androidkotlinruntimegetproperty

Runtime/getprop vs getProperty()

I have a weird issue with reading a property on Android R. While it works when I use the Runtime() exec call, it fails with a simple getProperty() method. Any ideas what could be wrong?

Runtime.getRuntime().exec("getprop my_prop") vs System.getProperty("my_prop", "defaultValue")

Solution

  • Command getprop refers to the system properties that are built with the OS and can be accessed via SystemProperties.get("my_prop", "defaultValue") function. but SystemProperties is a firmware level class and not accessible for apps. Using Runtime.getRuntime().exec("getprop") does not always work because some properties are defined in restricted files depending on manufacturer.

    But System.getProperty("my_prop") is for system runtime properties like http proxy.

    I hope this is clear enough.