Android – How to get an image via an intent

Android allows to re-use components from other applications. Lets see how you can use the Photo Gallery to pick a photo for your application.

First create a layout with a Button and an ImageView.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<LinearLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
	android:orientation="vertical" android:layout_width="fill_parent"
	android:layout_height="fill_parent">
	<Button android:text="Button" android:id="@+id/button1"
		android:onClick="pickImage" android:layout_width="wrap_content"
		android:layout_height="wrap_content"></Button>
	<ImageView android:id="@+id/result" android:src="@drawable/icon"
		android:layout_width="match_parent" android:layout_height="match_parent"></ImageView>
</LinearLayout>

The following Activity will allow you to pick an image after pressing the button and after selecting a picture this picture will be set as background for your ImageView.

package de.vogella.android.imagepick;

import java.io.FileNotFoundException;
import java.io.IOException;
import java.io.InputStream;

import android.app.Activity;
import android.content.Intent;
import android.graphics.Bitmap;
import android.graphics.BitmapFactory;
import android.os.Bundle;
import android.view.View;
import android.widget.ImageView;

public class ImagePickActivity extends Activity {
	private static final int REQUEST_CODE = 1;
	private Bitmap bitmap;
	private ImageView imageView;

	/** Called when the activity is first created. */
	@Override
	public void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
		super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
		setContentView(R.layout.main);
		imageView = (ImageView) findViewById(R.id.result);
	}

	public void pickImage(View View) {
		Intent intent = new Intent();
		intent.setType("image/*");
		intent.setAction(Intent.ACTION_GET_CONTENT);
		intent.addCategory(Intent.CATEGORY_OPENABLE);
		startActivityForResult(intent, REQUEST_CODE);
	}

	@Override
	protected void onActivityResult(int requestCode, int resultCode, Intent data) {
		if (requestCode == REQUEST_CODE && resultCode == Activity.RESULT_OK)
			try {
				// We need to recyle unused bitmaps
				if (bitmap != null) {
					bitmap.recycle();
				}
				InputStream stream = getContentResolver().openInputStream(
						data.getData());
				bitmap = BitmapFactory.decodeStream(stream);
				stream.close();
				imageView.setImageBitmap(bitmap);
			} catch (FileNotFoundException e) {
				e.printStackTrace();
			} catch (IOException e) {
				e.printStackTrace();
			}
		super.onActivityResult(requestCode, resultCode, data);
	}
}

Updated: recycle() call to bitmap added

I hope this blog entry helps. You find me also on Twitter. My profile can be found Lars Vogels Profile.

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