How to set an sms app as default app in android programmatically

Question

I have developed an android app for receiving sms from a particular number . It can marks sms as read from that number . TO mark sms as read , the application needs to be set as default . How can I set an app as default in android programmatically ?

Answer 1

The old method will not run on android 10 these are the code you can use to request for becoming default app

Request to become default in android 10 For java developer

    public void makeMyAppDefaultRequest(String packageName){
    if (Build.VERSION.SDK_INT >= Build.VERSION_CODES.Q) {
        RoleManager roleManager =getSystemService(RoleManager.class);
        if (roleManager.isRoleAvailable(RoleManager.ROLE_SMS)) {
            if (roleManager.isRoleHeld(RoleManager.ROLE_SMS)) {
                requestPermission()
            } else {
                Intent intent = roleManager.createRequestRoleIntent(RoleManager.ROLE_SMS);
                startActivityForResult(intent, 101);
            }
        } else {
            
        }
    } else {
        if (Telephony.Sms.getDefaultSmsPackage(this).equals(packageName)) {

        } else {
            Intent intent =new  Intent(Telephony.Sms.Intents.ACTION_CHANGE_DEFAULT);
            intent.putExtra(Telephony.Sms.Intents.EXTRA_PACKAGE_NAME, packageName);
            startActivityForResult(intent, 101);
        }
    }
}

For Kotlin developer

    if (Build.VERSION.SDK_INT >= Build.VERSION_CODES.Q) {
        val roleManager = getSystemService(RoleManager::class.java)
        if (roleManager!!.isRoleAvailable(RoleManager.ROLE_SMS)) {
            if (roleManager.isRoleHeld(RoleManager.ROLE_SMS)) {
                askPermissions()
            } else {
                val intent = roleManager.createRequestRoleIntent(RoleManager.ROLE_SMS)
                startActivityForResult(intent, MAKE_DEFAULT_APP_REQUEST)
            }
        } else {
            toast(R.string.unknown_error_occurred)
            finish()
        }
    } else {
        if (Telephony.Sms.getDefaultSmsPackage(this) == packageName) {
            askPermissions()
        } else {
            val intent = Intent(Telephony.Sms.Intents.ACTION_CHANGE_DEFAULT)
            intent.putExtra(Telephony.Sms.Intents.EXTRA_PACKAGE_NAME, packageName)
            startActivityForResult(intent, MAKE_DEFAULT_APP_REQUEST)
        }
    }
}

Answer 2

As I understand you need to ask the user to set your app as the default messaging app while launching your App. To do that use below code:

Set below intent-filter to activity which you want to show. In this case I have considered "DefaultSMSAppChooserActivity"

<activity android:name=".DefaultSMSAppChooserActivity">
        <intent-filter>
            <action android:name="android.intent.action.MAIN" />

            <category android:name="android.intent.category.APP_MESSAGING" />
            <category android:name="android.intent.category.DEFAULT" />
        </intent-filter>
    </activity>

Call below method to show all available messaging app on his/her device including yours to choose from as default.

public static void openSMSappChooser(Context context) {
    PackageManager packageManager = context.getPackageManager();
    ComponentName componentName = new ComponentName(context, DefaultSMSAppChooserActivity.class);
    packageManager.setComponentEnabledSetting(componentName, PackageManager.COMPONENT_ENABLED_STATE_ENABLED, PackageManager.DONT_KILL_APP);

    Intent selector = new Intent(Intent.ACTION_MAIN);
    selector.addCategory(Intent.CATEGORY_APP_MESSAGING);
    selector.setFlags(Intent.FLAG_ACTIVITY_NEW_TASK);
    context.startActivity(selector);

    packageManager.setComponentEnabledSetting(componentName, PackageManager.COMPONENT_ENABLED_STATE_DEFAULT, PackageManager.DONT_KILL_APP);
}

You can use the above method anywhere as per your requirement.

Hope this helps you!!!

Answer 3

You can't.

Third party developers cannot set their own app as default applications. Only the users of your app can do this on their own device.

Anyway you can register your app to act as a messaging application through intent-filter