Default Android Gmail and Email Extension

Question

I would like to extend the default Gmail / Email applications for the Android platform by connecting them to ContentProvider or using intent filters. Essentially, I want to be able to check incoming emails for special rules that will trigger events in an Android app. If automatic scanning of e-mail is not possible, then I would like to add a menu item to the e-mail viewing screen that will allow the user to mark the contents of the e-mail that needs to be scanned.

• Do Gmail/Email apps allow them to expand in this way?
• In the future, besides searching for example code or reading documentation provided by the author of the application, is there a standard way to find out what intentions are available for my application? How can a tool be?

Thanks Mark

Answer 1

Do Gmail / Email applications allow them to expand in this way?

Gmail is a closed source, so it’s hard to understand what it does or does not support.

An email application is not part of the public SDK, so trying to rely on any ContentProvider that may have (and I don’t know what it is) will be a mistake, as your application may break down with subsequent Android Updates.

I would like to at least add a menu item to the email browsing screen that will allow the user to mark the contents of the email as being verifiable.

The only way to do this is to assume that Gmail / Email uses the # addIntentOptions () menu, and through Google Code Search it doesn't look like that.

You can contact the K9 developers to find out if you can connect to their Android email application.

Is there a standard way to find out what intentions are available for my application? How can a tool be?

Not really. Intentional actions are just lines.