How can I read SMS messages from the device programmatically in Android?

I want to retrieve the SMS messages from the device and display them?

Solution 1:

Use Content Resolver ("content://sms/inbox") to read SMS which are in inbox.

// public static final String INBOX = "content://sms/inbox";
// public static final String SENT = "content://sms/sent";
// public static final String DRAFT = "content://sms/draft";
Cursor cursor = getContentResolver().query(Uri.parse("content://sms/inbox"), null, null, null, null);

if (cursor.moveToFirst()) { // must check the result to prevent exception
    do {
       String msgData = "";
       for(int idx=0;idx<cursor.getColumnCount();idx++)
       {
           msgData += " " + cursor.getColumnName(idx) + ":" + cursor.getString(idx);
       }
       // use msgData
    } while (cursor.moveToNext());
} else {
   // empty box, no SMS
}

Please add READ_SMS permission.

I Hope it helps :)

Solution 2:

if (Build.VERSION.SDK_INT >= Build.VERSION_CODES.KITKAT) {
        final String myPackageName = getPackageName();
        if (!Telephony.Sms.getDefaultSmsPackage(this).equals(myPackageName)) {

            Intent intent = new Intent(Telephony.Sms.Intents.ACTION_CHANGE_DEFAULT);
            intent.putExtra(Telephony.Sms.Intents.EXTRA_PACKAGE_NAME, myPackageName);
            startActivityForResult(intent, 1);
        }else {
            List<Sms> lst = getAllSms();
        }
    }else {
        List<Sms> lst = getAllSms();
    }

Set app as default SMS app

    @Override
protected void onActivityResult(int requestCode, int resultCode, Intent data) {
if (requestCode == 1) {
    if (resultCode == RESULT_OK) {

        if (Build.VERSION.SDK_INT >= Build.VERSION_CODES.KITKAT) {
            final String myPackageName = getPackageName();
            if (Telephony.Sms.getDefaultSmsPackage(mActivity).equals(myPackageName)) {

                List<Sms> lst = getAllSms();
            }
        }
    }
}
}

Function to get SMS

public List<Sms> getAllSms() {
    List<Sms> lstSms = new ArrayList<Sms>();
    Sms objSms = new Sms();
    Uri message = Uri.parse("content://sms/");
    ContentResolver cr = mActivity.getContentResolver();

    Cursor c = cr.query(message, null, null, null, null);
    mActivity.startManagingCursor(c);
    int totalSMS = c.getCount();

    if (c.moveToFirst()) {
        for (int i = 0; i < totalSMS; i++) {

            objSms = new Sms();
            objSms.setId(c.getString(c.getColumnIndexOrThrow("_id")));
            objSms.setAddress(c.getString(c
                    .getColumnIndexOrThrow("address")));
            objSms.setMsg(c.getString(c.getColumnIndexOrThrow("body")));
            objSms.setReadState(c.getString(c.getColumnIndex("read")));
            objSms.setTime(c.getString(c.getColumnIndexOrThrow("date")));
            if (c.getString(c.getColumnIndexOrThrow("type")).contains("1")) {
                objSms.setFolderName("inbox");
            } else {
                objSms.setFolderName("sent");
            }

            lstSms.add(objSms);
            c.moveToNext();
        }
    }
    // else {
    // throw new RuntimeException("You have no SMS");
    // }
    c.close();

    return lstSms;
}

Sms class is below:

public class Sms{
private String _id;
private String _address;
private String _msg;
private String _readState; //"0" for have not read sms and "1" for have read sms
private String _time;
private String _folderName;

public String getId(){
return _id;
}
public String getAddress(){
return _address;
}
public String getMsg(){
return _msg;
}
public String getReadState(){
return _readState;
}
public String getTime(){
return _time;
}
public String getFolderName(){
return _folderName;
}


public void setId(String id){
_id = id;
}
public void setAddress(String address){
_address = address;
}
public void setMsg(String msg){
_msg = msg;
}
public void setReadState(String readState){
_readState = readState;
}
public void setTime(String time){
_time = time;
}
public void setFolderName(String folderName){
_folderName = folderName;
}

}

Don't forget to define permission in your AndroidManifest.xml

<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.READ_SMS" />

Solution 3:

It is a trivial process. You can see a good example in the source code SMSPopup

Examine the following methods:

SmsMmsMessage getSmsDetails(Context context, long ignoreThreadId, boolean unreadOnly)
long findMessageId(Context context, long threadId, long _timestamp, int messageType
void setMessageRead(Context context, long messageId, int messageType)
void deleteMessage(Context context, long messageId, long threadId, int messageType)

this is the method for reading:

SmsMmsMessage getSmsDetails(Context context,
                            long ignoreThreadId, boolean unreadOnly)
{
   String SMS_READ_COLUMN = "read";
   String WHERE_CONDITION = unreadOnly ? SMS_READ_COLUMN + " = 0" : null;
   String SORT_ORDER = "date DESC";
   int count = 0;
   // Log.v(WHERE_CONDITION);
   if (ignoreThreadId > 0) {
      // Log.v("Ignoring sms threadId = " + ignoreThreadId);
      WHERE_CONDITION += " AND thread_id != " + ignoreThreadId;
   }
   Cursor cursor = context.getContentResolver().query(
                      SMS_INBOX_CONTENT_URI,
                      new String[] { "_id", "thread_id", "address", "person", "date", "body" },
                      WHERE_CONDITION,
                      null,
                      SORT_ORDER);
   if (cursor != null) {
      try {
         count = cursor.getCount();
         if (count > 0) {
            cursor.moveToFirst();
            // String[] columns = cursor.getColumnNames();
            // for (int i=0; i<columns.length; i++) {
            // Log.v("columns " + i + ": " + columns[i] + ": " + cursor.getString(i));
            // }                                         
            long messageId = cursor.getLong(0);
            long threadId = cursor.getLong(1);
            String address = cursor.getString(2);
            long contactId = cursor.getLong(3);
            String contactId_string = String.valueOf(contactId);
            long timestamp = cursor.getLong(4);

            String body = cursor.getString(5);                             
            if (!unreadOnly) {
                count = 0;
            }

            SmsMmsMessage smsMessage = new SmsMmsMessage(context, address,
                          contactId_string, body, timestamp,
                          threadId, count, messageId, SmsMmsMessage.MESSAGE_TYPE_SMS);
            return smsMessage;
         }
      } finally {
         cursor.close();
      }
   }               
   return null;
}

Solution 4:

From API 19 onwards you can make use of the Telephony Class for that; Since hardcored values won't retrieve messages in every devices because the content provider Uri changes from devices and manufacturers.

public void getAllSms(Context context) {

    ContentResolver cr = context.getContentResolver();
    Cursor c = cr.query(Telephony.Sms.CONTENT_URI, null, null, null, null);
    int totalSMS = 0;
    if (c != null) {
        totalSMS = c.getCount();
        if (c.moveToFirst()) {
            for (int j = 0; j < totalSMS; j++) {
                String smsDate = c.getString(c.getColumnIndexOrThrow(Telephony.Sms.DATE));
                String number = c.getString(c.getColumnIndexOrThrow(Telephony.Sms.ADDRESS));
                String body = c.getString(c.getColumnIndexOrThrow(Telephony.Sms.BODY));
                Date dateFormat= new Date(Long.valueOf(smsDate));
                String type;
                switch (Integer.parseInt(c.getString(c.getColumnIndexOrThrow(Telephony.Sms.TYPE)))) {
                    case Telephony.Sms.MESSAGE_TYPE_INBOX:
                        type = "inbox";
                        break;
                    case Telephony.Sms.MESSAGE_TYPE_SENT:
                        type = "sent";
                        break;
                    case Telephony.Sms.MESSAGE_TYPE_OUTBOX:
                        type = "outbox";
                        break;
                    default:
                        break;
                }


                c.moveToNext();
            }
        }

        c.close();

    } else {
        Toast.makeText(this, "No message to show!", Toast.LENGTH_SHORT).show();
    }
}