Launch Gmail app directly without showing app chooser dialog

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1

I’m working on an Android app and need to launch Gmail directly when sending emails. Right now my code shows a chooser dialog with multiple apps like Drive, Gmail, and Skype.

Here’s what I’m currently using:

Intent emailIntent = new Intent(Intent.ACTION_SEND);
emailIntent.setType("text/plain");
emailIntent.putExtra(Intent.EXTRA_EMAIL, new String[]{""});
emailIntent.addFlags(Intent.FLAG_ACTIVITY_NEW_TASK);
startActivity(emailIntent);

The problem is this creates an app selection popup and I want to skip that step. I need Gmail to open directly without any dialog appearing. I’m calling this from within a background service. How can I modify my intent to target Gmail specifically instead of showing the chooser?

2

Try using Intent.ACTION_SENDTO instead of the generic ACTION_SEND. Set the data to a mailto URI - this automatically targets email clients without hardcoding package names. Your code: Intent emailIntent = new Intent(Intent.ACTION_SENDTO, Uri.parse("mailto:")); then add extras like normal. This is way more reliable since it handles cases where Gmail isn’t installed or gets disabled. I’ve used this across different Android versions and it works much better than package targeting.

3

The setPackage approach works, but you should handle cases where Gmail isn’t installed. I’ve encountered crashes on devices without Gmail. I recommend wrapping your intent in a try-catch block and using PackageManager.getPackageInfo() to verify if Gmail is available. If Gmail isn’t present, you should fall back to the regular chooser dialog. Additionally, starting an activity from a background service may require SYSTEM_ALERT_WINDOW permission on newer Android versions, so consider using PendingIntent based on your specific needs.

4

try setting the package directly: emailIntent.setPackage("com.google.android.gm"); b4 startActivity. this forces gmail to open w/o the chooser dialog. i use this every time i wanna skip the app selection screen.