The setMobileDataEnabled method is no longer callable as of Android L and later

To extend Muzikant's Solution #2, can someone please try the solution below on an Android 5.0 rooted device (as I currently do not possess one) and let me know if it works or does not work.

To enable or disable mobile data, try:

// 1: Enable; 0: Disable
su -c settings put global mobile_data 1
su -c am broadcast -a android.intent.action.ANY_DATA_STATE --ez state 1

Note: The mobile_data variable can be found in Android API 21 source codes at /android-sdk/sources/android-21/android/provider/Settings.java and is declared as:

/**
 * Whether mobile data connections are allowed by the user.  See
 * ConnectivityManager for more info.
 * @hide
*/
public static final String MOBILE_DATA = "mobile_data";

While the android.intent.action.ANY_DATA_STATE Intent can be found in Android API 21 source codes at /android-sdk/sources/android-21/com/android/internal/telephony/TelephonyIntents.java and is declared as:

/**
 * Broadcast Action: The data connection state has changed for any one of the
 * phone's mobile data connections (eg, default, MMS or GPS specific connection).
 *
 * <p class="note">
 * Requires the READ_PHONE_STATE permission.
 * <p class="note">This is a protected intent that can only be sent by the system.
 *
 */
public static final String ACTION_ANY_DATA_CONNECTION_STATE_CHANGED
        = "android.intent.action.ANY_DATA_STATE";

UPDATE 1: If you don't want to implement the above Java codes in your Android application, then you can run the su commands via a shell (Linux) or command prompt (Windows) as follow:

adb shell "su -c 'settings put global mobile_data 1; am broadcast -a android.intent.action.ANY_DATA_STATE --ez state 1'"

Note: adb is located at /android-sdk/platform-tools/ directory. The settings command is only supported on Android 4.2 or later. Older Android version will report a "sh: settings: not found" error.

UPDATE 2: Another way to toggle mobile network on a rooted Android 5+ device would be to use the undocumented service shell command. The following command can be executed via ADB to toggle mobile network:

// 1: Enable; 0: Disable
adb shell "su -c 'service call phone 83 i32 1'"

Or just:

// 1: Enable; 0: Disable
adb shell service call phone 83 i32 1

Note 1: The transaction code 83 used in the service call phone command might change between Android versions. Please check com.android.internal.telephony.ITelephony for the value of the TRANSACTION_setDataEnabled field for your version of Android. Also, instead of hardcoding 83, you would be better off using Reflection to get the value of the TRANSACTION_setDataEnabled field. This way, it will work across all mobile brands running Android 5+ (If you don't know how to use Reflection to get the value of the TRANSACTION_setDataEnabled field, see solution from PhongLe below- save me from duplicating it here.) Important: Please note that transaction code TRANSACTION_setDataEnabled has only been introduced in Android 5.0 and later versions. Running this transaction code on earlier versions of Android will do nothing as the transaction code TRANSACTION_setDataEnabled does not exist.

Note 2: adb is located at /android-sdk/platform-tools/ directory. If you do not wish to use ADB, execute the method via su in your app.

Note 3: See UPDATE 3 below.

UPDATE 3: Many Android developers have emailed me questions regarding switching mobile network on/off for Android 5+, but instead of answering individual emails, I'll post my answer here so everyone can use it and adapt it for their Android apps.

First thing first, let's clear up some misconception and misunderstanding regarding:

svc data enable
svc data disable

The above methods would only turn background data on/off, not the subscription service, so the battery will drain a fair bit since the subscription service- an Android system service- will still be running in the background. For Android devices supporting multiple sim cards, this scenario is worse as the subscription service constantly scans for available mobile network(s) to use with the active SIM cards available in the Android device. Use this method at your own risk.

Now, the proper way to switch off mobile network, including its corresponding subscription service via the SubscriptionManager class introduced in API 22, is:

public static void setMobileNetworkfromLollipop(Context context) throws Exception {
    String command = null;
    int state = 0;
    try {
        // Get the current state of the mobile network.
        state = isMobileDataEnabledFromLollipop(context) ? 0 : 1;
        // Get the value of the "TRANSACTION_setDataEnabled" field.
        String transactionCode = getTransactionCode(context);
        // Android 5.1+ (API 22) and later.
        if (Build.VERSION.SDK_INT > Build.VERSION_CODES.LOLLIPOP) {
            SubscriptionManager mSubscriptionManager = (SubscriptionManager) context.getSystemService(Context.TELEPHONY_SUBSCRIPTION_SERVICE);
            // Loop through the subscription list i.e. SIM list.
            for (int i = 0; i < mSubscriptionManager.getActiveSubscriptionInfoCountMax(); i++) {                    
                if (transactionCode != null && transactionCode.length() > 0) {
                    // Get the active subscription ID for a given SIM card.
                    int subscriptionId = mSubscriptionManager.getActiveSubscriptionInfoList().get(i).getSubscriptionId();
                    // Execute the command via `su` to turn off
                    // mobile network for a subscription service.
                    command = "service call phone " + transactionCode + " i32 " + subscriptionId + " i32 " + state;
                    executeCommandViaSu(context, "-c", command);
                }
            }
        } else if (Build.VERSION.SDK_INT == Build.VERSION_CODES.LOLLIPOP) {
            // Android 5.0 (API 21) only.
            if (transactionCode != null && transactionCode.length() > 0) {
                // Execute the command via `su` to turn off mobile network.                     
                command = "service call phone " + transactionCode + " i32 " + state;
                executeCommandViaSu(context, "-c", command);
            }
        }
    } catch(Exception e) {
        // Oops! Something went wrong, so we throw the exception here.
        throw e;
    }           
}

To check if the mobile network is enabled or not:

private static boolean isMobileDataEnabledFromLollipop(Context context) {
    boolean state = false;
    if (Build.VERSION.SDK_INT >= Build.VERSION_CODES.LOLLIPOP) {
        state = Settings.Global.getInt(context.getContentResolver(), "mobile_data", 0) == 1;
    }
    return state;
}

To get the value of the TRANSACTION_setDataEnabled field (borrowed from PhongLe's solution below):

private static String getTransactionCode(Context context) throws Exception {
    try {
        final TelephonyManager mTelephonyManager = (TelephonyManager) context.getSystemService(Context.TELEPHONY_SERVICE); 
        final Class<?> mTelephonyClass = Class.forName(mTelephonyManager.getClass().getName());
        final Method mTelephonyMethod = mTelephonyClass.getDeclaredMethod("getITelephony");
        mTelephonyMethod.setAccessible(true);
        final Object mTelephonyStub = mTelephonyMethod.invoke(mTelephonyManager);
        final Class<?> mTelephonyStubClass = Class.forName(mTelephonyStub.getClass().getName());
        final Class<?> mClass = mTelephonyStubClass.getDeclaringClass();
        final Field field = mClass.getDeclaredField("TRANSACTION_setDataEnabled");
        field.setAccessible(true);
        return String.valueOf(field.getInt(null));
    } catch (Exception e) {
        // The "TRANSACTION_setDataEnabled" field is not available,
        // or named differently in the current API level, so we throw
        // an exception and inform users that the method is not available.
        throw e;
    }
}

To execute command via su:

private static void executeCommandViaSu(Context context, String option, String command) {
    boolean success = false;
    String su = "su";
    for (int i=0; i < 3; i++) {
        // Default "su" command executed successfully, then quit.
        if (success) {
            break;
        }
        // Else, execute other "su" commands.
        if (i == 1) {
            su = "/system/xbin/su";
        } else if (i == 2) {
            su = "/system/bin/su";
        }       
        try {
            // Execute command as "su".
            Runtime.getRuntime().exec(new String[]{su, option, command});
        } catch (IOException e) {
            success = false; 
            // Oops! Cannot execute `su` for some reason.
            // Log error here.
        } finally {
            success = true;
        }
    }
}

Hope this update clears up any misconception, misunderstanding, or question you may have about switching mobile network on/off on rooted Android 5+ devices.

Just to share a few more insights and possible solution (for rooted devices and system apps).

Solution #1

It seems like the setMobileDataEnabled method no longer exists in ConnectivityManager and this functionality was moved to TelephonyManager with two methods getDataEnabled and setDataEnabled. I tried calling these methods with reflection as you can see in the code below:

public void setMobileDataState(boolean mobileDataEnabled)
{
    try
    {
        TelephonyManager telephonyService = (TelephonyManager) getSystemService(Context.TELEPHONY_SERVICE);

        Method setMobileDataEnabledMethod = telephonyService.getClass().getDeclaredMethod("setDataEnabled", boolean.class);

        if (null != setMobileDataEnabledMethod)
        {
            setMobileDataEnabledMethod.invoke(telephonyService, mobileDataEnabled);
        }
    }
    catch (Exception ex)
    {
        Log.e(TAG, "Error setting mobile data state", ex);
    }
}

public boolean getMobileDataState()
{
    try
    {
        TelephonyManager telephonyService = (TelephonyManager) getSystemService(Context.TELEPHONY_SERVICE);

        Method getMobileDataEnabledMethod = telephonyService.getClass().getDeclaredMethod("getDataEnabled");

        if (null != getMobileDataEnabledMethod)
        {
            boolean mobileDataEnabled = (Boolean) getMobileDataEnabledMethod.invoke(telephonyService);

            return mobileDataEnabled;
        }
    }
    catch (Exception ex)
    {
        Log.e(TAG, "Error getting mobile data state", ex);
    }

    return false;
}

When executing the code you get a SecurityException stating that Neither user 10089 nor current process has android.permission.MODIFY_PHONE_STATE.

So, yes this is an intended change to the internal API and is no longer available to apps that used that hack in previous versions.

(start rant: that dreadful android.permission.MODIFY_PHONE_STATE permission... end rant).

The good news are that in case you are building an app that can acquire the MODIFY_PHONE_STATE permission (only system apps can use that), you can use the above code to toggle mobile data state.

Solution #2

To check for current state of mobile data you can use the mobile_data field of Settings.Global (not documented in official documentation).

Settings.Global.getInt(contentResolver, "mobile_data");

And to enable/disable mobile data you can use shell commands on rooted devices (Just basic testing performed so any feedback in comments is appreciated). You can run the following command(s) as root (1=enable, 0=disable):

settings put global mobile_data 1
settings put global mobile_data 0

I noticed that the service call method posted by ChuongPham does not work consistently on all devices.

I have found the following solution which, I think, will work without any issue on all ROOTED devices.

Execute the following via su

To enable mobile data

svc data enable

To disable mobile data

svc data disable

I think this is the simplest and best method.

Edit: 2 downvotes were for what I believe to be commercial reasons. The person has deleted his comment now. Try it yourself, it works! Also confirmed to work by guys in comments.

I don't have enough reputation to comment but I have tried all the answers and found the following:

ChuongPham: Instead of using 83, I used reflection to get the value of the variable TRANSACTION_setDataEnabled from the com.android.internal.telephony.ITelephony so it works across all Android 5+ devices, regardless of brands.

Muzikant: Work if the app is moved to /system/priv-app/ directory (thanks to rgruet.) Else, it works via root, too! You just need to inform your users that the app will need a reboot before the changes to the mobile network will take place.

AJ: Work- sort of. Does not turn off subscription service so the devices I tested drained their batteries a fair bit. AJ's solution is NOT equivalent to Muzikant's solution despite the claim. I can confirm this by debugging different Samsung, Sony, and LG stock ROMs (I'm thorough) and can disprove AJ's claim that his solution is the same as Muzikant's. (Note: I can't get my hands on some Nexus and Motorola ROMs so haven't tested these ROMs with the proposed solutions.)

Anyway, hope it clears up any doubt over the solutions.

Happy coding! PL, Germany

UPDATE: For those wondering how to get the value of the TRANSACTION_setDataEnabled field via reflection, you can do the following:

private static String getTransactionCodeFromApi20(Context context) throws Exception {
    try {
        final TelephonyManager mTelephonyManager = (TelephonyManager) context.getSystemService(Context.TELEPHONY_SERVICE); 
        final Class<?> mTelephonyClass = Class.forName(mTelephonyManager.getClass().getName());
        final Method mTelephonyMethod = mTelephonyClass.getDeclaredMethod("getITelephony");
        mTelephonyMethod.setAccessible(true);
        final Object mTelephonyStub = mTelephonyMethod.invoke(mTelephonyManager);
        final Class<?> mTelephonyStubClass = Class.forName(mTelephonyStub.getClass().getName());
        final Class<?> mClass = mTelephonyStubClass.getDeclaringClass();
        final Field field = mClass.getDeclaredField("TRANSACTION_setDataEnabled");
        field.setAccessible(true);
        return String.valueOf(field.getInt(null));
    } catch (Exception e) {
        // The "TRANSACTION_setDataEnabled" field is not available,
        // or named differently in the current API level, so we throw
        // an exception and inform users that the method is not available.
        throw e;
    }
}