News+ Documentation

News+ discovers extensions using Android's Intent mechanism. Your extension must be declared as a <service> in your AndroidManifest.xml with the following requirements:

• Intent Filter: Must include an <intent-filter> with the action ACTION_EXTENSION.
• Permissions: Must require the PERMISSION_READ_EXTENSION_DATA permission to ensure only News+ can bind to your service.
• Meta-data: You must provide the following <meta-data> elements:
  • protocolVersion (required): Set to 1.
  • description (required): A one- or two-sentence string describing the extension.
  • loginActivity (required): The qualified component name for an activity in your package that News+ can launch when the user selects the extension.

<!-- Example structure for AndroidManifest.xml -->
<service
    android:name=".MyExtensionService"
    android:permission="PERMISSION_READ_EXTENSION_DATA">
    <intent-filter>
        <action android:name="ACTION_EXTENSION" />
    </intent-filter>
    <meta-data android:name="protocolVersion" android:value="1" />
    <meta-data android:name="description" android:value="My custom news extension description." />
    <meta-data android:name="loginActivity" android:value="com.example.MyLoginActivity" />
</service>

To create a functional extension, you must subclass ReaderExtension and implement several abstract methods. These methods allow News+ to pull data from your service:

Data Retrieval Methods

• handleReaderList(ITagListHandler tagHandler, ISubscriptionListHandler subHandler, long syncTime): Initializes the feed and folder structure. Use tagHandler.tags(List<ITag> tags) for tags/folders and subHandler.subscriptions(List<ISubscription> subscriptions) for feeds.
• handleItemList(IItemListHandler handler, long syncTime): Retrieves items. Use the IItemListHandler to get sync parameters like stream(), limit(), newestFirst(), startTime(), excludeRead(), and continuation(). Import items via handler.items(List<IItem> items, int strategy).
• handleItemIdList(IItemIdListHandler handler, long syncTime): Used for 2-way synchronization to retrieve item IDs from the server to detect changes. Use handler.items(List<IItem> items) to import IDs.

State and Modification Methods

• markAsRead(String[] itemUids, String[] subUids): Marks items as read. This is triggered in batches when changing feeds.
• markAsUnread(String[] itemUids, String[] subUids, boolean keepUnread): Marks items as unread.
• markAllAsRead(String stream, String title, String[] excludedStreams, long syncTime): Marks all items in a specific stream as read.
• editItemTag(String[] itemUids, String[] subUids, String[] tags, int action): Modifies tags using actions like ACTION_ITEM_TAG_ADD_LABEL, ACTION_ITEM_TAG_REMOVE_LABEL, or ACTION_ITEM_TAG_NEW_LABEL.
• editSubscription(String uid, String title, String url, String[] tags, int action): Modifies subscriptions using actions like SUBSCRIPTION_ACTION_EDIT, SUBSCRIPTION_ACTION_SUBSCRIBE, SUBSCRIPTION_ACTION_UNSUBSCRIBE, SUBSCRIPTION_ACTION_ADD_LABEL, or SUBSCRIPTION_ACTION_REMOVE_LABEL.
• renameTag(String uid, String oldLabel, String newLabel): Renames a tag or folder.
• disableTag(String uid, String label): Removes a tag or folder.