I have a receiver which fires when boot is completes, using inter filter android.intent.action.BOOT_COMPLETED.
The problem is, when the user installs the app, i want this event to be fired. Without the user having to reboot the device. What is the best way to do this?
You cannot do this. In fact, the user must start your app manually at least 1 time before BOOT_COMPLETED will ever get delivered to your app. This is done by the framework to prevent apps from installing things which sit in the background without the user's knowledge.
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I'm guessing this is a really rookie question, so I'm hoping someone can steer me in the right direction quickly & easily.
I have an app that receives GCM messages. The code that contains the GcmListenerService-derived class is located within my app. Because of this, the user MUST run my app after starting their phone in order for my listener to start listening (verified by restarting my phone, sending a test from Postman, and NOT getting the message / notification until I launch my app).
Do I need to create some type of service or something that will allow my app to get new GCM messages, even after restarting the phone (and not launching the app)?
Thanks!
Yes. You will need a broadcast receiver which listens on the BOOT_COMPLETED broadcast message and launches the push notification service. However, you still have to start the app once to register the receiver. It will also not work if the user force quit the app. There are some approaches, which also will restart the app automatically if the user killed the app, but I think it is a bad practice. In some circumstances the user wants to stop the app and keep it closed.
I'm developing an application that uses a Bound Service to query information from a server and provide notifications when conditions are met. At the moment, the user must execute the application from their home screen in order to begin receiving updates. But, for example, applications like the Facebook Messenger and Llama run from the moment the phone starts in the background. How do I achieve similar functionality for my long-term application? Also, even when my application is run from the home screen, it will still ocationally quit in the background from what I assume to be the system quitting the application for additional resources. Even though my application is made to restore the service when it begins again, it never seems to restart after it quits (usually after 3 to 4 hours of background activity).
Thanks for your help.
You can register a BroadcastReceiver for the ACTION_BOOT_COMPLETED Intent to detect when the device is booted. This requires the RECEIVE_BOOT_COMPLETED permission.
Instead of using a bound Service you can use a started sticky Service. However, depending on what exactly you want to do, you might want to check if AlarmManager suits your requirements better (maybe in combination with an IntentService, cf. cwac-wakeful).
I have a question concerning the BOOT_COMPLETED event.
I need a service to be running at all time (done via AlarmManager) but I wonder if I have to start the service manually the first time the application is installed as the BOOT_COMPLETED event is sent only after the device is restarted. How is this commonly handled, it seems like no one is having this problem, am I getting something wrong here?
the user should be the one deciding on if the service is running or not when its first installed and not you, so yes it should be started manually when they launch the app for the first time
If a declare a BroadcastReceiver in AndroidManifest.xml, the reciever works, as it should, even on device boot when my application hasn't started yet, but if I force my app to stop from Settings the receiver seems to break down too.
Can it be that "Force stop" in Android 2.2 also makes some cleanup after the application (including BroadcastReceivers or maybe alarms set by the app in AlarmManager which should broadcast the intents I receive)?
By the way, how can I see in Eclipse all broadcasts being sent in the device?
Psycho,
Force Stop should not be used to attempt to test your app from a "non-running" state. I would say the behavior is "undefined" at best. It is not uncommon that after using Force Stop on an app, that you must manually restart it to get ANY of its usability back (including BroadcastReceiver). If your app is able to receive BroadcastReceiverevents including the BOOT_COMPLETE Broadcast than you shouldn't really need to test it further.
I believe the intended purpose of Force Stop was to completely stop an annoying app's functionality. If an app is running in the background often because its receiving a lot of broadcasts and restarting, wouldn't you think Force Stop should prevent that behavior until the app is manually restarted by the user?
Also, I don't believe there is a way to view Broadcast events from Eclipse.
In eclipse there is no way to see the "broadcast is sent"
Also If you have registered the Broadcast in manifest for which you want to receive the event then system will call onReceived method
I have Some Alarms set via AlarmManager to do some periodic jobs.
I set/reset them when user opens the app for the first time & on every boot_complete event.
But when the app is reinstalled via ADB then my alarms do not fire anymore. looks like the OS deletes the Alarms on reinstall of the app. I assume this will happen if the user updates the app from the market also.
If I can receive a broadcast or some sort of callback in the event of reinstall/upgrade etc of my application, I can set the alarms again. but i don't know if it is possible or how?
Can someone please help me out.
Yes, this is possible.
You can create a broadcast receiver that listens for any PACKAGE_* events the system sends, but you won't receive them for your own application except for when your application is being upgraded — you'll get PACKAGE_REMOVED followed soon after by PACKAGE_REPLACED.