Is it possible to check "Contacts" and "Messaging" apps Status using a Background Service in Android?

Question

Introduction

As some of you might know, the new Samsung Galaxy S3 have some cool motion features that can be used for making some "tasks" easier. For those who don't, here is the link for the explanation

Motivation

I want to write an background service to act as this Touchwizz-exclusive set of features.

What its possible

According to the android documentation about sensor providers and background-services, and the useful information found at this link (provided by @Michal K), it is possible to intercept those sensor events, from a background service. Even tho it would be very battery expensive, it is still possible.

What i'm not sure it's possible

I am not sure if interacting with the foreground app (be it "Contacts", or "Messaging", or w.e) is possible using a background service or any other way.

By interacting, i mean, be able to do something like this, for instance:

BGService intercepts event "saying" that the phone is in "call position"
BGService checks if the foreground app is either "Contacts" or "Messaging"
If it is, BGService checks if there is any opened sms or contact
If there is a opened (focused) contact or sms thread, the BgService starts a call for that contact (or sender of the sms).

This is the core idea of what i am trying to achieve, is this possible or such integration between apps and events is only possible because all of them are bundled in a single framework (which is Touchwizz, in this case) ?

If it is possible, any tip is welcome.

Thanks in advance

I do not think these are `motion-triggered` these are more likely `sensor-triggered. But may be I am wrong! — Mohsin Naeem, Jul 16 '12 at 17:35
Yes, you may be right. All of those can me "triggered" by sensors like gyroscope, proximity and compass sensors — Marcello Grechi Lins, Jul 16 '12 at 17:38
16 views, no answer. I Guess people are just running to steal my idea. JK : ) — Marcello Grechi Lins, Jul 16 '12 at 20:25
I think your question is essentially: Is it possible to collect and process sensor data in background. It should be possible, but running a sensor-enabled background service all the time may be a little bit processor and battery intensive so I'm not sure whether it's a good idea. See this article for some info: http://mylifewithandroid.blogspot.com/2010/04/monitoring-sensors-in-background.html — Michał Klimczak, Jul 18 '12 at 13:16
@MichałK This helped me alot. I guess i could not make myself clear, so i am just re-writing the question, and i will add your link as part of the resources. Thanks again, stay tuned — Marcello Grechi Lins, Jul 18 '12 at 13:21
Yep, now it's clear and it's a nice question, but I'm not competent enough to answer it. Hope someone will be. But I think it's a system thing and there's no way to do it nicely — Michał Klimczak, Jul 18 '12 at 18:55

score 1 · Accepted Answer · edited May 23 '17 at 12:04

1.BGService intercepts event "saying" that the phone is in "call position"

You can use the TelephonyManager API to determine the phone state

2.BGService checks if the foreground app is either "Contacts" or "Messaging"

You can use the ActivityManager API to determine the foreground application. See the following post for an example : Determining the current foreground application from a background task or service

3.If it is, BGService checks if there is any opened sms or contact

This I do not know if its possible to do. You would need a way to query the SMS or Contacts applications to find out what is focused in the view. The SmsManager API only provides methods for sending SMS's.

4.If there is a opened (focused) contact or sms thread, the BgService starts a call for that contact (or sender of the sms).

Same answer as #3.

Alternatively, if you are only interested in content changes in the SMS and Contacts app you might be able to do something with the ContentObserver API.

Also look at the API documentation for ContentProviders, and the Content Provider Basics docs.

Thanks for the answer, this helped me, at least now i know that this is not possible. Thanks mate — Marcello Grechi Lins, Jul 19 '12 at 14:08

Is it possible to check "Contacts" and "Messaging" apps Status using a Background Service in Android?

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