Common Implicit Intents

Let's take a look at the most common implicit intents such as making a phone call, launching a web address, sending an email, etc.

Note (Android 11+ package visibility): if your app targets Android 11 (API level 30) or higher, the system filters which other apps your app can see by default. The resolveActivity() checks shown throughout this page can therefore return null even when a matching app is installed, unless your manifest declares a <queries> element listing the intents you send (some intents, such as ones handled by the system, are visible automatically). If one of these checks unexpectedly fails on Android 11+, add the corresponding intent to your <queries> declaration.

Phone Call

Permissions:

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

Intent:

Intent callIntent = new Intent(Intent.ACTION_CALL);
callIntent.setData(Uri.parse("tel:0377778888"));
if (callIntent.resolveActivity(getPackageManager()) != null) {
    startActivity(callIntent);
}

val callIntent = Intent(Intent.ACTION_CALL)
callIntent.data = Uri.parse("tel:0377778888")
if (callIntent.resolveActivity(packageManager) != null) {
    startActivity(callIntent)
}

Caution It's possible that a user won't have any apps that handle the implicit intent you send to startActivity(). If that happens, the call will fail and your app will crash. To verify that an activity will receive the intent, call resolveActivity() on your Intent object. If the result is non-null, then there is at least one app that can handle the intent and it's safe to call startActivity(). If the result is null, you should not use the intent and, if possible, you should disable the feature that issue the intent.

Send Email (to Phone Email Client)

Compose an email in the phone email client:

Intent intent = new Intent(Intent.ACTION_SEND);
intent.setType("text/plain");
intent.putExtra(Intent.EXTRA_EMAIL, new String[] { "some@email.address" });
intent.putExtra(Intent.EXTRA_SUBJECT, "subject");
intent.putExtra(Intent.EXTRA_TEXT, "mail body");
if (intent.resolveActivity(getPackageManager()) != null) {
    startActivity(Intent.createChooser(intent, ""));
}

val intent = Intent(Intent.ACTION_SEND)
intent.type = "text/plain"
intent.putExtra(Intent.EXTRA_EMAIL, arrayOf("some@email.address"))
intent.putExtra(Intent.EXTRA_SUBJECT, "subject")
intent.putExtra(Intent.EXTRA_TEXT, "mail body")
if (intent.resolveActivity(packageManager) != null) {
    startActivity(Intent.createChooser(intent, ""))
}

Send Email (to Gmail)

Gmail does not examine the extra Intent fields, so in order to use this intent, you need to use the Intent.ACTION_SENDTO and pass a mailto: URI with the subject and body URL encoded.

String uriText =
    "mailto:youremail@gmail.com" + 
    "?subject=" + Uri.encode("some subject text here") + 
    "&body=" + Uri.encode("some text here");

Uri uri = Uri.parse(uriText);

Intent sendIntent = new Intent(Intent.ACTION_SENDTO);
sendIntent.setData(uri);
if (sendIntent.resolveActivity(getPackageManager()) != null) {
   startActivity(Intent.createChooser(sendIntent, "Send email")); 
}

val uriText = "mailto:youremail@gmail.com" +
        "?subject=" + Uri.encode("some subject text here") +
        "&body=" + Uri.encode("some text here")

val uri = Uri.parse(uriText)

val sendIntent = Intent(Intent.ACTION_SENDTO)
sendIntent.data = uri
if (sendIntent.resolveActivity(packageManager) != null) {
    startActivity(Intent.createChooser(sendIntent, "Send email"))
}

Launch Website

Launch a website in the phone browser:

Intent browserIntent = new Intent(Intent.ACTION_VIEW, Uri.parse("https://www.google.com"));
if (browserIntent.resolveActivity(getPackageManager()) != null) {
    startActivity(browserIntent);
}

val browserIntent = Intent(Intent.ACTION_VIEW, Uri.parse("https://www.google.com"))
if (browserIntent.resolveActivity(packageManager) != null) {
    startActivity(browserIntent)
}

You can also launch a Chrome Custom Tab from your app. Take a look at this guide for how to launch this implicit intent.

Open Google Play Store

Open app page on Google Play:

Intent intent = new Intent(Intent.ACTION_VIEW, 
  Uri.parse("market://details?id=" + context.getPackageName()));
if (intent.resolveActivity(getPackageManager()) != null) {
    startActivity(intent);
}

val intent = Intent(
    Intent.ACTION_VIEW,
    Uri.parse("market://details?id=" + this.packageName)
)
if (intent.resolveActivity(packageManager) != null) {
    startActivity(intent)
}

Compose SMS

Intent intent = new Intent(Intent.ACTION_SENDTO);
intent.setData(Uri.parse("smsto:" + to));
intent.putExtra("sms_body", message);
if (intent.resolveActivity(getPackageManager()) != null) {
    startActivity(intent);
}

val intent = Intent(Intent.ACTION_SENDTO).apply {
    data = Uri.parse("smsto:$to")
    putExtra("sms_body", message)
}
if (intent.resolveActivity(packageManager) != null) {
    startActivity(intent)
}

Google Maps

Show location in maps application:

Intent intent = new Intent();
intent.setAction(Intent.ACTION_VIEW);
String data = String.format("geo:%s,%s", latitude, longitude);
if (zoomLevel != null) {
    data = String.format("%s?z=%s", data, zoomLevel);
}
intent.setData(Uri.parse(data));
if (intent.resolveActivity(getPackageManager()) != null) {
    startActivity(intent);
}

val intent = Intent()
intent.action = Intent.ACTION_VIEW
var data = String.format("geo:%s,%s", latitude, longitude)
if (zoomLevel != null) {
    data = String.format("%s?z=%s", data, zoomLevel)
}
intent.data = Uri.parse(data)
if (intent.resolveActivity(packageManager) != null) {
    startActivity(intent)
}

Capture Photo

Uri uri = Uri.fromFile(new File(file));
Intent intent = new Intent(MediaStore.ACTION_IMAGE_CAPTURE);
intent.putExtra(MediaStore.EXTRA_OUTPUT, uri);
if (intent.resolveActivity(getPackageManager()) != null) {
    startActivity(intent);
}

val uri = Uri.fromFile(File(file))
val intent = Intent(MediaStore.ACTION_IMAGE_CAPTURE)
intent.putExtra(MediaStore.EXTRA_OUTPUT, uri)
if (intent.resolveActivity(packageManager) != null) {
    startActivity(intent)
}

Sharing Content

Images or binary data:

Intent sharingIntent = new Intent(Intent.ACTION_SEND);
sharingIntent.setType("image/jpg");
Uri uri = Uri.fromFile(new File(getFilesDir(), "foo.jpg"));
sharingIntent.putExtra(Intent.EXTRA_STREAM, uri.toString());
if (sharingIntent.resolveActivity(getPackageManager()) != null) {
    startActivity(Intent.createChooser(sharingIntent, "Share image using"));
}

val sharingIntent = Intent(Intent.ACTION_SEND)
sharingIntent.type = "image/jpg"
val uri = Uri.fromFile(File(filesDir, "foo.jpg"))
sharingIntent.putExtra(Intent.EXTRA_STREAM, uri.toString())
if (sharingIntent.resolveActivity(packageManager) != null) {
    startActivity(Intent.createChooser(sharingIntent, "Share image using"))
}

or HTML:

Intent sharingIntent = new Intent(Intent.ACTION_SEND);
sharingIntent.setType("text/html");
sharingIntent.putExtra(android.content.Intent.EXTRA_TEXT, HtmlCompat.fromHtml(
    "<p>This is the text shared.</p>", 
    HtmlCompat.FROM_HTML_MODE_LEGACY
));
if (sharingIntent.resolveActivity(getPackageManager()) != null) {
    startActivity(Intent.createChooser(sharingIntent,"Share using"));
}

val sharingIntent = Intent(Intent.ACTION_SEND)
sharingIntent.type = "text/html"
sharingIntent.putExtra(Intent.EXTRA_TEXT, HtmlCompat.fromHtml(
    "<p>This is the text shared.</p>",
    HtmlCompat.FROM_HTML_MODE_LEGACY
))
if (sharingIntent.resolveActivity(packageManager) != null) {
    startActivity(Intent.createChooser(sharingIntent, "Share using"))
}