Permission Denial while sharing file with FileProvider

Question

I am trying to share file with FileProvider. I checked that file is shared properly with apps like Gmail, Google Drive etc. Even though following exception is thrown:

2019-08-28 11:43:03.169 12573-12595/com.example.name E/DatabaseUtils: Writing exception to parcel
    java.lang.SecurityException: Permission Denial: reading androidx.core.content.FileProvider uri content://com.example.name.provider/external_files/Android/data/com.example.name/files/allergy_report.pdf from pid=6005, uid=1000 requires the provider be exported, or grantUriPermission()
        at android.content.ContentProvider.enforceReadPermissionInner(ContentProvider.java:729)
        at android.content.ContentProvider$Transport.enforceReadPermission(ContentProvider.java:602)
        at android.content.ContentProvider$Transport.query(ContentProvider.java:231)
        at android.content.ContentProviderNative.onTransact(ContentProviderNative.java:104)
        at android.os.Binder.execTransactInternal(Binder.java:1021)
        at android.os.Binder.execTransact(Binder.java:994)

provider:

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

file_provider_paths.xml

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<paths xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android">
    <external-path name="external_files" path="." />
</paths>

Sharing Intent

Intent intentShareFile = new Intent(Intent.ACTION_SEND);
File fileWithinMyDir = new File(targetPdf);

if (fileWithinMyDir.exists()) {
    intentShareFile.setType("application/pdf");
    Uri uri = FileProvider.getUriForFile(getActivity(), BuildConfig.APPLICATION_ID + ".provider", fileWithinMyDir);
    intentShareFile.putExtra(Intent.EXTRA_STREAM, uri);
    intentShareFile.putExtra(Intent.EXTRA_SUBJECT, "Sharing File...");
    intentShareFile.putExtra(Intent.EXTRA_TEXT, "Sharing File...");
    intentShareFile.setFlags(Intent.FLAG_GRANT_READ_URI_PERMISSION);
    startActivity(Intent.createChooser(intentShareFile, "Share File"));
}

Hopefully you can point out my mistake why this exceptions is thrown when it seems like apps are granted permission properly and sharing works as it should be.

EDIT:

I found that the problem lies in line:

startActivity(Intent.createChooser(intentShareFile, "Share File"));

When I changed it simply to

startActivity(intentShareFile);

However it displays a little bit different layout for picking application. But still I cannot figure out why original chooser is not working.

Answer 1

Sorry about the late response. I solved it like this:

Intent chooser = Intent.createChooser(intentShareFile, "Share File");

List<ResolveInfo> resInfoList = this.getPackageManager().queryIntentActivities(chooser, PackageManager.MATCH_DEFAULT_ONLY);

for (ResolveInfo resolveInfo : resInfoList) {
    String packageName = resolveInfo.activityInfo.packageName;
    this.grantUriPermission(packageName, uri, Intent.FLAG_GRANT_WRITE_URI_PERMISSION | Intent.FLAG_GRANT_READ_URI_PERMISSION);
}

startActivity(chooser);

This helped me: Permission Denial with File Provider through intent

Answer 2

There is also a way to grant the URI permission through the Intent flag, without doing in manually with grantUriPermission() and by keeping the usage of Intent.createChooser().

The Intent.createChooser() documentation states:

If the target intent has specified FLAG_GRANT_READ_URI_PERMISSION or FLAG_GRANT_WRITE_URI_PERMISSION, then these flags will also be set in the returned chooser intent, with its ClipData set appropriately: either a direct reflection of getClipData() if that is non-null, or a new ClipData built from getData().

Therefore, if the original Intent has the Uri set in its ClipData or in setData(), it should work as wanted.

In your example, the ACTION_SEND Intent supports the Uri set through setClipData() as of Jelly Bean (Android 4.1).

Long story short, here is a working example of your code:

Intent intentShareFile = new Intent(Intent.ACTION_SEND);
File fileWithinMyDir = new File(targetPdf);

if(fileWithinMyDir.exists()) {
    String mimeType = "application/pdf";
    String[] mimeTypeArray = new String[] { mimeType };
    
    intentShareFile.setType(mimeType);
    Uri uri = FileProvider.getUriForFile(getActivity(), BuildConfig.APPLICATION_ID + ".provider", fileWithinMyDir);
    
    // Add the uri as a ClipData
    intentShareFile.setClipData(new ClipData(
        "A label describing your file to the user",
        mimeTypeArray,
        new ClipData.Item(uri)
    ));
    
    // EXTRA_STREAM is kept for compatibility with old applications
    intentShareFile.putExtra(Intent.EXTRA_STREAM, uri);
    
    intentShareFile.putExtra(Intent.EXTRA_SUBJECT,
            "Sharing File...");
    intentShareFile.putExtra(Intent.EXTRA_TEXT, "Sharing File...");
    intentShareFile.setFlags(Intent.FLAG_GRANT_READ_URI_PERMISSION);
    startActivity(Intent.createChooser(intentShareFile, "Share File"));
}