How to share pdf and text through whatsapp in android?

Question

I tried with the following code but it is not attaching the pdf file.

Intent sendIntent = new Intent();
        sendIntent.setAction(Intent.ACTION_SEND);
        sendIntent.putExtra(Intent.EXTRA_TEXT, message);
        sendIntent.setType("text/plain");
        if (isOnlyWhatsApp) {
            sendIntent.setPackage("com.whatsapp");

        }

        Uri uri = Uri.fromFile(attachment);
        sendIntent.putExtra(Intent.EXTRA_STREAM, uri);
        activity.startActivity(sendIntent);

Solution 1

I had this issue where I was trying to open a pdf file from assets folder and I did not work, but when I tried to open from Download folder (for example), it actually worked, and here is an example of it:

File outputFile = new File(Environment.getExternalStoragePublicDirectory
    (Environment.DIRECTORY_DOWNLOADS), "example.pdf");
Uri uri = Uri.fromFile(outputFile);

Intent share = new Intent();
share.setAction(Intent.ACTION_SEND);
share.setType("application/pdf");
share.putExtra(Intent.EXTRA_STREAM, uri);
share.setPackage("com.whatsapp");

activity.startActivity(share);      

Solution 2

Please note If your targetSdkVersion is 24 or higher, we have to use FileProvider class to give access to the particular file or folder to make them accessible for other apps.

Step 1: add a FileProvider tag in AndroidManifest.xml under application tag.

<provider
            android:name="android.support.v4.content.FileProvider"
            android:authorities="${applicationId}.provider"
            android:exported="false"
            android:grantUriPermissions="true">
            <meta-data
                android:name="android.support.FILE_PROVIDER_PATHS"
                android:resource="@xml/provider_paths"/>
        </provider>

Step 2:

then create a provider_paths.xml file in xml folder under res folder. Folder may be needed to create if it doesn't exist. The content of the file is shown below. It describes that we would like to share access to the External Storage at root folder (path=".") with the name external_files.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<paths xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android">
    <external-path name="external_files" path="."/>
</paths>

step 3: The final step is to change the line of code below in

Uri photoURI = Uri.fromFile(outputFile);

to

Uri uri = FileProvider.getUriForFile(PdfRendererActivity.this, PdfRendererActivity.this.getPackageName() + ".provider", outputFile);

step 4 (optional):

If using an intent to make the system open your file, you may need to add the following line of code:

intent.addFlags(Intent.FLAG_GRANT_READ_URI_PERMISSION);

Hope this will help :)

Solution 3

       if (Build.VERSION.SDK_INT >= Build.VERSION_CODES.N) {
                pdfUri = FileProvider.getUriForFile(this, this.getPackageName() + ".provider", pdfFile);
            } else {
                pdfUri = Uri.fromFile(pdfFile);
            }
            Intent share = new Intent();
            share.setAction(Intent.ACTION_SEND);
            share.setType("application/pdf");
            share.putExtra(Intent.EXTRA_STREAM, pdfUri);
            startActivity(Intent.createChooser(share, "Share"));

If you are using Intent.createChooser then always open chooser 

Solution 4

This works for me kotlin code.

 var file =
            File(
                Environment.getExternalStoragePublicDirectory(Environment.DIRECTORY_DOWNLOADS),
                "${invoiceNumber}.pdf"
            )
        if (file.exists()) {
            val uri = if (Build.VERSION.SDK_INT < 24) Uri.fromFile(file) else Uri.parse(file.path)
            val shareIntent = Intent().apply {
                action = Intent.ACTION_SEND
                type = "application/pdf"
                putExtra(Intent.EXTRA_STREAM, uri)
                putExtra(
                    Intent.EXTRA_SUBJECT,
                    "Purchase Bill..."
                )
                putExtra(
                    Intent.EXTRA_TEXT,
                    "Sharing Bill purchase items..."
                )
            }
            startActivity(Intent.createChooser(shareIntent, "Share Via"))

        }

Solution 5

I have used FileProvider because is a better approach.

First you need to add an xml/file_provider_paths resource with your private path configuration.

<paths>
    <files-path name="files" path="/"/>
</paths>

Then you need to add the provider in your manifests

<provider
    android:name="androidx.core.content.FileProvider"
    android:authorities="cu.company.app.provider"
    android:exported="false"
    android:grantUriPermissions="true">
    <meta-data
        android:name="android.support.FILE_PROVIDER_PATHS"
        android:resource="@xml/file_provider_paths" />
</provider>

and finally in your Kotlin code

fun Context.shareFile(file: File) {

    val context = this

    val intent = Intent(Intent.ACTION_SEND).apply {


        //file type, can be "application/pdf", "text/plain", etc
        type = "*/*"

        //in my case, I have used FileProvider, thats is a better approach
        putExtra(
            Intent.EXTRA_STREAM, FileProvider.getUriForFile(
                context, "cu.company.app.provider",
                file
            )
        )

        //only whatsapp can accept this intente
        //this is optional
        setPackage("com.whatsapp")

    }

    try {
        startActivity(Intent.createChooser(intent, getString(R.string.share_with)))
    } catch (e: Exception) {
        Toast.makeText(this, "We can't find WhatsApp", Toast.LENGTH_SHORT).show()
    }

}

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Comments

[Sujeet Kumar Mehta]

Hi @lomkrodsp I mean to ask how we can do it through our app with code, not manually

[Sujeet Kumar Mehta]

thanks for answering it. Let me try to check if it works. Looks like it can but I am not sure if whatsapp allows this.

[Rahul Khurana]

yes if it doesnot work for your porblem you can also give ittry: sendIntent.putExtra(Intent.EXTRA_STREAM, Uri.fromFile(exportPath));

[Pritesh]

change name in Provider section of Manifest file from android:name="android.support.v4.content.FileProvider" TO android:name="androidx.core.content.FileProvider" for newer version of SDK...

[Vishali]

this code is not working for me.i am trying to share pdf from my app to watsapp

[K Pradeep Kumar Reddy]

@Vishali, Are you able to figure out the solution ?