Scan Android SD card for new files

Question

My app allows a user to save an image to their SD card. But I\'m not sure how to make it appear in the gallery until you unmount and remount the SD card. I have googled for

Answer 1

Here is another way to force scan:

context.sendBroadcast(new Intent(Intent.ACTION_MEDIA_SCANNER_SCAN_FILE,"uri to file"));

And then system will fire ACTION_MEDIA_SCANNER_FINISHED broadcast so you can react on it with BroadcastReceiver

In order to be able to receive ACTION_MEDIA_SCANNER_FINISHED broadcast, intent filter should contain data scheme:

IntentFilter intentFilter = new IntentFilter(Intent.ACTION_MEDIA_SCANNER_FINISHED);
intentFilter.addDataScheme("file");
context.registerReceiver(mMediaScannerFinishReceiver, intentFilter);

from the doc:

public static final String ACTION_MEDIA_SCANNER_SCAN_FILE

Added in API level 1 Broadcast Action: Request the media scanner to scan a file and add it to the media database. The path to the file is contained in the Intent.mData field.

and

public static final String ACTION_MEDIA_SCANNER_FINISHED

Added in API level 1 Broadcast Action: The media scanner has finished scanning a directory. The path to the scanned directory is contained in the Intent.mData field.