I created my own file extension (.oli). If the user clicks on a file with this extension my app starts and loads the included data. This works like expected
The setType()
intent method actually uses MIME types to filter apps according to the docs. So, you'll only be able to filter the apps available based on the following filters:
1.Text
sendIntent.setType("text/plain");
2. Binary
shareIntent.setType("image/jpeg");
3. Multiple content items
shareIntent.setType("image/*");
EDIT
Here's what I would likely do, I would know which apps I want to be able to share the file, like gmail since you know that works, and I would be selective about which apps are in the list. The following code comes from the answer in this SO link: How to filter specific apps for ACTION_SEND intent (and set a different text for each app)
public void onShareClick(View v) {
Resources resources = getResources();
Intent emailIntent = new Intent();
emailIntent.setAction(Intent.ACTION_SEND);
// Native email client doesn't currently support HTML, but it doesn't hurt to try in case they fix it
emailIntent.putExtra(Intent.EXTRA_TEXT, Html.fromHtml(resources.getString(R.string.share_email_native)));
emailIntent.putExtra(Intent.EXTRA_SUBJECT, resources.getString(R.string.share_email_subject));
emailIntent.setType("message/rfc822");
PackageManager pm = getPackageManager();
Intent sendIntent = new Intent(Intent.ACTION_SEND);
sendIntent.setType("text/plain");
Intent openInChooser = Intent.createChooser(emailIntent, resources.getString(R.string.share_chooser_text));
List resInfo = pm.queryIntentActivities(sendIntent, 0);
List intentList = new ArrayList();
for (int i = 0; i < resInfo.size(); i++) {
// Extract the label, append it, and repackage it in a LabeledIntent
ResolveInfo ri = resInfo.get(i);
String packageName = ri.activityInfo.packageName;
if(packageName.contains("android.email")) {
emailIntent.setPackage(packageName);
} else if(packageName.contains("twitter") || packageName.contains("facebook") || packageName.contains("mms") || packageName.contains("android.gm")) {
Intent intent = new Intent();
intent.setComponent(new ComponentName(packageName, ri.activityInfo.name));
intent.setAction(Intent.ACTION_SEND);
intent.setType("text/plain");
if(packageName.contains("twitter")) {
intent.putExtra(Intent.EXTRA_TEXT, resources.getString(R.string.share_twitter));
} else if(packageName.contains("facebook")) {
// Warning: Facebook IGNORES our text. They say "These fields are intended for users to express themselves. Pre-filling these fields erodes the authenticity of the user voice."
// One workaround is to use the Facebook SDK to post, but that doesn't allow the user to choose how they want to share. We can also make a custom landing page, and the link
// will show the text from that page with our link in Facebook.
intent.putExtra(Intent.EXTRA_TEXT, resources.getString(R.string.share_facebook));
} else if(packageName.contains("mms")) {
intent.putExtra(Intent.EXTRA_TEXT, resources.getString(R.string.share_sms));
} else if(packageName.contains("android.gm")) { // If Gmail shows up twice, try removing this else-if clause and the reference to "android.gm" above
intent.putExtra(Intent.EXTRA_TEXT, Html.fromHtml(resources.getString(R.string.share_email_gmail)));
intent.putExtra(Intent.EXTRA_SUBJECT, resources.getString(R.string.share_email_subject));
intent.setType("message/rfc822");
}
intentList.add(new LabeledIntent(intent, packageName, ri.loadLabel(pm), ri.icon));
}
}
// convert intentList to array
LabeledIntent[] extraIntents = intentList.toArray( new LabeledIntent[ intentList.size() ]);
openInChooser.putExtra(Intent.EXTRA_INITIAL_INTENTS, extraIntents);
startActivity(openInChooser);
}