Using Alarm Manager Even If App closed? - android

I'm usign an Alarm Manager to update a widget with a Service. I've two different questions.
First question: I'm calling the service with Alarm Manager's intent. Like this:
alarmManager = (AlarmManager) context.getSystemService(Context.ALARM_SERVICE);
Intent i = new Intent(context, MyService.class);
pi = PendingIntent.getService(context, 0, i, PendingIntent.FLAG_UPDATE_CURRENT);
context.startService(new Intent(context, MyService.class));
Long repeat = Long.parseLong(prefs.getString("update_preference", "600"));
alarmManager.setInexactRepeating(AlarmManager.RTC_WAKEUP, Calendar.getInstance().getTimeInMillis(), 1000*repeat, pi);
Is it wrong?
It looks and works right. But when I have looked at working services, I can't see my service name in the list. Perhaps it's not running as a single/seperate service. Just saw application name (not as a service). I'm not sure how to seperate or does it matter?
Another question: Over long time, running application, which controls widgets update, is closed somehow (manually or by a task killer). Of course Alarm Manager gonna stop and widget's functions gonna stop too. For example button clicking.
But, Twitter solved this problem. While the widget is active, if I close the main application (Twitter) -which controls widget- than click the widget, somehow widget triggering application and it starts again well. So buttons work properly. How is that possible?
Any help would be appreciated.

You dont need to do context.startservice that what the pending intent is for, if you want the service to run right away the first time just set it to run at the current time then set the interval from the current time.
You are also setting 2 different types of repeating when you don't need to setRepeating is strict where setInexact is not and can be adjusted by the OS when it gets fired hence the inexact in it. You want one or the other not both.
Also those intervals are very small and its going to kill the battery significantly.
It should just be this
alarmManager = (AlarmManager) context.getSystemService(Context.ALARM_SERVICE);
Intent i = new Intent(context, MyService.class);
pi = PendingIntent.getService(context, 0, i, PendingIntent.FLAG_UPDATE_CURRENT);
Long repeat = Long.parseLong(prefs.getString("update_preference", "600"));
alarmManager.setInexactRepeating(AlarmManager.RTC_WAKEUP,
Calendar.getInstance().getTimeInMillis(), 1000*repeat, pi);

It's good that your application/service isn't running all the time.
In fact it doesn't need/has to run all the time for updating a widget. If you schedule an Intent with AlarmManager the application will be started when the intent is fired if it has been closed.

Related

PendingIntent with IntentService not working

Following code works perfectly for Activity:
Intent intent = new Intent(context, MyActivity.class);
PendingIntent operation = PendingIntent.getActivity(context,
0,
intent,
PendingIntent.FLAG_UPDATE_CURRENT);
alarmmanager.setExact(AlarmManager.RTC_WAKEUP,
startTime.getTimeInMillis(),
operation);
However, when I do the same thing for IntentService, It works only if startTime and time I set alarm are on the same day. e.g. If I set the alarm today for 5 PM, it will be executed but when I set the alarm today for 5 PM tomorrow, it will not be executed. If this was Activity then it works for both cases.
Intent intent = new Intent(context, MyService.class);
PendingIntent operation = PendingIntent.getService(context,
0,
intent,
PendingIntent.FLAG_UPDATE_CURRENT);
alarmmanager.setExact(AlarmManager.RTC_WAKEUP,
startTime.getTimeInMillis(),
operation);
How to solve this?
The goal here I am trying to achieve is to execute IntentService every day at the exact time.
The goal here I am trying to achieve is to execute IntentService every day at the exact time.
Google has made this progressively harder from release to release. See Android AlarmManager setExact() is not exact. There could be two ways to solve this for your case:
you start an activity, which starts the service (as starting an Activity seems to work for you)
you use either setExactAnd... or setAlarmClock. setAlarmClock also triggers in the new "doze" mode, see https://stackoverflow.com/a/47049705/1587329.
Another way would be to re-think why and if you really need this... or if a JobScheduler could not fit your purpose more easily.
add replace your line with this line :
alarmmanager.setRepeating(AlarmManager.RTC_WAKEUP,
startTime.getTimeInMillis(),
operation);
it will repeat on specific interval you set in alarm manager
Replace the AlarmManager with this code:
alarmManager.setRepeating(AlarmManager.RTC,
timeMills,
AlarmManager.INTERVAL_DAY,
pendingIntent);
Worked for me.
HERE IS a DETAILED ANSWER check link in the bottom for more details.
Hope this will help. Your issue can be probably related to android versions too so do check the link for more details
app gets an instance of the AlarmManager and sets an alarm using a PendingIntent. More on usage and setting alarms is coming in the next section. The AlarmManager is the app side interface to the backing AlarmManagerService. It abstracts the details of the Binder interface, used to communicate with the system process (system_server) hosting the AlarmManagerService. These two components manage the alarm(s) the app has set and will send the PendingIntent correctly. This manager/service architecture is used throughout Android framework and is done for security and isolation purposes. The system_server process is running with privileges which normal apps do not have. If you are unfamiliar with Android’s use of permissions, see this article for more details on app processes and user IDs. These extra permissions are what allows system_server to access the underlying kernel alarm driver. The alarm driver is what manages setting alarms to wake up the device regardless of the sleep state of the SoC.
When the alarm is triggered the device is awakened (if asleep) and the AlarmManagerService is notified of an alarm expiring. It will then send the PendingIntent accordingly. This will cause the appropriate component within MyApp to be activated. If MyApp has not been started or its process is not cached, it will be started so the component can be activated.
basic usage will be as
public class MyActivity extends Activity {
...
private AlarmManager mAlarmMgr;
...
public void onCreate(Bundle savedInstance) {
...
mAlarmMgr = (AlarmManager)getSystemService(Context.ALARM_SERVICE);
...
}
...
}
let’s create a PendingIntent for our MyActivity using the component name.
Intent alarmIntent = new Intent(context, MyActivity.class);
PendingIntent pend = PendingIntent.getActivity(context,
0,
alarmIntent,
PendingIntent.FLAG_UPDATE_CURRENT);
Now that we have our PendingIntent and the AlarmManager, we can set our alarm so our Activity is triggered when the alarm has expired. To do this, we need to figure out when we want our alarm to go off and whether it should wake up the device or just be delivered the next time the device is awakened. Remember, we have two different ways of specifying time for our alarms: elapsed time or calendar (RTC) time. So our options are ELAPSED_REALTIME, ELAPSED_REALTIME_WAKEUP, RTC or RTC_WAKEUP. The _WAKEUP variants are our “aggressive” alarms where we want the device to come out of low power to call our app back. For our sample app, let’s set this up in a custom BroadcastReceiver and have it trigger our Activity about 30 seconds after the device is booted
public class MyBootReceiver extends BroadcastReceiver {
public void onReceive(Context, context, Intent intent) {
...
AlarmManager alarmMgr =
(AlarmManager)context.getSystemService(Context.ALARM_SERVICE);
long wakeTime = SystemClock.elapsedRealtime() + 30000;
alarmMgr.set(AlarmManager.ELAPSED_REALTIME_WAKEUP, wakeTime, pend);
}
}
Now when our device boots and the BOOT_COMPLETED broadcast is sent, our app’s process will be started and our receiver will set an alarm to trigger our Activity to be launched about 30 seconds later. Note that on Android 3.1 devices or newer, you must first manually launch your app before the BOOT_COMPLETED.
CREDIT GOES to writer of this BLOG
if you want to set the repeated alarm using SetExact you are bound to stop all other pending intents on the same time check this link for that here are many examples of how to do it! again credit goes to this writer

Android widget change alarm interval

I have created a configure activity for my widget, where the user can choose from various update frequencies.. Until now I started the alarm in the OnEnabled() method, like this:
Intent intent = new Intent(CLOCK_WIDGET_UPDATE);
PendingIntent pendingIntent = PendingIntent.getBroadcast(context, 0, intent, PendingIntent.FLAG_UPDATE_CURRENT);
AlarmManager alarmManager = (AlarmManager) context.getSystemService(Context.ALARM_SERVICE);
alarmManager.setRepeating(AlarmManager.RTC, System.currentTimeMillis(), 1000 * 60,
pendingIntent);
The settings are saved in shared preferences with a unique name (widgetId) and in this OnEnabled() method I can't retrieve the settings here because I can't get the widgetId yet.
There's an another problem, the user can change the frequency anytime, but this method is called just once, at the beginning. So I think I need to start the alarm in OnUpdate(), but I don't know how to do it, I don't want to make multiple instances of an alarm accidentally so I would like to ask for some advice.
To answer your second problem, calling setRepeating multiple times will not create multiple alarm as far as you provide same PendingIntent and same request code along with PendingIntent.FLAG_UPDATE_CURRENT flag. I would also suggest to use setInexactRepeating instead of setRepeating. So you can use the same code in OnUpdate() too with new frequency. Go through docs of FLAG_UPDATE_CURRENT and setInexactRepeating for more detials.

AlarmManager deleted - force close app

I'm looking for a solution for days now. There might not even be a solution.
What happens is the following:
I got an application which schedules alarms for users, for the user to get out of bed. It's really important that the alarms "always" go off.
To be able to let the alarms go off I make use of an AlarmManager. This schedules intents to be executed on scheduled times. This works fine when the Application is open or closed with the back/home button.
When I close the app with Force Close option, the Alarm Manager alarms get cleared from the system and they will not go off.
I have tried the following things already:
START_STICKY Service
DefaultUncaughtExceptionHandler - Won't work, because there isn't an exception caught for force closing the app.
Broadcast Receiver - The issue is with the alarms being deleted.
I'm wondering if anyone has experienced the same issue with the AlarmManager class and if you found a solution or alternative to fix this problem.
p.s. I'm creating the Alarm Manager alarms like this:
Intent myIntent = new Intent(getApplicationContext(), CheckAlarmService.class);
PendingIntent pendingIntent = PendingIntent.getService(getApplicationContext(),
1, myIntent, PendingIntent.FLAG_UPDATE_CURRENT);
AlarmManager alarmManager = (AlarmManager)getApplicationContext().getSystemService(ALARM_SERVICE);
Calendar calendar = Calendar.getInstance();
int daysTillAlarm = AlarmHelper.calculateDaysTillAlarm(alarm);
calendar.add(Calendar.DATE, 0);
calendar.set(Calendar.HOUR_OF_DAY, 15);
calendar.set(Calendar.MINUTE, 0);
calendar.set(Calendar.SECOND, 0);
alarmManager.set(AlarmManager.RTC_WAKEUP, calendar.getTimeInMillis(), pendingIntent);
EDIT:
To try and see if I wasn't the only one with the issue, I downloaded some well used alarm clocks. They all seem to have the same behavior as I do. For now I'll leave it be. They're also well rated.
Still if you might have the solution to this problem I'd like to know!
Try changing you code:
PendingIntent pendingIntent = PendingIntent.getService(getApplicationContext(),
1, myIntent, PendingIntent.FLAG_UPDATE_CURRENT);
to:
PendingIntent pendingIntent = PendingIntent.getService(getApplicationContext(),
1, myIntent, 0);
Also try adding:
alarmManager.cancel(pendingIntent);
before:
alarmManager.set(AlarmManager.RTC_WAKEUP, calendar.getTimeInMillis(), pendingIntent);
From my point of view (as Android user) this is right behavior. Imagine application which has bug leading to crash (with crash dialog), and this application scheduled some action to be started every minute. What can you do with crash dialog appearing every minute?
So I hope there is no direct answer to your question (like "just call this method").
As always, there are ugly ways - like starting several processes which track all others and restart if needed, but then your application starts to look like virus...

AlarmManger constantly start and stop, bad practice?

I have an application that does some data processing, then notifies the user in the status bar if any new items are found. The process runs as an AlarmManager at a set amount of time. Everything works fine, but I'd ideally not like the user to be notified while they are actively using the application, which means the AlarmManager should basically be suspended. The only solution I could think of is constantly start/stop the alarm in the main Activity's onResume method similar to this:
#Override
public void onResume()
{
AlarmManager alarmManager = (AlarmManager)getSystemService(ALARM_SERVICE);
Intent myIntent = new Intent(this, AlarmReceiver.class);
PendingIntent pendingIntent = PendingIntent.getBroadcast(this, 0, myIntent, 0);
alarmManager.cancel(pendingIntent);
alarmManager.setInexactRepeating(AlarmManager.ELAPSED_REALTIME_WAKEUP, SystemClock.elapsedRealtime() + 600000, 600000, pendingIntent);
}
This isn't foolproof, but the best solution I could think of. Just wondering if that is bad practice or if there is a better solution? Thanks.
Just have your AlarmReceiver (or the Service it invokes) check to see if the app is visible or not. You need to share some state between your app and the AlarmReceiver/Service. You could have a base Activity that tells your AlarmReceiver/Service that is in the foreground during onResume and that it is in the background during onPause. Then the AlarmReceiver/Service can simply check this state when the alarm goes off and use that to decide if a notification should be shown or not.

pendingintent on alarms for android

When setting a service to go off at particular time, I use the AlarmManager system service.
Everything goes off without a problem, service is called and actions take place.
When the alarm time is reached, the service starts, and at this point I get the system time (System.currentTimeMillis()). I'm guessing this wont be the actual time the service start. Is there a way to get the time that was set for this PendingIntent?
ie
Set alarm for 9am.
DoStuffService starts at 9am.
DoStuffService knows it was supposed to start at 9am, and uses this value for future functions.
When you create an intent for your alarm, you could put extra data, including time of the alarm, into it like this:
Intent intent = new Intent("action name");
//put extra data into the intent:
intent.putExtra("alarm_time_hours", hours);
intent.putExtra("alarm_time_minutes", minutes);
PendingIntent sender = PendingIntent.getBroadcast(getApplicationContext(), 0, intent, PendingIntent.FLAG_UPDATE_CURRENT);
AlarmManager am = (AlarmManager) getSystemService(ALARM_SERVICE);
am.set(AlarmManager.RTC_WAKEUP, cal.getTimeInMillis(), sender);
Then in your receiver or service you need to get this extra data from received intent. Use something like this:
Bundle bundle = intent.getExtras();
if(bundle.containsKey("alarm_time_hours")) {
int hours = bundle.getInt("alarm_time_hours");
}
if(bundle.containsKey("alarm_time_minutes")) {
int minutes = bundle.getInt("alarm_time_minutes");
}
Is there a way to get the time that was set for this PendingIntent?
No, sorry.
However, it should not be terribly difficult for you to determine it yourself. Following your example, if your service reports that it is now 09:00:02.36, you should be able to round down to determine that this is the 9am alarm.

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