Get/pick an image from Android's built-in Gallery app programmatically

Question

I am trying to open an image / picture in the Gallery built-in app from inside my application.

I have a URI of the picture (the picture is located on the SD card).

Do you have any suggestions?

Solution 1

This is a complete solution. I've just updated this example code with the information provided in the answer below by @mad. Also check the solution below from @Khobaib explaining how to deal with picasa images.

Update

I've just reviewed my original answer and created a simple Android Studio project you can checkout from github and import directly on your system.

https://github.com/hanscappelle/SO-2169649

(note that the multiple file selection still needs work)

Single Picture Selection

With support for images from file explorers thanks to user mad.

public class BrowsePictureActivity extends Activity {

    // this is the action code we use in our intent, 
    // this way we know we're looking at the response from our own action
    private static final int SELECT_PICTURE = 1;

    private String selectedImagePath;

    public void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
        super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
        setContentView(R.layout.main);

        findViewById(R.id.Button01)
                .setOnClickListener(new OnClickListener() {

                    public void onClick(View arg0) {

                        // in onCreate or any event where your want the user to
                        // select a file
                        Intent intent = new Intent();
                        intent.setType("image/*");
                        intent.setAction(Intent.ACTION_GET_CONTENT);
                        startActivityForResult(Intent.createChooser(intent,
                                "Select Picture"), SELECT_PICTURE);
                    }
                });
    }

    public void onActivityResult(int requestCode, int resultCode, Intent data) {
        if (resultCode == RESULT_OK) {
            if (requestCode == SELECT_PICTURE) {
                Uri selectedImageUri = data.getData();
                selectedImagePath = getPath(selectedImageUri);
            }
        }
    }

    /**
     * helper to retrieve the path of an image URI
     */
    public String getPath(Uri uri) {
            // just some safety built in 
            if( uri == null ) {
                // TODO perform some logging or show user feedback
                return null;
            }
            // try to retrieve the image from the media store first
            // this will only work for images selected from gallery
            String[] projection = { MediaStore.Images.Media.DATA };
            Cursor cursor = managedQuery(uri, projection, null, null, null);
            if( cursor != null ){
                int column_index = cursor
                .getColumnIndexOrThrow(MediaStore.Images.Media.DATA);
                cursor.moveToFirst();
                String path = cursor.getString(column_index);
                cursor.close();
                return path;
            }
            // this is our fallback here
            return uri.getPath();
    }

}

Selecting Multiple Pictures

Since someone requested that information in a comment and it's better to have information gathered.

Set an extra parameter EXTRA_ALLOW_MULTIPLE on the intent:

intent.putExtra(Intent.EXTRA_ALLOW_MULTIPLE, true);

And in the Result handling check for that parameter:

if (Intent.ACTION_SEND_MULTIPLE.equals(data.getAction()))
        && Intent.hasExtra(Intent.EXTRA_STREAM)) {
    // retrieve a collection of selected images
    ArrayList<Parcelable> list = intent.getParcelableArrayListExtra(Intent.EXTRA_STREAM);
    // iterate over these images
    if( list != null ) {
       for (Parcelable parcel : list) {
         Uri uri = (Uri) parcel;
         // TODO handle the images one by one here
       }
   }
} 

Note that this is only supported by API level 18+.

Solution 2

Here is an update to the fine code that hcpl posted. but this works with OI file manager, astro file manager AND the media gallery too (tested). so i guess it will work with every file manager (are there many others than those mentioned?). did some corrections to the code he wrote.

public class BrowsePicture extends Activity {

    //YOU CAN EDIT THIS TO WHATEVER YOU WANT
    private static final int SELECT_PICTURE = 1;

    private String selectedImagePath;
    //ADDED
    private String filemanagerstring;

    public void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
        super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
        setContentView(R.layout.main);

        ((Button) findViewById(R.id.Button01))
        .setOnClickListener(new OnClickListener() {

            public void onClick(View arg0) {

                // in onCreate or any event where your want the user to
                // select a file
                Intent intent = new Intent();
                intent.setType("image/*");
                intent.setAction(Intent.ACTION_GET_CONTENT);
                startActivityForResult(Intent.createChooser(intent,
                        "Select Picture"), SELECT_PICTURE);
            }
        });
    }

    //UPDATED
    public void onActivityResult(int requestCode, int resultCode, Intent data) {
        if (resultCode == RESULT_OK) {
            if (requestCode == SELECT_PICTURE) {
                Uri selectedImageUri = data.getData();

                //OI FILE Manager
                filemanagerstring = selectedImageUri.getPath();

                //MEDIA GALLERY
                selectedImagePath = getPath(selectedImageUri);

                //DEBUG PURPOSE - you can delete this if you want
                if(selectedImagePath!=null)
                    System.out.println(selectedImagePath);
                else System.out.println("selectedImagePath is null");
                if(filemanagerstring!=null)
                    System.out.println(filemanagerstring);
                else System.out.println("filemanagerstring is null");

                //NOW WE HAVE OUR WANTED STRING
                if(selectedImagePath!=null)
                    System.out.println("selectedImagePath is the right one for you!");
                else
                    System.out.println("filemanagerstring is the right one for you!");
            }
        }
    }

    //UPDATED!
    public String getPath(Uri uri) {
        String[] projection = { MediaStore.Images.Media.DATA };
        Cursor cursor = managedQuery(uri, projection, null, null, null);
        if(cursor!=null)
        {
            //HERE YOU WILL GET A NULLPOINTER IF CURSOR IS NULL
            //THIS CAN BE, IF YOU USED OI FILE MANAGER FOR PICKING THE MEDIA
            int column_index = cursor
            .getColumnIndexOrThrow(MediaStore.Images.Media.DATA);
            cursor.moveToFirst();
            return cursor.getString(column_index);
        }
        else return null;
    }

Solution 3

hcpl's methods work perfectly pre-KitKat, but not working with the DocumentsProvider API. For that just simply follow the official Android tutorial for documentproviders: https://developer.android.com/guide/topics/providers/document-provider.html -> open a document, Bitmap section.

Simply I used hcpl's code and extended it: if the file with the retrieved path to the image throws exception I call this function:

private Bitmap getBitmapFromUri(Uri uri) throws IOException {
        ParcelFileDescriptor parcelFileDescriptor =
             getContentResolver().openFileDescriptor(uri, "r");
        FileDescriptor fileDescriptor = parcelFileDescriptor.getFileDescriptor();
        Bitmap image = BitmapFactory.decodeFileDescriptor(fileDescriptor);
        parcelFileDescriptor.close();
        return image;
}

Tested on Nexus 5.

Solution 4

I went through the solution from @hcpl & @mad. hcpl's solution supports well for local image in the gallery & mad provided a better solution on top of that - it helps to load OI/Astro/Dropbox image as well. But in my app, while working on picasa library that's now integrated in Android Gallery, both solution fail.

I searched & analyzed a bit & eventually have come with a better & elegant solution that overcomes this limitation. Thanks to Dimitar Darazhanski for his blog, that helped me in this case, I modified a bit to make it easier to understand. Here is my solution goes -

public class BrowsePicture extends Activity {

//YOU CAN EDIT THIS TO WHATEVER YOU WANT
private static final int SELECT_PICTURE = 1;

private String selectedImagePath;
//ADDED
private String filemanagerstring;

public void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
    super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
    setContentView(R.layout.main);

    ((Button) findViewById(R.id.Button01))
    .setOnClickListener(new OnClickListener() {

        public void onClick(View arg0) {

            // in onCreate or any event where your want the user to
            // select a file
            Intent intent = new Intent();
            intent.setType("image/*");
            intent.setAction(Intent.ACTION_GET_CONTENT);
            startActivityForResult(Intent.createChooser(intent,
                    "Select Picture"), SELECT_PICTURE);
        }
    });
}

public void onActivityResult(int requestCode, int resultCode, Intent data) {
    if (resultCode == RESULT_OK) {
        if (requestCode == SELECT_PICTURE) {
            Uri selectedImageUri = data.getData();
            Log.d("URI VAL", "selectedImageUri = " + selectedImageUri.toString());
            selectedImagePath = getPath(selectedImageUri);

            if(selectedImagePath!=null){         
                // IF LOCAL IMAGE, NO MATTER IF ITS DIRECTLY FROM GALLERY (EXCEPT PICASSA ALBUM),
                // OR OI/ASTRO FILE MANAGER. EVEN DROPBOX IS SUPPORTED BY THIS BECAUSE DROPBOX DOWNLOAD THE IMAGE 
                // IN THIS FORM - file:///storage/emulated/0/Android/data/com.dropbox.android/...
                System.out.println("local image"); 
            }
            else{
                System.out.println("picasa image!");
                loadPicasaImageFromGallery(selectedImageUri);
            }
        }
    }
}


// NEW METHOD FOR PICASA IMAGE LOAD
private void loadPicasaImageFromGallery(final Uri uri) {
    String[] projection = {  MediaColumns.DATA, MediaColumns.DISPLAY_NAME };
    Cursor cursor = getContentResolver().query(uri, projection, null, null, null);
    if(cursor != null) {
        cursor.moveToFirst();

        int columnIndex = cursor.getColumnIndex(MediaColumns.DISPLAY_NAME);
        if (columnIndex != -1) {
            new Thread(new Runnable() {
                // NEW THREAD BECAUSE NETWORK REQUEST WILL BE MADE THAT WILL BE A LONG PROCESS & BLOCK UI
                // IF CALLED IN UI THREAD 
                public void run() {
                    try {
                        Bitmap bitmap = android.provider.MediaStore.Images.Media.getBitmap(getContentResolver(), uri);
                        // THIS IS THE BITMAP IMAGE WE ARE LOOKING FOR.
                    } catch (Exception ex) {
                        ex.printStackTrace();
                    }
                }
            }).start();
        }
    }
    cursor.close();
}


public String getPath(Uri uri) {
    String[] projection = {  MediaColumns.DATA};
    Cursor cursor = getContentResolver().query(uri, projection, null, null, null);
    if(cursor != null) {
        //HERE YOU WILL GET A NULLPOINTER IF CURSOR IS NULL
        //THIS CAN BE, IF YOU USED OI FILE MANAGER FOR PICKING THE MEDIA
        cursor.moveToFirst();
        int columnIndex = cursor.getColumnIndexOrThrow(MediaColumns.DATA);
        String filePath = cursor.getString(columnIndex);
        cursor.close();
        return filePath;
    }
    else 
        return uri.getPath();               // FOR OI/ASTRO/Dropbox etc
}

Check it & let me know if there's some issue with it. I have tested it & it works well in every case.

Hope this will help everyone.

Solution 5

basis with the above code, I reflected the code like below, may be it's more suitable:

public String getPath(Uri uri) {
    String selectedImagePath;
    //1:MEDIA GALLERY --- query from MediaStore.Images.Media.DATA
    String[] projection = { MediaStore.Images.Media.DATA };
    Cursor cursor = managedQuery(uri, projection, null, null, null);
    if(cursor != null){
        int column_index = cursor.getColumnIndexOrThrow(MediaStore.Images.Media.DATA);
        cursor.moveToFirst();
        selectedImagePath = cursor.getString(column_index);
    }else{
        selectedImagePath = null;
    }

    if(selectedImagePath == null){
        //2:OI FILE Manager --- call method: uri.getPath()
        selectedImagePath = uri.getPath();
    }
    return selectedImagePath;
}

View more solutions

Comments

[Anthony Forloney]

I have updated my answer to provide more test code to ensure that you retrieve the results correctly.

[mad]

look at my answer, it is an update to hcpl's code and it works for astro file manager and oi file manager too.

[Vikas]

Someone should update question, "Get/pick an image from Android's...". Current question interprets that I have image and I want to show it via default gallery app.

[Michael Kessler]

@Vikas, seems that you are right. I don't remember what exactly I have tried to accomplish more than a year ago and why all the answers (including the one that I have selected as a solution) actually answer to a different question...

[Michael Kessler]

Actually, I don't know if it is right to change the question completely. There are 36 people who have added the question to their favorites...

[Takermania]

This question has been answered step by step in this tutorial [click to view Tutorial][1] [1]: stackoverflow.com/questions/30506301/…

[Michael Kessler]

@Anthony, thank you for your response. Unfortunately it doesn't work for me. I get the next error: android.content.ActivityNotFoundException: No Activity found to handle Intent { act=android.intent.action.GET_CONTENT typ=file:///sdcard/images/* }

[Anthony Forloney]

You need to call startActivityforResult and supply an activity. That's what I was referring to about deciding on what to next, my bad.

[Michael Kessler]

It still doesn't work... I check that the folder exists and that there is an image file inside the folder. I call startActivityForResult(intent, 1); and still get this error... This code is located outside the Activity, but I have a reference to the activity and call the startActivityForResult method on that reference - maybe this is the reason?

[Anthony Forloney]

Nah, shouldnt be the reason, what is 1 that your passing in? Try IMAGE_PICK

[Michael Kessler]

The second param is just something for me, isn't it? This is just an int that will be passed back to me together with the result. Tried also the Intent.ACTION_PICK instead of Intent.ACTION_GET_CONTENT. What do you mean by IMAGE_PICK? There is no such a constant. I also tried intent.setData(Uri.fromFile(new File("/sdcard/image/")));. I tried all the possible combinations of these and nothing seems to work...

[Anthony Forloney]

yeah IMAGE_PICK was a personal constant for another person having problems with Android, I thought it was a constant that choose which image picked, but what happens when you tried to use intent.setData(...), do you get an error message? or nothing happens?

[Michael Kessler]

I get an exception on startActivityForResult method call in all the cases (ACTION_GET_CONTENT, ACTION_PICK, setType, setData), tried to remove the "file://" prefix, tried to remove the "*" posfix, tried to remove both, tried to give the full path to the file - I've tried all the combinations. Notice that it opens the Gallery app when I don't mention the exact folder or file and use the setType("image/*");.

[Michael Kessler]

Does it work for you? Have you tried it? If it does then what platform are you working on? I use the Android 1.5

[Anthony Forloney]

I have not tried it, so I couldn't say whether it would work or not and I am using the Android 2.0

[Rohith Nandakumar]

It doesn't work when I use Astro file manager. Any ideas why?

[Vikas]

How do I retrieve Bitmap image from OI path?

[mad]

look at the code. at the lines with the comment //NOW WE HAVE OUR WANTED STRING...this is all you need. then use BitmapFactory class to retrieve a bitmap from a path

[hcpl]

Thanks! You have a good point, never tried other file managers :).

[GeneCode]

Hi thanks a lot for this. Im a noobie though, can anyone tell me how to use the selectedImagePath or the other paths and set the image in ImageView?

[pgsandstrom]

I would also like to close the cursor :)

[ashughes]

Could also change else return null; in getPath(Uri uri) to return uri.getPath(); and get rid of the first filemanagerstring = selectedImageUri.getPath(); check. This way you just make one call to getPath(Uri) and get the path back (no matter if it was the Gallery or a file manager that was used).

[CQM]

onActivityResult is never called in my program :( I am using tabhosts and have tried putting the onActivityResult() method in my TabActivity, my TabGroup AND my original view Activity that originally called the gallery

[Noby]

@hcpl Thank you for answer. Can you please tell me how to get multiple images...?

[PiyushMishra]

@Michael kessler I just answer a question stackoverflow.com/questions/6074270/… if it help you in anyway.

[Gabor]

small addition for device compatibility: intent.setType("image/*"); if (android.os.Build.MODEL.startsWith("HTC")) intent.putExtra("folderType", "com.htc.HTCAlbum.ALL_PHOTOS");

[Dave_P]

@hcpl... what if you wanted to drill down into the gallery to a specified directory programatically. If the app creates a directory that shows in the gallery, can you just take the user directly to that gallery? handling exceptions of course. I wouldnt want to show the user every directory and have them select, I just want to show them the directory that I want them to be in. You can email me if you want [email protected]

[Mario]

thx a lot. but if i choose gallery as source. it will still show the app choice after i select an image. if i choose the filemanager it works all great

[gcl1]

I think "selectedImagePath = getPath(selectedImageUri);" should be "selectedImagePath = selectedImageUri.getPath();". Then, it compiled and worked for me.

[Torben]

You did not understand the question before answering. Also, you did not include any description about what you try to do. Also, your code breaks some well established Java programming standards.

[Khobaib]

@hcpl I have provided a solution that supports picasa album's image loading also(picase album is part of Android gallery now). Check my solution.

[Khobaib]

@mad I have provided a solution that supports picasa album's image loading also(picase album is part of Android gallery now). Check my solution.

[hcpl]

@gcl1 the getPath() method is a custom helper, don't forget to add it to your code. It will use a content provider if possible and fall back on the uri.getPath() function if not.

[hcpl]

@Noby check my updated answer, it has some info on how to select multiple images on API level 18 and higher. Before that you'll have to provide your own media browser or look for an open source library.

[hcpl]

@Khobaib Thanks for the update. I've added a pointer in my answer.

[Christopher Masser]

Getting a single picture doesn't seem to be working on the newest Android version 4.4 (KitKat) anymore. The _data column from the query returns a null value.

[Snake]

@Chsristopher Masser, Any suggested alternative for Kitkat?

[IgorGanapolsky]

Does one need to know the uri of the image here? What if I just want to pick an arbitrary image from the gallery?

[IgorGanapolsky]

@hcpl You didn't mean 'Intent.hasExtra', you meant 'data.hasExtra' - assuming data is your Intent parameter in onActivityResult().

[bugraoral]

Intent which you will receive from the gallery will provide you the url

[abbath]

This code is working perfectly preKitkat, but from then there are document providers. In my answer I write about what to do in kitkat.

[Johan]

I get the onActivityResult before I select an image. When I select an image, I get no onActivityResult at all. Testing on samsung s3. Really annoying.. why do I have this problem and not you?

[Johan]

I get onActivityResult before picture is selected and no onActivityResult after picture is selected so it does not work for me on samsung s3.

[nommer]

managedQuery() is deprecated in API 11, can either use CursorLoader which is a bit overkill for this IMHO, or just use getContentResolver().query() like in Khobaib's answer (stackoverflow.com/a/17285119/2048266)

[Arun Badole]

Really useful answer, should be used for selecting images from "Photos" app.

[Arun Badole]

I tried this on both local & server's files, worked for both.

[Narendra Singh]

@hcpl whats the "action" in if (Intent.ACTION_SEND_MULTIPLE.equals(action))?

[Narendra Singh]

@hcpl trying to pick multiple images .........it return null, java.lang.RuntimeException: Failure delivering result ResultInfo{who=null, request=65538, result=-1, data=Intent { dat=content://media/external/images/media/1944 flg=0x1 }} to activity {com.abs_ind.www.example/com.abs_ind.www.example.MainActivit‌​y}: java.lang.NullPointerException: Attempt to invoke virtual method 'java.util.Iterator java.util.ArrayList.iterator()' on a null object reference

[hcpl]

@DroidWormNarendra action should've been a property on the data (intent) object so use data.getAction() there instead. I'll update code example.

[Takermania]

This question has been answered step by step in this tutorial : stackoverflow.com/questions/30506301/…

[Tom Kincaid]

The multiple image selector is not working for me. It launches the picker and allows multiple selection, but in onActivityResult, data.getAction() is null, and data.hasExtra(Intent.EXTRA_STREAM) is false.

[Tom Kincaid]

This answer got the uris from multiple selection stackoverflow.com/questions/21071098/…

[Alberto Méndez]

The "getPath" method in the "Single Picture Selection" way returns null if the user choose a image from the "Recent" option in the gallery (tried in Lollipop), I solved it by directly using the Uri

[Craig Russell]

As a previous comment also addresses, Intent.hasExtra is a mistake in the post and should be updated to data.hasExtra. I tried to edit it to this effect but my edit was rejected; not sure why as the current code wouldn't compile and only serve to confuse people further.

[Pankaj]

It's working for me I am using Nexus 5 with Marshmallow. Which phone you are using.

[Erum]

i m also usng google nexus but faled to get image name or path of my gallery selected image i m getting null

[Erum]

java.lang.SecurityException: Permission Denial: reading com.android.providers.media.MediaProvider uri content://media/external/images/media from pid=31332, uid=11859 requires android.permission.READ_EXTERNAL_STORAGE, or grantUriPermission() getting this error

[Pankaj]

You have add permission which its showing READ_EXTERNAL_STORAGE

[Erum]

yes i already have added permission in manifest but i did not add any permission in java files at runtime

[AbdulMomen عبدالمؤمن]

this worked with me stackoverflow.com/questions/30004658/…

[Stoycho Andreev]

I face similar problem and picturePath is always null . I try you solution but does not work , plus that getDocumentId requires > API 19

[Ankita Shah]

This is working if we picked image from recent images from image pick intent. Not working when user picked image from gallery.

[Mr_Anderson]

if (Intent.ACTION_SEND_MULTIPLE.equals(data.getAction())&& data.hasExtra(Intent.EXTRA_STREAM)) returns FALSE

[Derlin]

This is the easiest answer (and the only one that worked for me). So nicely done!

[Jeremy Caney]

This question has long been answered, and has a few answers that have been repeatedly validated by the community. Why do you prefer this over the existing answers?