Retrieve contact info thru inputmethod IME

Question

I'm creating my own InputMethod (IME). When the user is typing a message to a contact using my IME, I would like to retrieve the contact's info and its attributes.

Or, rephrase, how to get the info on the Contact on screen?

( Can my app communicate with the messaging app on screen and get the Contact? )

Note: I can write attributes to the contacts. I'm thinking of retrieving those too.

which contact's info you are talking about ? users's own contact ? — Arslan Ashraf, Dec 08 '15 at 05:57
yeah, anyone on the phone's Contact List that they are texting — elcool, Dec 08 '15 at 06:03
I don't think you can directly communicate with that app about which contact messeging app is working on — Arslan Ashraf, Dec 08 '15 at 06:11

score 0 · Answer 1 · answered Dec 11 '15 at 06:06

Can my app communicate with the messaging app on screen and get the Contact?

No. From within your IME, you can get info about the field that you are currently editing.

how to get the info of the Contact on screen?

Using AccessibilityService.

An accessibility service runs in the background and receives callbacks by the system when AccessibilityEvents are fired. Such events denote some state transition in the user interface, for example, the focus has changed, a button has been clicked, etc. Such a service can optionally request the capability for querying the content of the active window. Development of an accessibility service requires extending this class and implementing its abstract methods.

Retrieve contact info thru inputmethod IME

1 Answers1