Question

I made an application an year ago and I used this code to download a page to local file and then open it in browser intent:

FileOutputStream fos = openFileOutput("summary.html", Context.MODE_PRIVATE);
fos.write(msg.obj.toString().getBytes());
fos.close();
Intent i = new Intent(Intent.ACTION_VIEW);
i.setDataAndType(Uri.fromFile(getFileStreamPath("summary.html")),"text/html");
startActivity(i);

And it worked at the time. Now I had to pick up the application again and this no longer works.
In the browser intent window I get a

Web Page not available
The webpage at file://…. could not be loaded (etc etc)

I’m still running with the same android version I did in the beginning (2.1), so it’s not related to the deployed OS version. But the SDK has been updated since then, maybe something changed?

If I switch from MODE_PRIVATE to MODE_WORLD_READABLE it works, but doesn’t the intent run with same userid as calling application?

Any option on how to do this and keep the file in MODE_PRIVATE?

And any information on what might have changed for this to happen? I have googled and found nothing…

Answer 1

And it worked at the time

I find that very difficult to believe.

But the SDK has been updated since then, maybe something changed?

No, apps have always run in their own process, with their own user ID, and therefore no other apps can access your MODE_PRIVATE files.

If I switch from MODE_PRIVATE to MODE_WORLD_READABLE it works, but doesn’t the intent run with same userid as calling application?

No, for any likely definition of your phrase “intent run”. Each app runs in its own process, under its own user ID.

Any option on how to do this and keep the file in MODE_PRIVATE?

Display it yourself in a WebView.