How to Capture an Image in Background Without Using the Camera Application

Capture image in service without preview android

I solved my issue with help of this blog

So I capture the image within background service using this code:

@Override
public void onStart(Intent intent, int startId) {
    mCamera = getAvailableFrontCamera();     // globally declared instance of camera
    if (mCamera == null){
        mCamera = Camera.open();    //Take rear facing camera only if no front camera available
    }
    SurfaceView sv = new SurfaceView(getApplicationContext());
    SurfaceTexture surfaceTexture = new SurfaceTexture(10);

    try {
        mCamera.setPreviewTexture(surfaceTexture);
        //mCamera.setPreviewDisplay(sv.getHolder());
        parameters = mCamera.getParameters();

        //set camera parameters
        mCamera.setParameters(parameters);

        //This boolean is used as app crashes while writing images to file if simultaneous calls are made to takePicture
        if(safeToCapture) {
            mCamera.startPreview();
            mCamera.takePicture(null, null, mCall);
        }
    } catch (IOException e) {
        // TODO Auto-generated catch block
        e.printStackTrace();
    }

    //Get a surface
    sHolder = sv.getHolder();
    //tells Android that this surface will have its data constantly replaced
    sHolder.setType(SurfaceHolder.SURFACE_TYPE_PUSH_BUFFERS);
}

Camera.PictureCallback mCall = new Camera.PictureCallback()
{

    public void onPictureTaken(byte[] data, Camera camera)
    {
        safeToCapture = false;
        //decode the data obtained by the camera into a Bitmap

        FileOutputStream outStream = null;
        try{

            // create a File object for the parent directory
            File myDirectory = new File(Environment.getExternalStorageDirectory()+"/Test");
            // have the object build the directory structure, if needed.
            myDirectory.mkdirs();

            //SDF for getting current time for unique image name
            SimpleDateFormat curTimeFormat = new SimpleDateFormat("ddMMyyyyhhmmss");
            String curTime = curTimeFormat.format(new java.util.Date());

            // create a File object for the output file
            outStream = new FileOutputStream(myDirectory+"/user"+curTime+".jpg");
            outStream.write(data);
            outStream.close();
            mCamera.release();
            mCamera = null;

            String strImagePath = Environment.getExternalStorageDirectory()+"/"+myDirectory.getName()+"/user"+curTime+".jpg";
            sendEmailWithImage(strImagePath);
            Log.d("CAMERA", "picture clicked - "+strImagePath);
        } catch (FileNotFoundException e){
            Log.d("CAMERA", e.getMessage());
        } catch (IOException e){
            Log.d("CAMERA", e.getMessage());
        }

        safeToCapture = true;    //Set a boolean to true again after saving file.

    }
};

private Camera getAvailableFrontCamera (){

    int cameraCount = 0;
    Camera cam = null;
    Camera.CameraInfo cameraInfo = new Camera.CameraInfo();
    cameraCount = Camera.getNumberOfCameras();
    for (int camIdx = 0; camIdx < cameraCount; camIdx++) {
        Camera.getCameraInfo(camIdx, cameraInfo);
        if (cameraInfo.facing == Camera.CameraInfo.CAMERA_FACING_FRONT) {
            try {
                cam = Camera.open(camIdx);
            } catch (RuntimeException e) {
                Log.e("CAMERA", "Camera failed to open: " + e.getLocalizedMessage());
            }
        }
    }

    return cam;
}

//Send Email using javamail API as user will not be allowed to choose available
// application using a Chooser dialog for intent.
public void sendEmailWithImage(String imageFile){
    .
    .
    .
}

Following uses-features and permissions will be needed for this in manifest file:

<uses-feature
    android:name="android.hardware.camera"
    android:required="false" />
<uses-feature
    android:name="android.hardware.camera.front"
    android:required="false" />

<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.SEND_MAIL" />
<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.WRITE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE" />
<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.READ_EXTERNAL_STORAGE" />
<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.CAMERA" />

I have set property required to false, so that user will be able to install my app even without any of the Camera available. May be this can help someone in future.

Take photo in background without UI. Android

Here's camera preview code that worked for me: https://stackoverflow.com/a/33242595/7391954
I overlaid my layout on it and then taking photo was as simple as calling getBitmap() on that View.

Take a picture in background on Android

This is a snippet from a project a did before, I hope it will help you:

  // Open the camera and take a picture
public void openCamera() {
    Intent getIntent = new Intent(Intent.ACTION_GET_CONTENT);
    getIntent.setType("image/*");
    startActivityForResult(getIntent, SEND_MESSAGE_IMG_REQUEST_IMAGE_PICK);
}

// handle the result from camera
protected void onActivityResult(int requestCode, int resultCode, Intent data) {
    if(requestCode == SEND_MESSAGE_IMG_REQUEST_IMAGE_PICK && resultCode == RESULT_OK) {

        Uri selectedImage = data.getData();
        String[] filePathColumn = {MediaStore.Images.Media.DATA};

        Cursor cursor = getContentResolver().query(selectedImage, filePathColumn, null, null, null);
        cursor.moveToFirst();

        int columnIndex = cursor.getColumnIndex(filePathColumn[0]);
        String filePath = cursor.getString(columnIndex);
        cursor.close();

        // do a background task to handle the captured image (upload it to a server or something like that)

    }
}

Can we use takePicture() in android without camera preview? I need to take a picture secretly for security purposes

According to android.developer.com, no.

https://developer.android.com/reference/android/hardware/Camera.html

"Important: Call startPreview() to start updating the preview surface. Preview must be started before you can take a picture."

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