Select multiple images from android gallery

So basically what i am trying to achieve is opening the Gallery in Android and let the user select multiple images. Now this question has been asked frequently but i'm not satisfied with the answers. Mainly because i found something interesting in de docs in my IDE (i come back on this later) and thereby i don't want to use a custom adapter but just the vanilla one.

Now my code for selecting one image is:

Intent intent = new Intent();
intent.setType("image/*");
intent.setAction(Intent.ACTION_GET_CONTENT);
startActivityForResult(Intent.createChooser(intent,"Select Picture"), 1);

Now People on SO and other websites wil tell you you have 2 options:

1. Do not use ACTION_GET_CONTENT but ACTION_SEND_MULTIPLE instead.
   This one doesn't work. This one is according to the docs for sending files and not retrieving and that's exactly what it does. When using ACTION_SEND_MULTIPLE i got a window opened at my device where i have to select an application to send my data to. That's not what i want, so i wonder how people got this achieved with this solution.. Do i miss something?

2. Implement an custom Gallery. Now this is my last option i will consider because imho it's not what i am searching for because i have to style it myself AND why the heck you just can't select multiple images in the vanilla gallery?

There must be an option for this.. Now the interesting thing what i'v found is this:
I found this in the docs description of ACTION_GET_CONTENT.

> If the caller can handle multiple returned items (the user performing > multiple selection), then it can specify EXTRA_ALLOW_MULTIPLE to > indicate this.

This is pretty interesting. Here they are referring it to the use case where a user can select multiple items?

Later on they say in the docs:

> You may use EXTRA_ALLOW_MULTIPLE to allow the user to select multiple > items.

So this is pretty obvious right? This is what i need. But my following question is: Where can i put this EXTRA_ALLOW_MULTIPLE? The sad thing is that i can't find this no where in the developers.android guide and also is this not defined as a constant in the INTENT class.

Anybody can help me out with this EXTRA_ALLOW_MULTIPLE?

The EXTRA_ALLOW_MULTIPLE option is set on the intent through the Intent.putExtra() method:

intent.putExtra(Intent.EXTRA_ALLOW_MULTIPLE, true);

Your code above should look like this:

Intent intent = new Intent();
intent.setType("image/*");
intent.putExtra(Intent.EXTRA_ALLOW_MULTIPLE, true);
intent.setAction(Intent.ACTION_GET_CONTENT);
startActivityForResult(Intent.createChooser(intent,"Select Picture"), 1);

Note: the EXTRA_ALLOW_MULTIPLE option is only available in Android API 18 and higher.

Define these variables in the class:

int PICK_IMAGE_MULTIPLE = 1; 
String imageEncoded;    
List<String> imagesEncodedList;

Let's Assume that onClick on a button it should open gallery to select images

 Intent intent = new Intent();
 intent.setType("image/*");
 intent.putExtra(Intent.EXTRA_ALLOW_MULTIPLE, true);
 intent.setAction(Intent.ACTION_GET_CONTENT);
 startActivityForResult(Intent.createChooser(intent,"Select Picture"), PICK_IMAGE_MULTIPLE);

Then you should override onActivityResult Method

@Override
protected void onActivityResult(int requestCode, int resultCode, Intent data) {
    try {
        // When an Image is picked
        if (requestCode == PICK_IMAGE_MULTIPLE && resultCode == RESULT_OK
                    && null != data) {
            // Get the Image from data

            String[] filePathColumn = { MediaStore.Images.Media.DATA };
            imagesEncodedList = new ArrayList<String>();
            if(data.getData()!=null){

                Uri mImageUri=data.getData();

                // Get the cursor
                Cursor cursor = getContentResolver().query(mImageUri,
                            filePathColumn, null, null, null);
                // Move to first row
                cursor.moveToFirst();

                int columnIndex = cursor.getColumnIndex(filePathColumn[0]);
                imageEncoded  = cursor.getString(columnIndex);
                cursor.close();

            } else {
                if (data.getClipData() != null) {
                    ClipData mClipData = data.getClipData();
                    ArrayList<Uri> mArrayUri = new ArrayList<Uri>();
                    for (int i = 0; i < mClipData.getItemCount(); i++) {

                        ClipData.Item item = mClipData.getItemAt(i);
                        Uri uri = item.getUri();
                        mArrayUri.add(uri);
                        // Get the cursor
                        Cursor cursor = getContentResolver().query(uri, filePathColumn, null, null, null);
                        // Move to first row
                        cursor.moveToFirst();

                        int columnIndex = cursor.getColumnIndex(filePathColumn[0]);
                        imageEncoded  = cursor.getString(columnIndex);
                        imagesEncodedList.add(imageEncoded);
                        cursor.close();

                    }
                    Log.v("LOG_TAG", "Selected Images" + mArrayUri.size());
                }
            }
        } else {
            Toast.makeText(this, "You haven't picked Image",
                        Toast.LENGTH_LONG).show();
        }
    } catch (Exception e) {
        Toast.makeText(this, "Something went wrong", Toast.LENGTH_LONG)
                    .show();
    }

    super.onActivityResult(requestCode, resultCode, data);
}

NOTE THAT: the gallery doesn't give you the ability to select multi-images so we here open all images studio that you can select multi-images from them. and don't forget to add the permissions to your manifest

VERY IMPORTANT: getData(); to get one single image and I've stored it here in imageEncoded String if the user select multi-images then they should be stored in the list

So you have to check which is null to use the other

Wish you have a nice try and to others

A lot of these answers have similarities but are all missing the most important part which is in onActivityResult, check if data.getClipData is null before checking data.getData

The code to call the file chooser:

Intent intent = new Intent(Intent.ACTION_GET_CONTENT);
intent.setType("image/*"); //allows any image file type. Change * to specific extension to limit it
//**The following line is the important one!
intent.putExtra(Intent.EXTRA_ALLOW_MULTIPLE, true);
startActivityForResult(Intent.createChooser(intent, "Select Picture"), SELECT_PICTURES); //SELECT_PICTURES is simply a global int used to check the calling intent in onActivityResult

The code to get all of the images selected:

@Override
public void onActivityResult(int requestCode, int resultCode, Intent data) {
    super.onActivityResult(requestCode, resultCode, data);
    if(requestCode == SELECT_PICTURES) {
        if(resultCode == Activity.RESULT_OK) {
            if(data.getClipData() != null) {
                int count = data.getClipData().getItemCount(); //evaluate the count before the for loop --- otherwise, the count is evaluated every loop.
                for(int i = 0; i < count; i++) {
                    Uri imageUri = data.getClipData().getItemAt(i).getUri();
                    //do something with the image (save it to some directory or whatever you need to do with it here)
                } 
            }
        } else if(data.getData() != null) {
            String imagePath = data.getData().getPath();
            //do something with the image (save it to some directory or whatever you need to do with it here)
        }
    }
}

Note that Android's chooser has Photos and Gallery available on some devices. Photos allows multiple images to be selected. Gallery allows just one at a time.

I hope this answer isn't late. Because the gallery widget doesn't support multiple selection by default, but you can custom the gridview which accepted your multiselect intent. The other option is to extend the gallery view and add in your own code to allow multiple selection.
This is the simple library can do it: https://github.com/luminousman/MultipleImagePick

Update:
From @ilsy's comment, CustomGalleryActivity in this library use manageQuery, which is deprecated, so it should be changed to getContentResolver().query() and cursor.close() like this answer

Initialize instance:

private String imagePath;
private List<String> imagePathList;

In onActivityResult You have to write this, If-else 2 block. One for single image and another for multiple image.

if (requestCode == GALLERY_CODE && resultCode == RESULT_OK  && data != null) {

	imagePathList = new ArrayList<>();

	if (data.getClipData() != null) {

		int count = data.getClipData().getItemCount();
		for (int i=0; i<count; i++) {
			Uri imageUri = data.getClipData().getItemAt(i).getUri();
			getImageFilePath(imageUri);
		}
	}
	else if (data.getData() != null) {
		Uri imgUri = data.getData();
		getImageFilePath(imgUri);
	}
}

Most important part, Get Image Path from uri:

public void getImageFilePath(Uri uri) {

    File file = new File(uri.getPath());
    String[] filePath = file.getPath().split(":");
    String image_id = filePath[filePath.length - 1];

    Cursor cursor = getContentResolver().query(android.provider.MediaStore.Images.Media.EXTERNAL_CONTENT_URI, null, MediaStore.Images.Media._ID + " = ? ", new String[]{image_id}, null);
    if (cursor!=null) {
        cursor.moveToFirst();
        imagePath = cursor.getString(cursor.getColumnIndex(MediaStore.Images.Media.DATA));
        imagePathList.add(imagePath);
        cursor.close();
    }
}

Hope this can help you.

this works for multiple image selection. also tested in API 29,30 in Google photos.

private static final int PICK_IMAGE = 2;

Intent intent = new Intent(Intent.ACTION_PICK, 
    android.provider.MediaStore.Images.Media.EXTERNAL_CONTENT_URI);
                intent.putExtra(Intent.EXTRA_ALLOW_MULTIPLE, true);
                startActivityForResult(Intent.createChooser(intent, "Select 
    images"),PICK_IMAGE);

public void onActivityResult(int requestCode, int resultCode, Intent data) {
    super.onActivityResult(requestCode, resultCode, data);
if (requestCode == PICK_IMAGE && resultCode == RESULT_OK) {
        if(data.getClipData() != null) {
            int count = data.getClipData().getItemCount();
            for(int i = 0; i < count; i++) {
            Uri imageUri = data.getClipData().getItemAt(i).getUri();
            //do what do you want to do
            }
        }
        else if(data.getData() != null) {
            Uri selectedImageUri = data.getData();
            //do what do you want to do
        }
}

I got null from the Cursor. Then found a solution to convert the Uri into Bitmap that works perfectly.

Here is the solution that works for me:

@Override
public void onActivityResult(int requestCode, int resultCode, @Nullable Intent data) {
{

    if (resultCode == Activity.RESULT_OK) {

        if (requestCode == YOUR_REQUEST_CODE) {

            if (data != null) {

                if (data.getData() != null) {

                    Uri contentURI = data.getData();
                    ex_one.setImageURI(contentURI);

                    Log.d(TAG, "onActivityResult: " + contentURI.toString());
                    try {
                        
                        Bitmap bitmap = MediaStore.Images.Media.getBitmap(context.getContentResolver(), contentURI);

                    } catch (IOException e) {
                        e.printStackTrace();
                    }

                } else {

                    if (data.getClipData() != null) {
                        ClipData mClipData = data.getClipData();
                        ArrayList<Uri> mArrayUri = new ArrayList<Uri>();
                        for (int i = 0; i < mClipData.getItemCount(); i++) {

                            ClipData.Item item = mClipData.getItemAt(i);
                            Uri uri = item.getUri();
                            try {
                                Bitmap bitmap = MediaStore.Images.Media.getBitmap(context.getContentResolver(), uri);
                            } catch (IOException e) {
                                e.printStackTrace();
                            }

                        }
                    }

                }

            }

        }

    }

}

2022 - The Android Jetpack Compose way

For selecting multiple images in the gallery with Android Jetpack Compose.

val launcherMultipleImages = rememberLauncherForActivityResult(
    contract = ActivityResultContracts.GetMultipleContents(),
) { uriList: List<Uri> ->
    // TODO
}

And then use launcherMultipleImages.launch("image/*") to start the images selection.

For example :

Button(onClick = { launcherMultipleImages.launch("image/*") }) {
    Text(text = "Select images")
}

Hi below code is working fine.

 Cursor imagecursor1 = managedQuery(
    MediaStore.Images.Media.EXTERNAL_CONTENT_URI, columns, null,
    null, orderBy + " DESC");

   this.imageUrls = new ArrayList<String>();
  imageUrls.size();

   for (int i = 0; i < imagecursor1.getCount(); i++) {
   imagecursor1.moveToPosition(i);
   int dataColumnIndex = imagecursor1
     .getColumnIndex(MediaStore.Images.Media.DATA);
   imageUrls.add(imagecursor1.getString(dataColumnIndex));
  }

   options = new DisplayImageOptions.Builder()
  .showStubImage(R.drawable.stub_image)
  .showImageForEmptyUri(R.drawable.image_for_empty_url)
  .cacheInMemory().cacheOnDisc().build();

   imageAdapter = new ImageAdapter(this, imageUrls);

   gridView = (GridView) findViewById(R.id.PhoneImageGrid);
  gridView.setAdapter(imageAdapter);

You want to more clarifications. http://mylearnandroid.blogspot.in/2014/02/multiple-choose-custom-gallery.html

I also had the same issue. I also wanted so users could take photos easily while picking photos from the gallery. Couldn't find a native way of doing this therefore I decided to make an opensource project. It is much like MultipleImagePick but just better way of implementing it.

https://github.com/giljulio/android-multiple-image-picker

private static final RESULT_CODE_PICKER_IMAGES = 9000;


Intent intent = new Intent(this, SmartImagePicker.class);
startActivityForResult(intent, RESULT_CODE_PICKER_IMAGES);


@Override
public void onActivityResult(int requestCode, int resultCode, Intent data) {
    switch (requestCode){
        case RESULT_CODE_PICKER_IMAGES:
            if(resultCode == Activity.RESULT_OK){
                Parcelable[] parcelableUris = data.getParcelableArrayExtra(ImagePickerActivity.TAG_IMAGE_URI);

                //Java doesn't allow array casting, this is a little hack
                Uri[] uris = new Uri[parcelableUris.length];
                System.arraycopy(parcelableUris, 0, uris, 0, parcelableUris.length);

                //Do something with the uris array
            }
            break;

        default:
            super.onActivityResult(requestCode, resultCode, data);
            break;
    }
}

Try this one IntentChooser. Just add some lines of code, I did the rest for you.

private void startImageChooserActivity() {
    Intent intent = ImageChooserMaker.newChooser(MainActivity.this)
            .add(new ImageChooser(true))
            .create("Select Image");
    startActivityForResult(intent, REQUEST_IMAGE_CHOOSER);
}

@Override
protected void onActivityResult(int requestCode, int resultCode, Intent data) {
    super.onActivityResult(requestCode, resultCode, data);
    if (requestCode == REQUEST_IMAGE_CHOOSER && resultCode == RESULT_OK) {
        List<Uri> imageUris = ImageChooserMaker.getPickMultipleImageResultUris(this, data);
    }
}

PS: as mentioned at the answers above, EXTRA_ALLOW_MULTIPLE is only available for API >= 18. And some gallery apps don't make this feature available (Google Photos and Documents (com.android.documentsui) work.

     // for choosing multiple images declare variables
     int PICK_IMAGE_MULTIPLE = 2;
     String realImagePath;

     // After requesting FILE READ PERMISSION may be on button click
     Intent intent = new Intent();
     intent.setType("image/*");
     intent.putExtra(Intent.EXTRA_ALLOW_MULTIPLE, true);
     intent.setAction(Intent.ACTION_GET_CONTENT);
     startActivityForResult(Intent.createChooser(intent,"Select Images"), PICK_IMAGE_MULTIPLE);


    public void onActivityResult(int requestCode, int resultCode, Intent data) {
        super.onActivityResult(requestCode, resultCode, data);// FOR CHOOSING MULTIPLE IMAGES
        try {
            // When an Image is picked
            if (requestCode == PICK_IMAGE_MULTIPLE && resultCode == RESULT_OK
                    && null != data) {
                if (data.getClipData() != null) {
                    int count = data.getClipData().getItemCount(); //evaluate the count before the for loop --- otherwise, the count is evaluated every loop.
                    for (int i = 0; i < count; i++) {
                        Uri imageUri = data.getClipData().getItemAt(i).getUri();
                        realImagePath = getPath(this, imageUri);
                        //do something with the image (save it to some directory or whatever you need to do with it here)
                        Log.e("ImagePath", "onActivityResult: " + realImagePath);
                    }
                } else if (data.getData() != null) {
                    Uri imageUri = data.getData();
                    realImagePath = getPath(this, imageUri);
                    //do something with the image (save it to some directory or whatever you need to do with it here)
                    Log.e("ImagePath", "onActivityResult: " + realImagePath);
                }
            }
        } catch (Exception e) {
            Toast.makeText(this, "Something went wrong", Toast.LENGTH_LONG)
                    .show();
        }
    }
     

    public static String getPath(final Context context, final Uri uri) {
        // DocumentProvider
        if (DocumentsContract.isDocumentUri(context, uri)) {
            // ExternalStorageProvider
            if (isExternalStorageDocument(uri)) {
                final String docId = DocumentsContract.getDocumentId(uri);
                final String[] split = docId.split(":");
                final String type = split[0];
    
                if ("primary".equalsIgnoreCase(type)) {
                    return Environment.getExternalStorageDirectory() + "/" + split[1];
                }
    
                // TODO handle non-primary volumes
            }
            // DownloadsProvider
            else if (isDownloadsDocument(uri)) {
    
                final String id = DocumentsContract.getDocumentId(uri);
                final Uri contentUri = ContentUris.withAppendedId(
                        Uri.parse("content://downloads/public_downloads"), Long.parseLong(id));
    
                return getDataColumn(context, contentUri, null, null);
            }
            // MediaProvider
            else if (isMediaDocument(uri)) {
                final String docId = DocumentsContract.getDocumentId(uri);
                final String[] split = docId.split(":");
                final String type = split[0];
    
                Uri contentUri = null;
                if ("image".equals(type)) {
                    contentUri = MediaStore.Images.Media.EXTERNAL_CONTENT_URI;
                } else if ("video".equals(type)) {
                    contentUri = MediaStore.Video.Media.EXTERNAL_CONTENT_URI;
                } else if ("audio".equals(type)) {
                    contentUri = MediaStore.Audio.Media.EXTERNAL_CONTENT_URI;
                }
    
                final String selection = "_id=?";
                final String[] selectionArgs = new String[]{
                        split[1]
                };
    
                return getDataColumn(context, contentUri, selection, selectionArgs);
            }
        }
        // MediaStore (and general)
        else if ("content".equalsIgnoreCase(uri.getScheme())) {
            return getDataColumn(context, uri, null, null);
        }
        // File
        else if ("file".equalsIgnoreCase(uri.getScheme())) {
            return uri.getPath();
        }
    
        return null;
    }
    
    /**
     * Get the value of the data column for this Uri. This is useful for
     * MediaStore Uris, and other file-based ContentProviders.
     *
     * @param context       The context.
     * @param uri           The Uri to query.
     * @param selection     (Optional) Filter used in the query.
     * @param selectionArgs (Optional) Selection arguments used in the query.
     * @return The value of the _data column, which is typically a file path.
     */
    public static String getDataColumn(Context context, Uri uri, String selection,
                                       String[] selectionArgs) {
    
        Cursor cursor = null;
        final String column = "_data";
        final String[] projection = {
                column
        };
    
        try {
            cursor = context.getContentResolver().query(uri, projection, selection, selectionArgs,
                    null);
            if (cursor != null && cursor.moveToFirst()) {
                final int column_index = cursor.getColumnIndexOrThrow(column);
                return cursor.getString(column_index);
            }
        } finally {
            if (cursor != null)
                cursor.close();
        }
        return null;
    }
    
    
    /**
     * @param uri The Uri to check.
     * @return Whether the Uri authority is ExternalStorageProvider.
     */
    public static boolean isExternalStorageDocument(Uri uri) {
        return "com.android.externalstorage.documents".equals(uri.getAuthority());
    }
    
    /**
     * @param uri The Uri to check.
     * @return Whether the Uri authority is DownloadsProvider.
     */
    public static boolean isDownloadsDocument(Uri uri) {
        return "com.android.providers.downloads.documents".equals(uri.getAuthority());
    }
    
    /**
     * @param uri The Uri to check.
     * @return Whether the Uri authority is MediaProvider.
     */
    public static boolean isMediaDocument(Uri uri) {
        return "com.android.providers.media.documents".equals(uri.getAuthority());
    }

this worked perfectly for me credits: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/20067508/get-real-path-from-uri-android-kitkat-new-storage-access-framework/20559175#20559175

For selecting multiple image from gallery

i.putExtra(Intent.EXTRA_ALLOW_MULTIPLE,true);

An Ultimate Solution for multiple image upload with camera option also for Android Lollipop to Android 10, SDK 30.

private static final int FILECHOOSER_RESULTCODE   = 1;
private ValueCallback<Uri> mUploadMessage;
private ValueCallback<Uri[]> mUploadMessages;
private Uri mCapturedImageURI = null;

Add this to OnCreate of MainActivity

mWebView.setWebChromeClient(new WebChromeClient() {

            // openFileChooser for Android 3.0+

            public void openFileChooser(ValueCallback<Uri> uploadMsg, String acceptType){
                mUploadMessage = uploadMsg;
                openImageChooser();
            }

            // For Lollipop 5.0+ Devices

            public boolean onShowFileChooser(WebView mWebView, ValueCallback<Uri[]> filePathCallback, WebChromeClient.FileChooserParams fileChooserParams) {
                mUploadMessages = filePathCallback;
                openImageChooser();
                return true;
            }

            // openFileChooser for Android < 3.0

            public void openFileChooser(ValueCallback<Uri> uploadMsg){
                openFileChooser(uploadMsg, "");
            }

            //openFileChooser for other Android versions

            public void openFileChooser(ValueCallback<Uri> uploadMsg, String acceptType, String capture) {
                openFileChooser(uploadMsg, acceptType);
            }

private void openImageChooser() {
    try {
        File imageStorageDir = new File(Environment.getExternalStoragePublicDirectory(Environment.DIRECTORY_PICTURES), "FolderName");
        if (!imageStorageDir.exists()) {
            imageStorageDir.mkdirs();
        }
        File file = new File(imageStorageDir + File.separator + "IMG_" + String.valueOf(System.currentTimeMillis()) + ".jpg");
        mCapturedImageURI = Uri.fromFile(file);

        final Intent captureIntent = new Intent(MediaStore.ACTION_IMAGE_CAPTURE);
        captureIntent.putExtra(MediaStore.EXTRA_OUTPUT, mCapturedImageURI);

        Intent i = new Intent(Intent.ACTION_GET_CONTENT);
        i.addCategory(Intent.CATEGORY_OPENABLE);
        i.setType("image/*");
        i.putExtra(Intent.EXTRA_ALLOW_MULTIPLE,true);
        Intent chooserIntent = Intent.createChooser(i, "Image Chooser");
        chooserIntent.putExtra(Intent.EXTRA_INITIAL_INTENTS, new Parcelable[]{captureIntent});

        startActivityForResult(chooserIntent, FILECHOOSER_RESULTCODE);
    } catch (Exception e) {
        e.printStackTrace();
    }
}

        });

onActivityResult

public void onActivityResult(final int requestCode, final int resultCode, final Intent data) {


        super.onActivityResult(requestCode, resultCode, data);
        if (requestCode == FILECHOOSER_RESULTCODE) {

            if (null == mUploadMessage && null == mUploadMessages) {
                return;
            }

            if (null != mUploadMessage) {
                handleUploadMessage(requestCode, resultCode, data);

            } else if (mUploadMessages != null) {
                handleUploadMessages(requestCode, resultCode, data);
            }
        }





    }

    private void handleUploadMessage(final int requestCode, final int resultCode, final Intent data) {
        Uri result = null;
        try {
            if (resultCode != RESULT_OK) {
                result = null;
            } else {
                // retrieve from the private variable if the intent is null

                result = data == null ? mCapturedImageURI : data.getData();
            }
        } catch (Exception e) {
            e.printStackTrace();
        }
        mUploadMessage.onReceiveValue(result);
        mUploadMessage = null;

        // code for all versions except of Lollipop
        if (Build.VERSION.SDK_INT < Build.VERSION_CODES.LOLLIPOP) {

                result = null;

                try {
                    if (resultCode != RESULT_OK) {
                        result = null;
                    } else {
                        // retrieve from the private variable if the intent is null
                        result = data == null ? mCapturedImageURI : data.getData();
                    }
                } catch (Exception e) {
                    Toast.makeText(getApplicationContext(), "activity :" + e, Toast.LENGTH_LONG).show();
                }

                mUploadMessage.onReceiveValue(result);
                mUploadMessage = null;
            }

        } // end of code for all versions except of Lollipop






    private void handleUploadMessages(final int requestCode, final int resultCode, final Intent data) {
        Uri[] results = null;
        try {
            if (resultCode != RESULT_OK) {
                results = null;
            } else {
                if (data != null) {
                    String dataString = data.getDataString();
                    ClipData clipData = data.getClipData();
                    if (clipData != null) {
                        results = new Uri[clipData.getItemCount()];
                        for (int i = 0; i < clipData.getItemCount(); i++) {
                            ClipData.Item item = clipData.getItemAt(i);
                            results[i] = item.getUri();
                        }
                    }
                    if (dataString != null) {
                        results = new Uri[]{Uri.parse(dataString)};
                    }
                } else {
                    results = new Uri[]{mCapturedImageURI};
                }
            }
        } catch (Exception e) {
            e.printStackTrace();
        }
        mUploadMessages.onReceiveValue(results);
        mUploadMessages = null;
    }

For Multiple image selection and with selection limit restriction feature, use chintan369/MultiImagePicker library which is the latest of 2021 and supports Android 11 too. It is well documented and also demo is explained on youtube for use. It's very easy to add in the project, easy to use to call the library for image selection and getting results of selected images as Uri list and also you can request result list as absolute file path list.

Define getContent as below;

val getContent = 
registerForActivityResult(ActivityResultContracts.GetMultipleContents()) 
{ uriList ->
    // todo
}

after you grant related permission run the below code

getContent.launch("images/*")