In Android, what is a practical way to check or monitor the status of an activity as it moves through its lifecycle states such as created, started, resumed, paused, stopped, and destroyed?

Introduction / Context:
Android activities move through a well defined lifecycle, including states such as created, started, resumed, paused, stopped, and destroyed. Understanding this lifecycle is essential for managing resources, saving state, and providing a smooth user experience. Developers often need to check or monitor the status of an activity, especially while learning or debugging. Interview questions commonly ask how to observe activity lifecycle changes in a practical way.

Given Data / Assumptions:
An Android activity has lifecycle callback methods provided by the framework.Developers can override these callbacks in their activity classes.Logging tools such as Logcat display messages from these callbacks.The question asks for a practical method to check or monitor activity status.

Concept / Approach:
The Android framework defines methods that it calls as the activity enters different lifecycle states. These include onCreate, onStart, onResume, onPause, onStop, and onDestroy, along with others such as onRestart. By overriding these methods in the activity code and inserting logging statements, developers can see when each state is reached. The logs appear in Logcat or other debugging tools, making it easy to follow the lifecycle sequence. This approach is practical, does not require changes to the system, and is widely used for both learning and troubleshooting.

Step-by-Step Solution:
First, recall that each activity extends Activity or AppCompatActivity and can override lifecycle methods.Next, remember that common practice is to call super for each overridden method and then add custom behavior, such as logging.Then, consider that writing Log.d or similar statements inside each callback will print messages whenever the system invokes that method.After that, developers can open Logcat while interacting with the app and see exactly when the activity is created, started, resumed, paused, stopped, or destroyed.Finally, match this technique with option A, which describes overriding lifecycle methods and logging messages to monitor status.

Verification / Alternative check:
Android training materials often suggest adding log statements to lifecycle callbacks as a first step in understanding how activities behave when the user rotates the device, presses the Home button, or navigates between screens. This strategy provides immediate feedback in the development environment and does not require access to lower level system components. There is no need to modify the Linux kernel or use printers, and XML layout files alone cannot handle lifecycle events. This confirms that option A is the realistic method for checking activity status.

Why Other Options Are Wrong:
Option B suggests modifying the kernel source code, which is unnecessary and impractical for ordinary app development. Option C claims that XML layouts alone can inspect lifecycle events, but layouts only describe user interface structure and cannot run code. Option D refers to the device boot loader, which deals with starting the operating system and does not track activity level events. Option E describes printing lifecycle events on paper via a printer driver, which has no relationship to Android debugging practices.

Common Pitfalls:
A frequent mistake is to forget to call the superclass implementation when overriding lifecycle methods, which can cause unexpected behavior. Another pitfall is to misinterpret lifecycle sequences, especially around configuration changes such as rotation, which can trigger destruction and recreation of activities. Developers may also log too much information without filtering, making it harder to see important messages. Using targeted logging in lifecycle callbacks, combined with a good understanding of the lifecycle diagram, helps avoid these problems and leads to more robust activity handling.

Final Answer:
The correct answer is: Override lifecycle callback methods like onCreate, onStart, onResume, onPause, onStop, and onDestroy and log messages or state changes in each one.