Query contacts by phone or SIP¶

This library provides the PhoneLookupQuery API that performs a highly optimized query using a phone number or SIP address. This will only match EXACT phone numbers or SIP addresses of different formatting and variations. There is no partial matching. This is useful for dialer apps that want to implement caller IDs for incoming and outgoing calls.

An instance of the PhoneLookupQuery API is obtained by,

val query = Contacts(context).phoneLookupQuery()

ℹ️ For a broader, and more AOSP Contacts app like query that allows partial matching, use the BroadQuery API, read Query contacts.

ℹ️ For a more granular, advanced queries, use the Query API; Query contacts (advanced).

ℹ️ If you want to query RawContacts directly instead of Contacts, read Query RawContacts.

ℹ️ If you want to query Data directly instead of Contacts, read Query specific data kinds.

ℹ️ If you want to get the device owner Contact Profile, read Query device owner Contact profile.

A basic query¶

To get all contacts that have the exact phone number "555-555-5555",

val contacts = Contacts(context)
    .phoneLookupQuery()
    .whereExactlyMatches("555-555-5555")
    .find()

The above query will also match contacts that have the following formatting and variations of that number, such as "5555555555", "(555) 555-5555", or "+1 (555) 555-5555" regardless of the normalized number stored in the database. For more info about matching, read up on the match function

Specifying Accounts¶

To limit the search to only those contacts associated with one of the given accounts,

.accounts(accounts)

For example, to limit the search to contacts belonging to only one account,

.accounts(Account("john.doe@gmail.com", "com.google"))

ℹ️ For more info, read Query for Accounts.

The Contacts returned may still contain RawContacts / data that belongs to other accounts not specified in the given accounts because Contacts may be made up of more than one RawContact from different Accounts. This is the same behavior as the AOSP Contacts app.

If no accounts are specified (this function is not called or called with no Accounts), then all RawContacts of Contacts are included in the search.

A null Account may be provided here, which results in RawContacts with no associated Account to be included in the search. RawContacts without an associated account are considered local contacts or device-only contacts, which are not synced.

For more info, read about Local (device-only) contacts.

ℹ️ This may affect performance. This may require one or more additional queries, internally performed in this function, which increases the time required for the search. Therefore, you should only specify this if you actually need it.

Specifying Groups¶

To limit the search to only those RawContacts associated with at least one of the given groups,

.groups(groups)

For example, to limit the search to only friends,

.groups(friendsGroup)

ℹ️ For more info, read Query groups.

Contacts returned may still contain RawContacts / data that belongs to other groups not specified in the given groups because Contacts may be made up of more than one RawContact from different Groups. This is the same behavior as the AOSP Contacts app.

If no groups are specified (this function is not called or called with no Groups), then all RawContacts of Contacts are included in the search.

ℹ️ This may affect performance. This may require one or more additional queries, internally performed in this function, which increases the time required for the search. Therefore, you should only specify this if you actually need it.

Including only specific data¶

To include only the given set of fields (data) in each of the matching contacts,

.include(fields)

For example, to only include phone fields,

.include { Phone.all }

For more info, read Include only certain fields for read and write operations.

Optimize your queries¶

To optimize speed and minimize CPU and memory consumption, it is highly recommended that you only include fields you need.

For more info, read Optimizing queries.

Ordering¶

To order resulting Contacts using one or more fields,

.orderBy(fieldOrder)

For example, to order contacts by favorite/starred status such that favorite/starred contacts appear first in the list AND order by display name primary in ascending order (from a to z ignoring case),

.orderBy(
    ContactsFields.Options.Starred.desc(),
    ContactsFields.DisplayNamePrimary.asc()
)

String comparisons ignores case by default. Each orderBys provides ignoreCase as an optional parameter.

Use ContactsFields to construct the orderBys.

ℹ️ If you need to sort a collection of Contacts outside of a database query using any field (in addition to ContactsFields), use contacts.core.util.ContactsComparator. For more info, read Convenience functions.

Limiting and offsetting¶

To limit the amount of contacts returned and/or offset (skip) a specified number of contacts, use the limit and offset functions;

.limit(limit)
.offset(offset)

For more info, read Using limit and offset in queries.

Executing the query¶

To execute the query,

.find()

Cancelling the query¶

To cancel a query amid execution,

.find { returnTrueIfQueryShouldBeCancelled() }

The find function optionally takes in a function that, if it returns true, will cancel query processing as soon as possible. The function is called numerous times during query processing to check if processing should stop or continue. This gives you the option to cancel the query.

This is useful when used in multi-threaded environments. One scenario where this would be frequently used is when performing queries as the user types a search text. You are able to cancel the current query when the user enters new text.

For example, to automatically cancel the query inside a Kotlin coroutine when the coroutine is cancelled,

launch {
    withContext(coroutineContext) {
        val contacts = query.find { !isActive }
    }
}

Performing the query asynchronously¶

Queries are executed when the find function is invoked. The work is done in the same thread as the call-site. This may result in a choppy UI.

To perform the work in a different thread, use the Kotlin coroutine extensions provided in the async module. For more info, read Execute work outside of the UI thread using coroutines.

You may, of course, use other multi-threading libraries or just do it yourself =)

ℹ️ Extensions for Kotlin Flow and RxJava are also in the project roadmap, which includes APIs for listening to Contacts database changes.

Performing the query with permission¶

Queries require the android.permission.READ_CONTACTS permission. If not granted, the query will do nothing and return an empty list.

To perform the query with permission, use the extensions provided in the permissions module. For more info, read Permissions handling using coroutines.

You may, of course, use other permission handling libraries or just do it yourself =)

Custom data support¶

The PhoneLookupQuery API does not include custom data in the matching process. However, you may still use the include function with custom data. For more info, read Query custom data.

Using the `match` and `whereExactlyMatches` functions to specify matching criteria¶

The PhoneLookupQuery API lets the Contacts Provider perform the search using its own custom matching algorithm via the whereExactlyMatches function.

This will only match EXACT phone numbers or SIP addresses of different formatting and variations. There is no partial matching.

There are several different types of matching algorithms that can be used. The type is set via the match function.

Custom data are not included in the matching process! To match custom data, use Query.

Match.PHONE¶

Match phone numbers. This is useful in cases where you want to implement a caller ID function for incoming and outgoing calls. This is the default.

For example, if there are contacts with the following numbers;

123
1234
1234
12345

Searching for "123" will only return the one contact with the number "123". Searching for "1234" will return the contact(s) with the number "1234".

Additionally, this is able to match phone numbers with or without using country codes. For example, the phone number "+923123456789" (country code 92) will be matched using any of the following; "03123456789", "923123456789", "+923123456789".

The reverse is partially true. For example, the phone number "03123456789" will be matched using "03123456789" or "+923123456789" BUT will NOT be matched using "923123456789".

If a phone number is saved with AND without a country code, then only the contact with the number that matches exactly will be returned. For example, when numbers "+923123456789" and "03123456789" are saved, searching for "03123456789" will return only the contact with that exact number (NOT including the contact with "+923123456789").

ℹ️ Matching is not strictly based on the PhoneEntity.normalizedNumber (E164 representation) if it is not null. In cases where it is null, matching will be done strictly based on the PhoneEntity.number.

⚠️ The matching process/results described here may differ across OEMs and/or Android versions. For more details, read https://github.com/vestrel00/contacts-android/issues/337#issuecomment-1843672903

Match.SIP¶

Same as Match.PHONE except this matches SIP addresses instead of phone numbers.

⚠️ This is only available for API 21 and above. The Match.PHONE will be used for API versions below 21 even if Match.SIP is specified.