Retrieve unread sms in Android

    In order to get unread sms messages in an Android application you need to setup a filter "read = 0" as shown below. 

	// Create a filter which selects only unread sms messages.
	String filter = "read = 0";
	final Uri SMS_INBOX = Uri.parse("content://sms/inbox");
	Cursor cursor = getContentResolver().query(SMS_INBOX, null, filter, null, null);
	List<String> items = new ArrayList<String>();
	while(cursor.moveToNext()) {
	// Convert date to a readable format.
	Calendar calendar = Calendar.getInstance();
	String date = cursor.getString(cursor.getColumnIndex("date"));
	Long timestamp = Long.parseLong(date);
	calendar.setTimeInMillis(timestamp);
	Date finaldate = calendar.getTime();
	String smsDate = finaldate.toString();
	String smsBody = cursor.getString(cursor.getColumnIndex("body"));
	String phoneNumber = " (" +cursor.getString(cursor.getColumnIndex("address")) + ") ";
	items.add("From : " + Name + phoneNumber + "\n" +
	"Date Sent: " + smsDate + "\n" +
	"Message : " + smsBody + "\n");
	}
	cursor.close();
	// items can be used to fill a ListView as shown below.
	ListView smsList = (ListView)findViewById(R.id.smsList);
	ListAdapter listAdapter= new ArrayAdapter<String>(this, android.R.layout.simple_list_item_1, android.R.id.text1, items);
	smsList.setAdapter(listAdapter)

view raw UnreadSMS.java hosted with ❤ by GitHub

    Make sure to add <uses-permission android:name="android.permission.READ_SMS" /> in AndoirdManifest.xml to include sms reading permission in the app.