Android4.4 can not handle sms intent with "vnd.android-dir/mms-sms"

Question

My application has a button to start default sms activity and it worked perfectly fine all android version except new one, Android 4.4(kitkat) Here is the code:

public void onClick(View arg0) {
    Intent smsIntent = new Intent(Intent.ACTION_VIEW);
    smsIntent.setType("vnd.android-dir/mms-sms");
    smsIntent.putExtra("address", member.getPhoneNumber().trim());
    context.startActivity(smsIntent);
}

And I get error messages

11-08 02:08:32.815: E/AndroidRuntime(14733): android.content.ActivityNotFoundException: No Activity found to handle Intent { act=android.intent.action.VIEW typ=vnd.android-dir/mms-sms (has extras) }

I know that google made some changes on how the default sms app handles sms intents. but my app is not a sms app but it only has function to start default sms app with recipient number. so please help.

score 34 · Accepted Answer · answered Nov 13 '13 at 18:10

34

To start the SMS app with number populated use action ACTION_SENDTO:

Intent intent = new Intent(Intent.ACTION_SENDTO);
intent.setData(Uri.parse("smsto:" + Uri.encode(phoneNumber)));
startActivity(intent);

This will work on Android 4.4. It should also work on earlier versions of Android however as the APIs were never public the behavior might vary. If you didn't have issues with your prior method I would probably just stick to that pre-4.4 and use ACTION_SENDTO for 4.4+.

answered Nov 13 '13 at 18:10

AdamK

21,199
5
42
58

1

thx it works!! but I also try to send message body with the intent and I use intent.putExtra("sms_body", "blahblah"); but this extra doesn't work and no message body appears on the message activity. so do you have any idea with this too?? – bluemotion Nov 14 '13 at 04:55
not sure if that's possible anymore. you can certainly populate the body text using ACTION_SEND instead along with the EXTRA_TEXT extra, however that will mean you can't specify the phone number. – AdamK Nov 14 '13 at 19:02

score 0 · Answer 2 · answered Feb 25 '19 at 13:23

0

to start the sms app without insert the number, you should delete setType

Intent intent = new Intent(Intent.ACTION_VIEW);
intent.setData(Uri.parse("sms:"));
intent.putExtra("sms_body", "smsMsgVar");
startActivity(intent);

answered Feb 25 '19 at 13:23

mohsen

1,065
16
24

score 0 · Answer 3 · answered May 01 '19 at 19:26

0

The issue happened when you are testing with Emulator,

Please test with the actual device.

answered May 01 '19 at 19:26

Suhad Bin Zubair

717
7
10

score 0 · Answer 4 · answered Jun 25 '20 at 12:17

In Kotlin this code works:

val defaultSmsPackageName = Telephony.Sms.getDefaultSmsPackage(activity)  
            val sendIntent = Intent(Intent.ACTION_SEND)
            sendIntent.type = "text/plain"
            sendIntent.putExtra("address", "sms:"+contactNumber)
            sendIntent.putExtra(Intent.EXTRA_TEXT, getString(R.string.share_msg_body))
            Timber.e("defaultSmsPackageName: "+defaultSmsPackageName)
            if (defaultSmsPackageName != null){ //Can be null in case that there is no default, then the user would be able to choose any app that support this intent.
                sendIntent.setPackage(defaultSmsPackageName)
                activity!!.startActivity(sendIntent)
            }

Android4.4 can not handle sms intent with "vnd.android-dir/mms-sms"

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