Android Media Files Sharing

When To Use

• Use this skill when the request is about: android file sharing, photo picker android app, fileprovider setup android.
• Primary outcome: Use modern Android file, media, picker, FileProvider, and share-sheet APIs with minimal permissions.
• Reach for this skill when the core problem is content URIs, share-sheet flows, picker choice, or app-to-app file exchange. Use android-permissions-activity-results only when the hard part is the runtime permission flow itself.
• Handoff skills when the scope expands:
• android-permissions-activity-results
• android-security-best-practices

Workflow

1. Start with the asset movement path: pick existing media, open a document, create/export a file, capture new content, or share app-owned content to another app.
2. Choose the narrowest platform surface first: Photo Picker, SAF contracts, FileProvider, or chooser-based sharing before considering broad storage permissions.
3. Keep file ownership and URI grants explicit with app-private storage, MIME types, temporary grants, and stable authorities.
4. Validate return flows, absent-capability fallbacks, and recipient-app interoperability instead of testing only the happy path.
5. Hand off runtime permission complexity or deeper hardening only after the URI and sharing contract is correct.

Guardrails

• Prefer Photo Picker, SAF, and chooser APIs over broad media or storage permissions where possible.
• Share content with content:// URIs and temporary grants, never raw file paths.
• Keep exported authorities, MIME types, and cache cleanup explicit.
• Treat recipients outside your app as untrusted; validate what leaves the app and what comes back.

Anti-Patterns

• Requesting broad media or storage access when Photo Picker or SAF is enough.
• Sharing file:// paths or world-readable files instead of FileProvider URIs.
• Assuming every recipient app handles every MIME type or URI permission correctly.
• Mixing permission-flow design with file-sharing contract design until both become unclear.

Review Focus

• Picker/SAF/FileProvider/chooser selection.
• MIME type, URI authority, and grant lifecycle correctness.
• Minimal-permission media access.
• Recipient-app interoperability and cleanup of temporary files.

Examples

Happy path

• Scenario: Attach and share a task snapshot using the least-privilege API.
• Command: cd examples/orbittasks-compose && ./gradlew :app:testDebugUnitTest

Edge case

• Scenario: Handle absent picker support or denied media capabilities in the XML fixture.
• Command: cd examples/orbittasks-xml && ./gradlew :app:testDebugUnitTest

Failure recovery

• Scenario: Separate media/file flows from permission-only or networking-only requests.
• Command: python3 scripts/eval_triggers.py --skill android-media-files-sharing

Done Checklist

• The platform surface is narrower than a broad storage permission where possible.
• URI authorities, MIME types, and temporary grants are explicit.
• Picker and share-sheet fallbacks are covered.
• Permission-only work is handed off instead of conflated with the sharing contract.

Official References

• https://developer.android.com/training/data-storage/shared/photopicker
• https://developer.android.com/training/data-storage/shared/documents-files
• https://developer.android.com/training/secure-file-sharing/setup-sharing
• https://developer.android.com/training/sharing/send
• https://developer.android.com/topic/performance/graphics/picker