CODEWITHSUNDEEP
androidandroid-intentandroid-broadcastreceiver
askvictor
askvictor

Reputation: 3819

Intent filter for SEND action in a broadcast receiver

I want users to be able to Share/Send to my app, but I don't want to start an activity (I just need to send some data on the network, and show a success message popup). I was imagining using a Broadcast Receiver for this, but the intent filter shown below, while it works when in a normal activity, doesn't work for a receiver (i.e. my app doesn't show in the list of things I can share to).

    <receiver
        android:name=".MyReceiver"
        android:enabled="true"
        android:exported="true" >
        <intent-filter>
            <action android:name="android.intent.action.SEND" />
            <category android:name="android.intent.category.DEFAULT" />
            <data android:mimeType="text/plain" />
        </intent-filter>
    </receiver>

Should I be using a receiver here, or is there some other way of catching a SEND intent without launching a full activity?

Upvotes: 2

Views: 830

Answers (1)

CommonsWare
CommonsWare

Reputation: 1006799

my app doesn't show in the list of things I can share to

Correct. That is because ACTION_SEND is used for activities. The ones who are initiating ACTION_SEND are calling startActivity(). You cannot respond to a startActivity() request with anything other than an Activity.

is there some other way of catching a SEND intent without launching a full activity?

No. You are welcome to use Theme.NoDisplay, Theme.Translucent.NoTitleBar, or something to have an activity with no UI, though. Just don't call setContentView() in onCreate(), but instead do your work (e.g., kick off an IntentService to do your network I/O), and call finish().

Upvotes: 5

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