How to Find Out Carrier’s Name in Android Programmatically?

In this article we will see how to retrieve the carrier name on Android device. This information can be useful for applications that need to provide specific functionality based on the user’s cellular network provider. A sample video is given below to get an idea about what we are going to do in this article.

Step-by-Step Implementation

Step 1: Create a New Project in Android Studio

To create a new project in Android Studio please refer to How to Create/Start a New Project in Android Studio. Note that select Kotlin as the programming language.

Step 2: Adding Permissions

Navigate to app > manifests > AndroidMainfest.xml and add this

<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.READ_PHONE_STATE" />

This permission declaration in Android manifest file specifies that the app requests permission to access the phone state which includes information about the device cellular network like carrier name.

Step 3: Creating Layout

We have created normal ui by adding one textview,one button and one Spinner for selecting the sim slot

activity_main4.xml:

XML

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<RelativeLayout
    xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
    xmlns:app="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res-auto"
    xmlns:tools="http://schemas.android.com/tools"
    android:layout_width="match_parent"
    android:background="@color/white"
    android:layout_height="match_parent"
    android:gravity="center"
    tools:context=".MainActivity4">

    <androidx.cardview.widget.CardView
        android:layout_width="match_parent"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:layout_margin="16dp"
        app:cardCornerRadius="8dp">

        <RelativeLayout
            android:layout_width="match_parent"
            android:layout_height="wrap_content"
            android:gravity="center"
            android:padding="16dp">

            <TextView
                android:id="@+id/tv"
                android:layout_width="wrap_content"
                android:layout_height="wrap_content"
                android:text="Hello World!"
                android:textSize="24sp" />

            <Button
                android:id="@+id/btnSubmit"
                android:layout_width="wrap_content"
                android:layout_height="wrap_content"
                android:layout_below="@id/tv"
                android:layout_marginTop="26dp"
                android:text="Submit" />

            <Spinner
                android:id="@+id/spin"
                android:layout_width="wrap_content"
                android:layout_height="wrap_content"
                android:layout_below="@id/btnSubmit"
                android:layout_marginTop="16dp" />

        </RelativeLayout>

    </androidx.cardview.widget.CardView>

</RelativeLayout>

UI Output:

activity_main4.xml

Step 4: Working on Kotlin File

Code retrieves and displays the carrier name for a selected SIM slot that is selected from a spinner after requesting the necessary permissions.

Kotlin

package com.ayush.gfgapp

import android.Manifest
import android.content.Context
import android.content.pm.PackageManager
import android.os.Bundle
import android.telephony.SubscriptionManager
import android.widget.ArrayAdapter
import android.widget.Button
import android.widget.Spinner
import android.widget.TextView
import androidx.appcompat.app.AppCompatActivity
import androidx.core.app.ActivityCompat

class MainActivity4 : AppCompatActivity() {
    // Declaring UI elements
    private lateinit var spin: Spinner
    private lateinit var tv: TextView
    private lateinit var btnSubmit: Button

    override fun onCreate(savedInstanceState: Bundle?) {
        super.onCreate(savedInstanceState)
        setContentView(R.layout.activity_main4)

        // Initializing UI elements from our xml file
        tv = findViewById(R.id.tv)
        spin = findViewById(R.id.spin)
        btnSubmit = findViewById(R.id.btnSubmit)

        // Seting a click listener for the submit button
        btnSubmit.setOnClickListener {
            getCarrierName()
        }

        // Defining options for the Spinner
        val slots = arrayOf("1", "2")

        // Creating an ArrayAdapter for the Spinner
        val _spinAdapter = ArrayAdapter(this, android.R.layout.simple_spinner_dropdown_item, slots)

        // Seting the ArrayAdapter on the Spinner
        spin.adapter = _spinAdapter

        // Requesting permission to read phone state
        ActivityCompat.requestPermissions(this, arrayOf(Manifest.permission.READ_PHONE_STATE), PackageManager.PERMISSION_GRANTED)
    }

    private fun getCarrierName() {
        // Geting the SubscriptionManager
        val susbsManager = getSystemService(Context.TELEPHONY_SUBSCRIPTION_SERVICE) as SubscriptionManager

        // Checking if the app has the required permission (that is Manifest.permission.READ_PHONE_STATE)
        if (ActivityCompat.checkSelfPermission(this, Manifest.permission.READ_PHONE_STATE) != PackageManager.PERMISSION_GRANTED) {
            // If permission is not granted, display a message
            tv.text = "Permission not granted"
            return
        }

        // Retrieving the list of active subscriptions
        val subsManagerList = susbsManager.activeSubscriptionInfoList

        try {
            // Geting the selected slot number from the Spinner
            val selectedSlot = spin.selectedItem.toString().toInt()

            // Retrieving information about the subscription in the selected slot
            val subscriptionInfo = subsManagerList[selectedSlot - 1]

            // Geting the carrier name or display "Unknown" if not available
            val stringCarrierName = subscriptionInfo.carrierName?.toString() ?: "Unknown"

            // Displaying the carrier name in text view
            tv.text = stringCarrierName
        } catch (e: Exception) {

            tv.text = "Sim in slot ${spin.selectedItem.toString()} not available"
        }
    }
}

Output: