Develop Reference

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.

Boot Receiver having multiple task working strangely

My app needs to do some background task after boot completed and also in sleep mode.
So I'm using WakefulIntentService to avoid flow problem in sleep mode and it works well.
But when I'm trying to use the boot receiver for continuing data flow after boot completed it gives some strange error and also not working sometimes.
Here is my Boot Receiver class where I am trying to do multiple task.
public class OnBootReceiver extends BroadcastReceiver {
private static final int SERVICE_PERIOD = 300000; // 5 minutes currently
// private static final int HANDLER_PERIOD = 300000 * 12; // 1 hour
// currently
private static final String TAG = "OnBoot";
private Context mContext;
private int mInterval = 1000 * 60 * 60 * 2; // 2 hours by default, can be
// changed later
private Handler mHandler;
#Override
public void onReceive(Context context, Intent intent) {
mContext = context;
AlarmManager mgr = (AlarmManager) context.getSystemService(Context.ALARM_SERVICE);
Intent i = new Intent(context, OnServiceReceiver.class);
PendingIntent pi = PendingIntent.getBroadcast(context, 0, i, 0);
mgr.setRepeating(AlarmManager.ELAPSED_REALTIME_WAKEUP,
SystemClock.elapsedRealtime() + 60000, SERVICE_PERIOD, pi);
mHandler = new Handler();
startRepeatingTask();
}
Runnable mStatusChecker = new Runnable() {
#SuppressWarnings("unchecked")
#Override
public void run() {
SharedPreferences mSharedPreferences = mContext
.getSharedPreferences(KEY_USER_ID, 0);
String UserId = mSharedPreferences.getString(KEY_USER_ID, "0");
new SyncValidater(mContext, UserId).execute();
mHandler.postDelayed(mStatusChecker, mInterval);
}
};
void startRepeatingTask() {
mStatusChecker.run();
}
void stopRepeatingTask() {
mHandler.removeCallbacks(mStatusChecker);
}
}
In this class I have written two tasks. the first one is starting another broadcast receiver which starts the wakeful service(same as github example). And the second one starts one handler which starts one AsyncTask class to do some server transaction in every two hours. But sometimes the handler starts in random time and sometimes stop.
So here I'm confusing that is my app requires two boot receivers ?
is there any other option to do these multiple tasks in the current receiver ?
please help. Thanks

And the second one starts one handler which starts one AsyncTask class to do some server transaction in every two hours
No, your second task will run once and probably never again, because your process is terminated in the meantime.
So here I'm confusing that is my app requires two boot receivers ?
No.
is there any other option to do these multiple tasks in the current receiver ?
Use two AlarmManager events, each with their own period. One is your current AlarmManager event. The other is one you create in support of your every-two-hour work to be done.

BroadcastReceiver and PostDelay

In my activity I have a private BroadcastReceiver, when triggered, should update the UI after some ms. In my Activity I have:
private BroadcastReceiver broadCastReceiver = new BroadcastReceiver() {
#Override
public void onReceive(Context context, Intent intent) {
Log.e("BroadCastReciever: ", "UpdateCaseList");
update.RefreshCaseList();
}
};
This BroadcastReceiver is beeing triggered from a Service:
#Override
public void onCreate() {
super.onCreate();
intent = new Intent(BROADCAST_ACTION);
}
#Override
public void onStart(Intent intent, int startId) {
handler.removeCallbacks(sendUpdatesToUI);
handler.postDelayed(sendUpdatesToUI, 0);
}
private Runnable sendUpdatesToUI = new Runnable() {
public void run() {
handler.postDelayed(this, 10000); // 10 seconds
sendUpdateToUiThread();
}
};
private void sendUpdateToUiThread() {
sendBroadcast(intent);
}
I guess that the onStart method is being called when I Register BroadcastReceiver in my OnResume() method. I also unregister the BroadcastReceiver in onPause.
My intention is that this should sent a notification to the Activity, every 10 seconds. Once I start the application, my service will notify the Activity every 10 seconds, as planned. The problem is when I leave the Activity and return back, it doesn't post a notification to the activity every 10 seconds, but just at a random time. I can see in LogCat that this randomness spamming occurs every 4, 6, 3, 8, 6 seconds and so on. Why on earth this behaviour?

According to postDelayed documentation
the Runnable is called after millisecods elapsed and
Time spent in deep sleep will add an additional delay to execution.
So some randomness is by design. So I would expect the Runnable called after more than 10000 ms in your case.

What kind of Service do I need? Custom IntentService?

I'm designing my first Android app.
This app consist in several Runnable that do some stuff. Initially I made this Runnable to be execute by a Thread (a Thread for each Runnable). Each Runnable is also Observable, so it can notify changes to Activity. User click on a start button, one or more Runnable starts, them do their job notifying gui during execution and then stops. All works fine.
First question: Is that approach the right one? In order to answer this question please keep reading.
I need two other things in my app:
to be sure that execution of my jobs doesn't stops, even if user goes away from my app to do something else;
to plan the execution of my Runnable that has to start and execute in background. Example: user decides that wants a "job" to be execute everyday at 16:00.
I've seen that I can do that with an AlarmManager and Service.
Second question: I need a Service that can manage several Runnable asynchronously, so when AlarmManager starts I ask this Service to do the requested job; I'll also modify the first part of application: instead of Thread I'll use this Service, so I can be sure that execution doesn't stop.
What kind of Service I need? IntentService can do this job?
It's right to proceed in this way? There is a better solution?
Can you give me some example of how I can implement all that?
I hope that I explained clearly my situation, otherwise I'll try to do it better.
Regards

First question: Is that approach the right one?
No, you should implement and run your Runnables in Threads in a Service.
An IntentService would be your best option if you don't require your Service to handle multiple requests simultaneously. If you start a Service it will keep running in the background even if the Activity that started it goes to the background or stops.
A Runnables can send a broadcast indicating a UI update is needed. The Activity should register a BroadcastReceiver to listen to the broadcast message and update the UI accordingly.
You can use an AlarmManager to schedule the execution of your jobs as you indicated. One way to do it is to schedule the AlarmManager to send a broadcast to be received by your IntentService which acts upon it by running the appropriate job.
Here is an example that combines all that:
Here is the IntentService
public class MyIntentService extends IntentService {
public static final String ACTION_START_JOB = "com.mycompany.myapplication.START_JOB";
public static final String ACTION_UPDATE_UI = "com.mycompany.myapplication.UPDATE_UI";
private final IBinder mBinder = new MyBinder();
// You can have as many Runnables as you want.
Runnable run = new Runnable() {
#Override
public void run() {
// Code to run in this Runnable.
// If the code needs to notify an Activity
// for a UI update, it will send a broadcast.
Intent intent = new Intent(ACTION_UPDATE_UI);
sendBroadcast(intent);
}
};
public MyIntentService() {
super("MyIntentService");
}
#Override
public void onCreate() {
// You need to register your BroadcastReceiver to listen
// to broadcasts made by the AlarmManager.
// The BroadcastReceiver will fire up your jobs when these
// broadcasts are received.
IntentFilter filter = new IntentFilter(ACTION_START_JOB);
registerReceiver(jobBroadcastReceiver, filter);
}
#Override
public void onDestroy() {
// You should unregister the BroadcastReceiver when
// the Service is destroyed because it's not needed
// any more.
unregisterReceiver(jobBroadcastReceiver);
}
/**
* This method is called every time you start this service from your
* Activity. You can Spawn as many threads with Runnables as you want here.
* Keep in mind that your system have limited resources though.
*/
#Override
protected void onHandleIntent(Intent intent) {
Intent intentFireUp = new Intent();
intentFireUp.setAction(ACTION_START_JOB);
PendingIntent pendingIntentFireUpRecording = PendingIntent
.getBroadcast(MyIntentService.this, 0, intentFireUp, 0);
AlarmManager alarm = (AlarmManager) getSystemService(Context.ALARM_SERVICE);
Calendar cal = Calendar.getInstance();
int year = 2013, month = 5, day = 10, hourOfDay = 7, minute = 13, second = 0;
cal.set(year, month, day, hourOfDay, minute, second);
long startTime = cal.getTimeInMillis() + 5 * 60 * 1000; // starts 5
// minutes from
// now
long intervalMillis = 24 * 60 * 60 * 1000; // Repeat interval is 24
// hours (in milliseconds)
// This alarm will send a broadcast with the ACTION_START_JOB action
// daily
// starting at the given date above.
alarm.setRepeating(AlarmManager.RTC_WAKEUP, startTime, intervalMillis,
pendingIntentFireUpRecording);
// Here we spawn one Thread with a Runnable.
// You can spawn as many threads as you want.
// Don't overload your system though.
new Thread(run).run();
}
#Override
public IBinder onBind(Intent intent) {
return mBinder;
}
// Depending on your implementation, you may need to bind
// to this Service to run one of its methods or access
// some of its fields. In that case, you will need a Binder
// like this one.
public class MyBinder extends Binder {
MyIntentService getService() {
return MyIntentService.this;
}
}
// Spawns a Thread with Runnable run when a broadcast message is received.
// You may need different BroadcastReceivers that fire up different jobs.
BroadcastReceiver jobBroadcastReceiver = new BroadcastReceiver() {
#Override
public void onReceive(Context context, Intent intent) {
new Thread(run).run();
}
};
}
And here is the Activity
public class MyActivity extends Activity {
Service mService;
boolean mBound = false;
ToggleButton mButton;
#Override
protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
setContentView(R.layout.activity_main);
mButton = (ToggleButton) findViewById(R.id.recordStartStop);
mButton.setOnClickListener(new OnClickListener() {
public void onClick(View v) {
if (mButton.isChecked()) {
Intent intent = new Intent(MyActivity.this,
MyIntentService.class);
startService(intent);
}
}
});
}
#Override
protected void onStart() {
super.onStart();
}
#Override
protected void onResume() {
super.onResume();
IntentFilter filter = new IntentFilter(MyIntentService.ACTION_UPDATE_UI);
registerReceiver(uiUpdateBroadcastReceiver, filter);
}
#Override
protected void onPause() {
super.onPause();
unregisterReceiver(uiUpdateBroadcastReceiver);
}
BroadcastReceiver uiUpdateBroadcastReceiver = new BroadcastReceiver() {
#Override
public void onReceive(Context context, Intent intent) {
// Here goes the code to update your User Interface
}
};
ServiceConnection myServiceConnection = new ServiceConnection() {
#Override
public void onServiceDisconnected(ComponentName name) {
mService = null;
mBound = false;
}
// If you need
#Override
public void onServiceConnected(ComponentName name, IBinder service) {
MyIntentService mService = ((MyBinder) service).getService();
mBound = true;
}
};
}
And don't forget to add the Service definition in your AndroidManifest.xml file:
<manifest ... >
...
<application ... >
<service android:name=".MyIntentService" />
...
</application>
</manifest>

Start Android Service after every 5 minutes

I was searching over the internet for last 2 days but I couldn't find any tutorial helpful. I have created a service and I am sending a notification in status bar when the service starts. I want that service to stop after showing the notification and start it again after 5 minutes. Please let me know if it is possible and provide me some helpful tutorials if you have any. I heard of TimerTask and AlarmManager and I tried to use them as well but I wasn't able to get the desired result.
EDIT: I need the service to be started every 5 minutes even if my application is not running.

You do not want to use a TimerTask since this depends on your application running continuously. An AlarmManager implementation makes it safe for your application to be killed between executions.
Stating that you tried to use AlarmManager but did not get the desired result is not a helpful statement, in that it tells no one how to help you to get it right. It would be much more useful to express what happened.
http://web.archive.org/web/20170713001201/http://code4reference.com/2012/07/tutorial-on-android-alarmmanager/ contains what appears to be a useful tutorial on AlarmManager. Here are the salient points:
1) Your alarm will cause an Intent to fire when it expires. It's up to you to decide what kind of Intent and how it should be implemented. The link I provided has a complete example based on a BroadcastReceiver.
2) You can install your alarm with an example such as:
public void setOnetimeTimer(Context context) {
AlarmManager am=(AlarmManager)context.getSystemService(Context.ALARM_SERVICE);
Intent intent = new Intent(context, AlarmManagerBroadcastReceiver.class);
intent.putExtra(ONE_TIME, Boolean.TRUE);
PendingIntent pi = PendingIntent.getBroadcast(context, 0, intent, 0);
am.set(AlarmManager.RTC_WAKEUP, System.currentTimeMillis() + (1000 * 60 * 5), pi);
}

Below I have provided three files, MainActivity.java for start service, Second file MyService.java providing service for 5 Minute and Third is manifest file.
MainActivity.java
public class MainActivity extends AppCompatActivity {
#Override
protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
setContentView(R.layout.activity_main);
startService(new Intent(this, MyService.class)); //start service which is MyService.java
}
}
MyService.java
public class MyService extends Service {
public static final int notify = 300000; //interval between two services(Here Service run every 5 Minute)
private Handler mHandler = new Handler(); //run on another Thread to avoid crash
private Timer mTimer = null; //timer handling
#Override
public IBinder onBind(Intent intent) {
throw new UnsupportedOperationException("Not yet implemented");
}
#Override
public void onCreate() {
if (mTimer != null) // Cancel if already existed
mTimer.cancel();
else
mTimer = new Timer(); //recreate new
mTimer.scheduleAtFixedRate(new TimeDisplay(), 0, notify); //Schedule task
}
#Override
public void onDestroy() {
super.onDestroy();
mTimer.cancel(); //For Cancel Timer
Toast.makeText(this, "Service is Destroyed", Toast.LENGTH_SHORT).show();
}
//class TimeDisplay for handling task
class TimeDisplay extends TimerTask {
#Override
public void run() {
// run on another thread
mHandler.post(new Runnable() {
#Override
public void run() {
// display toast
Toast.makeText(MyService.this, "Service is running", Toast.LENGTH_SHORT).show();
}
});
}
}
}
AndroidManifest.xml
<service android:name=".MyService" android:enabled="true" android:exported="true"></service>

Create a Timer object and give it a TimerTask that performs the code you'd like to perform.
Timer timer = new Timer ();
TimerTask hourlyTask = new TimerTask () {
#Override
public void run () {
// your code here...
}
};
// schedule the task to run starting now and then every hour...
timer.schedule (hourlyTask, 0l, 1000*60*60); // 1000*10*60 every 10 minut
The advantage of using a Timer object is that it can handle multiple TimerTask objects, each with their own timing, delay, etc. You can also start and stop the timers as long as you hold on to the Timer object by declaring it as a class variable or something.