Android – Listen for incoming SMS messages

Get the latest m3-rc37a version of android

Here’s a screen shot

Setup the Android Manifest with the permission and the Intent Receiver

<manifest xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
    package="org.apache.sms">
    <uses-permission id="android.permission.RECEIVE_SMS" />
    <application>
        <receiver class="SMSApp">
            <intent-filter>
                <action android:value="android.provider.Telephony.SMS_RECEIVED" />
            </intent-filter>
        </receiver>
    </application>
</manifest> 

Code a simple Intent Listener

package org.apache.sms;

import android.app.NotificationManager;
import android.content.Context;
import android.content.Intent;
import android.content.IntentReceiver;
import android.os.Bundle;
import android.provider.Telephony;
import android.util.Log;
import android.telephony.gsm.SmsMessage;

public class SMSApp extends IntentReceiver {
    private static final String LOG_TAG = "SMSApp";

    /* package */ static final String ACTION =
            "android.provider.Telephony.SMS_RECEIVED";

    public void onReceiveIntent(Context context, Intent intent) {
        if (intent.getAction().equals(ACTION)) {
            StringBuilder buf = new StringBuilder();
            Bundle bundle = intent.getExtras();
            if (bundle != null) {
                SmsMessage[] messages = Telephony.Sms.Intents.getMessagesFromIntent(intent);
                for (int i = 0; i < messages.length; i++) {
                    SmsMessage message = messages[i];
                    buf.append("Received SMS from  ");
                    buf.append(message.getDisplayOriginatingAddress());
                    buf.append(" - ");
                    buf.append(message.getDisplayMessageBody());
                }
            }
            Log.i(LOG_TAG, "[SMSApp] onReceiveIntent: " + buf);
            NotificationManager nm = (NotificationManager) context.getSystemService(
                    Context.NOTIFICATION_SERVICE);

            nm.notifyWithText(123, buf.toString(),
                    NotificationManager.LENGTH_LONG, null);

        }
    }

    private void appendData(StringBuilder buf, String key, String value) {
        buf.append(", ");
        buf.append(key);
        buf.append('=');
        buf.append(value);
    }
}

Running the sample

• Install the APK using “adb install SMSApp.apk” as usual


• Open a telnet session to localhost at port 5554 and type “sms send +5085551212 hello” to simulate an sms message

Download Source and APK from here – SMSApp.zip