Setting an Android Notification Icon to a remote URL

Question

I want to use a remote URL (like a favicon) for a notification icon, however the constructor for a notification accepts only a resource ID (which is an integer) instead of something more useful like a FileInputStream.

How can I either

• define a new resource for a stream source

• download an icon, add to my resources, and then dynamically get an ID?

Answer 1

You can't do this in Android currently, because resources can only be loaded from the /res/ directory of your APK. See Resources and Internationalization. The /res/ directory is built when you create your APK and can't be changed after.

Do you expect your Icon to change often enough that you need to query a URL to ensure it is up to date every time you send a notification?

Most applications that need to change their icon would simply put an update out on the Android market.

Answer 2

Since API 11 Android has had the ability to use a Bitmap for a largeIcon in notifications. This has been expanded even further in Jelly Bean to allow entire notifications to be an image, BigPictureStyle.