Android Gallery on Android 4.4 (KitKat) returns different URI for Intent.ACTION_GET_CONTENT

Question

Before KitKat (or before the new Gallery) the Intent.ACTION_GET_CONTENT returned a URI like this

content://media/external/images/media/3951.

Using the ContentResolver and quering for MediaStore.Images.Media.DATA returned the file URL.

In KitKat however the Gallery returns a URI (via "Last") like this:

content://com.android.providers.media.documents/document/image:3951

How do I handle this?

Answer 1

This requires no special permissions, and works with the Storage Access Framework, as well as the unofficial ContentProvider pattern (file path in _data field).

/**
 * Get a file path from a Uri. This will get the the path for Storage Access
 * Framework Documents, as well as the _data field for the MediaStore and
 * other file-based ContentProviders.
 *
 * @param context The context.
 * @param uri The Uri to query.
 * @author paulburke
 */
public static String getPath(final Context context, final Uri uri) {

    final boolean isKitKat = Build.VERSION.SDK_INT >= Build.VERSION_CODES.KITKAT;

    // DocumentProvider
    if (isKitKat && DocumentsContract.isDocumentUri(context, uri)) {
        // ExternalStorageProvider
        if (isExternalStorageDocument(uri)) {
            final String docId = DocumentsContract.getDocumentId(uri);
            final String[] split = docId.split(":");
            final String type = split[0];

            if ("primary".equalsIgnoreCase(type)) {
                return Environment.getExternalStorageDirectory() + "/" + split[1];
            }

            // TODO handle non-primary volumes
        }
        // DownloadsProvider
        else if (isDownloadsDocument(uri)) {

            final String id = DocumentsContract.getDocumentId(uri);
            final Uri contentUri = ContentUris.withAppendedId(
                    Uri.parse("content://downloads/public_downloads"), Long.valueOf(id));

            return getDataColumn(context, contentUri, null, null);
        }
        // MediaProvider
        else if (isMediaDocument(uri)) {
            final String docId = DocumentsContract.getDocumentId(uri);
            final String[] split = docId.split(":");
            final String type = split[0];

            Uri contentUri = null;
            if ("image".equals(type)) {
                contentUri = MediaStore.Images.Media.EXTERNAL_CONTENT_URI;
            } else if ("video".equals(type)) {
                contentUri = MediaStore.Video.Media.EXTERNAL_CONTENT_URI;
            } else if ("audio".equals(type)) {
                contentUri = MediaStore.Audio.Media.EXTERNAL_CONTENT_URI;
            }

            final String selection = "_id=?";
            final String[] selectionArgs = new String[] {
                    split[1]
            };

            return getDataColumn(context, contentUri, selection, selectionArgs);
        }
    }
    // MediaStore (and general)
    else if ("content".equalsIgnoreCase(uri.getScheme())) {

        // Return the remote address
        if (isGooglePhotosUri(uri))
            return uri.getLastPathSegment();

        return getDataColumn(context, uri, null, null);
    }
    // File
    else if ("file".equalsIgnoreCase(uri.getScheme())) {
        return uri.getPath();
    }

    return null;
}

/**
 * Get the value of the data column for this Uri. This is useful for
 * MediaStore Uris, and other file-based ContentProviders.
 *
 * @param context The context.
 * @param uri The Uri to query.
 * @param selection (Optional) Filter used in the query.
 * @param selectionArgs (Optional) Selection arguments used in the query.
 * @return The value of the _data column, which is typically a file path.
 */
public static String getDataColumn(Context context, Uri uri, String selection,
        String[] selectionArgs) {

    Cursor cursor = null;
    final String column = "_data";
    final String[] projection = {
            column
    };

    try {
        cursor = context.getContentResolver().query(uri, projection, selection, selectionArgs,
                null);
        if (cursor != null && cursor.moveToFirst()) {
            final int index = cursor.getColumnIndexOrThrow(column);
            return cursor.getString(index);
        }
    } finally {
        if (cursor != null)
            cursor.close();
    }
    return null;
}


/**
 * @param uri The Uri to check.
 * @return Whether the Uri authority is ExternalStorageProvider.
 */
public static boolean isExternalStorageDocument(Uri uri) {
    return "com.android.externalstorage.documents".equals(uri.getAuthority());
}

/**
 * @param uri The Uri to check.
 * @return Whether the Uri authority is DownloadsProvider.
 */
public static boolean isDownloadsDocument(Uri uri) {
    return "com.android.providers.downloads.documents".equals(uri.getAuthority());
}

/**
 * @param uri The Uri to check.
 * @return Whether the Uri authority is MediaProvider.
 */
public static boolean isMediaDocument(Uri uri) {
    return "com.android.providers.media.documents".equals(uri.getAuthority());
}

/**
 * @param uri The Uri to check.
 * @return Whether the Uri authority is Google Photos.
 */
public static boolean isGooglePhotosUri(Uri uri) {
    return "com.google.android.apps.photos.content".equals(uri.getAuthority());
}

See an up-to-date version of this method here.

Answer 2

Try this:

if (Build.VERSION.SDK_INT <19){
    Intent intent = new Intent(); 
    intent.setType("image/jpeg");
    intent.setAction(Intent.ACTION_GET_CONTENT);
    startActivityForResult(Intent.createChooser(intent, getResources().getString(R.string.select_picture)),GALLERY_INTENT_CALLED);
} else {
    Intent intent = new Intent(Intent.ACTION_OPEN_DOCUMENT);
    intent.addCategory(Intent.CATEGORY_OPENABLE);
    intent.setType("image/jpeg");
    startActivityForResult(intent, GALLERY_KITKAT_INTENT_CALLED);
}

@Override
public void onActivityResult(int requestCode, int resultCode, Intent data) {
    super.onActivityResult(requestCode, resultCode, data);
    if (resultCode != Activity.RESULT_OK) return;
    if (null == data) return;
    Uri originalUri = null;
    if (requestCode == GALLERY_INTENT_CALLED) {
        originalUri = data.getData();
    } else if (requestCode == GALLERY_KITKAT_INTENT_CALLED) {
        originalUri = data.getData();
        final int takeFlags = data.getFlags()
                & (Intent.FLAG_GRANT_READ_URI_PERMISSION
                | Intent.FLAG_GRANT_WRITE_URI_PERMISSION);
        // Check for the freshest data.
        getContentResolver().takePersistableUriPermission(originalUri, takeFlags);
    }

    loadSomeStreamAsynkTask(originalUri);

}

Probably need

@SuppressLint("NewApi")

for

takePersistableUriPermission

Answer 3

Had the same problem, tried the solution above but though it worked generally, for some reason I was getting permission denial on Uri content provider for some images although I had the android.permission.MANAGE_DOCUMENTS permission added properly.

Anyway found other solution which is to force opening image gallery instead of KITKAT documents view with :

// KITKAT

i = new Intent(Intent.ACTION_PICK,android.provider.MediaStore.Images.Media.EXTERNAL_CONTENT_URI);
    startActivityForResult(i, CHOOSE_IMAGE_REQUEST);

and then load the image:

Uri selectedImageURI = data.getData();
input = c.getContentResolver().openInputStream(selectedImageURI);
                BitmapFactory.decodeStream(input , null, opts);

EDIT

ACTION_OPEN_DOCUMENT might require you to persist permissions flags etc and generally often results in Security Exceptions...

Other solution is to use the ACTION_GET_CONTENT combined with c.getContentResolver().openInputStream(selectedImageURI) which will work both on pre-KK and KK. Kitkat will use new documents view then and this solution will work with all apps like Photos, Gallery, File Explorer, Dropbox, Google Drive etc...) but remember that when using this solution you have to create image in your onActivityResult() and store it on SD Card for example. Recreating this image from saved uri on next app launch would throw Security Exception on content resolver even when you add permission flags as described in Google API docs (that's what happened when I did some testing)

Additionally the Android Developer API Guidelines suggest:

ACTION_OPEN_DOCUMENT is not intended to be a replacement for ACTION_GET_CONTENT. The one you should use depends on the needs of your app:

Use ACTION_GET_CONTENT if you want your app to simply read/import data. With this approach, the app imports a copy of the data, such as an image file.

Use ACTION_OPEN_DOCUMENT if you want your app to have long term, persistent access to documents owned by a document provider. An example would be a photo-editing app that lets users edit images stored in a document provider.