hash key “#” stripped from ussd code in “tel:” links on html pages

Question

Good day all. I have a simple link on a webpage, in where the user can call an USSD number:

<a href="tel:*111*2#" class="phoneCallButtonLink">*CLICK HERE AND CALL *111*2#</a>

this is pretty straight forward; now, if I test it on desktop browser, it popups an alert asking me if I want to call (with skype) the number *111*2#, and thats ok.

with my Android phone (S Note 3), when testing this page, the phone (or something) stripped out the last "#" (only the last) from the link, resulting in a call to *111*2.

does anyone has experienced this? or knows how to prevent this?

Answer 1

Use URL encoding for special character in a URL. For example # equals %23

This worked for me:

<a ng-href="tel:%23 224">#224</a>

As you can see:

Answer 2

You need to use Uri.encode("#") For example String number = "tel:*111*2" + Uri.encode("#");

Answer 3

Try this way,hope this will help you to solve your problem.

 webview = (WebView) findViewById(R.id.webview);
 webview.loadData("<a href=\"tel:*111*2#\" class=\"phoneCallButtonLink\">*CLICK HERE AND CALL *111*2#</a>","text/html", "utf-16");
 webview.setWebViewClient(new CustomWebViewClient());

 private class CustomWebViewClient extends WebViewClient {
    @Override
    public boolean shouldOverrideUrlLoading(WebView wv, String url) {
    if(url.startsWith("tel:")) {
       Intent intent = new Intent(Intent.ACTION_DIAL);
       intent.setData(Uri.parse(url.replace("#","%23")));
       startActivity(intent);
       return true;
    }
    return false;
   }
 }

Answer 4

You can use below way to display the USSD in dialer

<a href="tel:*111*2%23" class="phoneCallButtonLink">*CLICK HERE AND CALL *111*2#</a>