android.os.FileUriExposedException: file.jpg exposed beyond app through ClipData.Item.getUri()

Question

I try to do a button that open the camera and take picture. my code is here

//for imports check on bottom of this code block

public class HomeProfileActivity extends AppCompatActivity {
//Button camera
public static final String TAG = HomeProfileActivity.class.getSimpleName();
public static final int REQUEST_TAKE_PHOTO = 0;
public static final int REQUEST_TAKE_VIDEO = 1;
public static final int REQUEST_PICK_PHOTO = 2;
public static final int REQUEST_PICK_VIDEO = 3;
public static final int MEDIA_TYPE_IMAGE = 4;
public static final int MEDIA_TYPE_VIDEO = 5;

private Uri mMediaUri;
private ImageView photobutton;
private Button buttonUploadImage, buttonTakeImage;

protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
    super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
    setContentView(R.layout.activity_home_profile);
    ButterKnife.bind(this);
}

@OnClick(R.id.buttonTakeImage)
void takePhoto() {
    mMediaUri = getOutputMediaFileUri(MEDIA_TYPE_IMAGE);
    if (mMediaUri == null) {
        Toast.makeText(this,
                "There was a problem accessing your device's external storage.",
                Toast.LENGTH_LONG).show();
    }
    else {
        Intent takePhotoIntent = new Intent(MediaStore.ACTION_IMAGE_CAPTURE);
        takePhotoIntent.putExtra(MediaStore.EXTRA_OUTPUT, mMediaUri);
        startActivityForResult(takePhotoIntent, REQUEST_TAKE_PHOTO);
    }
}

@Override
protected void onActivityResult(int requestCode, int resultCode, Intent data) {
    super.onActivityResult(requestCode, resultCode, data);

    if (resultCode == RESULT_OK){
        if (requestCode == REQUEST_TAKE_PHOTO) {
            Intent intent = new Intent(this, ViewImageActivity.class);
            intent.setData(mMediaUri);
            startActivity(intent);
        }
    }
    else if (resultCode != RESULT_CANCELED){
        Toast.makeText(this, "Sorry, there was an error", Toast.LENGTH_SHORT).show();
    }
}

private Uri getOutputMediaFileUri(int mediaType) {
    // check for external storage
    if (isExternalStorageAvailable()) {
        // get the URI

        // 1. Get the external storage directory
        File mediaStorageDir = getExternalFilesDir(Environment.DIRECTORY_PICTURES);

        // 2. Create a unique file name
        String fileName = "";
        String fileType = "";
        String timeStamp = new SimpleDateFormat("yyyyMMdd_HHmmss").format(new Date());

        if (mediaType == MEDIA_TYPE_IMAGE) {
            fileName = "IMG_" + timeStamp;
            fileType = ".jpg";
        } else if (mediaType == MEDIA_TYPE_VIDEO) {
            fileName = "VID_" + timeStamp;
            fileType = ".mp4";
        } else {
            return null;
        }
        // 3. Create the file
        File mediaFile;
        try {
            mediaFile = File.createTempFile(fileName, fileType, mediaStorageDir);
            Log.i(TAG, "File: " + Uri.fromFile(mediaFile));

            // 4. Return the file's URI
            return Uri.fromFile(mediaFile);
        }
        catch (IOException e) {
                Log.e(TAG, "Error creating file: " +
                        mediaStorageDir.getAbsolutePath() + fileName + fileType);
            }
        }

        // something went wrong
        return null;
    }

private boolean isExternalStorageAvailable(){
    String state = Environment.getExternalStorageState();
    if (Environment.MEDIA_MOUNTED.equals(state)){
        return true;
    }
    else {
        return false;
    }
}

import android.content.Intent;
import android.content.SharedPreferences;
import android.net.Uri;
import android.os.Bundle;
import android.os.Environment;
import android.provider.MediaStore;
import android.support.annotation.NonNull;
import android.support.design.widget.BottomNavigationView;
import android.support.v7.app.AppCompatActivity;
import android.util.Log;
import android.view.MenuItem;
import android.view.View;
import android.widget.Button;
import android.widget.EditText;
import android.widget.ImageView;
import android.widget.TextView;
import android.widget.Toast;

import java.io.File;
import java.io.IOException;
import java.text.SimpleDateFormat;
import java.util.Date;

import butterknife.ButterKnife;
import butterknife.OnClick;

I have also a problem with startActivityForResult in the method onclick and the import java.text.SimpleDateFormat; also jump in the exception runtime i am working with buildtoolsversion sdk 25

Answer 1

Besides the solution using the FileProvider, there is another way to work around this. Simply put

 StrictMode.VmPolicy.Builder builder = new StrictMode.VmPolicy.Builder();
 StrictMode.setVmPolicy(builder.build());

in Application.onCreate() method. In this way the VM ignores the file URI exposure.

Answer 2

This info is from: FileUriExposedException

This is only thrown for applications targeting N or higher. Applications targeting earlier SDK versions are allowed to share file:// Uri, but it's strongly discouraged.

So if your app/build.gradle file's compileSdkVersion (build target) is Android N (API level 24) or greater, this error is thrown if you write a file that can possibly get accessed by other apps. Most importantly, here is how you are supposed to do it moving forward:

taken from here: FileProvider

Change:

return Uri.fromFile(mediaFile);

to be

return FileProvider.getUriForFile(getApplicationContext(), getPackageName()+".fileprovider", mediaFile);

Note: if you control mydomain.com you could also replace getPackageName()+".fileprovider" with "com.mydomain.fileprovider" (the same goes for your AndroidManifest.xml below.

Also you need to add the following to your AndroidManifest.xml file right before your </application> tag

    <provider
        android:name="android.support.v4.content.FileProvider"
        android:authorities="${applicationId}.fileprovider"
        android:grantUriPermissions="true"
        android:exported="false">
        <meta-data
            android:name="android.support.FILE_PROVIDER_PATHS"
            android:resource="@xml/filepaths" />
    </provider>

Then you need to add a file named filepaths.xml to your app/src/main/res/xml directory with the following contents

<paths>
    <external-files-path name="Pictures" path="Pictures" />
</paths>

Note: for anybody else, we used external-files-path above, since Omer used getExternalFilesDir(Environment.DIRECTORY_PICTURES) in the code. For any other location, please check FileProvider under the "Specifying Available Files" section and change external-files-path to one of the following based on where your files are located:

files-path
cache-path
external-path
external-files-path
external-cache-path

Also, revise Pictures above to be your folder name.

One important anti-pattern to avoid is you should NOT use if (Build.VERSION.SDK_INT < 24) { to allow you to do it the old way, because it is not their Android version that requires this, it's your build version (I missed this the first time I coded it).

I know this is more work, however, this allows Android to allow only the other app you're sharing with, temporary access to the file, which is more secure for the user's privacy.