Develop Reference

Is there a means to forcefully autodial special numbers on Android?

I've been working on an android app concept in which the app has to auto-dial some special USSD codes in order to initiate certain telco services of interest to the user when the user initiates the service via a shortcut in the app.
The trouble I'm finding is that when the app tries to auto-dial such short codes or USSD numbers, the phone's OS (or is it the Call Intent), doesn't auto-dial, but instead presents the user with the code/number in the dial-pad and so the user has to manually initiate the call - which sort of defeats my intention of allowing users to initiate the services with just one click - the shortcut.
Currently, this is how I'm initiating these calls:
intent = new Intent(Intent.ACTION_DIAL);
intent.setData(Uri.parse("tel:" + number.trim()));
try {
activity.startActivity(intent);
} catch (Exception e) {
Log.d(Tag, e.getMessage());
}
Interestingly, a number such as +256772777000 will auto-dial, launching the user into the call automatically, but a number/code such as 911, *112#, *1*23#, etc won't.
So, what do I need to do differently, or is this not possible at all?
UPDATE
Actually, looking at another app in which I was autodialling user-specified numbers, the problem with the above code trying to auto-dial ussd codes was that instead of using intent.ACTION_CALL, I was using intent.ACTION_DIAL - which definitely just prompts the user with the number to call, without directly calling it. When I fixed that, the app now works as expected. See answer below...
Code samples are most welcome.

Actually, despite what some people were claiming about Android preventing such a feature. When I looked at the code in one of my older apps which auto-dials user-specified numbers, I found the solution to be:
intent = new Intent(Intent.ACTION_CALL);
intent.setData(Uri.parse("tel:" + number.trim()));
try {
activity.startActivity(intent);
} catch (Exception e) {
Log.d(Tag, e.getMessage());
}
This works as expected - USSD codes get auto-dialled when above code runs. The only important thing to note when using this approach, being that you have to add the following permissions to your manifest:
<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.CALL_PHONE" />
So, as indicated in the update to my question, the problem with my original approach was using intent.ACTION_DIAL instead of intent.ACTION_CALL.

How do I give the user the choice of programs with which SIM card to call?

Wrote a little program, when you click on the number of calls, and all would be well in this tale, but tested it on another phone, and when you just departed from the program, but then I remembered that he had dual sim.Tak how to put that to standard sim card when you run the program was 1 or 2? or given a choice, what would the user chose how the sim card to call him?
Tried to use getDeviceId (), writes that "Non-static metod ...".
That part of the code that is used to make a call:
final Intent calling1 = new Intent(Intent.ACTION_CALL);
call1.setOnClickListener(new View.OnClickListener() {
#Override
public void onClick(View v) {
calling1.setData(Uri.parse("tel:5555"));
startActivity(calling1);
}
});
On android 4.2.1 by pressing all comes with the application, writes an error, how to fix it too, do not tell?

Do this:
Intent i = new Intent(Intent.ACTION_CALL)
.setFlags(Intent.FLAG_ACTIVITY_NEW_TASK);
// set active SIM
i.putExtra("simSlot", SimIndex); // <-------------------
i.setData(Uri.parse("tel:" + phone));
startActivity(i);
Where SimIndex is 0 or 1 for first & second SIM cards, respectively.
On some devices the SIM setting line will be:
// set active SIM
i.putExtra("com.android.phone.extra.slot", SimIndex)
You would probably want to create a fallthrough mechanism that start with the
prior way and, if fails, attempts the latter.
Hope it helps.

Not able to make a call when #31# is added

I am trying to implement calling facility from my app. When some condition is true, I am hiding my caller id by adding #31# before my number. Although if #31# is not added, call is made perfectly allright but when #31# is added, blank screen pops up, as if the Phone app is loading, and my application screen comes back. My code snippet is this
String ph = "123456789";
String phNumber;
if (hideCallerId) {
phNumber = "#31#" + ph;
}
else {
phNumber = ph;
}
Intent intent = new Intent(Intent.ACTION_CALL);
intent.setData(Uri.parse("tel:"+phNumber));
startActivity(intent);
Case 1: when phNumber is 123456789, then call is made without problem.
Case 2: when phNumber is #31#123456789, then blank screen pops up and user comes back to my application screen.
Although when I am dialing from my device using #31#123456789, call is successfully made.
What I am missing out. Can anybody help me out.
Links didn't helped me Link1.
Thanks in advance.

This isn't really an answer but my rep isn't high enough for a comment. Is there any chance you have phnumber declared as an int or anything? Maybe the #'s are messing it up?
If that doesn't work have you tried using ACTION_DIAL? the android developer site has more info on the differences between them here. Hope it helps.

You simply have to encode the phone number.
String phonenumber = "03012345,1234,#31#,98765"; // , = pauses
encodedPhonenumber = URLEncoder.encode(phonenumber, "UTF-8");
startActivity(new Intent(Intent.ACTION_CALL, Uri.parse("tel:" + encodedPhonenumber)));
You may want to have a look at this one. Not able to make a call when #31# is added

You need to encode the '#' because it behaves like a dial command, then if you set your action call intent data with a number starting with '#', it will instead call a blank number, trying to dial a number like 8488449#848 if not encoded will dial 8488449 that's why you need to encode at least the '#' symbol with Uri.encode("#")
for example to dial 8488449#848, i will do the following:
startActivity(new Intent(Intent.ACTION_CALL, Uri.parse("tel:8488449"+Uri.encode("#")+"848"));

Android How to make a call that includes "#" or "p" in the dial?

I need to make calls in my Android app that includes "#" or "p" in the dial.
If I use the next code:
Intent intent = new Intent(Intent.ACTION_CALL, Uri.parse("tel:629941945#22412"));
startActivity(intent);
It makes the call to the number 629941945 without the # and 22412.
And if I use the next code:
Intent intent = new Intent(Intent.ACTION_CALL, Uri.parse("tel:629941945p22412"));
startActivity(intent);
It makes the call without the "p": 62994194522412.
There is a form that I can solve it?

Intent shortcutIntent = new Intent(Intent.ACTION_CALL, Uri.parse("tel:"+Uri.encode("*111*2#")));
startActivity(shortcutIntent);

Try tel:629941945%2322412 instead of tel:629941945#22412
%23 will be replaced with #

Try to use others symbol for pause. Look at http://androidforums.com/android-applications/6733-how-do-i-dial-extension.html or http://code.google.com/p/android/issues/detail?id=7514
But! As I see threre are not one solution and this is depends of phone model

Pause is not supported in the tel URI spec.
http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc3966.txt
As stated in another answer %23 can be used to substitute for #.

Some phones don’t have “p” character, but “,” (comma), somewhere it is
“T” and if your phone does not have these fancy characters available,
try “*” or “#“. Hopefully one of this characters will work. Beware, on
some phones are letters case sensitive, so P can not work.
http://rekrowten.wordpress.com/2011/08/29/special-characters-in-telephone-number/

You can not parse such special numbers with an URI since these are not compliant to tel: standard. (http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc3966.txt Page 6ff)
You might want to use ACTION_DIAL and give the user the possibility to enter the number himself. Maybe then the phone interprets this as the pause signal p is intended for. To send such pause signals, check Alex Klimashevsky's answer.

Try using "," (comma) instead of p. No idea about "#" though, sorry.

How do I get the dialer to open with phone number displayed?

I don't need to call the phone number, I just need the dialer to open with the phone number already displayed. What Intent should I use to achieve this?

Two ways to achieve it.
1) Need to start the dialer via code, without user interaction.
You need Action_Dial,
use below code it will open Dialer with number specified
Intent intent = new Intent(Intent.ACTION_DIAL);
intent.setData(Uri.parse("tel:0123456789"));
startActivity(intent);
The 'tel:' prefix is required, otherwhise the following exception will be thrown:
java.lang.IllegalStateException: Could not execute method of the activity.
Action_Dial doesn't require any permission.
If you want to initiate the call directly without user's interaction , You can use action Intent.ACTION_CALL. In this case, you must add the following permission in your AndroidManifest.xml:
<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.CALL_PHONE" />
2) Need user to click on Phone_Number string and start the call.
android:autoLink="phone"
You need to use TextView with below property.
android:autoLink="phone"
android:linksClickable="true" a textView property
You don't need to use intent or to get permission via this way.

Pretty late on the answer, but if you have a TextView that you're showing the phone number in, then you don't need to deal with intents at all, you can just use the XML attribute android:autoLink="phone" and the OS will automatically initiate an ACTION_DIAL Intent.

Okay, it is going to be extremely late answer to this question. But here is just one sample if you want to do it in Kotlin.
val intent = Intent(Intent.ACTION_DIAL)
intent.data = Uri.parse("tel:<number>")
startActivity(intent)
Thought it might help someone.

As #ashishduh mentioned above, using android:autoLink="phone is also a good solution. But this option comes with one drawback, it doesn't work with all phone number lengths. For instance, a phone number of 11 numbers won't work with this option. The solution is to prefix your phone numbers with the country code.
Example:
08034448845 won't work
but +2348034448845 will

<TextView
android:id="#+id/phoneNumber"
android:autoLink="phone"
android:linksClickable="true"
android:text="+91 22 2222 2222"
/>
This is how you can open EditText label assigned number on dialer directly.

You can call Intent following this:
String number = "0123456789";
Intent intent = new Intent(Intent.ACTION_DIAL);
intent.setData(Uri.parse("tel:" + number));
startActivity(intent);

A helper function for someone using kotlin:
fun openDialPad(context: Context, phoneNum: String) {
val intent = Intent(Intent.ACTION_DIAL)
intent.setData(Uri.parse("tel:$phoneNum"))
context.startActivity(intent)
}