AutoFill the SIM card mobile number in ReactNative and Security concerns

Sanjana Human In Tech
3 min readOct 11, 2023

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Remember that accessing sensitive information(PII) like the phone number should be done with the user’s explicit consent and is subject to platform-specific restrictions. Users must understand why you’re requesting this information and grant the necessary permissions. Be sure to follow best practices for privacy and security when working with user data.

Auto-filling a SIM card mobile number in a React Native application is not a straightforward task and may not always be possible due to platform limitations and security concerns. Mobile operating systems like Android and iOS have strong privacy and security measures in place to protect user data.

That being said, you can request permission from the user to access their phone number or SIM card information and then use that information to auto-fill a mobile number input field if the user grants permission.

Here’s a basic outline of how you might approach this in React Native:

  1. Request Permissions:
  2. You’ll need to request permission from the user to access their phone number information.
  3. In React Native, you can use libraries like react-native-permissions or react-native-android-permissions for Android, and react-native-permissions for iOS.
  4. For Android, you may need to add permission requests to your AndroidManifest.xml file.
  5. Access Phone Number
  6. Once you have the necessary permissions, you can access the phone number. Keep in mind that the actual APIs may vary between Android and iOS.
  7. On Android, you can use the react-native-telephony package to fetch the phone number. On iOS, you can use the react-native-device-info package to retrieve the device's phone number.
  8. Auto-fill the Input.
  9. Once you’ve obtained the phone number, you can set the value of the input field to the retrieved phone number. Here’s a simplified example using React Native’s useState hook:
import React, { useState, useEffect } from 'react';
import { TextInput, Button } from 'react-native';

const App = () => {
const [phoneNumber, setPhoneNumber] = useState('');

useEffect(() => {
// Fetch and set the phone number here, e.g., using the methods mentioned above.
// setPhoneNumber(retrievedPhoneNumber);
}, []);

return (
<>
<TextInput
placeholder="Mobile Number"
value={phoneNumber}
onChangeText={(text) => setPhoneNumber(text)}
/>
<Button title="Submit" onPress={() => console.log(phoneNumber)} />
</>
);
};

export default App;

Retrieving phone numbers from two different SIM cards

Here’s a general outline of how you might approach this, but please be aware that this might not work on all devices or might require special permissions or device-specific code:

For Android:

  1. Request permissions: You’ll need to request the necessary permissions to access the SIM card information. Use a library like react-native-permissions or react-native-android-permissions to request these permissions.
  2. Use the TelephonyManager: You can use Android’s TelephonyManager to get information about SIM cards, including their phone numbers.

Here’s a simplified example:

import { PermissionsAndroid } from 'react-native';
import { TelephonyManager } from 'react-native-telephony';

// Request necessary permissions
async function requestPermissions() {
const granted = await PermissionsAndroid.request(
PermissionsAndroid.PERMISSIONS.READ_PHONE_STATE
);
if (granted === PermissionsAndroid.RESULTS.GRANTED) {
// Permission granted, now access SIM card information
const telephonyManager = new TelephonyManager();
const phoneNumber1 = await telephonyManager.getLine1Number(0); // Slot 0
const phoneNumber2 = await telephonyManager.getLine1Number(1); // Slot 1
} else {
// Permission denied
// show the alert
}
}

Please note that this code is a basic example and may need further adjustments based on the actual behavior of the device and the Android version. Also, not all Android devices may expose phone numbers through the TelephonyManager.

For iOS: Obtaining the phone number from a SIM card is not directly possible due to privacy restrictions on iOS. Apple does not expose this information to third-party apps. You may only access the device’s phone number if the carrier provides it in the device’s settings.

To summarize, retrieving phone numbers from two different SIM cards is a complex task and may not be possible on all devices or platforms due to privacy and security constraints. It’s important to respect user privacy and work within the limits of the platform’s capabilities and permissions.

Thank you for reading this article! Don’t forget to clap only if you think I deserve it👏 and buy me a coffee.

If you have any queries related to ReactNative, I’m always happy to help you. You can reach me on LinkedIn and Gmail.

Happy Learning🚀 Happy Coding💻.

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Sanjana Human In Tech
Sanjana Human In Tech

Written by Sanjana Human In Tech

A React Native front-end enthusiast and dedicated development engineer, eager to expand knowledge on development techniques and collaborate with others.

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