Creating and maintaining a library like this takes a lot of time.
If you would like to thank me, you can do so below:

PickiT

An Android library that returns real paths from Uri's

Demo screenshot:

Download the demo app here

Add Pickit to your project:

Add the following in your root build.gradle at the end of repositories:

allprojects {
    repositories {
        ...
        maven { url 'https://jitpack.io' }
    }
}

Then, add the dependency, in your app level build.gradle:

dependencies {
    implementation 'com.github.HBiSoft:PickiT:2.0.5'
}

Implementation:

First, implement PickiT callbacks, as shown below:

public class MainActivity extends Activity implements PickiTCallbacks {

Alt+Enter to implement the methods, we will discuss the methods later in the readme.

Implement pickiT in your onCreate() method, as shown below:

public class MainActivity extends AppCompatActivity implements PickiTCallbacks {
    //Declare PickiT
    PickiT pickiT;

    @Override
    protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
        super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
        setContentView(R.layout.activity_main);

        //Initialize PickiT
        //context, listener, activity
        pickiT = new PickiT(this, this, this);

    }
}

You can now select a file as you usually would (have a look at the demo if you don't know how to do this).

Then in onActivityResult, you can pass the path to PickiT, as shown below:

@Override
protected void onActivityResult(int requestCode, int resultCode, Intent data) {
    super.onActivityResult(requestCode, resultCode, data);
    if (requestCode == SELECT_VIDEO_REQUEST) {
        if (resultCode == RESULT_OK) {
            pickiT.getPath(data.getData(), Build.VERSION.SDK_INT);

        }
    }
}

Dropbox, Google Drive, OneDrive and files from unknown file providers:

You can check if the Uri is from Dropbox,Google Drive or OneDrive by calling:

if (!pickiT.wasLocalFileSelected(uri)){
    // Drive file was selected
}

You can check if the Uri is from an unknown provider by calling:

if (pickiT.isUnknownProvider(uri, Build.VERSION.SDK_INT)){
    // Uri is from unknown provider
}

If the selected file was from Dropbox,Google Drive, OneDrive or an unknown file provider, it will then be copied/created in
Internal Storage - Android - data - your.package.name - files - Temp

It is your responsibility to delete the file when you are done with it, by calling:

pickiT.deleteTemporaryFile(Context);

This can be done in onBackPressed and onDestroy, as shown below:

@Override
public void onBackPressed() {
    pickiT.deleteTemporaryFile(this);
    super.onBackPressed();
}

@Override
public void onDestroy() {
    super.onDestroy();
    if (!isChangingConfigurations()) {
        pickiT.deleteTemporaryFile(this);
    }
}

If you do not call pickiT.deleteTemporaryFile(Context);, the file will remain in the above mentioned folder and will be overwritten each time you select a new file from Dropbox,Google Drive, OneDrive or an unknown file provider.

Manifest

If you are targeting SDK 29> add android:requestLegacyExternalStorage="true" in your manifest:

<manifest ... >
  <application 
    android:requestLegacyExternalStorage="true" 
  </application>
</manifest>

The reason for this is, in Android 10 file path access was removed and it returned in Android 11.
If you are targiting SDK 29> and you do not add this, you will get EACCES (Permission denied)

Callback methods

//When selecting a file from Google Drive, for example, the Uri will be returned before the file is available(if it has not yet been cached/downloaded).
//We are unable to see the progress
//Apps like Dropbox will display a dialog inside the picker
//This will only be called when selecting a drive file
@Override
public void PickiTonUriReturned() {
    //Use to let user know that we are waiting for the application to return the file
    //See the demo project to see how I used this.
}

//Called when the file creations starts (similar to onPreExecute)
//This will only be called if the selected file is not local or if the file is from an unknown file provider
@Override
public void PickiTonStartListener() {
    //Can be used to display a ProgressDialog
}

//Returns the progress of the file being created (in percentage)
//This will only be called if the selected file is not local or if the file is from an unknown file provider
@Override
public void PickiTonProgressUpdate(int progress) {
    //Can be used to update the progress of your dialog
}

//If the selected file was a local file then this will be called directly, returning the path as a String.
//String path - returned path
//boolean wasDriveFile - check if it was a drive file
//boolean wasUnknownProvider - check if it was from an unknown file provider
//boolean wasSuccessful - check if it was successful
//String reason - the get the reason why wasSuccessful returned false
@Override
public void PickiTonCompleteListener(String path, boolean wasDriveFile, boolean wasUnknownProvider, boolean wasSuccessful, String reason) {
    //Dismiss dialog and return the path
}

Have a look at the demo project if you have any issues implementing the library.

PickiT

General

Additional

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PickiT

Demo screenshot:

Add Pickit to your project:

Implementation:

Dropbox, Google Drive, OneDrive and files from unknown file providers:

Manifest

Callback methods