How to send an object from one Android Activity to another using Intents?

Question

How can I pass an object of a custom type from one Activity to another using the putExtra() method of the class Intent?

Answer 1

If you have a singleton class (fx Service) acting as gateway to your model layer anyway, it can be solved by having a variable in that class with getters and setters for it.

In Activity 1:

Intent intent = new Intent(getApplicationContext(), Activity2.class);
service.setSavedOrder(order);
startActivity(intent);

In Activity 2:

private Service service;
private Order order;

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

    service = Service.getInstance();
    order = service.getSavedOrder();
    service.setSavedOrder(null) //If you don't want to save it for the entire session of the app.
}

In Service:

private static Service instance;

private Service()
{
    //Constructor content
}

public static Service getInstance()
{
    if(instance == null)
    {
        instance = new Service();
    }
    return instance;
}
private Order savedOrder;

public Order getSavedOrder()
{
    return savedOrder;
}

public void setSavedOrder(Order order)
{
    this.savedOrder = order;
}

This solution does not require any serialization or other "packaging" of the object in question. But it will only be beneficial if you are using this kind of architecture anyway.