Android: Detect SMS Outgoing, Incorrect Count

Question

I am trying to make an application to count the number of outgoing SMS messages from a phone. Presently I have the following code:

private void listenForSMS(){
    Log.v("SMSTEST", "STARTED LISTENING FOR SMS OUTGOING");
    Handler handle = new Handler(){};

    SMSObserver myObserver = new SMSObserver(handle);

    ContentResolver contentResolver = getContentResolver();
    contentResolver.registerContentObserver(Uri.parse("content://sms"),true, myObserver);
}

private class SMSObserver extends ContentObserver{

    int count = 0;
    String lastMessage = null;

    public SMSObserver(Handler handler) {
        super(handler);
    }

    public void onChange(boolean selfChange) {
        super.onChange(selfChange);

        Log.v("SMSTEST", "HIT ON CHANGE");

        Uri uriSMSURI = Uri.parse("content://sms");
        Cursor cur = getContentResolver().query(uriSMSURI, null, null,
                     null, null);
        cur.moveToNext();
        String protocol = cur.getString(cur.getColumnIndex("protocol"));
        if(protocol == null){
            count++;
            Log.v("SMSTEST", "SMS SENT: count: " + count);
            String content = cur.getString(cur.getColumnIndex("body"));

        }else{
            Log.v("SMSTEST", "SMS RECIEVED");
        }
    }
}

When I send a one page SMS message, onChange is called 3 times. When I send a two page SMS message, onChange is called 4 times. 3 page message, called 5 times; And so on.

NOTE: I have tried other variations of Uri.parse("content://sms"), such as "content://sms/sent", and nothing other than "content://sms" has gotten onChange to be called.

How can I uniquely distinguish an outgoing SMS message and get an accurate count of the number of SMS messages sent?

Answer 1

I found a solution to my problem. SMSs and MMSs can be uniquely distinguished by their _id value.

Uri uriSMSURI = Uri.parse("content://sms");
    Cursor cur = getContentResolver().query(uriSMSURI, null, null,
                 null, null);
    cur.moveToNext();
String id = cur.getString(cur.getColumnIndex("_id"));

Answer 2

Note that, when you send a SMS message, it will save the status of message. To solve it, you check the type of that records int type = c.getInt(c.getColumnIndex("type")); 3 times onchange():
1st : type = 6
2nd : type = 4
3rd : type = 2 (success)
then you can increase your counter.
This case is applied for 1 recipient only.
If there are much more 1 recipient, need to requery "thread_id" and "seen" to get the type. You can check how many message are sent success.
Good luck!

Answer 3

How can I uniquely distinguish an outgoing SMS message and get an accurate count of the number of SMS messages sent?

You can't.

This content provider is not part of the Android SDK. Its use is undocumented and unsupported. Moreover, how any given messaging client (e.g., the AOSP Messenger app) might use it is itself undocumented and unsupported. A single sent SMS could result in 1,337 changes to the content provider, and you have no way to know. Furthermore, there is no requirement for outgoing SMS messages to even be recorded in this or any content provider. And, if recent behavior is any indication, it is possible that Google will shut down third-party access to this content provider in the future.