How Do I Fix the getUriForFile Error When Sharing Images in a Unity Android Game

Sharing a screenshot from your Unity Android game seems like a simple task until Unity throws a cryptic error that grinds your feature to a halt. That’s exactly what happened to me when I tried to implement in-game screenshot sharing.

I’ll walk you through what went wrong, how I fixed it, and how you can improve your own screenshot sharing functionality.

The Problem

Here’s the frustrating error I kept seeing in my Android logcat:

AndroidJavaException: java.lang.NoSuchMethodError: no static method with name='getUriForFile'

This error appeared when I tried to share a screenshot using the androidx.core.content.FileProvider. It completely broke the sharing functionality.

After reading documentation and sifting through forum posts, I realized this error is saying: Unity can’t find the Java method getUriForFile() even though it’s clearly supposed to exist in the FileProvider class.

The Original Code I Use

Here’s the original coroutine I wrote for sharing the screenshot:

 IEnumerator ShareScreenshot(string screenShotPath, string shareSubject, string shareLink, string textToShare)
{
    if (!Application.isEditor)
    {
        AndroidJavaClass unityPlayer = new AndroidJavaClass("com.unity3d.player.UnityPlayer");
        AndroidJavaObject currentActivity = unityPlayer.GetStatic<AndroidJavaObject>("currentActivity");
        AndroidJavaObject unityContext = currentActivity.Call<AndroidJavaObject>("getApplicationContext");

        string packageName = unityContext.Call<string>("getPackageName");
        string authority = packageName + ".fileprovider";

        AndroidJavaClass intentClass = new AndroidJavaClass("android.content.Intent");
        string ACTION_VIEW = intentClass.GetStatic<string>("ACTION_VIEW");
        AndroidJavaObject intent = new AndroidJavaObject("android.content.Intent", ACTION_VIEW);

        int FLAG_ACTIVITY_NEW_TASK = intentClass.GetStatic<int>("FLAG_ACTIVITY_NEW_TASK");
        int FLAG_GRANT_READ_URI_PERMISSION = intentClass.GetStatic<int>("FLAG_GRANT_READ_URI_PERMISSION");

        AndroidJavaObject fileObj = new AndroidJavaObject("java.io.File", screenShotPath);
        AndroidJavaClass fileProvider = new AndroidJavaClass("androidx.core.content.FileProvider");
        AndroidJavaObject uri = fileProvider.CallStatic<AndroidJavaObject>("getUriForFile", unityContext, authority, fileObj); // ERROR

        intent.Call<AndroidJavaObject>("putExtra", intentClass.GetStatic<string>("EXTRA_STREAM"), uri);
        intent.Call<AndroidJavaObject>("putExtra", intentClass.GetStatic<string>("EXTRA_TEXT"), textToShare + shareLink);
        intent.Call<AndroidJavaObject>("putExtra", intentClass.GetStatic<string>("EXTRA_SUBJECT"), shareSubject);
        intent.Call<AndroidJavaObject>("setType", "image/png");

        intent.Call<AndroidJavaObject>("addFlags", FLAG_ACTIVITY_NEW_TASK);
        intent.Call<AndroidJavaObject>("addFlags", FLAG_GRANT_READ_URI_PERMISSION);

        currentActivity.Call("startActivity", intent);
    }

    yield return null;
}

Explanation of the Error

The key part of the error is:

 static method with name='getUriForFile'

This means Unity cannot locate the method you’re calling because:

• androidx.core.content.FileProvider is not bundled in your Unity project by default.
• Unity doesn’t include AndroidX support automatically unless you’re using a full custom Gradle setup.
• You’re calling a method from Java that relies on runtime libraries Unity doesn’t know about unless you explicitly add them.

So basically, my code was correct in theory, but Unity wasn’t packaging the correct dependencies to make it work in practice.

Fix Code (That Work)

Switch to android.support.v4.content.FileProvider (Simpler, worked out of the box)

This is what I did first. I replaced:

 AndroidJavaClass("androidx.core.content.FileProvider");

With:

AndroidJavaClass("android.support.v4.content.FileProvider");

Then I updated my AndroidManifest.xml accordingly:

<provider
    android:name="android.support.v4.content.FileProvider"
    android:authorities="${applicationId}.fileprovider"
    android:exported="false"
    android:grantUriPermissions="true">
    <meta-data
        android:name="android.support.FILE_PROVIDER_PATHS"
        android:resource="@xml/provider_paths" />
</provider>

Boom the error disappeared, and sharing worked like a charm.

Use AndroidX Properly (Advanced)

If you really want to use androidx.core.content.FileProvider, you’ll need to:

• Enable Custom Gradle Templates in Unity (mainTemplate.gradle)
• Add AndroidX dependency manually:

implementation 'androidx.core:core:1.6.0'

• Ensure Unity is building with the Gradle system, not the internal one.

File Provider Path Setup

I made sure to define my paths correctly in provider_paths.xml:

<paths xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android">
    <external-path name="external_files" path="Android/data/com.mycompanyname.gamename/files/Pictures" />
</paths>

Otherwise, you’ll end up with unreadable or invalid file paths.

My Enhance Share Functionality

After fixing the error, I added automatic screenshot capture sharing:

 void CaptureAndShare()
{
    StartCoroutine(CaptureAndShareScreenshot());
}

private IEnumerator CaptureAndShareScreenshot()
{
    string fileName = "screenshot.png";
    string path = Path.Combine(Application.persistentDataPath, fileName);

    ScreenCapture.CaptureScreenshot(fileName);
    yield return new WaitForSeconds(1f); // Wait for file to save

    if (!File.Exists(path))
    {
        Debug.LogError("Screenshot not found at: " + path);
        yield break;
    }

    string shareSubject = "Check this out!";
    string shareText = "Here's a screenshot from my game!";
    string link = "https://yourgame.com";

    yield return ShareScreenshot(path, shareSubject, link, shareText);
}

Debugging Tips

• Add this to validate the screenshot path:

Debug.Log("Screenshot Path: " + path);

• Always check if the file actually exists before sharing:

if (!File.Exists(path))
{
    Debug.LogError("Screenshot file does not exist!");
    yield break;
}

Final Thoughts

This bug taught me a key lesson even if your code looks correct, Unity’s build system and Android’s evolving libraries can throw unexpected curve balls.

If you’re trying to share files like screenshots in Unity on Android:

• Use android.support.v4.content.FileProvider for quick and reliable setup.
• Or go the AndroidX route only if you need advanced library support and know how to customize your Gradle build.

Either way, understanding how Unity interfaces with Android’s Java classes helps you solve these bugs faster and makes you a better cross-platform developer.