Sending Email in Android using JavaMail API without using the default android app(Builtin Email application)

Question

Hi Folks,

I am trying to create a mail sending application in android, If I use

`Intent emailIntent = new Intent(android.content.Intent.ACTION_SEND`);

This will launch the builtin application of android, I'm trying to send the mail on button click directly without using this app, Please any suggestions highly appreciated

Cheers, Vinayak

Answer 1

You will need to write an SMTP client or find a third-party JAR) that implements one (e.g., find somebody who has ported JavaMail, and use that.

Answer 2

You can use JavaMail API to handle your email tasks. JavaMail API is available in JavaEE package and its jar is available for download. Sadly it cannot be used directly in an Android application since it uses AWT components which are completely incompatible in Android.

You can find the Android port for JavaMail at the following location: http://code.google.com/p/javamail-android/

Add the jars to your application and use the SMTP method

Answer 3

SMTP

Using SMTP is one way to go, and the others have already pointed out ways how to do it. Just note that while doing this, you completely circumvent the built in mail app, and you will have to provide the address of the SMTP server, the user name and password for that server, either statically in your code, or query it from the user.

HTTP

Another way would involve a simple server side script, like php, that takes some URL parameters and uses them to send a mail. This way, you only need to make an HTTP request from the device (easily possible with the built in libraries) and don't need to store the SMTP login data on the device. This is one more indirection compared to direct SMTP usage, but because it's so very easy to make HTTP request and send mails from PHP, it might even be simpler than the direct way.

Mail Application

If the mail shall be send from the users default mail account that he already registered with the phone, you'd have to take some other approach. If you have enough time and experience, you might want to check the source code of the Android Email application to see if it offers some entry point to send a mail without user interaction (I don't know, but maybe there is one).

Maybe you even find a way to query the users account details (so you can use them for SMTP), though I highly doubt that this is possible, because it would be a huge security risk and Android is built rather securely.

Answer 4

Hi Folks,

I find a way sending a mail in android using the JavaMail API using Gmail authentication

Steps to create a simple Project:

MailSenderActivity.java

YOUR PACKAGE;

import android.app.Activity;
import android.os.Bundle;
import android.util.Log;
import android.view.View;
import android.widget.Button;

public class MailSenderActivity extends Activity {

    /** Called when the activity is first created. */
    @Override
    public void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
        super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
        setContentView(R.layout.main);

        final Button send = (Button) this.findViewById(R.id.send);
        send.setOnClickListener(new View.OnClickListener() {

            public void onClick(View v) {
                // TODO Auto-generated method stub

                try {   
                    GMailSender sender = new GMailSender("[email protected]", "password");
                    sender.sendMail("This is Subject",   
                            "This is Body",   
                            "[email protected]",   
                            "[email protected]");   
                } catch (Exception e) {   
                    Log.e("SendMail", e.getMessage(), e);   
                } 

            }
        });

    }
}

GmailSender.java

YOUR PACKAGE;

import javax.activation.DataHandler;   
import javax.activation.DataSource;   
import javax.mail.Message;   
import javax.mail.PasswordAuthentication;   
import javax.mail.Session;   
import javax.mail.Transport;   
import javax.mail.internet.InternetAddress;   
import javax.mail.internet.MimeMessage;   
import java.io.ByteArrayInputStream;   
import java.io.IOException;   
import java.io.InputStream;   
import java.io.OutputStream;   
import java.security.Security;   
import java.util.Properties;   

public class GMailSender extends javax.mail.Authenticator {   
    private String mailhost = "smtp.gmail.com";   
    private String user;   
    private String password;   
    private Session session;   

    static {   
        Security.addProvider(new com.provider.JSSEProvider());   
    }  

    public GMailSender(String user, String password) {   
        this.user = user;   
        this.password = password;   

        Properties props = new Properties();   
        props.setProperty("mail.transport.protocol", "smtp");   
        props.setProperty("mail.host", mailhost);   
        props.put("mail.smtp.auth", "true");   
        props.put("mail.smtp.port", "465");   
        props.put("mail.smtp.socketFactory.port", "465");   
        props.put("mail.smtp.socketFactory.class",   
                "javax.net.ssl.SSLSocketFactory");   
        props.put("mail.smtp.socketFactory.fallback", "false");   
        props.setProperty("mail.smtp.quitwait", "false");   

        session = Session.getDefaultInstance(props, this);   
    }   

    protected PasswordAuthentication getPasswordAuthentication() {   
        return new PasswordAuthentication(user, password);   
    }   

    public synchronized void sendMail(String subject, String body, String sender, String recipients) throws Exception {   
        try{
        MimeMessage message = new MimeMessage(session);   
        DataHandler handler = new DataHandler(new ByteArrayDataSource(body.getBytes(), "text/plain"));   
        message.setSender(new InternetAddress(sender));   
        message.setSubject(subject);   
        message.setDataHandler(handler);   
        if (recipients.indexOf(',') > 0)   
            message.setRecipients(Message.RecipientType.TO, InternetAddress.parse(recipients));   
        else  
            message.setRecipient(Message.RecipientType.TO, new InternetAddress(recipients));   
        Transport.send(message);   
        }catch(Exception e){

        }
    }   

    public class ByteArrayDataSource implements DataSource {   
        private byte[] data;   
        private String type;   

        public ByteArrayDataSource(byte[] data, String type) {   
            super();   
            this.data = data;   
            this.type = type;   
        }   

        public ByteArrayDataSource(byte[] data) {   
            super();   
            this.data = data;   
        }   

        public void setType(String type) {   
            this.type = type;   
        }   

        public String getContentType() {   
            if (type == null)   
                return "application/octet-stream";   
            else  
                return type;   
        }   

        public InputStream getInputStream() throws IOException {   
            return new ByteArrayInputStream(data);   
        }   

        public String getName() {   
            return "ByteArrayDataSource";   
        }   

        public OutputStream getOutputStream() throws IOException {   
            throw new IOException("Not Supported");   
        }   
    }   
}  

JSSE Provider

/*
 *  Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one or more
 *  contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file distributed with
 *  this work for additional information regarding copyright ownership.
 *  The ASF licenses this file to You under the Apache License, Version 2.0
 *  (the "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance with
 *  the License.  You may obtain a copy of the License at
 *
 *     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
 *
 *  Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
 *  distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
 *  WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
 *  See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
 *  limitations under the License.
 */

/**
 * @author Alexander Y. Kleymenov
 * @version $Revision$
 */


import java.security.AccessController;
import java.security.Provider;

public final class JSSEProvider extends Provider {

    public JSSEProvider() {
        super("HarmonyJSSE", 1.0, "Harmony JSSE Provider");
        AccessController.doPrivileged(new java.security.PrivilegedAction<Void>() {
            public Void run() {
                put("SSLContext.TLS",
                        "org.apache.harmony.xnet.provider.jsse.SSLContextImpl");
                put("Alg.Alias.SSLContext.TLSv1", "TLS");
                put("KeyManagerFactory.X509",
                        "org.apache.harmony.xnet.provider.jsse.KeyManagerFactoryImpl");
                put("TrustManagerFactory.X509",
                        "org.apache.harmony.xnet.provider.jsse.TrustManagerFactoryImpl");
                return null;
            }
        });
    }
}

ADD 3 jars found in the following link to your Android Project (Right Click Project- add External Jars)

• mail.jar
• activation.jar
• additionnal.jar

Run the project and check your recipient mail account for the mail. Have fun!!

Answer 5

There is an example program posted at http://www.androidsnippets.org/snippets/166/ My thanks to this list for the wherabouts of the .jar files.

Now onto the problem of attaching a jpeg...

Answer 6

Could not connect to SMTP host: smtp.gmail.com, port: 465

Add this line in your manifest:

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

Answer 7

Can anyone suggest How to check if the mail is delivered or not? using GmailSender

Thanks in advance..

Answer 8

Is it possible to extend this version, to use exist mail Authentication without asking user to enter mail and password again?

Answer 9

The codes worked perfectly!

Anyone knows how to attach files to the email?

Answer 10

I needed to do this, but the solutions provided here don't allow you to add attachments.

I found this: http://www.jondev.net/articles/Sending_Emails_without_User_Intervention_%28no_Intents%29_in_Android

And it works!!! (lets you send email + attachments)

Answer 11

It is very good app. Is there any way to have notification (SUCCESS/FAIL) of the email which was send by using the current app.

Answer 12

Hi,

I am using above code.. It is send very short length Text messages only..

I want to send 400-600 characters data.

Is it possible by using above code.

-- Thanks, [email protected]