TextView to send email when clicked

Question

I have a TextView with android:autoLink="email".

If I put my email address in there then a link appears that I can click.

How do I have different text appear (for example 'Send Feedback') instead of the email address but still behave the same when clicked?

Thanks

neildeadman · Accepted Answer · 2019-03-04T12:35:18.623

67

To achieve what I wanted required a different approach:

TextView feedback = (TextView) findViewById(R.id.TextViewSendFeedback);
feedback.setText(Html.fromHtml("<a href=\"mailto:ask@me.it\">Send Feedback</a>"));
feedback.setMovementMethod(LinkMovementMethod.getInstance());

This basically places HTML in the TextView so I get a link saying 'Send Feedback' but clicking it opens the default email application.

Word of warning: Trying this in the emulator didn't initially work for me, saying it was unsupported. This was just because I didn't have an email account setup. Setting one up in the emulator made the link work as I wanted.

edited Mar 04 '19 at 12:35

answered Jan 14 '11 at 08:57

neildeadman

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1

One thing to watch out for, is that this won't work if you set the android:autoLink to "all". It probably doesn't work if you set android:autoLink to anything except "none", but I haven't tested that. – Frank Harper Jul 28 '12 at 08:28
2

If you store the string in a string resource you need to replace the left angle bracket with < – ErikAndren Jul 19 '13 at 15:27
If there is no any mail app it will crash your app: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/54982981/mailto-crashes-an-app-if-user-doesnt-have-mail-app – user25 Mar 04 '19 at 12:14
I believe my warning at the bottom of my own answer states this already, but thanks. – neildeadman Mar 04 '19 at 12:34

score 52 · Answer 2 · answered Apr 19 '14 at 14:21

52

You can use both links and email if you set the following param in the TextView

android:autoLink="web|email"

the links will be opened in the browser and the mails will be sent by the default mail client

answered Apr 19 '14 at 14:21

Hakem Zaied

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Does it handle exceptions? https://stackoverflow.com/questions/54982981/mailto-crashes-an-app-if-user-doesnt-have-mail-app – user25 Mar 04 '19 at 12:25

score 36 · Answer 3 · answered Apr 20 '13 at 13:55

36

Another simple way in layout:

...
<TextView
        android:id="@+id/tvTelefone"
        android:layout_width="wrap_content"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:text="@string/sobre_telefone"
        android:textColor="#000000"
        android:autoLink="phone" />
...    

...
<string name="sobre_telefone">Contato: (45) 9145-0000</string>
}

Read more here: http://developer.android.com/reference/android/widget/TextView.html#attr_android:autoLink

answered Apr 20 '13 at 13:55

Dante

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This is in fact the best solution if you just need basic support for website and email address linking. For those confused with the answer, just check the provided `autoLink` property link. – cprcrack Dec 30 '13 at 13:05
1

To change the color of the link `textColorLink` needs to be used. – YBrush Mar 30 '18 at 18:03

score 1 · Answer 4 · answered Jan 13 '11 at 17:37

1

It might be easier to create a button and inside your onClickListener() pull an email from maybe R.string.email.

answered Jan 13 '11 at 17:37

bgs

1,210
10
19

That is a very good suggestion that I never considered! I may actually use that, even though I have found the solution. Thanks! – neildeadman Jan 14 '11 at 08:54

score -1 · Answer 5 · answered Mar 17 '17 at 12:28

Fro the Strings From strings.xml :

<string name="your_string"><![CDATA[ contact us at <a href=\"mailto:recipient@mail.com\">recipient@mail.com</a> for more help.]]></string>


tvObject.setText(Html.fromHtml(getString(R.string.your_string)));
tvObject.setMovementMethod(LinkMovementMethod.getInstance());

TextView to send email when clicked

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