SMSManager returns RESULT_ERROR_GENERIC_FAILURE despite trying everything

Question

I am trying to create a feature in my app which can send SMS to multiple contacts in background. I am using SMS Manager API to do the same. However, everytime RESULT_ERROR_GENERIC_FAILURE returns. I read lot of similar posts on stack overflow and tried all the solutions but none of them seems to work for me. To be specific, I have tried following:

Change phone number format to "+91xxxxxxxxxx", "9xxxxxxxxx", "91xxxxxxxxxx"
Checked the SIM balance
SMS Service centre number is also valid
SMS Message is well within 160 characters
Delay sending multiple SMS

Here is how I am sending SMS:

for (int index = 0; index < contactsList.size(); index++) {
            final String phonenumber = contactsList.get(index).getPhone().substring(1);

            if (index == 0) {
                sendSMS(phonenumber.trim(), sms, contactsList);
            } else {
                new Handler().postDelayed(new Runnable() {
                    public void run() {

                        sendSMS(phonenumber.trim(), sms, contactsList);
                    }
                }, 1000 * 20);
            }
        }

Here is sendSMS method:

private void sendSMS(String phoneNumber, final String message, final List<MyContactsActivity.ContactsRow> list) {
        String SENT = "SMS_SENT";
        String DELIVERED = "SMS_DELIVERED";

        PendingIntent sentPI = PendingIntent.getBroadcast(context, 0, new Intent(
                SENT), 0);

        PendingIntent deliveredPI = PendingIntent.getBroadcast(context, 0,
                new Intent(DELIVERED), 0);

        // ---when the SMS has been sent---
        context.registerReceiver(new BroadcastReceiver() {
            @Override
            public void onReceive(Context arg0, Intent arg1) {
                switch (getResultCode()) {
                    case Activity.RESULT_OK:
                        ContentValues values = new ContentValues();
                        for (int i = 0; i < list.size() - 1; i++) {
                            values.put("address", list.get(i).getPhone());
                            values.put("body", message);
                        }
                        context.getContentResolver().insert(
                                Uri.parse("content://sms/sent"), values);
                        Toast.makeText(context, "SMS sent", Toast.LENGTH_SHORT).show();
                        Log.e("Panic", "1");
                        break;
                    case SmsManager.RESULT_ERROR_GENERIC_FAILURE:
                        Toast.makeText(context, "Generic failure", Toast.LENGTH_SHORT).show();
                        Log.e("Panic", "2");
                        break;
                    case SmsManager.RESULT_ERROR_NO_SERVICE:
                        Toast.makeText(context, "No service", Toast.LENGTH_SHORT).show();
                        Log.e("Panic", "3");
                        break;
                    case SmsManager.RESULT_ERROR_NULL_PDU:
                        Toast.makeText(context, "Null PDU", Toast.LENGTH_SHORT).show();
                        Log.e("Panic", "4");
                        break;
                    case SmsManager.RESULT_ERROR_RADIO_OFF:
                        Toast.makeText(context, "Radio off", Toast.LENGTH_SHORT).show();
                        Log.e("Panic", "5");
                        break;
                }
            }
        }, new IntentFilter(SENT));

        // ---when the SMS has been delivered---
        context.registerReceiver(new BroadcastReceiver() {
            @Override
            public void onReceive(Context arg0, Intent arg1) {
                switch (getResultCode()) {
                    case Activity.RESULT_OK:
                        Toast.makeText(context, "SMS delivered", Toast.LENGTH_SHORT).show();
                        Log.e("Panic", "6");
                        break;
                    case Activity.RESULT_CANCELED:
                        Toast.makeText(context, "SMS not delivered", Toast.LENGTH_SHORT).show();
                        Log.e("Panic", "7");
                        break;
                }
            }
        }, new IntentFilter(DELIVERED));

        SmsManager sms = SmsManager.getDefault();
        sms.sendTextMessage(phoneNumber, null, message, sentPI, deliveredPI);
    }

Here are my relevant manifest permissions:

<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.SEND_SMS" />
<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.READ_SMS" />
<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.WRITE_SMS"/>
<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.RECEIVE_SMS" />

NOTE: I am testing my app on real device running Android 6. I have checked runtime permissions as well as they are enabled.

Can anyone please tell me what I am doing wrong??

score 5 · Answer 1 · answered Oct 09 '16 at 07:06

5

I have found the solution to this problem. In case of dual sim phones, there is an option which specifies from which SIM to send SMS. If option has been set to "Ask everytime", generic failure occurs. Solution is to set this option to either of the SIM card. However, I have not yet found programmatic way to do that.

answered Oct 09 '16 at 07:06

Vaibhav Agarwal

975
1
7
22

1

can you please tell me how can i set this on Red Mi 4A – Madhav Mar 04 '20 at 14:59

score 2 · Answer 2 · answered Jan 31 '20 at 11:13

It is maybe due to a large message. Android supports multipart sms for long messages, Try using multipart sms.

SmsManager smsManager = SmsManager.getDefault();
ArrayList<String> parts = smsManager.divideMessage(message);
smsManager.sendMultipartTextMessage(phoneNo, null, parts, null, null);

score 2 · Answer 3 · answered Dec 26 '20 at 20:47

(Solution for Flutter)

This solved issue with sending long SMS messages.

In your pubspec.yaml put this:

  sms_maintained:
    git:
      url: https://github.com/andreimc/flutter_sms.git

I found it here: https://github.com/geordyvcErasmus/flutter_sms/pull/15

score 0 · Answer 4 · answered Oct 08 '16 at 13:17

0

Your code is correct. check you have active SIM card and having balance in it. Because Generic failure is response from your service provider.

answered Oct 08 '16 at 13:17

Ganesh Pokale

1,538
1
14
28

My sim card is active and it also has balance. I tried sending SMS from it by via native messaging app. My phone is dual sim..can it be issue?? – Vaibhav Agarwal Oct 08 '16 at 13:19
Maybe... If your SIM1 is not active then you get this error. I face same type of issue before ... – Ganesh Pokale Oct 08 '16 at 13:21
My SIM2 is not active. SIM1 is active..Is there a way to detect active sim?? – Vaibhav Agarwal Oct 08 '16 at 13:25
no. we can check if a network is available or not, But no exact meaning of Active/Not so we can't – Ganesh Pokale Oct 08 '16 at 13:36
i have both sim activated and also send using SmsManager.getSmsManagerForSubscriptionId(), still getting error on RedMi 4A with SDK = 25 – Madhav Mar 04 '20 at 15:00

score 0 · Answer 5 · answered Dec 26 '20 at 20:16

0

For me the problem was the content of the message, there was special characters (like /r /n)

answered Dec 26 '20 at 20:16

Iraha Services

11

score 0 · Answer 6 · answered May 09 '21 at 21:35

0

I got the same problem with same above code

I tried restarted my phone once and try again it worked.

answered May 09 '21 at 21:35

Qadir Hussain

8,721
13
89
124

score 0 · Answer 7 · answered Feb 26 '22 at 19:46

0

i was using "~" in my message. guess one must sanitize string before sending

answered Feb 26 '22 at 19:46

Trash

15
5

SMSManager returns RESULT_ERROR_GENERIC_FAILURE despite trying everything

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