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When querying a ContentProvider on Android, one specifies the ContentProvider of interest by providing the “content URI” for that ContentProvider. What happens when multiple ContentProvider’s serve that same URI, either intentionally? or maliciously?
When trying to open a pic on my phone, I’ve seen it prompt with apps that can “handle” the image. Will the same kind of thing happen here?
Multiple ContentProviders can’t do this. The first application that registers a content provider using the element in its manifest has control over the URI pattern. I’m pretty sure that you’ll get an installation error if you try to add another provider that uses the same URI pattern. Android keeps track of providers and URIs.
When you see a prompt with multiple apps for handling a file or situation, that’s because the apps have specified an with a child that includes
android.intent.category.CATEGORY_ALTERNATIVE or android.intent-category.CATEGORY_SELECTED_ALTERNATVE. In essence, the app or apps are declaring themselves to be alternatives to the action specified in the child. This allows the user to have multiple choices for handling a type of data.
It makes sense to provide alternatives: a user might want to edit a picture, share it via Twitter, or e-mail it.
Note that two content providers can do the same thing, but they can’t use the same URI. An app has to make a conscious choice of which one to use, or provide some mechanism of choosing between the two.