Using tel: Hyperlinks on Android < 4 alternative?

Question

I have an app which gives normal landline numbers for UK 08 numbers.

Currently this is a web page shown in the app, when the user finds the number they want and click on the green phone icon. I'm using the following JavaScript to force then force a tel: link with the number to bring up the dailer.

document.location.href = 'tel:'+number;//push browser to call number

This method works fine for all newer android 4.0 and above as far as i can see. But when i use my old Orange San Francisco Phone (android 2.3) it doesnt bring the dailer. Instead it just attempts to open a new page with tel:01xxxxxxxx as the URL which in turn displays a web page not available message.

I assume this is because tel: is part of HTML5 which is why it's not working. Is there any alternative that would work on all versions?

Are you wrapping this in a `webview` - aka do you have access to the native Android code as well? — Phil, May 02 '13 at 15:19
yes it's in a webview, just displays my web page like an iframe — jampez77, May 02 '13 at 15:21

score 1 · Accepted Answer · edited May 23 '17 at 12:25

1

tel: is preferred - since the 1990's. callto: may work better for some devices. See also: How to mark-up phone numbers?

EDIT

Since you have the page running inside an Android WebView, you can handle this error with the hack (also described at Android WebView "tel:" links show web page not found):

myWebView.setWebViewClient(new WebViewClient() {  
    @Override  
    public boolean shouldOverrideUrlLoading(WebView view, String url) {  
        if (url.startsWith("tel:")) { 
            Intent intent = new Intent(Intent.ACTION_DIAL, Uri.parse(url)); 
            startActivity(intent); 
        }
        else if(url.startsWith("http:") || url.startsWith("https:")) {
            view.loadUrl(url);
        }
        return true;  
    }  
}

For which you may need the permission

<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.CALL_PHONE"></uses-permission>

edited May 23 '17 at 12:25

Community

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answered May 02 '13 at 14:28

Phil

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I've tried callto: as well and it still produces the same results i'm afraid – jampez77 May 02 '13 at 14:45
right, I shall try this as soon as I get home from work and let you know, Thanks in advance though – jampez77 May 02 '13 at 15:33
Unfortunately this doesn't seem to make a difference :/ – jampez77 May 02 '13 at 18:14
@jampez77, just to make sure we're on the same page, I edited my post with the code to use. Can you verify this does not work? – Phil May 02 '13 at 18:22
Just tried the new code and it work prefectly, thank you so much :) – jampez77 May 02 '13 at 18:32

Using tel: Hyperlinks on Android < 4 alternative?

1 Answers1