java.lang.SecurityException: Permission Denial: getIntentSender() when using UiAutomation in a test

Issue

Whenever I try to use UiAutomation in any test through getInstrumentation().getUiAutomation(), the process crashes with this exception:

java.lang.SecurityException: Permission Denial: getIntentSender() from pid=30334, uid=2000, (need uid=1000) is not allowed to send as package android
        at android.os.Parcel.readException(Parcel.java:1540)
        at android.os.Parcel.readException(Parcel.java:1493)
        at android.app.IUiAutomationConnection$Stub$Proxy.disconnect(IUiAutomationConnection.java:225)
        at android.app.UiAutomation.disconnect(UiAutomation.java:240)
        at android.app.Instrumentation.finish(Instrumentation.java:197)
        at android.test.InstrumentationTestRunner.onStart(InstrumentationTestRunner.java:575)
        at android.app.Instrumentation$InstrumentationThread.run(Instrumentation.java:1837)

Any idea why? I'm using Gradle through Android Studio, tried various versions, calling it directly through adb, even without any external dependency (and obviously with at least SDK 18)... Always crashing.

This is the only official example I've found: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_SlBHUW0ybM

Solution

This isn't an answer for why UIAutomator isn't catching the error, but rather a possible workaround that I found. When accessibility services are on I am unable to get an UIAutomator dump because I receive the error you described. When I turn off TalkBack and/or Switch Access in the Accessibility settings I no longer get the Permission Denial error and UIAutomator dump works successfully. Not sure if this will help you, but I can reproduce your issue every time with accessibility services ON in Lollipop(Nexus 5).

Answered By - shibbybird