A content provider provides access to data in two ways: one is structured data that goes in the form of a database, as the example we are working on currently, or in the form of file data, that is, data that goes in the form of pictures, audio, video, and so on stored in the private space of the application. Before we begin digging into how to create a content provider, we should also retrospect whether we need one. If we want to offer data to other applications, allow users to copy data from our app to another, or use the search framework in our application, then the answer is yes.
Just like other Android components (Activity, Service, or BroadcastReceiver), a content provider is created by extending the ContentProvider class. Since ContentProvider is an abstract class, we have to implement the six abstract methods. These methods are as follows: