intent-filter> </activity-alias>
For the sake of simplicity, I've left out additional attributes that aren't relevant to the task at hand.
Anyway once your manifest looks like this, you can clear the default launcher using code like this:
PackageManager pm = getPackageManager(); ComponentName cn1 = new ComponentName("com.mypackage", "com.mypackage.LauncherAlias1"); ComponentName cn2 = new ComponentName("com.mypackage", "com.mypackage.LauncherAlias2"); int dis = PackageManager.COMPONENT_ENABLED_STATE_DISABLED; if(pm.getComponentEnabledSetting(cn1) == dis) dis = 3 - dis; pm.setComponentEnabledSetting(cn1, dis, PackageManager.DONT_KILL_APP); pm.setComponentEnabledSetting(cn2, 3 - dis, PackageManager.DONT_KILL_APP);
By enabling one alias and disabling the other, you cause Android to perceive the user's options as having changed, as if you installed one launcher and uninstalled another. Thus, the user will be asked to choose again the next time they press the home button. This approach works no matter whose launcher is the current default.