How do I determine if Android can handle PDF

Question

I know Android cannot handle PDFs natively. However, the Nexus One (and possibly other phones) come pre-installed with QuickOffice Viewer. How would I determine whether the user has a PDF viewer installed?

Currently, the code to start the PDF download looks pretty simple:

Intent intent = new Intent(Intent.ACTION_VIEW);
intent.setData(Uri.parse(url));
startActivity(intent);

After the download, the user clicks on the downloaded file to invoke the viewer. However, if there is no PDF viewer, Android reports "Cannot download. The content is not supported on the phone." I want to determine if the user will get this message, and if so, direct them to PDF apps in the Android Market.

My HTC Hero came pre-installed with QuickOffice viewer and HTC's own PDF viewer. — adrianbanks, May 06 '10 at 22:10

Manfred Moser · Accepted Answer · 2010-10-18T23:36:47.443

I have been testing this and found that the following works. First you download the file independently and store it on the device and then you go do this:

 File file = new File("/sdcard/download/somepdf.pdf");

 PackageManager packageManager = getPackageManager();
 Intent testIntent = new Intent(Intent.ACTION_VIEW);
 testIntent.setType("application/pdf");
 List list = packageManager.queryIntentActivities(testIntent, PackageManager.MATCH_DEFAULT_ONLY);
 if (list.size() > 0 && file.isFile()) {
     Intent intent = new Intent();
     intent.setAction(Intent.ACTION_VIEW);
     Uri uri = Uri.fromFile(file);
     intent.setDataAndType(uri, "application/pdf");

     startActivity(intent);

I have tested this on various emulator and a rooted cyanogen phone as well as a HTC Magic. If no pdf renderer is available the list will return zero and nothing will happen.

It seems to be important to set the data type to the pdf mime type to get the correct behaviour.

If you e.g. install droidreader it will react to the intent and display the pdf.

Of course you could do the check before you download the pdf as well depending on your use case or do things like popping up alerts or redirecting do other intents for download or whatever.

Edit: I have since refactored this out into a separate method ..

    public static final String MIME_TYPE_PDF = "application/pdf";

/**
 * Check if the supplied context can render PDF files via some installed application that reacts to a intent
 * with the pdf mime type and viewing action.
 *
 * @param context
 * @return
 */
public static boolean canDisplayPdf(Context context) {
    PackageManager packageManager = context.getPackageManager();
    Intent testIntent = new Intent(Intent.ACTION_VIEW);
    testIntent.setType(MIME_TYPE_PDF);
    if (packageManager.queryIntentActivities(testIntent, PackageManager.MATCH_DEFAULT_ONLY).size() > 0) {
        return true;
    } else {
        return false;
    }
}

So, you need to download the PDF first, then try to display it? Will this work with PDFs hosted remotely? — Jason Shah, May 07 '10 at 18:35
No.. you have to download it from what I found. Passing a url in the intent does not work with lots of PDF readers.. — Manfred Moser, Feb 17 '12 at 18:39
You should use `setDataAndType ` in your `canDisplayPdf` method - the outcome differs from 'setType'. — artkoenig, Nov 21 '17 at 15:22
How should this work with FileProvider? It is a different intent — dor506, Dec 23 '19 at 08:45

score 10 · Answer 2 · answered May 07 '10 at 00:42

10

You can query the PackageManager to see if there's a package that can handle your Intent. Here's an example: http://www.curious-creature.org/2008/12/15/android-can-i-use-this-intent/

answered May 07 '10 at 00:42

Romain Guy

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4

This tells me that the BrowserActivity can handle the PDF, even on the Android 1.5 Emulator. However, after that emulator downloads the file, the download list shows "Cannot download. The content is not supported on the phone." How can I determine whether I'll get this message? – Jason Shah May 07 '10 at 16:23

score 0 · Answer 3 · answered Nov 03 '16 at 07:33

You will probably use asynch task to download any file.so simple way is Just add below code in post execute() method of asynch task.it will ask for choice.

FileOpener.open(context, file);

and file should contain info about filepath and filename.Example

File file = new File(Environment
        .getExternalStoragePublicDirectory("/MDroid")
        + filepath + fileName );

Hope it helps

How do I determine if Android can handle PDF

3 Answers3

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