Develop Reference

Start service periodically with AlarmManager

According to these examples: here and here, I was trying to create Service which starts periodically.
First I created Service:
public class MonitorService extends IntentService {
private static final String TAG = "MonitorService";
public MonitorService() {
super(TAG);
}
#Override
protected void onHandleIntent(Intent intent) {
Log.d("TAG", "Service method was fired.");
}
}
Next I created Receiver:
public class MyReceiver extends BroadcastReceiver {
private static final String TAG = "MyReceiver";
#Override
public void onReceive(Context context, Intent intent) {
Log.d(TAG, "MyReceiver on receive");
Intent i = new Intent(context, MonitorService.class);
context.startService(i);
}
}
I added starting method for this in MainActivity:
public void scheduleAlarm() {
Intent intent = new Intent(getApplicationContext(), MyReceiver.class);
final PendingIntent pIntent = PendingIntent.getBroadcast(this, 0,
intent, PendingIntent.FLAG_UPDATE_CURRENT);
long firstMillis = System.currentTimeMillis();
AlarmManager alarm = (AlarmManager) this.getSystemService(Context.ALARM_SERVICE);
// 1s is only for testing
alarm.setInexactRepeating(AlarmManager.RTC_WAKEUP, firstMillis, 1000, pIntent);
}
which is calling of course in onCreate method.
And I didn't forget to change AndroidManifest:
<receiver
android:name=".MyReceiver"
android:process=":remote" >
</receiver>
<service
android:name=".MonitorService"
android:exported="false" />
And unfortunately the result is that nothing happens in my logs.
So I have two questions.
QUESTION
How to solve issue with not starting service?
If I add scheduleAlarm method to onCreate it will be calling every time I start my application, what is the best way to start this method only for the first time application is started?
EDIT
According to #Lasse hints, I started debugging, and realized that Log.d is not working, when I changed it to Log.i, information from MonitorService was logged.
But... debugging is not stoping on breaking point in MyReceiver, and changing Log.d to Log.i there didn't help. Of course MonitorService is firing, weird thing.
Also time with 1000 ms results in firing service every minute, maybe it's minimum time, and changing to AlarmManager.INTERVAL now doesn't matter.
EDIT 2
Finally I'm getting logs from both service and receiver. I had tried many times and after that it is working, but I don't know why.
But with that another problem has appeared - I'm getting warning when my Service is running
W/art: Suspending all threads took: 21.787ms
I thought that Service is running background so it doesn't matter how long it is, should I concern about this warning?

Edited
Regarding the first question :
See this from the developer website
setInexactRepeating(), you have to use one of the AlarmManager interval constants--in this case, AlarmManager.INTERVAL_DAY.
So change your 1000 to use of of the constans
Regarding your other question you could override the application object and start it there. This way it is only called when launching the app.

Background process timer on android

I'm trying to get a process timer to run and keep it running in the background on android (starts with a button click).
The timer must be on 30 seconds and should even continue growing application in the background (with home button and power / screen off).
How can I do this? I tried with service and handler but not working ...
EDIT
My service tracking (process with 30 sec)
public class TrackingService extends IntentService {
private Handler mHandler;
private Runnable mRunnable;
public TrackingService() {
super("TrackingService");
}
public TrackingService(String name) {
super(name);
}
#Override
protected void onHandleIntent(Intent intent) {
long timer = 30000;
mHandler = new Handler();
mRunnable = new Runnable() {
#Override
public void run() {
//TODO - process with update timer for new 30 sec
mHandler.postDelayed(this, timer);
}
};
mHandler.postDelayed(mRunnable, timer);
}
}
My click button:
mButton.setOnClickListener(new View.OnClickListener() {
#Override
public void onClick(View v) {
//TODO - start first time and it continued every 30 seconds and continue in the background
startService(Intent intent = new Intent(this, TrackingService.class));
}
});

Ok, first of all, I really don't know if I got your question quite right.
But I think you want a timer that's being executed every 30 seconds ,if i'm not mistaken.
If so, do as following:
AlarmManager
Note: This class provides access to the system alarm services. These allow you to schedule your application to be run at some point in the future. When an alarm goes off, the Intent that had been registered for it is broadcast by the system, automatically starting the target application if it is not already running. Registered alarms are retained while the device is asleep (and can optionally wake the device up if they go off during that time), but will be cleared if it is turned off and rebooted.
Example:
in your onClick() register your timer:
int repeatTime = 30; //Repeat alarm time in seconds
AlarmManager processTimer = (AlarmManager)getSystemService(ALARM_SERVICE);
Intent intent = new Intent(this, processTimerReceiver.class);
PendingIntent pendingIntent = PendingIntent.getBroadcast(this, 0, intent, PendingIntent.FLAG_UPDATE_CURRENT);
//Repeat alarm every second
processTimer.setRepeating(AlarmManager.RTC_WAKEUP, System.currentTimeMillis(),repeatTime*1000, pendingIntent);
And your processTimerReceiver class:
//This is called every second (depends on repeatTime)
public class processTimerReceiver extends BroadcastReceiver{
#Override
public void onReceive(Context context, Intent intent) {
//Do something every 30 seconds
}
}
Don't forget to register your receiver in your Manifest.XML
<receiver android:name="processTimer" >
<intent-filter>
<action android:name="processTimerReceiver" >
</action>
</intent-filter>
</receiver>
If you ever want to cancel the alarm:
use this to do so:
//Cancel the alarm
Intent intent = new Intent(this, processTimerReceiver.class);
PendingIntent pendingIntent = PendingIntent.getBroadcast(this, 0, intent, 0);
AlarmManager alarmManager = (AlarmManager) getSystemService(ALARM_SERVICE);
alarmManager.cancel(pendingIntent);
Hope this helps you out.
PS: if this is not exactly what u want, please leave it in the comments, or if someone wants to edit this, please do so.

Oh god, don't ever use AlarmManager for 30s timers. It's kind of an overkill and also put a significant drain on device resources (battery, CPU...).
Perhaps you could try using a real background Service instead of IntentService as IntentService tends to shut itself down when it runs out of work. Not sure if this is the case here, but it's worth a try.

Using Alarm Manager to execute a task once

I am trying to execute an action once at a later time using AlarmManager. I followed the code and the question here and came up with this.
public class EmailAccountUpdater extends BroadcastReceiver
{
// Constructors
public void onReceive(Context context, Intent intent)
{
if (intent.getAction().equals(AccountManager.LOGIN_ACCOUNTS_CHANGED_ACTION))
{
Log.v("Test", " Step 1 - Creating the alarm " );
// Place holder
AlarmManager alarmManager = (AlarmManager) context.getSystemService(Context.ALARM_SERVICE);
Intent newIntent = new Intent("com.test.EMAIL_ACCOUNTS_CHANGED");
PendingIntent pendingIntent = PendingIntent.getBroadcast( context, 0, newIntent, PendingIntent.FLAG_CANCEL_CURRENT);
alarmManager.set( AlarmManager.RTC_WAKEUP, 35000, pendingIntent);
}
}
}
AlarmReceiver.java
public class AlarmReceiver extends BroadcastReceiver
{
// constructors
#Override
public void onReceive(Context context, Intent intent)
{
Log.v("Test","Step 2 - Alarm received");
if (intent.getAction().equals("com.test.EMAIL_ACCOUNTS_CHANGED"))
{
onAccountsUpdated();
}
}
public void onAccountsUpdated()
{
// do something
}
}
In the manifestManifest.xml
<receiver android:name="full.path.AlarmReceiver">
<intent-filter>
<action android:name="com.test.EMAIL_ACCOUNTS_CHANGED"/>
</intent-filter>
</receiver>
Basically what I wanted to do was to put the following in Placeholder (just below the first log statement).
Thread.sleep(35000);
onAccountsUpdated();
But according to this, it is not suggestible to use postDelayed and Thread.sleep in BroadcastReceiver. So I came up with this. What happens is I always get the Step 1 but never reach the step 2. What I am I doing wrong? Any help would be welcome.

The solution is (as per the thread you linked):
you want something to happen some time after the broadcast you can start a service, and that service wait the amount of time, or if the amount of time you want to wait is longer than a few seconds, you should just put the launch of this service in the AlarmManager and let the AlarmManager launch the service for you.
Your plan doesn't work because the context is destroyed after EmailAccountUpdater.onReceive returns.

How to run a service every day at noon, and on every boot

In my app I have SQLite database that has one table with date rows in milliseconds. I would like to have a notification shown every day IF 30 days has passed since the last date value stored in my database. A service seems to be a good way to accomplish this check up.
I ran into Commonsware's WakefulIntentService and thought it could be the answer but I really don't know how should I implement it. In the demo it starts a service after 5 minutes since boot is complete which is just fine but what do I need to add to get it also start at every noon. (... but only to show one notification / day, not both, as from boot and regular daily check up)
I know this could be solved using AlarmManager but really don't know how. So, the help I need is to give me some samples / key points to get the service start on every boot and/or every day without app running.
thanks

Android alarmmanager is your answer. use it with a broadcast receiver which also resets the alarms on phone wake.
Now with code example:
Setting alarm inside a method:
Intent intent = new Intent(context, AlarmReceiver.class);
intent.setAction("packagename.ACTION");
PendingIntent pendingIntent = PendingIntent.getBroadcast(context,
0, intent, PendingIntent.FLAG_CANCEL_CURRENT);
Calendar calendar = Calendar.getInstance();
calendar.setTimeInMillis(System.currentTimeMillis());
AlarmManager alarm = (AlarmManager) context.getSystemService(Context.ALARM_SERVICE);
alarm.cancel(pendingIntent);
alarm.setRepeating(AlarmManager.RTC_WAKEUP, calendar.getTimeInMillis(), AlarmManager.INTERVAL_DAY, pendingIntent);
Receiver for your interval:
public class AlarmReceiver extends BroadcastReceiver {
private final String SOMEACTION = "packagename.ACTION"; //packagename is com.whatever.www
#Override
public void onReceive(Context context, Intent intent) {
Time now = new Time();
now.setToNow();
String time = FileHandler.timeFormat(now);
String action = intent.getAction();
if(SOMEACTION.equals(action)) {
// here you call a service etc.
}
Receiver for resetting alarms whenever phone has been shut down.
public class AlarmSetter extends BroadcastReceiver {
#Override
public void onReceive(Context context, Intent intent) {
// get preferences
SharedPreferences preferences = context.getSharedPreferences("name_of_your_pref", 0);
Map<String, ?> scheduleData = preferences.getAll();
// set the schedule time
if(scheduleData.containsKey("fromHour") && scheduleData.containsKey("toHour")) {
int fromHour = (Integer) scheduleData.get("fromHour");
int fromMinute = (Integer) scheduleData.get("fromMinute");
int toHour = (Integer) scheduleData.get("toHour");
int toMinute = (Integer) scheduleData.get("toMinute");
//Do some action
}
}
}
Manifest very important, this is added under application:
<receiver android:name="AlarmReceiver">
<intent-filter>
<action android:name="packagename.ACTION"/>
<action android:name="packagename.ACTION2"/>
</intent-filter>
</receiver>
<receiver android:name="AlarmSetter" >
<intent-filter>
<action
android:name="android.intent.action.BOOT_COMPLETED" />
</intent-filter>
</receiver>
Also in order for this to work you need to add permission to receive the boot Broadcast in the manifest with following line:
<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.RECEIVE_BOOT_COMPLETED" />
Hope this cleared things up, if any errors plz tell.
Edit (added alarmsetter example):
public class AlarmSetter extends BroadcastReceiver {
#Override
public void onReceive(Context context, Intent intent) {
// Do your stuff
}
}

This answer seems pretty old.
Now, I would totally recommend people to check out SyncAdapter framework provided by Google.
It is custom made for such things.
Here's the link: https://developer.android.com/training/sync-adapters/index.html

In the demo it starts a service after 5 minutes since boot is complete which is just fine but what do I need to add to get it also start at every noon.
Change the initial time of the setRepeating() call. The example shows one minute from now -- you would need to do the calculations to determine when the next noon is.
You can see an example of that sort of calculation in this OnBootReceiver from a different sample project. Here, I am setting up the alarm to go off every day at a user-specified time.

Alarm Manager Reliability

I've been struggling with this problem for days. I've also checked the documentation and several topics but didn't find any solution / explanation.
I am testing my application on LG p500 but I did a few test on Droid too and I get the same result.
My application uses AlarmHandler to schedule alarm. The application works correctly on the emulator and also on the device until the device has enough free memory.
When I start several other applications on the device and the memory is low the alarm will not fire anymore. As soon as I stop the "other" application the alarm works fine again.
Let me report the test and the result.
I set an alarm on my application 10 minute later.
I start several application (browser, google map, gmail, K9Mail,....)
I start the catlog to see the log of my application
Wait 15 minute without working on the phone
After 10 minutes the alarm should be fired but nothing happen until I wakeup my phone pressing a button
When I wake-up my phone the alarm immediatly fires and all the notificatin happen.
I stop the "other" application I previously started (browser, google map,...)
Set again an alarm 10 minute later
I start the catlog to see the log of my application
Wait without working on the phone
10 minutes later the alarm fires and I get notified.
I did this test several time and I get the same result.
Then I tried to set an alarm using the "Catch" application I previously downloaded from the market and I get the same behaviour so it looks like this is not a problem of my application.
Looking at the log of my application I do not see any error / exception but it looks like that when the system is low on memory something happen and the broadcast receiver does not start until the phone is waked up throught the keyboard. As soon as I wake-up the phone the receiver start and all the notification happen.
Here the code I used:
The Receiver:
public class NotificationReceiver extends BroadcastReceiver
{
public static final String LOG_TAG = "YAAS - Notification Receiver";
#Override
public void onReceive(Context context, Intent intent)
{
ScheduleActivityService.acquireStaticLock(context);
Log.i(LOG_TAG, "Received alarm - id: " + intent.getIntExtra("id", -1));
Intent intent2 = new Intent(context, ScheduleActivityService.class);
intent2.putExtra("id", intent.getIntExtra("id", -1));
context.startService(intent2);
}
}
The Service
public class ScheduleActivityService extends Service
{
public static final String LOCK_NAME_STATIC="it.hp.yaas.AppService.Static";
public static final String LOG_TAG = "YAAS - ActivityService";
private static PowerManager.WakeLock lockStatic = null;
private final IBinder mBinder = new LocalBinder();
public class LocalBinder extends Binder
{
public ScheduleActivityService getService()
{
return ScheduleActivityService.this;
}
}
#Override
public IBinder onBind(Intent intent)
{
return mBinder;
}
public static void acquireStaticLock(Context context) {
getLock(context).acquire();
}
synchronized private static PowerManager.WakeLock getLock(Context context)
{
if (lockStatic == null)
{
PowerManager mgr = (PowerManager)context.getSystemService(Context.POWER_SERVICE);
lockStatic = mgr.newWakeLock(PowerManager.PARTIAL_WAKE_LOCK, LOCK_NAME_STATIC);
lockStatic.setReferenceCounted(true);
}
return(lockStatic);
}
/**
* This method is called when an alarm fires that is its alarm time is reached.
* The system assume that the alarm fired match the alarm time of the first
* activity.
* #param intent intent fired
* #param flag
* #param startId
*/
#Override
public int onStartCommand(Intent intent, int flag, int startId)
{
super.onStartCommand(intent, flag, startId);
try {
Log.i(LOG_TAG, "Alarm fired: " + startId + " - id: " + intent.getIntExtra("id", -1));
AlarmHandler.getInstance().onAlarmFired(intent.getIntExtra("id", -1));
}
finally { getLock(this).release(); }
return START_STICKY;
}
#Override
public void onDestroy()
{
super.onDestroy();
Log.i(LOG_TAG, "Destroy");
}
}
An piece of code from AlarmHandler, the routine called to schedule the alarm:
public synchronized void onAlarmFired(int alarmId)
{
scheduledAlarmId = -1;
Alarm alarmFired = pop();
if (alarmFired == null) return;
Log.i(LOG_TAG, "onAlarmFired (Alarm: " + alarmFired + ") at (time: " + Utilities.convertDate(new Date(), "HH:mm:ss") + ")");
notifyAlarmListener(alarmFired);
if (alarmFired.reschedule(null) != null) add(alarmFired);
Alarm alarm = peek();
if (alarm != null && scheduledAlarmId != alarm.getId()) scheduleEvent(alarm);
}
/**
* Schedule an alarm through AlarmManager that trigger next activity notification
* #param alarm alarm to be scheduled
*/
private void scheduleEvent(Alarm alarm)
{
Log.i(LOG_TAG, "scheduleEvent - (Alarm: " + alarm + ")");
Intent intent = new Intent(context, NotificationReceiver.class);
intent.putExtra("id", alarm.getId());
// In reality, you would want to have a static variable for the request code instead of 192837
PendingIntent sender = PendingIntent.getBroadcast(context, 192837, intent, PendingIntent.FLAG_UPDATE_CURRENT);
// Get the AlarmManager service
AlarmManager am = (AlarmManager)context.getSystemService(Context.ALARM_SERVICE);
am.set(AlarmManager.RTC_WAKEUP, alarm.getTime().getTime(), sender);
scheduledAlarmId = alarm.getId();
}
And finally this is a piece of Manifest file:
<activity android:name=".ListActivity"
android:label="#string/app_name">
<intent-filter>
<action android:name="android.intent.action.MAIN" />
<category android:name="android.intent.category.LAUNCHER" />
</intent-filter>
</activity>
<activity android:name=".EditActivity"/>
<activity android:name=".SettingsActivity"/>
<service android:name="ScheduleActivityService"
android:label="YAAS Service"/>
<receiver android:name="NotificationReceiver" />

Are you sure your process doesn't get killed when you start all those applications? If it does, the alarms you set will die with it. It's not exactly clear who and when schedules the alarm in your code, but if it's the service, since it's sticky, it will eventually gets re-started, and you will get an alarm at some point (when you wake the device).
An easy way to check what alarms are registered at different points of your testing:
# adb shell dumpsys alarm

My code is very similar to yours on an alarm app that I wrote and use regularly. I haven't been able to reproduce the problem that you describe. I can't seem to get my phone to a state of extremely low memory. I opened every app I have installed and still have 260M free on my HTC Rezound.
As a safeguard in my app I used alarmmanager.setRepeating() instead of .set(). I set the repeat interval to 20 seconds. I passed the alarm ID as an intent extra just as you have. When my service starts it immediately cancels the pending intent using the alarm ID. My logic here is that if for any reason my alarm fails it will continue to try every 20 seconds until it succeeds.

In your code is AlarmManager.set(), which is not guaranteed to fire at the time you specify. It may fire 30 minutes or even 6 hours later, which I've seen happen on devices like the Xiaomi POCO F1.
Instead use AlarmManager.setExact() to schedule your code to run at a specific time.
Android 12 introduces an exact alarms permisison. If you don't want to deal with that, you can instead use AlarmManager.setWindow() with a small window like 15 minutes.