Permission Denial while sharing file with FileProvider

Question

I am trying to share file with FileProvider. I checked that file is shared properly with apps like Gmail, Google Drive etc. Even though following exception is thrown:

2019-08-28 11:43:03.169 12573-12595/com.example.name E/DatabaseUtils: Writing exception to parcel
    java.lang.SecurityException: Permission Denial: reading androidx.core.content.FileProvider uri content://com.example.name.provider/external_files/Android/data/com.example.name/files/allergy_report.pdf from pid=6005, uid=1000 requires the provider be exported, or grantUriPermission()
        at android.content.ContentProvider.enforceReadPermissionInner(ContentProvider.java:729)
        at android.content.ContentProvider$Transport.enforceReadPermission(ContentProvider.java:602)
        at android.content.ContentProvider$Transport.query(ContentProvider.java:231)
        at android.content.ContentProviderNative.onTransact(ContentProviderNative.java:104)
        at android.os.Binder.execTransactInternal(Binder.java:1021)
        at android.os.Binder.execTransact(Binder.java:994)

provider:

<provider
    android:name="androidx.core.content.FileProvider"
    android:authorities="${applicationId}.provider"
    android:exported="false"
    android:grantUriPermissions="true">
    <meta-data
        android:name="android.support.FILE_PROVIDER_PATHS"
        android:resource="@xml/file_provider_paths" />
</provider>

file_provider_paths.xml

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<paths xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android">
    <external-path name="external_files" path="." />
</paths>

Sharing Intent

Intent intentShareFile = new Intent(Intent.ACTION_SEND);
File fileWithinMyDir = new File(targetPdf);

if (fileWithinMyDir.exists()) {
    intentShareFile.setType("application/pdf");
    Uri uri = FileProvider.getUriForFile(getActivity(), BuildConfig.APPLICATION_ID + ".provider", fileWithinMyDir);
    intentShareFile.putExtra(Intent.EXTRA_STREAM, uri);
    intentShareFile.putExtra(Intent.EXTRA_SUBJECT, "Sharing File...");
    intentShareFile.putExtra(Intent.EXTRA_TEXT, "Sharing File...");
    intentShareFile.setFlags(Intent.FLAG_GRANT_READ_URI_PERMISSION);
    startActivity(Intent.createChooser(intentShareFile, "Share File"));
}

Hopefully you can point out my mistake why this exceptions is thrown when it seems like apps are granted permission properly and sharing works as it should be.

EDIT:

I found that the problem lies in line:

startActivity(Intent.createChooser(intentShareFile, "Share File"));

When I changed it simply to

startActivity(intentShareFile);

However it displays a little bit different layout for picking application. But still I cannot figure out why original chooser is not working.

Answer 1

Sorry about the late response. I solved it like this:

Intent chooser = Intent.createChooser(intentShareFile, "Share File");

List<ResolveInfo> resInfoList = this.getPackageManager().queryIntentActivities(chooser, PackageManager.MATCH_DEFAULT_ONLY);

for (ResolveInfo resolveInfo : resInfoList) {
    String packageName = resolveInfo.activityInfo.packageName;
    this.grantUriPermission(packageName, uri, Intent.FLAG_GRANT_WRITE_URI_PERMISSION | Intent.FLAG_GRANT_READ_URI_PERMISSION);
}

startActivity(chooser);

This helped me: Permission Denial with File Provider through intent

Answer 2

There is also a way to grant the URI permission through the Intent flag, without doing in manually with grantUriPermission() and by keeping the usage of Intent.createChooser().

The Intent.createChooser() documentation states:

If the target intent has specified FLAG_GRANT_READ_URI_PERMISSION or FLAG_GRANT_WRITE_URI_PERMISSION, then these flags will also be set in the returned chooser intent, with its ClipData set appropriately: either a direct reflection of getClipData() if that is non-null, or a new ClipData built from getData().

Therefore, if the original Intent has the Uri set in its ClipData or in setData(), it should work as wanted.

In your example, the ACTION_SEND Intent supports the Uri set through setClipData() as of Jelly Bean (Android 4.1).

Long story short, here is a working example of your code:

Intent intentShareFile = new Intent(Intent.ACTION_SEND);
File fileWithinMyDir = new File(targetPdf);

if(fileWithinMyDir.exists()) {
    String mimeType = "application/pdf";
    String[] mimeTypeArray = new String[] { mimeType };
    
    intentShareFile.setType(mimeType);
    Uri uri = FileProvider.getUriForFile(getActivity(), BuildConfig.APPLICATION_ID + ".provider", fileWithinMyDir);
    
    // Add the uri as a ClipData
    intentShareFile.setClipData(new ClipData(
        "A label describing your file to the user",
        mimeTypeArray,
        new ClipData.Item(uri)
    ));
    
    // EXTRA_STREAM is kept for compatibility with old applications
    intentShareFile.putExtra(Intent.EXTRA_STREAM, uri);
    
    intentShareFile.putExtra(Intent.EXTRA_SUBJECT,
            "Sharing File...");
    intentShareFile.putExtra(Intent.EXTRA_TEXT, "Sharing File...");
    intentShareFile.setFlags(Intent.FLAG_GRANT_READ_URI_PERMISSION);
    startActivity(Intent.createChooser(intentShareFile, "Share File"));
}

Answer 3

In addition to the answer of Nit above, it is possible to set the ClipData directly with the to be shared uri as follows.

intent.setClipData(ClipData.newRawUri("", uri));

This prevents the security exception when presenting the intent chooser.

If you want to share multiple uris, you can set the clipdata with multiple uris to prevent the security exception. To summarize:

Intent intent = new Intent();
intent.setType(mimeType);
intent.setFlags(Intent.FLAG_GRANT_READ_URI_PERMISSION);

if (uris.size() == 0) { 
   return;
}
else if (uris.size() == 1) {
   Uri uri = uris.get(0);
   intent.setAction(Intent.ACTION_SEND);
   intent.putExtra(Intent.EXTRA_STREAM, uri);
   intent.setClipData(ClipData.newRawUri("", uri));   
}
else {
  intent.setAction(Intent.ACTION_SEND_MULTIPLE);
  intent.putParcelableArrayListExtra(Intent.EXTRA_STREAM, uris);
  ClipData clipData = ClipData.newRawUri("", uris.get(0));

  for (int i = 1; i < uris.size(); i++) { 
      Uri uri = uris.get(i); 
      clipData.addItem(new ClipData.Item(uri));
  }
  intent.setClipData(clipData);

}

startActivity(Intent.createChooser(intent, title));

Answer 4

This worked for me.

    Intent sharableIntent = new Intent();
    sharableIntent.setAction(Intent.ACTION_SEND);
    sharableIntent.setFlags(Intent.FLAG_GRANT_PERSISTABLE_URI_PERMISSION );

    Uri imageUri = Uri.parse(ImgLoc);
    File imageFile = new File(String.valueOf(imageUri));
    Uri UriImage = FileProvider.getUriForFile(context, Author, imageFile);

    sharableIntent.setType("image/*");
    sharableIntent.putExtra(Intent.EXTRA_STREAM, UriImage);
    sharableIntent.putExtra(Intent.EXTRA_TITLE, title);
    sharableIntent.putExtra(Intent.EXTRA_TEXT, body);

    Intent chooser = Intent.createChooser(sharableIntent, "Chooser Title");
    chooser.addFlags(Intent.FLAG_GRANT_PERSISTABLE_URI_PERMISSION);
    context.startActivity(chooser);

createChooser Intent.createChooser():Builds a new ACTION_CHOOSER Intent that wraps the given target intent, also optionally supplying a title. If the target intent has specified FLAG_GRANT_READ_URI_PERMISSION or FLAG_GRANT_WRITE_URI_PERMISSION, then these flags will also be set in the returned chooser intent, with its ClipData set appropriately: either a direct reflection of getClipData() if that is non-null, or a new ClipData built from getData()