How can I send sms messages in the BACKGROUND using Android?

Question

I am coming from iphone development where you cannot send an SMS in the background without asking the user to confirm the send. Can sms be sent in the background in android so that no user intervention is need?

Answer 1

Send SMS with SMS-Delivery notification as toast.

method call as below.

sendSMS("98********","This is test message");

method signature as below.

/*
 * BroadcastReceiver mBrSend; BroadcastReceiver mBrReceive;
 */
private void sendSMS(String phoneNumber, String message) {
    ArrayList<PendingIntent> sentPendingIntents = new ArrayList<PendingIntent>();
    ArrayList<PendingIntent> deliveredPendingIntents = new ArrayList<PendingIntent>();
    PendingIntent sentPI = PendingIntent.getBroadcast(mContext, 0,
            new Intent(mContext, SmsSentReceiver.class), 0);
    PendingIntent deliveredPI = PendingIntent.getBroadcast(mContext, 0,
            new Intent(mContext, SmsDeliveredReceiver.class), 0);
    try {
        SmsManager sms = SmsManager.getDefault();
        ArrayList<String> mSMSMessage = sms.divideMessage(message);
        for (int i = 0; i < mSMSMessage.size(); i++) {
            sentPendingIntents.add(i, sentPI);
            deliveredPendingIntents.add(i, deliveredPI);
        }
        sms.sendMultipartTextMessage(phoneNumber, null, mSMSMessage,
                sentPendingIntents, deliveredPendingIntents);

    } catch (Exception e) {

        e.printStackTrace();
        Toast.makeText(getBaseContext(), "SMS sending failed...",Toast.LENGTH_SHORT).show();
    }

}

Now two more classes SmsDeliveredReceiver,SmsSentReceiver as below.

public class SmsDeliveredReceiver extends BroadcastReceiver {
@Override
public void onReceive(Context context, Intent arg1) {
    switch (getResultCode()) {
    case Activity.RESULT_OK:
        Toast.makeText(context, "SMS delivered", Toast.LENGTH_SHORT).show();
        break;
    case Activity.RESULT_CANCELED:
        Toast.makeText(context, "SMS not delivered", Toast.LENGTH_SHORT).show();
        break;
    }
}

}

Now SMSSentReceiver.

public class SmsSentReceiver extends BroadcastReceiver {
@Override
public void onReceive(Context context, Intent arg1) {
    switch (getResultCode()) {
    case Activity.RESULT_OK:
        Toast.makeText(context, "SMS Sent", Toast.LENGTH_SHORT).show();

        break;
    case SmsManager.RESULT_ERROR_GENERIC_FAILURE:
        Toast.makeText(context, "SMS generic failure", Toast.LENGTH_SHORT)
                .show();

        break;
    case SmsManager.RESULT_ERROR_NO_SERVICE:
        Toast.makeText(context, "SMS no service", Toast.LENGTH_SHORT)
                .show();

        break;
    case SmsManager.RESULT_ERROR_NULL_PDU:
        Toast.makeText(context, "SMS null PDU", Toast.LENGTH_SHORT).show();
        break;
    case SmsManager.RESULT_ERROR_RADIO_OFF:
        Toast.makeText(context, "SMS radio off", Toast.LENGTH_SHORT).show();
        break;
    }
}

}

Now Permissions open your AndroidManifest.xml and add below line

<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.SEND_SMS"/>

and its done.......

Answer 2

Yes you are able too.

SmsManager sm = SmsManager.getDefault(); 
sm.sendTextMessage(number, null, message, null, null); 

Answer 3

See http://thinkandroid.wordpress.com/2010/01/08/sending-sms-from-application/. You will need the appropriate permissions.

Answer 4

Best answer is good but above API level 23 you will need to get the permission pragmatically. Otherwise permission will be prompted each time.

 private static final int PERMISSION_REQUEST_CODE = 1;

if (android.os.Build.VERSION.SDK_INT >= android.os.Build.VERSION_CODES.M) {

    if (checkSelfPermission(Manifest.permission.SEND_SMS)
            == PackageManager.PERMISSION_DENIED) {

        Log.d("permission", "permission denied to SEND_SMS - requesting it");
        String[] permissions = {Manifest.permission.SEND_SMS};

        requestPermissions(permissions, PERMISSION_REQUEST_CODE);

    }
}