How to encode / decode data in Android

Sometimes need to encode/decode some data. A simple way to do it is to use Base64 Encoder, which is available in Android SDK since API 8. This class contains methods for encoding and decoding the Base64 representation of binary data.

We can use the following code to encode/decode any String value.

import android.util.Base64;

...

String testValue = "Hello, world!";

byte[] encodeValue = Base64.encode(testValue.getBytes(), Base64.DEFAULT);
byte[] decodeValue = Base64.decode(encodeValue, Base64.DEFAULT);

Log.d("ENCODE_DECODE", "defaultValue = " + testValue);
Log.d("ENCODE_DECODE", "encodeValue = " + new String(encodeValue));
Log.d("ENCODE_DECODE", "decodeValue = " + new String(decodeValue));

Output:

defaultValue = Hello, world!
encodeValue = SGVsbG8sIHdvcmxkIQ==
decodeValue = Hello, world!

References:

• Base64 (Official Android documentation)