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

Question

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 :)

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" />

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;
}

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();
    }
}

This post is a little bit old, but here is another easy solution for getting data related to SMS content provider in Android:

Use this lib: https://github.com/EverythingMe/easy-content-providers

• Get all SMS:

  TelephonyProvider telephonyProvider = new TelephonyProvider(context);
  List<Sms> smses = telephonyProvider.getSms(Filter.ALL).getList();
  

  Each Sms has all fields, so you can get any info you need:
  address, body, receivedDate, type(INBOX, SENT, DRAFT, ..), threadId, ...

• Gel all MMS:

  List<Mms> mmses = telephonyProvider.getMms(Filter.ALL).getList();
  

• Gel all Thread:

  List<Thread> threads = telephonyProvider.getThreads().getList();
  

• Gel all Conversation:

  List<Conversation> conversations = telephonyProvider.getConversations().getList();
  

It works with List or Cursor and there is a sample app to see how it looks and works.

In fact, there is a support for all Android content providers like: Contacts, Call logs, Calendar, ... Full doc with all options: https://github.com/EverythingMe/easy-content-providers/wiki/Android-providers

Hope it also helped :)

Multiple answers are already available but i think all of them are missing an important part of this question. Before reading data from an internal database or its table we have to understand how data is stored in it and only then we can find the solution to the above question that is :

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

In android SMS table looks like this

Now you can select whatever you want from the database. In our case we only need

id,address and body

In case of reading SMS:

1.Ask for permissions

int REQUEST_PHONE_CALL = 1;

   if (ContextCompat.checkSelfPermission(MainActivity.this, Manifest.permission.READ_SMS) != PackageManager.PERMISSION_GRANTED) {
            ActivityCompat.requestPermissions(MainActivity.this, new String[]{Manifest.permission.READ_SMS}, REQUEST_PHONE_CALL);
        }

or

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

2.Now your code goes like this

// Create Inbox box URI
Uri inboxURI = Uri.parse("content://sms/inbox");

// List required columns
String[] reqCols = new String[]{"_id", "address", "body"};

// Get Content Resolver object, which will deal with Content Provider
ContentResolver cr = getContentResolver();

// Fetch Inbox SMS Message from Built-in Content Provider
Cursor c = cr.query(inboxURI, reqCols, null, null, null);

// Attached Cursor with adapter and display in listview
adapter = new SimpleCursorAdapter(this, R.layout.a1_row, c,
        new String[]{"body", "address"}, new int[]{
        R.id.A1_txt_Msg, R.id.A1_txt_Number});
lst.setAdapter(adapter);

I hope this will be helpful. Thanks.

Step 1: first we have to add permissions in manifest file like

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

Step 2: then add service sms receiver class for receiving sms

<receiver android:name="com.aquadeals.seller.services.SmsReceiver">
    <intent-filter>
        <action android:name="android.provider.Telephony.SMS_RECEIVED"/>
    </intent-filter>
</receiver>

Step 3: Add run time permission

private boolean checkAndRequestPermissions()
{
    int sms = ContextCompat.checkSelfPermission(this, Manifest.permission.READ_SMS);

    if (sms != PackageManager.PERMISSION_GRANTED)
    {
        ActivityCompat.requestPermissions(this, new String[]{Manifest.permission.READ_SMS}, REQUEST_ID_MULTIPLE_PERMISSIONS);
        return false;
    }
    return true;
}

Step 4: Add this classes in your app and test Interface class

public interface SmsListener {
   public void messageReceived(String messageText);
}

SmsReceiver.java

public class SmsReceiver extends BroadcastReceiver {
    private static SmsListener mListener;
    public Pattern p = Pattern.compile("(|^)\\d{6}");
    @Override
    public void onReceive(Context context, Intent intent) {
        Bundle data  = intent.getExtras();
        Object[] pdus = (Object[]) data.get("pdus");
        for(int i=0;i<pdus.length;i++)
        {
            SmsMessage smsMessage = SmsMessage.createFromPdu((byte[]) pdus[i]);
            String sender = smsMessage.getDisplayOriginatingAddress();
            String phoneNumber = smsMessage.getDisplayOriginatingAddress();
            String senderNum = phoneNumber ;
            String messageBody = smsMessage.getMessageBody();
            try{
                if(messageBody!=null){
                    Matcher m = p.matcher(messageBody);
                    if(m.find()) {
                        mListener.messageReceived(m.group(0));
                    }
                }
            }
            catch(Exception e){}
        }
    }
    public static void bindListener(SmsListener listener) {
        mListener = listener; 
    }
}