What is proper usage of requestCellInfoUpdate()? - android

Utilizing onSignalStrengthsChanged, getAllCellInfo(), and related methods, my app monitors cell signal data and displays the results in realtime. My code works very well when targeting API 28 and lower, automatically refreshing the data as it changes. Targeting API 29 results in some Android 10 devices failing to update the data -- but not all.
I discovered TelephonyManager.requestCellInfoUpdate() was added to API 29, which may(?) be needed to resolve this issue. However, I have been unable to find any information about this method beyond the concise definition on the Android Reference. Does this method need to be used to refresh cell info? Are any code samples or further explanations available?
If that method is not relevant, is there another change in API 29 that could cause this behavior? ACCESS_FINE_LOCATION is confirmed to be granted, which appears to be the only other relevant API change.

I have noticed the same behaviour targeting Android 10 (API Level 29). The only workaround I have found is to regularly poll the API and look for changes.
Example code below:
Timer timer = new Timer();
timer.scheduleAtFixedRate(new TimerTask() {
#Override
public void run() {
tm.requestCellInfoUpdate(minThreadExecutor, new TelephonyManager.CellInfoCallback() {
#Override
public void onCellInfo(#NonNull List<CellInfo> list) {
//Extract needed data
}
});
}
}, 1000, 1000 );

Reading the docs there is a mention of this in the getAllCellInfo() documentation.
Apps targeting Android Q or higher will no longer trigger a refresh of the cached CellInfo by invoking this API. Instead, those apps will receive the latest cached results, which may not be current. Apps targeting Android Q or higher that wish to request updated CellInfo should call requestCellInfoUpdate(); however, in all cases, updates will be rate-limited and are not guaranteed. To determine the recency of CellInfo data, callers should check CellInfo#getTimeStamp().
So the preference is if you are targeting Android Q or higher, you should be opting for requestCellInfoUpdate()

// 1. Create a TelephonyManager instance
telephonyManager = (TelephonyManager) this.getSystemService(Context.TELEPHONY_SERVICE);
// 2. Define a CellInfoCallback callback
TelephonyManager.CellInfoCallback cellInfoCallback = new TelephonyManager.CellInfoCallback() {
#Override
public void onCellInfo(List<CellInfo> cellInfo) {
// DO SOMETHING
}
}
// 3. Now you can call the method to DO SOMETHING
telephonyManager.requestCellInfoUpdate(this.getMainExecutor(), cellInfoCallback);

Related

Checking multi window support

I've a problem with checking is device supports Mutli Window Mode. I'm using this function to check it isInMultiWindowMode() but it've added in API 24, and when i'm runs my app on device with lower api version it cause an exception. There is any replacement for this function for lower api versions?
There is any replacement for this function for lower api versions?
Not in the Android SDK. There is no multi-window mode (from the Android SDK's standpoint) prior to API Level 23. And, for whatever reason, Google elected not to add isInMultiWindowMode() to ActivityCompat, perhaps because they cannot support the corresponding event (onMultiWindowModeChanged()).
So, here's a free replacement method:
public static boolean isInMultiWindowMode(Activity a) {
if (Build.VERSION.SDK_INT <= Build.VERSION_CODES.M) {
return false;
}
return a.isInMultiWindowMode();
}
Add that to some utility class somewhere and call it as needed.
Also note that isInMultiWindowMode() suffers from a race condition that makes it unreliable, IMHO.
What #CommonsWare explained is true, it is a race condition. Hence, isInMultiWindowMode() will give actual result if you call it from inside post method:
View yourView = findViewById(R.id.yourViewId);
yourView.post(new Runnable() {
#Override
public void run() {
boolean actualResult = isInMultiWindowMode();
}
});

Detecting Mock Location Not Working (Android)

I'm trying to set some protection against people using mock locations to manipulate my app. I realise that it's impossible to prevent 100%... I'm just trying to do what I can.
The app uses Google location services (part of play services) in its main activity.
The onLocationChanged() method is:
public void onLocationChanged(Location location) {
this.mCurrentLocation = location;
if (Build.VERSION.SDK_INT > 17 && mCurrentLocation.isFromMockProvider()) {
Log.i(TAG, "QQ Location is MOCK");
// TODO: add code to stop app
// otherwise, currently, location will never be updated and app will never start
} else {
Double LAT = mCurrentLocation.getLatitude();
Double LON = mCurrentLocation.getLongitude();
if ((LAT.doubleValue() > 33.309171) || (LAT.doubleValue() < 33.226442) || (LON.doubleValue() < -90.790165) || (LON.doubleValue() > -90.707081)) {
buildAlertMessageOutOfBounds();
} else if (waiting4FirstLocationUpdate) {
Log.i(TAG, "YYY onLocationChanged() determines this is the FIRST update.");
waiting4FirstLocationUpdate = false;
setContentView(R.layout.activity_main);
startDisplayingLists();
}
}
}
The location services work perfectly and all is well with the app in general, but when I run the app in an emulator with Android Studio (Nexus One API 23), and I set the location using extended controls (mock), the app just continues to work as normal, and so it seems that the condition:
if (Build.VERSION.SDK_INT > 17 && mCurrentLocation.isFromMockProvider())
Is returning false.
This doesn't make any sense to me. Does anyone know why this would happen?
Thanks!
The short answer: .isFromMockProvider is unreliable. Some fake locations are not properly detected as such.
I have spent an extensive amount of time researching this and written a detailed blog post about it.
I also spent time to find a solution to reliably suppress mock locations across all recent/relevant Android versions and made a utility class, called the LocationAssistant, that does the job.
In a nutshell (using the aforementioned LocationAssistant):
Set up permissions in your manifest and Google Play Services in your gradle file.
Copy the file LocationAssistant.java to your project.
In the onCreate() method of your Activity, instantiate a LocationAssistant with the desired parameters. For example, to receive high-accuracy location updates roughly every 5 seconds and reject mock locations, call new LocationAssistant(this, this, LocationAssistant.Accuracy.HIGH, 5000, false). The last argument specifies that mock locations shouldn't be allowed.
Start/stop the assistant with your Activity and notify it of permission/location settings changes (see the documentation for details).
Enjoy location updates in onNewLocationAvailable(Location location). If you chose to reject mock locations, the callback is only invoked with non-mock locations.
There are some more methods to implement, but essentially this is it. Obviously, there are some ways to get around mock provider detection with rooted devices, but on stock, non-rooted devices the rejection should work reliably.

PhoneStateListener - what can I expect from onCellInfoChanged?

I posted this on Android dev group. I'm hoping I can get some feedback here.
The PhoneStateListener's callbacks onCellLocationChanged and onSignalStrengthsChanged were the goto methods for when I wanted to handle cell and signal data changes in GSM and CDMA. With API 17+, I can see that there's a new callback (onCellInfoChanged) for handling both cell and signal changes.
Looking at the documentation, it's not clear what I can expect from the introduction of this new callback.
Will LTE changes always and only trigger onCellInfoChanged?
Will GSM/CDMA changed remain on the older callbacks?
Does one overlap with the other? (i.e. Both old and new get triggered for LTE or GSM/CDMA.)
It may very well be that different OEMs will have different implementations (sigh!), but I'm hoping there are guidelines that everyone's supposed to follow.
Can anyone shed some light on this?
Thanks,
Sebouh
I didn't test if but it looks from the code that both will be called.
I downloaded code source of Android 4.3(API 18) using the SDK Manager.
The following observations made me think that both would be called.
The class that triggers these events is: com.android.server.TelephonyRegistry
It notifies the listener though:
public void listen(String pkgForDebug, IPhoneStateListener callback, int events, boolean notifyNow)
This same function calls for both type of notifications(Location and CellInfo) in a non exclusive way.
On line 256:
if (validateEventsAndUserLocked(r, PhoneStateListener.LISTEN_CELL_LOCATION)) {
try {
if (DBG_LOC) Slog.d(TAG, "listen: mCellLocation=" + mCellLocation);
r.callback.onCellLocationChanged(new Bundle(mCellLocation));
} catch (RemoteException ex) {
remove(r.binder);
}
}
This one will call onCellLocationChanged even on new LTE phone since there is nothing from the above code that would prevent this. This needs double checking that there is no upper layer that filters the events themselves
On line 300 in the same code:
if (validateEventsAndUserLocked(r, PhoneStateListener.LISTEN_CELL_INFO)) {
try {
if (DBG_LOC) Slog.d(TAG, "listen: mCellInfo=" + mCellInfo);
r.callback.onCellInfoChanged(mCellInfo);
} catch (RemoteException ex) {
remove(r.binder);
}
}
There are other things from the code that look like CDMA will be calling the newer API. For example com.android.internal.telephony.cdma.CdmaLteServiceStateTracker seems to be dealing with CDMA and LTE. Again it would require a more careful look but that should give you a good place to start.
You can also try to simulate that with the emulator.

What if I want to release an update with higher minSDK than the one on the market?

I have released an app on the market with minSDK set to 4 (Android 1.6) but now I want to release an update with features unavailable in 1.6 so I need a higher minSDK.
So, my question is: Will users running 1.6 be notified of this update?...and if yes will they be able to download/install it?
No they shouldn't be notified of the update. The market will filter the application out all together and they will no longer be able to see it or receive updates.
If you want to add features that use a higher api level but not exclude user's of a lower api level you can use some reflection to enable this:
public static Method getExternalFilesDir;
try {
Class<?> partypes[] = new Class[1];
partypes[0] = String.class;
getExternalFilesDir = Context.class.getMethod("getExternalFilesDir", partypes);
} catch (NoSuchMethodException e) {
Log.e(TAG, "getExternalFilesDir isn't available in this devices api");
}
This piece of code is saying:
Within the Context.class have I got this method
getExternalFilesDir (API level 9)
If so instantiate the variable getExternalFilesDir as a reflective call to this method else leave it as null.
Then later on you can simply do
// If the user's device is API9 or above
if(getExternalFilesDir != null){
// Invoke is basically the same as doing Context.getExternalFilesDir(var1, var2);
getExternalFilesDir.invoke(variable1, variable2);
} else {
// User cannot use this method do something else
}
Hope that helps

How to call "isInitialStickyBroadcast()" and avoid problems on 1.6?

isInitialStickyBroadcast() is obviously only available after 2.0 (SDK 5).
I'm getting this error:
"Uncaught handler: thread main exiting due to uncaught exception
java.lang.VerifyError"
It's only happening on 1.6. Android 2.0 and up doesn't have any problems, but that's the main point of all.
I can't catch the Error/Exception (java.lang.VerifyError), and I know it's being caused by calling isInitialStickyBroadcast() which is not available in SDK 4, that's why it's wrapped in the SDK check.
I just need this BroadcastReceiver to work on 2.0+ and not break in 1.6, it's an app in the market, the UNDOCK feature is needed for users on 2.0+ but obviously not in 1.6 but there is a fairly substantial number of users still on 1.6.
Here's an easy-to-read version of part of the code I'm using. Notice that it's wrapped in an SDK check to only run on 2.0+, but the VerifyError is still showing up.
private BroadcastReceiver mUndockedReceiver = new BroadcastReceiver()
{
#Override
public void onReceive(Context context, Intent intent)
{
//FROM ECLAIR FORWARD, BEFORE DONUT THIS INTENT WAS NOT IMPLEMENTED
if (Build.VERSION.SDK_INT >= 5)
{
if (!isInitialStickyBroadcast()) {
//Using constant instead of Intent.EXTRA_DOCK_STATE to avoid problems in older SDK versions
int dockState = intent.getExtras().getInt("android.intent.extra.DOCK_STATE", 1);
if (dockState == 0)
{
finish();
}
}
}
}
};
Your problem is that while you would not be executing isInitialStickyBroadcast(), the classloader attempts to resolve all methods when the class is loaded, so your SDK 4 devices fail at that point, since there is no isInitialStickyBroadcast().
You have two main options:
Use reflection.
Create two editions of your BroadcastReceiver, as public classes in their own files. One has the SDK 4 logic, one has the SDK 5+ logic. Register the one you want based on an SDK check at the time you call registerReceiver().

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