I have searched everywhere but I couldn't find my answer, is there a way to make a simple HTTP request? I want to request a PHP page / script on one of my websites but I don't want to show the webpage.

If possible I even want to do it in the background (in a BroadcastReceiver)

UPDATE

This is a very old answer. I definitely won't recommend Apache's client anymore. Instead use either:

• Retrofit
• OkHttp
• Volley
• HttpUrlConnection

Original Answer

First of all, request a permission to access network, add following to your manifest:

<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.INTERNET" />

Then the easiest way is to use Apache http client bundled with Android:

    HttpClient httpclient = new DefaultHttpClient();
    HttpResponse response = httpclient.execute(new HttpGet(URL));
    StatusLine statusLine = response.getStatusLine();
    if(statusLine.getStatusCode() == HttpStatus.SC_OK){
        ByteArrayOutputStream out = new ByteArrayOutputStream();
        response.getEntity().writeTo(out);
        String responseString = out.toString();
        out.close();
        //..more logic
    } else{
        //Closes the connection.
        response.getEntity().getContent().close();
        throw new IOException(statusLine.getReasonPhrase());
    }

If you want it to run on separate thread I'd recommend extending AsyncTask:

class RequestTask extends AsyncTask<String, String, String>{

    @Override
    protected String doInBackground(String... uri) {
        HttpClient httpclient = new DefaultHttpClient();
        HttpResponse response;
        String responseString = null;
        try {
            response = httpclient.execute(new HttpGet(uri[0]));
            StatusLine statusLine = response.getStatusLine();
            if(statusLine.getStatusCode() == HttpStatus.SC_OK){
                ByteArrayOutputStream out = new ByteArrayOutputStream();
                response.getEntity().writeTo(out);
                responseString = out.toString();
                out.close();
            } else{
                //Closes the connection.
                response.getEntity().getContent().close();
                throw new IOException(statusLine.getReasonPhrase());
            }
        } catch (ClientProtocolException e) {
            //TODO Handle problems..
        } catch (IOException e) {
            //TODO Handle problems..
        }
        return responseString;
    }
    
    @Override
    protected void onPostExecute(String result) {
        super.onPostExecute(result);
        //Do anything with response..
    }
}

You then can make a request by:

   new RequestTask().execute("http://stackoverflow.com");