Android13, SYSTEM_ALERT_WINDOW permission not checked in BroadcastReceiver - android

I want to show a floating view when the user gets a phone call or a text message. But overlay permission check in broadcastReceiver returns false with built apk on Android 13.
I use BroadcastReceiver with RxWorker (more than 12) and Service (less than 12) to get a caller information. In Worker or Service, when you success to get a information, you call WindowManager.addview(mView). When the app is first launched, the user has already granted the permission to draw overlays.
<receiver
android:name=".receiver.PhoneCallReceiver"
android:enabled="true"
android:exported="true">
<intent-filter>
<action android:name="android.intent.action.PHONE_STATE" />
</intent-filter>
</receiver>
In this receiver, I check SYSTEM_ALERT_WINDOW permission by using Settings.canDrawOverlays(context).
When I run this in Android Studio, it works well. However, permission is not checked when built with apk only on Android 13. Returns false even though you have permission. Sometimes, an error occurs when calling addView within Worker even if the permission is correctly confirmed on the broadcast!
"android.view.WindowManager$BadTokenException: Unable to add window
android.view.ViewRootImpl$W#7c33a48 -- permission denied for window
type 2038"
<receiver
android:name=".receiver.MessageReceiver"
android:enabled="true"
android:exported="true"
android:permission="android.permission.BROADCAST_SMS">
<intent-filter>
<action android:name="android.provider.Telephony.SMS_RECEIVED" />
</intent-filter>
</receiver>
When receiving a phone call or text message, WindowManager.addView is called within the same worker, but the view is normally displayed when receiving a text message, and there is no permission when receiving a phone call. For your information, I'm testing with Samsung Galaxy S21.
Is there any solution?

Asking permission when a call is received harms the user experience, but I tested it with reference to Fazle Rabbi's answer. Since the context within the broadcast is not an activity context, a separate activity was created to request permission. (The code has been modified. Check to allow permissions with Settings.canDrawOverlays() instead of comparing with result.resultCode.)
#RequiresApi(Build.VERSION_CODES.R)
class PermissionActivity : AppCompatActivity() {
private val requestOverlayPermission = registerForActivityResult(
ActivityResultContracts.StartActivityForResult()
) {
if (Settings.canDrawOverlays(this)) {
//Permission granted
/*
do something
*/
} else {
//Permission denied
}
finish()
}
override fun onCreate(savedInstanceState: Bundle?) {
super.onCreate(savedInstanceState)
setContentView(R.layout.activity_pemission)
val intent = Intent(Settings.ACTION_MANAGE_OVERLAY_PERMISSION)
intent.data = Uri.parse("package:$packageName")
requestOverlayPermission.launch(intent)
}
}
In BroadcastReceiver,
if (!Settings.canDrawOverlays(ctx)) {
val i = Intent(ctx,PermissionActivity::class.java)
i.addFlags(Intent.FLAG_ACTIVITY_NEW_TASK)
ctx.startActivity(i)
return
}
Settings.canDrawOverlays returns false and goes to the Permission Request page whenever BroadcastReceiver is called, even if the app's settings confirm that it has overlay privileges. In addition, permissions are still disabled on the moved overlay permission request page.
It's really weird.
Funny how it's normal when it's running on Android studio. It is well confirmed that there is also permission. This only happens when executed with the built APK On Android 13! The problem seems to occur not only on one particular device, but on most Samsung phones updated with Android 13.
Did I miss anything?

It's an issue only with Android 13 Samsung phones.
I also contacted Samsung about the issue. And they replied:
they have SamsungRestrictOverlayProcessor. and Overlay-related permissions are temporarily disabled during calls for applications that have not been installed through an official store (Play store / Galaxy store) or ADB
so you need to distribute and test your application through proper stores.
I hope this was helpful to you.

Related

Can't get permission BIND_NOTIFICATION_LISTENER_SERVICE for NotificationListenerService

I created an app and added a java class that extend `NotificationListenerService'.
Everything should work fine, but I just can't get to permission BIND_NOTIFICATION_LISTENER_SERVICE.
I added it on the manifest, but when I check for the permission with:
if (ContextCompat.checkSelfPermission(this,
Manifest.permission.BIND_NOTIFICATION_LISTENER_SERVICE)
!= PackageManager.PERMISSION_GRANTED)
{
Log.d(TAG, "permission denied");
}
else
Log.d(TAG, "permission granted");
but I keep getting permission denied. I know that this permission isn't a "dangerous permission" so I don't have to ask for it from the user.
In the manifest I declared this:
<service android:name=".PcNotification"
android:label="PCNotificationService"
android:permission="android.permission.BIND_NOTIFICATION_LISTENER_SERVICE">
<intent-filter>
<action android:name="android.service.notification.NotificationListenerService" />
</intent-filter>
</service>
and it still doesn't work.
I also implemented the function onListenerConnected but it never called, so it means that my service never gets connected to the notification manager, probably because I don't have the permission BIND_NOTIFICATION_LISTENER_SERVICE
I just want to know how to grant this permission to my app.
I just can't get to permission BIND_NOTIFICATION_LISTENER_SERVICE
You do not need to request that permission. You need to defend your service with that permission. You are doing that in the <service> element via the android:permission attribute.
I know that this permission isn't a "dangerous permission" so I don't have to ask for it from the user.
Then get rid of the code that is requesting it from the user. It is unnecessary, and it will not work.
This should be the literal answer to the original question.
Nevertheless, if you need the method below, you misunderstood the use of such services (as did I). You should not launch your notification listener yourself, you should simply test if your service is running, and if not, then you already know that the permission was not granted, and you can point the user to the preferences panel at android.settings.ACTION_NOTIFICATION_LISTENER_SETTINGS.
Add this method to your NotificationListenerClass, and it will return true if the permission is granted, false if not:
public Boolean VerifyNotificationPermission() {
String theList = android.provider.Settings.Secure.getString(getContentResolver(), "enabled_notification_listeners");
String[] theListList = theList.split(":");
String me = (new ComponentName(this, YourNotificationListenerClass.class)).flattenToString();
for ( String next : theListList ) {
if ( me.equals(next) ) return true;
}
return false;
}
The string "enabled_notification_listeners" seems to be defined under the hood in Settings.Secure.ENABLED_NOTIFICATION_LISTENERS, but I cannot resolve that, so I use the perhaps not so well maintainable literal string. If anyone knows how to get it by its reference, please add it / edit!
This specific permission must be granted manually by the user in android Settings, after that your service will be executed as you bound the permission to your service in AndroidManifest.xml with this:
<service android:name=".PcNotification"
android:label="PCNotificationService"
android:permission="android.permission.BIND_NOTIFICATION_LISTENER_SERVICE">
<intent-filter>
<action android:name="android.service.notification.NotificationListenerService" />
</intent-filter>
</service>
The problem is that most users won't know where to grant this permission (e.g inside android Settings), so you can open it for them with this:
startActivity(new Intent("android.settings.ACTION_NOTIFICATION_LISTENER_SETTINGS"));
You can run this when the user interacts with your app - e.g clicking a button - and ideally you explain why you need this permission.
I find particularly nice to have a card with the explanation and a button to open the settings so the user can enable.

ContextCompat.checkSelfPermission() returns PERMISSION_DENIED although Permission is granted

I'm trying to get the BIND_NOTIFICATION_LISTENER_SERVICE permission granted by the user.
To do that I'm opening the settings app at the correct spot using:
Intent intent = new Intent(Settings.ACTION_NOTIFICATION_LISTENER_SETTINGS);
startActivity(intent);
What's kinda weird here already is that the Settings are opened twice(if you press the back button once, the same settings screen opens again)
However, in onResume() I then check if the permission has been granted using:
if(ContextCompat.checkSelfPermission(context,Manifest.permission.BIND_NOTIFICATION_LISTENER_SERVICE)== PackageManager.PERMISSION_GRANTED){
//open next activity
}
And now here is the issue: It doesn't matter if the user granted the permission in the settings, because checkSelfPermission() always returns PERMISSION_DENIED.
And now it gets really weird: my NotificationListenerService is instantiated, bound and fully working although the permission hasn't been granted according to checkSelfPermission().
How am I supposed to know if the user granted the permission?
Permission and Service declaration in my Manifest:
<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.BIND_NOTIFICATION_LISTENER_SERVICE" />
<application>
<service
android:name=".service.NotificationListener"
android:directBootAware="true"
android:permission="android.permission.BIND_NOTIFICATION_LISTENER_SERVICE">
<intent-filter>
<action android:name="android.service.notification.NotificationListenerService" />
</intent-filter>
</service>
</application>
My NotificationListenerService:
public class NotificationListener extends NotificationListenerService {
private static final String TAG = NotificationListener.class.getSimpleName();
#Override
public void onNotificationPosted(StatusBarNotification sbn) {
super.onNotificationPosted(sbn);
Log.d(TAG, "onNotificationPosted: "+sbn.getNotification().tickerText + " ;" + sbn.getPackageName());
}
}
What I already tried:
Different devices and API levels (including emulators) -> Everywhere the same issue
PermissionChecker.checkSelfPermission (I don't know what's the difference compared to ContextCompat.checkSelfPermission(), but it returns the same result)
Android Bug Tracker -> no known issues
According to documentation permission BIND_NOTIFICATION_LISTENER_SERVICE has:
Protection level: signature
This means, that only system applications can have it and use it. Asking for permissions by the way you defined is possible only, when the permission has:
Protection level: dangerous
If your app is not a system app and you have not rooted the device to have the possibility to install custom ROM on it with you custom certificate (your app must be signed with it, too), then you just can't get this permission.

How to lock uninstalling an application with a password? [duplicate]

First of all, I have researched a lot about my issue, but I could not find a proper solution so I am posting my query here. Hope to get a better solution to the issue:
I have a requirement where I need to ask for password to the user before user deletes my app from settings or from any other application like MyAppSharer. I have found one solution where I can successfully be able to call my activity when user clicks on Uninstall button. I have applied trick here, and calling service. In service, I run timer which runs every 1 second and in that one second, it checks for top most activity of running task. This is running perfectly as per expected.
Now, my issue is, this activity apppears on each of application user tries to uninstall. I need that the activity which I call, should only appear for my application when user tries to uninstall my application.
Here is my code:
public static final String PACKAGE_INSTALLER = "com.android.packageinstaller";
public static final String PACKAGE_INSTALLER_UNINSTALL_ACTIVITY = "com.android.packageinstaller.UninstallerActivity";
alarmTimer.scheduleAtFixedRate(new TimerTask() {
public void run() {
mActivityManager = (ActivityManager) getSystemService(Context.ACTIVITY_SERVICE);;
ComponentName topActivity = mActivityManager.getRunningTasks(1).get(0).topActivity;
final String packageName = topActivity.getPackageName();
String className = topActivity.getClassName();
Log.v(TAG, "packageName:" + packageName);
Log.v(TAG, "className:" + className);
if (PACKAGE_INSTALLER.equals(packageName)
&& PACKAGE_INSTALLER_UNINSTALL_ACTIVITY.equals(className)) {
//Here I need to apply one condition where package name received to be matched with my package name. But I am not sure how to fetch package name of selected application for uninstalling
//To Cancel Existing UninstallerActivity and redirect user to home.
Intent homeIntent = new Intent();
homeIntent.setAction(Intent.ACTION_MAIN);
homeIntent.setFlags(Intent.FLAG_ACTIVITY_NEW_TASK
| Intent.FLAG_ACTIVITY_CLEAR_TOP | Intent.FLAG_ACTIVITY_SINGLE_TOP);
homeIntent.addCategory(Intent.CATEGORY_HOME);
startActivity(homeIntent);
//To open my activity
Intent loginActivity = new Intent(UninstallService.this, Act_Login.class);
loginActivity.putExtra(Constants.KEY_IS_FROM_SERVICE, true);
loginActivity.addFlags(Intent.FLAG_ACTIVITY_NEW_TASK);
startActivity(loginActivity);
}
}
}, 0, 1000);
you should try something like the following :
1st - declare your broadcast recevier in the Manifest file , that will listen to QUERY_PACKAGE_RESTART :
<receiver android:name=".UninstallReceiver">
<intent-filter android:priority="999999">
<action android:name="android.intent.action.QUERY_PACKAGE_RESTART" />
<data android:scheme="package" />
</intent-filter>
</receiver>
2nd - your UnunstallIntentReceiver java class like the following :
public class UninstallReceiver extends BroadcastReceiver{
#Override
public void onReceive(Context context, Intent intent) {
// fetching package names from extras
String[] packageNames = intent.getStringArrayExtra("android.intent.extra.PACKAGES");
if(packageNames!=null){
for(String packageName: packageNames){
if(packageName!=null && packageName.equals("application_package")){
// start your activity here and ask the user for the password
}
}
}
}
}
and please give me some feedback
Hope That Helps.
If this is a corporate requirement (if you want to block a regular user from uninstalling your app, no chance, thanks Google for protecting us from bad devs), you should create a device administrator application. This way, although the user still can delete the app, it's one extra step if you want to prevent accidental erasing.
Before deleting your app, if it's enabled as device admin, the user must first disable the app as administrator, and the app receives this broadcast.
In your XML, put
<activity android:name=".app.DeviceAdminSample"
android:label="#string/activity_sample_device_admin">
<intent-filter>
<action android:name="android.intent.action.MAIN" />
<category android:name="android.intent.category.SAMPLE_CODE" />
</intent-filter>
</activity>
<receiver android:name=".app.DeviceAdminSample$DeviceAdminSampleReceiver"
android:label="#string/sample_device_admin"
android:description="#string/sample_device_admin_description"
android:permission="android.permission.BIND_DEVICE_ADMIN">
<meta-data android:name="android.app.device_admin"
android:resource="#xml/device_admin_sample" />
<intent-filter>
<action android:name="android.app.action.DEVICE_ADMIN_ENABLED" />
</intent-filter>
</receiver>
In the receiver, you have at least two methods worth noticing:
#Override
public CharSequence onDisableRequested(Context context, Intent intent) {
…
}
#Override
public void onDisabled(Context context, Intent intent) {
…
}
This way you know the user is potentially going to erase your app.
Complete guide for device administration is at https://developer.android.com/guide/topics/admin/device-admin.html
If you have root permissions make your app system (remove your apk-file from /data to /system directories). Then reboot device. After reboot your app is not available to delete by user (not superuser).
The only way i see, is to provide your own uninstaller as part of your app (= an activity that lists all apps and allows to uninstall them). Your service could then check if your app was the one that started the packageinstaller and if not redirect the user.
It is not possible (at least on the Android 4.4 I tested with) to grab the uninstaller activity data without root or being a system app. This is because the uninstaller is not called as an independent task, but as an activity on the stack of the starting task (which is the Settings app when uninstalling from settings, etc). You can only see the Task details of the calling task.
However there might be some really dirty possibility left, that i didn't test to the end: You could register the hidden interface IThumbnailReceiver [1] with the hidden three argument version of ActivityManager.getRunningTasks [2]. It seems like only the GET_TASKS permission is needed to grab a thumbnail (see [3]). It should be possible to find out which app is going to be removed from the app thumbnail... - But as this solution uses hidden APIs, there is no guarantee that it will work with older/newer/vendored Android versions.
https://github.com/omnirom/android_frameworks_base/blob/android-4.4/core/java/android/app/IThumbnailReceiver.aidl
https://github.com/omnirom/android_frameworks_base/blob/android-4.4/core/java/android/app/ActivityManager.java#L766
https://github.com/omnirom/android_frameworks_base/blob/android-4.4/services/java/com/android/server/am/ActivityManagerService.java#L6725

Ask for password before uninstalling application

First of all, I have researched a lot about my issue, but I could not find a proper solution so I am posting my query here. Hope to get a better solution to the issue:
I have a requirement where I need to ask for password to the user before user deletes my app from settings or from any other application like MyAppSharer. I have found one solution where I can successfully be able to call my activity when user clicks on Uninstall button. I have applied trick here, and calling service. In service, I run timer which runs every 1 second and in that one second, it checks for top most activity of running task. This is running perfectly as per expected.
Now, my issue is, this activity apppears on each of application user tries to uninstall. I need that the activity which I call, should only appear for my application when user tries to uninstall my application.
Here is my code:
public static final String PACKAGE_INSTALLER = "com.android.packageinstaller";
public static final String PACKAGE_INSTALLER_UNINSTALL_ACTIVITY = "com.android.packageinstaller.UninstallerActivity";
alarmTimer.scheduleAtFixedRate(new TimerTask() {
public void run() {
mActivityManager = (ActivityManager) getSystemService(Context.ACTIVITY_SERVICE);;
ComponentName topActivity = mActivityManager.getRunningTasks(1).get(0).topActivity;
final String packageName = topActivity.getPackageName();
String className = topActivity.getClassName();
Log.v(TAG, "packageName:" + packageName);
Log.v(TAG, "className:" + className);
if (PACKAGE_INSTALLER.equals(packageName)
&& PACKAGE_INSTALLER_UNINSTALL_ACTIVITY.equals(className)) {
//Here I need to apply one condition where package name received to be matched with my package name. But I am not sure how to fetch package name of selected application for uninstalling
//To Cancel Existing UninstallerActivity and redirect user to home.
Intent homeIntent = new Intent();
homeIntent.setAction(Intent.ACTION_MAIN);
homeIntent.setFlags(Intent.FLAG_ACTIVITY_NEW_TASK
| Intent.FLAG_ACTIVITY_CLEAR_TOP | Intent.FLAG_ACTIVITY_SINGLE_TOP);
homeIntent.addCategory(Intent.CATEGORY_HOME);
startActivity(homeIntent);
//To open my activity
Intent loginActivity = new Intent(UninstallService.this, Act_Login.class);
loginActivity.putExtra(Constants.KEY_IS_FROM_SERVICE, true);
loginActivity.addFlags(Intent.FLAG_ACTIVITY_NEW_TASK);
startActivity(loginActivity);
}
}
}, 0, 1000);
you should try something like the following :
1st - declare your broadcast recevier in the Manifest file , that will listen to QUERY_PACKAGE_RESTART :
<receiver android:name=".UninstallReceiver">
<intent-filter android:priority="999999">
<action android:name="android.intent.action.QUERY_PACKAGE_RESTART" />
<data android:scheme="package" />
</intent-filter>
</receiver>
2nd - your UnunstallIntentReceiver java class like the following :
public class UninstallReceiver extends BroadcastReceiver{
#Override
public void onReceive(Context context, Intent intent) {
// fetching package names from extras
String[] packageNames = intent.getStringArrayExtra("android.intent.extra.PACKAGES");
if(packageNames!=null){
for(String packageName: packageNames){
if(packageName!=null && packageName.equals("application_package")){
// start your activity here and ask the user for the password
}
}
}
}
}
and please give me some feedback
Hope That Helps.
If this is a corporate requirement (if you want to block a regular user from uninstalling your app, no chance, thanks Google for protecting us from bad devs), you should create a device administrator application. This way, although the user still can delete the app, it's one extra step if you want to prevent accidental erasing.
Before deleting your app, if it's enabled as device admin, the user must first disable the app as administrator, and the app receives this broadcast.
In your XML, put
<activity android:name=".app.DeviceAdminSample"
android:label="#string/activity_sample_device_admin">
<intent-filter>
<action android:name="android.intent.action.MAIN" />
<category android:name="android.intent.category.SAMPLE_CODE" />
</intent-filter>
</activity>
<receiver android:name=".app.DeviceAdminSample$DeviceAdminSampleReceiver"
android:label="#string/sample_device_admin"
android:description="#string/sample_device_admin_description"
android:permission="android.permission.BIND_DEVICE_ADMIN">
<meta-data android:name="android.app.device_admin"
android:resource="#xml/device_admin_sample" />
<intent-filter>
<action android:name="android.app.action.DEVICE_ADMIN_ENABLED" />
</intent-filter>
</receiver>
In the receiver, you have at least two methods worth noticing:
#Override
public CharSequence onDisableRequested(Context context, Intent intent) {
…
}
#Override
public void onDisabled(Context context, Intent intent) {
…
}
This way you know the user is potentially going to erase your app.
Complete guide for device administration is at https://developer.android.com/guide/topics/admin/device-admin.html
If you have root permissions make your app system (remove your apk-file from /data to /system directories). Then reboot device. After reboot your app is not available to delete by user (not superuser).
The only way i see, is to provide your own uninstaller as part of your app (= an activity that lists all apps and allows to uninstall them). Your service could then check if your app was the one that started the packageinstaller and if not redirect the user.
It is not possible (at least on the Android 4.4 I tested with) to grab the uninstaller activity data without root or being a system app. This is because the uninstaller is not called as an independent task, but as an activity on the stack of the starting task (which is the Settings app when uninstalling from settings, etc). You can only see the Task details of the calling task.
However there might be some really dirty possibility left, that i didn't test to the end: You could register the hidden interface IThumbnailReceiver [1] with the hidden three argument version of ActivityManager.getRunningTasks [2]. It seems like only the GET_TASKS permission is needed to grab a thumbnail (see [3]). It should be possible to find out which app is going to be removed from the app thumbnail... - But as this solution uses hidden APIs, there is no guarantee that it will work with older/newer/vendored Android versions.
https://github.com/omnirom/android_frameworks_base/blob/android-4.4/core/java/android/app/IThumbnailReceiver.aidl
https://github.com/omnirom/android_frameworks_base/blob/android-4.4/core/java/android/app/ActivityManager.java#L766
https://github.com/omnirom/android_frameworks_base/blob/android-4.4/services/java/com/android/server/am/ActivityManagerService.java#L6725

Android Application onCreate not called for homescreen launcher app during reboot

I am having a strange problem in an Android application that I am building, the application is basically a Homescreen replacement app which will be put as a default homescreen in a device. To do some initialization work I have extended Android Application class and in the onCreate() method I am basically registering some observer and starting a service, here's the code:
public class MyApplication extends Application implements ExternalStorageListener {
private ExternalStorageObserver externalStorageObserver;
public void onCreate() {
Log.i("MyApplication", "Starting application");
super.onCreate();
externalStorageObserver = new ExternalStorageObserver(this);
if(externalStorageObserver.isExternalStorageAvailable()) {
// this builds a list of files present in the SD card
// which is being used through the application to do
// some work
buildData();
File externalFileDir = getApplicationContext().getExternalFilesDir(null);
if(externalFileDir != null && externalFileDir.isDirectory()) {
// do something...
}
}
//Register listener to observe external storage state
registerExternalStorageObserver();
Log.i("SyncService", "Starting sync service...");
ComponentName cmp = startService(new Intent(getApplicationContext(), SyncService.class));
Log.i("SyncService", cmp.toString());
}
private void registerExternalStorageObserver() {
IntentFilter filter = new IntentFilter();
filter.addAction(Intent.ACTION_MEDIA_MOUNTED);
filter.addAction(Intent.ACTION_MEDIA_REMOVED);
registerReceiver(externalStorageObserver, filter);
}
private void buildData() {
// builds a list
}
}
Content of Manifest file:
<application android:persistent="true" android:icon="#drawable/icon"
android:label="#string/app_name" android:name="com.webgyani.android.MyApplication"
android:debuggable="true">
<activity android:name=".HomeTabActivity" android:launchMode="singleInstance"
android:stateNotNeeded="true" android:theme="#style/LightTabsTheme"
android:screenOrientation="landscape" android:label="#string/app_name">
<intent-filter>
<action android:name="android.intent.action.MAIN" />
<category android:name="android.intent.category.HOME" />
<category android:name="android.intent.category.DEFAULT" />
</intent-filter>
</activity>
</application>
This works fine when I install the app either using Eclipse or manually installing the apk onto the device. Once the app is installed things work fine, I mean the above onCreate() method gets called and service is also started normally, but if I reboot the device this time the onCreate() method does not get called(none of the log statements appear and also the services are not started). After some debugging I noticed that this only happens if I set my app as the default launcher/homescreen app and thereafter reboots the device, because once you set the app as the default launcher, Android should automatically launch your app as the homescreen after reboot. In my case the app is launched but that code is not executed.
I tried to use debugger but that didn't work because when I reboot the device the debugger gets disconnected and by the time USB debugging gets enabled my app is already started.
I even double checked the Logcat but didn't see any error. I thought of having a BOOT_COMPLETED intent to initialize that part, but that will require some code refactoring which I am not willing to do at this point of time unless there is a solution.
So I am curious to know that whether this is a standard behavior, or is there a known bug which causes this, because my assumption is the onCreate method of the Application will always get called whenever the app is started. I have tried whatever I could since morning, but nothing worked, couldn't pinpoint the issue, if any of you could shed some light into this then that would be highly appreciated.
Thanks
Well, finally I figured out the problem, and it was in my code itself. I initially suspected that the MyApplication's onCreate() method was not getting called, I had that assumption because I was not able to see any logs. To know whether the method is getting called or not, instead of using Log.i() I was also appending some additional log messages in an ArrayList and printing them later, this revealed that the methods were indeed getting called and even the Service was instantiating properly but the data or filelist is not being populated because the SDCard was not ready by that time. I am also pretty sure that the logs were not available on Logcat due to the fact that the USB debugger becomes ready after my app is started(as it's a homescreen app).
The actual problem becomes obvious when you see that my overridden MyApplication class implements a listener called ExternalStorageListener which basically extends BroadcastReceiver, I have created that class to receive SDCard related Intents for example ACTION_MEDIA_MOUNTED, ACTION_MEDIA_REMOVED to rebuild the data(file list). In my case the ExternalStorageListener class was not receiving the Intents because I forgot to add this filter.addDataScheme("file") in the registerExternalStorageObserver method above in the code sample.
I do agree that my question was based on a false assumption and the code example I posted it's kind of hard to figure out the actual issue. I am not sure what to do with the question whether to mark this as answer or leave it as it is.

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