How can I pass a Bitmap object from one activity to another

Question

Bitmap implements Parcelable, so you could always pass it with the intent:

Intent intent = new Intent(this, NewActivity.class);
intent.putExtra("BitmapImage", bitmap);

and retrieve it on the other end:

Intent intent = getIntent(); 
Bitmap bitmap = (Bitmap) intent.getParcelableExtra("BitmapImage");

Actually, passing a bitmap as a Parcelable will result in a "JAVA BINDER FAILURE" error. Try passing the bitmap as a byte array and building it for display in the next activity.

I shared my solution here:
how do you pass images (bitmaps) between android activities using bundles?

Passsing bitmap as parceable in bundle between activity is not a good idea because of size limitation of Parceable(1mb). You can store the bitmap in a file in internal storage and retrieve the stored bitmap in several activities. Here's some sample code.

To store bitmap in a file myImage in internal storage:

public String createImageFromBitmap(Bitmap bitmap) {
    String fileName = "myImage";//no .png or .jpg needed
    try {
        ByteArrayOutputStream bytes = new ByteArrayOutputStream();
        bitmap.compress(Bitmap.CompressFormat.JPEG, 100, bytes);
        FileOutputStream fo = openFileOutput(fileName, Context.MODE_PRIVATE);
        fo.write(bytes.toByteArray());
        // remember close file output
        fo.close();
    } catch (Exception e) {
        e.printStackTrace();
        fileName = null;
    }
    return fileName;
}

Then in the next activity you can decode this file myImage to a bitmap using following code:

//here context can be anything like getActivity() for fragment, this or MainActivity.this
Bitmap bitmap = BitmapFactory.decodeStream(context.openFileInput("myImage"));

Note A lot of checking for null and scaling bitmap's is ommited.

Compress and Send Bitmap

The accepted answer will crash when the Bitmap is too large. I believe it's a 1MB limit. The Bitmap must be compressed into a different file format such as a JPG represented by a ByteArray, then it can be safely passed via an Intent.

Implementation

The function is contained in a separate thread using Kotlin Coroutines because the Bitmap compression is chained after the Bitmap is created from an url String. The Bitmap creation requires a separate thread in order to avoid Application Not Responding (ANR) errors.

Concepts Used

• Kotlin Coroutines notes.
• The Loading, Content, Error (LCE) pattern is used below. If interested you can learn more about it in this talk and video.
• LiveData is used to return the data. I've compiled my favorite LiveData resource in these notes.
• In Step 3, toBitmap() is a Kotlin extension function requiring that library to be added to the app dependencies.

Code

1. Compress Bitmap to JPG ByteArray after it has been created.

Repository.kt

suspend fun bitmapToByteArray(url: String) = withContext(Dispatchers.IO) {
    MutableLiveData<Lce<ContentResult.ContentBitmap>>().apply {
        postValue(Lce.Loading())
        postValue(Lce.Content(ContentResult.ContentBitmap(
            ByteArrayOutputStream().apply {
                try {                     
                    BitmapFactory.decodeStream(URL(url).openConnection().apply {
                        doInput = true
                        connect()
                    }.getInputStream())
                } catch (e: IOException) {
                   postValue(Lce.Error(ContentResult.ContentBitmap(ByteArray(0), "bitmapToByteArray error or null - ${e.localizedMessage}")))
                   null
                }?.compress(CompressFormat.JPEG, BITMAP_COMPRESSION_QUALITY, this)
           }.toByteArray(), "")))
        }
    }

ViewModel.kt

//Calls bitmapToByteArray from the Repository
private fun bitmapToByteArray(url: String) = liveData {
    emitSource(switchMap(repository.bitmapToByteArray(url)) { lce ->
        when (lce) {
            is Lce.Loading -> liveData {}
            is Lce.Content -> liveData {
                emit(Event(ContentResult.ContentBitmap(lce.packet.image, lce.packet.errorMessage)))
            }
            is Lce.Error -> liveData {
                Crashlytics.log(Log.WARN, LOG_TAG,
                        "bitmapToByteArray error or null - ${lce.packet.errorMessage}")
            }
        }
    })
}

2. Pass image as ByteArray via an Intent.

In this sample it's passed from a Fragment to a Service. It's the same concept if being shared between two Activities.

Fragment.kt

ContextCompat.startForegroundService(
    context!!,
    Intent(context, AudioService::class.java).apply {
        action = CONTENT_SELECTED_ACTION
        putExtra(CONTENT_SELECTED_BITMAP_KEY, contentPlayer.image)
    })

3. Convert ByteArray back to Bitmap.

Utils.kt

fun ByteArray.byteArrayToBitmap(context: Context) =
    run {
        BitmapFactory.decodeByteArray(this, BITMAP_OFFSET, size).run {
            if (this != null) this
            // In case the Bitmap loaded was empty or there is an error I have a default Bitmap to return.
            else AppCompatResources.getDrawable(context, ic_coinverse_48dp)?.toBitmap()
        }
    }

If the image is too large and you can't save&load it to the storage, you should consider just using a global static reference to the bitmap (inside the receiving activity), which will be reset to null on onDestory, only if "isChangingConfigurations" returns true.

Because Intent has size limit . I use public static object to do pass bitmap from service to broadcast ....

public class ImageBox {
    public static Queue<Bitmap> mQ = new LinkedBlockingQueue<Bitmap>(); 
}

pass in my service

private void downloadFile(final String url){
        mExecutorService.submit(new Runnable() {
            @Override
            public void run() {
                Bitmap b = BitmapFromURL.getBitmapFromURL(url);
                synchronized (this){
                    TaskCount--;
                }
                Intent i = new Intent(ACTION_ON_GET_IMAGE);
                ImageBox.mQ.offer(b);
                sendBroadcast(i);
                if(TaskCount<=0)stopSelf();
            }
        });
    }

My BroadcastReceiver

private final BroadcastReceiver mReceiver = new BroadcastReceiver() {
        public void onReceive(Context context, Intent intent) {
            LOG.d(TAG, "BroadcastReceiver get broadcast");

            String action = intent.getAction();
            if (DownLoadImageService.ACTION_ON_GET_IMAGE.equals(action)) {
                Bitmap b = ImageBox.mQ.poll();
                if(b==null)return;
                if(mListener!=null)mListener.OnGetImage(b);
            }
        }
    };