Send WhatsApp message programmatically in background without opening WhatsApp application

Question

I have found a lot of threads for the similar question but nowhere I have found what I was looking for.

Given a contact number and text message, I want to send WhatsApp message to that contact programmatically without opening the app or choosing the contact.

I have written below code as of now :

private static void sendTextUsingWhatsapp(Context context, Pair<S, S> contact, String Text) {    
Intent sendIntent = new Intent("android.intent.action.MAIN");
        sendIntent.setComponent(new ComponentName("com.whatsapp","com.whatsapp.Conversation"));
        sendIntent.putExtra("jid", PhoneNumberUtils.stripSeparators(countryCode +
                contact.second)+"@s.whatsapp.net");
        sendIntent.putExtra(Intent.EXTRA_TEXT, text);
        sendIntent.setType("text/plain");
        sendIntent.setAction(Intent.ACTION_SEND);
        context.startActivity(sendIntent);
}

With this piece of code I am getting to the window of WhatsApp contact.

This SO question states that this kind of feature is not supported. But then, how Google Now ("OK Google, send a message") is able to send WhatsApp messages in the background?

Answer 1

You can't send whatsApp message in background. You can use android accessibility service to automate it.

My AndroidManifest.xml

<service android:name=".helper.MyAccessibilityService"
        android:permission="android.permission.BIND_ACCESSIBILITY_SERVICE"
        android:label="@string/app_name"
        android:exported="true">
        <meta-data
            android:name="android.accessibilityservice"
            android:resource="@xml/config_accessibility_service" />
        <intent-filter>
            <action android:name="android.accessibilityservice.AccessibilityService" />
        </intent-filter>
    </service>

config_accessibility_service.xml

<accessibility-service xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
    android:description="@string/app_name"
    android:accessibilityEventTypes="typeAllMask"
    android:accessibilityFlags="flagDefault"
    android:accessibilityFeedbackType="feedbackSpoken"
    android:notificationTimeout="100"
    android:canRetrieveWindowContent="true"
    android:settingsActivity="com.example.android.accessibility.ServiceSettingsActivity"/>

MyAccessibilityService.java

import android.accessibilityservice.AccessibilityService;
import android.accessibilityservice.AccessibilityServiceInfo;
import android.content.Intent;
import android.content.pm.ApplicationInfo;
import android.content.pm.PackageManager;
import android.os.Build;
import android.os.PowerManager;
import android.util.Log;
import android.view.accessibility.AccessibilityEvent;
import android.view.accessibility.AccessibilityNodeInfo;

import androidx.core.view.accessibility.AccessibilityNodeInfoCompat;

import java.util.List;

public class MyAccessibilityService extends AccessibilityService {

    private static final String TAG = "MyAccessibilityService";

    @Override
    public void onAccessibilityEvent(AccessibilityEvent event) {
        String packageName = event.getPackageName().toString();
        if (packageName.equals("com.whatsapp")){
            PackageManager packageManager = this.getPackageManager();
            try {
                ApplicationInfo info = packageManager.getApplicationInfo(packageName,0);
                String name = packageManager.getApplicationLabel(info).toString();
                try {
                    AccessibilityNodeInfoCompat rootNodeInfo = AccessibilityNodeInfoCompat.wrap(getRootInActiveWindow());
                    List<AccessibilityNodeInfoCompat> sendMessageNodeList = rootNodeInfo.findAccessibilityNodeInfosByViewId("com.whatsapp:id/send");
                    if (sendMessageNodeList == null || sendMessageNodeList.isEmpty()){
                        return;
                    }
                    AccessibilityNodeInfoCompat sendMessage = sendMessageNodeList.get(0);
                    if (!sendMessage.isVisibleToUser()){
                        return;
                    }
                    sendMessage.performAction(AccessibilityNodeInfo.ACTION_CLICK);

                    try {
                        Thread.sleep(2000);
                        performGlobalAction(GLOBAL_ACTION_BACK);
                        Thread.sleep(2000);
                    }catch (Exception e){
                        Log.e("onAccessibilityEvent", "onAccessibilityEvent: ",e );
                    }
                }catch (Exception e){
                    e.printStackTrace();
                }
                Log.e(TAG, "onAccessibilityEvent: "+name );
            } catch (PackageManager.NameNotFoundException e) {
                e.printStackTrace();
            }
        }
    }

    @Override
    public void onInterrupt() {

    }

    @Override
    protected void onServiceConnected() {
        super.onServiceConnected();
        AccessibilityServiceInfo info = new AccessibilityServiceInfo();
        info.eventTypes = AccessibilityEvent.TYPE_VIEW_CLICKED |
                AccessibilityEvent.TYPE_VIEW_FOCUSED;
        info.packageNames = new String[]
                {"com.whatsapp"};
        info.feedbackType = AccessibilityServiceInfo.FEEDBACK_SPOKEN;
        this.setServiceInfo(info);
        Log.d(TAG, "Accessibility service connected");
    }
}

AccessibilityServiceManager.java

public class AccessibilityServiceManager {
    Context context;

    public AccessibilityServiceManager(Context context) {
        this.context = context;
    }

    public boolean hasAccessibilityServicePermission(Class<? extends AccessibilityService> clazz) {
        int accessibilityEnabled = 0;
        final String service = context.getPackageName() + "/" + clazz.getCanonicalName();
        try {
            accessibilityEnabled = Settings.Secure.getInt(context.getApplicationContext().getContentResolver(), Settings.Secure.ACCESSIBILITY_ENABLED);
        } catch (Settings.SettingNotFoundException ignored) {
        }
        TextUtils.SimpleStringSplitter colonSplitter = new TextUtils.SimpleStringSplitter(':');
        if (accessibilityEnabled == 1) {
            String settingValue = Settings.Secure.getString(context.getApplicationContext().getContentResolver(), Settings.Secure.ENABLED_ACCESSIBILITY_SERVICES);
            if (settingValue != null) {
                colonSplitter.setString(settingValue);
                while (colonSplitter.hasNext()) {
                    String accessibilityService = colonSplitter.next();

                    if (accessibilityService.equalsIgnoreCase(service)) {
                        return true;
                    }
                }
            }
        }

        return false;
    }
    public void requestUserForAccessibilityService(Activity activity){
        new AlertDialog.Builder(context)
                .setTitle("Permission needed")
                .setMessage("You have to enable Accessibility service to use this feature")
                .setNegativeButton("No", new DialogInterface.OnClickListener() {
                    @Override
                    public void onClick(DialogInterface dialogInterface, int i) {
                        dialogInterface.dismiss();
                    }
                })
                .setPositiveButton(android.R.string.yes, new DialogInterface.OnClickListener() {
                    @Override
                    public void onClick(DialogInterface dialogInterface, int i) {
                        Intent intent = new Intent(Settings.ACTION_ACCESSIBILITY_SETTINGS);
                        activity.startActivity(intent);
                    }
                })
                .show();

    }
}

And you can call it in MainActivity.java

AccessibilityServiceManager serviceManager = new AccessibilityServiceManager(this);
        button.setOnClickListener(new View.OnClickListener() {
            @Override
            public void onClick(View view) {
                if (serviceManager.hasAccessibilityServicePermission(MyAccessibilityService.class)){
                    String message = "Your message",to = "91XXXXXXXXXX";
                        startActivity(
                                new Intent(Intent.ACTION_VIEW,
                                        Uri.parse(
                                                String.format("https://api.whatsapp.com/send?phone=%s&text=%s", to, message)
                                        )
                                ).addFlags(Intent.FLAG_ACTIVITY_NEW_TASK)
                        );
                }else{
                    serviceManager.requestUserForAccessibilityService(MainActivity.this);
                }
            }
        });

This worked for me.