Sending email with attachment using SENDTO on some devices doesn't work

Question

At first you're going to think "Wait, this question is a duplicate!". Read on.

I'm trying to use the Intent ACTION_SENDTO (with an Email URI as data) in order to have just email apps respond.

(Using ACTION_SEND launches a standard "SEND" chooser with no data URI meaning that non email apps, such as Google Drive, also respond).

My problem is that the attachment works with ACTION_SEND on all devices, however - when using ACTION_SENDTO only some devices correctly attach the files. Nexus 7 works but Samsung Galaxy Tab and Acer Iconia don't.

You can see below the different methods side by side:

    String email    = getActivity().getResources().getString(R.string.supportEmail);
    String subject  = getActivity().getResources().getString(R.string.sFeedback);
    subject         = String.format(subject, 
                      getActivity().getResources().getString(R.string.productName));
    String content  = getActivity().getResources().getString(R.string.whatFeedbackWouldYouLikeToProvide) + "\n\n" + 
                      mMessage.getText().toString();
    File toSend     = new File(outfile);

    if(toSend.exists()) {
        Log.e("Feedback", "File path: " + toSend.getAbsolutePath());

        Intent emailIntent = new Intent(android.content.Intent.ACTION_SENDTO);
        emailIntent.setData(Uri.parse("mailto:" +email));
        emailIntent.putExtra(android.content.Intent.EXTRA_STREAM,   Uri.fromFile(toSend));
        emailIntent.putExtra(android.content.Intent.EXTRA_SUBJECT,  subject);               
        emailIntent.putExtra(android.content.Intent.EXTRA_TEXT,     content);  

    /*  Intent emailIntent = new Intent(Intent.ACTION_SEND);
        emailIntent.setType("message/rfc822");
        emailIntent.putExtra(Intent.EXTRA_EMAIL  , new String[]{email});
        emailIntent.putExtra(Intent.EXTRA_SUBJECT, subject);
        emailIntent.putExtra(Intent.EXTRA_TEXT   , content);
        emailIntent.putExtra(Intent.EXTRA_STREAM , Uri.fromFile(toSend)); */

        try {
            startActivity(emailIntent);
        } catch (ActivityNotFoundException anfe) {
            Toast.makeText(getActivity(), getResources().getString(R.string.pleaseInstallAnEmailClientInOrderToSendUsFeedback), 8000).show();
        }
    }

You can see that the filepaths don't seem to be the problem, I've added in some logging which reports:

Samsung Gives:

04-11 11:40:09.953: E/Feedback(6286): File path: /storage/sdcard0/logs.zip

Nexus Gives:

04-11 11:38:59.249: E/Feedback(12702): File path: /storage/emulated/0/logs.zip

(Both based on getExternalStorageDirectory() to ensure cross application access).

Does anybody know why the difference?

Answer 1

The only solution I came up with is the following one. It is a mix of some others I have found while searching for a complete answer. The following will show only email apps and allow including attachments. The most important part was found here: https://stackoverflow.com/a/8550043/4927659

ArrayList<Uri> uris = new ArrayList<>();
uris.add(Uri.parse("file://" + filepath)); 
//filepath is something like that: /mnt/sdcard/DCIM/DSC0001.JPG
Intent emailIntent = new Intent(Intent.ACTION_SENDTO, Uri.fromParts(
                "mailto", "[email protected]", null));
        emailIntent.putExtra(Intent.EXTRA_SUBJECT, "Mail subject");
        List<ResolveInfo> resolveInfos = getPackageManager().queryIntentActivities(emailIntent, 0);
        List<LabeledIntent> intents = new ArrayList<>();
        for (ResolveInfo info : resolveInfos) {
            Intent intent = new Intent(Intent.ACTION_SEND_MULTIPLE);
            intent.setComponent(new ComponentName(info.activityInfo.packageName, info.activityInfo.name));
            intent.putExtra(Intent.EXTRA_EMAIL, new String[]{"[email protected]"});
            intent.putExtra(Intent.EXTRA_SUBJECT, "Mail subject");
            intent.putParcelableArrayListExtra(Intent.EXTRA_STREAM, uris); //ArrayList<Uri> of attachment Uri's
            intents.add(new LabeledIntent(intent, info.activityInfo.packageName, info.loadLabel(getPackageManager()), info.icon));
        }
        Intent chooser = Intent.createChooser(intents.remove(intents.size() - 1), "Send email with attachments...");
        chooser.putExtra(Intent.EXTRA_INITIAL_INTENTS, intents.toArray(new LabeledIntent[intents.size()]));
        startActivity(chooser);

Answer 2

Try to resolve activity via ACTION_SENDTO, but actually sending via ACTION_SEND.

Intent intent = new Intent(Intent.ACTION_SENDTO, Uri.fromParts(
                    "mailto", "", null));
            intent.putExtra(Intent.EXTRA_SUBJECT, title);
            intent.putExtra(Intent.EXTRA_TEXT, text);
            intent.putExtra(Intent.EXTRA_STREAM, getSnapshotUri(snapshot, context, event));

            List<ResolveInfo> resolveInfos = context.getPackageManager().queryIntentActivities(intent, 0);
            if (resolveInfos.size() == 0) {
                new AlertDialog.Builder(context)
                        .setMessage(R.string.no_mail_app)
                        .setPositiveButton(R.string.ok, null)
                        .show();
            } else {
                String packageName = resolveInfos.get(0).activityInfo.packageName;
                String name = resolveInfos.get(0).activityInfo.name;

                intent.setAction(Intent.ACTION_SEND);
                intent.setComponent(new ComponentName(packageName, name));

                context.startActivity(intent);
            }