title: How practical is it to intercept certain SMS messages in Android but allow others to be handled by the built-in messaging app?
body: <p>I've been developing an Android app that allows the operator to control equipment through API calls, which are sent and received via text messages. </p>
  
  <p>Since we want people to still be able to use their phones as phones, we still want users to be able to send and receive text message with the built-in SMS app. </p>
  
  <p>However, the issue with my app is that it is not the default SMS app, which means that these control messages:</p>
  
  <ul>
  <li>Look like total garbage, so I would want to be able to delete these messages from a user's inbox (or have them never reach the inbox). </li>
  <li>They also show a notification, since they're an SMS message and are handled by the system SMS app as such.</li>
  </ul>
  
  <p>If I block a number, using the built-in SMS app, my app won't receive it either - so the logic, therefore, is to make my app the default SMS app so that it can intercept all messages before deciding how they should be handled. The problem now is that no other messages will reach the built-in SMS app. </p>
  
  <p>One way around this is to forward messages to this built-in SMS app's inbox, but the built-in SMS app would no longer be able to send messages.</p>
  
  <p>The inevitable answer that I expect is the only technically viable option is that I will have to implement a full SMS client in its entirety; however, this seems a really poor approach to me and massively pollutes the scope of development. </p>
  
  <p>Is there really no way for me to create a default SMS app that can then "forward" an incoming SMS to either the built-in SMS app or my own app (for controlling the aforementioned machinery)?</p>