Open online pdf file through android intent?

I see that you are trying this method defining the data type:

Intent intent = new Intent();
intent.setDataAndType(Uri.parse(url), "application/pdf");
startActivity(intent);

but it will cause:

ActivityNotFoundException: No Activity found to handle Intent

Use method without the type definition and it will work perfectly:

Intent intent = new Intent(Intent.ACTION_VIEW);
intent.setData(Uri.parse(url));
startActivity(intent);

you can view PDF in web view like this

Intent intent = new Intent(Intent.ACTION_VIEW);

intent.setDataAndType(Uri.parse( "http://docs.google.com/viewer?url=" + pdfLink), "text/html");

startActivity(intent);

Best practice is wrapping your Intent to Chooser before starting. It provides users with built-in application selection dialog and lets avoid ActivityNotFoundException

Here a little example:

Intent browserIntent = new Intent(Intent.ACTION_VIEW);
browserIntent.setDataAndType(Uri.parse(msg.getData()), Constants.MIME_PDF);

Intent chooser = Intent.createChooser(browserIntent, getString(R.string.chooser_title));
chooser.setFlags(Intent.FLAG_ACTIVITY_NEW_TASK); // optional

startActivity(chooser);

Where Constants.MIME_PDF is defined as String value "application/pdf".

---

It is possible to ask PackageManager is this Intent has appropriate handling Activity or not.

public static boolean isActivityForIntentAvailable(Context context, Intent intent) {
    final PackageManager packageManager = context.getPackageManager();
    List list = packageManager.queryIntentActivities(intent, PackageManager.MATCH_DEFAULT_ONLY);
    return list.size() > 0;
}

You can view or download the pdf by either of the two ways i.e by opening it in device in-built browser or in the webview by embedding it in your app.

To open the pdf in browser,

Intent browserIntent = new Intent(Intent.ACTION_VIEW, Uri.parse(pdf_url));
startActivity(browserIntent);

Instead to open in webview,

 WebView webView = (WebView) findViewById(R.id.webView1);
 webView.getSettings().setJavaScriptEnabled(true);
 webView.loadUrl(pdf_url);