What is a BroadcastReceiver in Android?

A BroadcastReceiver is a vital component in Android that listens for broadcast messages from other applications or from the system itself. When a broadcast message that the receiver is registered to listen for is sent, the BroadcastReceiver responds by executing its onReceive() method, allowing it to perform specific actions based on the message received.

This component is particularly useful for handling events like network connectivity changes, battery low warnings, or custom messages sent by other components within an application. Unlike the other options, which describe components with different functionalities—such as UI elements or background services—the role of a BroadcastReceiver is specifically to respond to and handle inter-application messaging.