How can I wake my android application at certain regular time intervals? - android

My intention is to make an application that will track the movement of my android phone for every few minutes and send it to my server. I have read a lot online on how to do it with a service, AlarmManager and Partial_WakeLock. I have also gone through the commonsware examples in github.com but I was a bit confused because I am still not experienced in android.
I have been successful in getting my application to [get location and send it to my server]. How do I make my service wakeup every few minutes and do [work mentioned]? In the Wakeful example in commonsware, in which method do I mention my [work] and in which method do I keep calling it?

You need a Service and an AlarmManager. Your Service will handle getting the position and posting it to the server and AlarmManager will invoke your service basen on an interval you decide. You should initialize your AlarmManager with your Service roughly like this in onCreate or other place you want:
AlarmManager alarmMgr = (AlarmManager) this.getSystemService(Context.ALARM_SERVICE);
PendingIntent pendingIntent = PendingIntent.getBroadcast(this, 0, new Intent(this, YourAlarmReceiver.class),PendingIntent.FLAG_CANCEL_CURRENT);
// Use inexact repeating which is easier on battery (system can phase events and not wake at exact times)
alarmMgr.setInexactRepeating(AlarmManager.ELAPSED_REALTIME_WAKEUP, YOUR_ALARM_TRIGGER_AT_TIME,YOUR_ALARM_INTERVAL, pendingIntent);
YourAlarmReceiver gonna start your service
public class YourAlarmReceiver extends BroadcastReceiver {
#Override
public void onReceive(Context context, Intent intent) {
context.startService(new Intent(context, YourService.class));
}
}
On how to use Services refer to the android website http://developer.android.com/guide/topics/fundamentals/services.html

you could use a partial wakeLock with a sleep(X) which when the sleep(x) is resolved the system will call the next line of code, but the problem is I am seeing a possible infinite cycle that might need a task kill action, or just crash the system.

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

Using TYPE_STEP_COUNTER in a background service?

I'm looking at implementing the step sensor API introduced in Android 4.4 (http://youtu.be/yv9jskPvLUc). However, I am unable to find a clear explanation on what the recommended way to monitor this in the background is? It seems like most examples only show how to do this with an activity while the app is running. I don't particularly need a high frequency of updates - I basically want to log the amount of steps the user has walked every hour to a backend service.
Should I just spin up a background service that calls registerListener on SensorManager, or is there a more elegant way?
As far as I know, there is no way around the SensorManager, but if you need the data very infrequently, you could trigger the sensor manually and get its values with a TriggerEventListener, which is a little cleaner than a SensorEventListener.
AlarmManager is typically the best option for starting an hourly timer, and it works even if your app isn't running. AlarmManager sends an Intent to a class that extends BroadcastReceiver, and that class will start your Service. The AlarmManager can be set anywhere in your app depending on your implementation.
StepCountService
SensorManager sensorManager = (SensorManager)getSystemService(SENSOR_SERVICE);
Sensor stepCounter = mSensorManager.getDefaultSensor(Sensor.TYPE_STEP_COUNTER);
sensorManager.requestTriggerSensor(listener, stepCounter);
private TriggerEventListener listener = new TriggerEventListener(){
#Override
public void onTrigger(TriggerEvent event) {
//handle step count here
}
}
MainActivity
AlarmManager alarmManager = (AlarmManager) context.getSystemService(Context.ALARM_SERVICE);
Intent i = new Intent(context, AlarmReceiver.class);
PendingIntent pending = PendingIntent.getBroadcast(context, 0, i,
PendingIntent.FLAG_CANCEL_CURRENT);
alarmManager.setInexactRepeating(AlarmManager.ELAPSED_REALTIME,AlarmManager.INTERVAL_HOUR,
AlarmManager.INTERVAL_HOUR, alarmIntent);
AlarmReceiver
public class AlarmReceiver extends BroadcastReceiver {
#Override
public void onReceive(Context context, Intent intent) {
Intent service = new Intent(context, StepCountService.class);
context.startService(service);
}
}
This is not a complete solution, but the most energy-efficient way could be to wake up your device every hour or so, start a service which quickly reads the data, then goes back to sleep.
Depending on which device level you target, using a WakefulBroadcastReceiver, as described in this answer, seems the way to go.
You need to
create the code by modifying the templates at WakefulBroadcastReceiver
add the Service and the BroadCastReceiver into the manifest.
schedule a repeating alarm somewhere in your app
If any of the points a less than clear, say so. See http://code.tutsplus.com/tutorials/android-barometer-logger-acquiring-sensor-data--mobile-10558
#TheoKanning's answer is the correct way to do this manually. Alternatively, Google Fit continuously logs this data and has an API you can use to pull it into your app.
https://developers.google.com/fit/android/get-started
https://developers.google.com/fit/android/history

Android - Alarm doesn`t fire sometimes after long period

I have a big problem with my app for several days now. I appologize if my english is not so native in advance. I implemented an AlarmManager to give the user of my app the option to start a certain service at any time of the current or the next day. So e.g. the user might choose to set the time for my service to tomorrow at 08:00 a.m. and then starts the service.
The alarm manager should now wait the calculated time from now till the chosen time (i calculated the time also manually and it is correct!) and then start the service. My problem now is that sometimes the alarmmanager is starting my service and somtimes not. It seems that if it has to wait for lets say more than 4 hours it is not working any more and my service is not called. I have set all neccessary permission otherwise it would not work at all. You can have a look at the code of the alarmmanager below:
someIntent = new Intent();
someIntent.setAction("START_SERVICE");
AlarmManager alarams ;
alarmIntent = PendingIntent.getBroadcast(MainActivity.this, 0, someIntent, PendingIntent.FLAG_CANCEL_CURRENT);
alarams = (AlarmManager) getSystemService(Context.ALARM_SERVICE);
alarams.set(AlarmManager.RTC_WAKEUP, System.currentTimeMillis()+delay, alarmIntent);
The broadcast receiver is implemented like this (and it is registered!):
alarmReceiver = new BroadcastReceiver() {
#Override
public void onReceive(Context context, Intent intent) {
Intent myIntent = new Intent(MainActivity.this, MyService.class);
startService(myIntent);
}
};
As I told you, if it is not working it stops before starting the service.
EDIT:
I have an idea. I read something in this thread: Android long running service with alarm manager and inner broadcast receiver
It might be, that my constructor for the intent "someIntent" only works for BroadcastReceivers declared in the manifest file. So in my case I should maybe use someIntent = new Intent("START_SERVICE") instead of someIntent = new Intent(); someIntent.setAction("START_SERVICE"). This effect is called tunneling - i will figure it out, if it works i will post my experience here. Thanks for the well explained answer on the mentioned thread! If you have any other ideas or the same experiences like me please let me know!
eMu
If the device is shutdown and start up then you will not get the alarm maanger broadcast receiver.
Implement OnBootReceiver which will receive the OnBoot completed and there you can start your pending alarms that were not fired.

Keep a Service running even when phone is asleep?

I have a Service in my application which is designed to run every 10 minutes. It basically checks up on our servers to see if everything is running properly and notifies the user of any problems. I created this application for internal use at our company.
My co-worker used the application over the long weekend and noticed that no checks were performed when the device went to sleep. I was under the impression that the Service was supposed to keep running in the background until I explicitly call stopService() in my code.
So ultimately, my goal is to have the service running until the user hits the off button in the application or kills the process.
I heard about something called WakeLock which is meant to keep the screen from turning off, which is not what I want. I then heard of another thing called a partial WakeLock, which keeps the CPU running even when the device is asleep. The latter sounds closer to what I need.
How do I acquire this WakeLock and when should I release it and are there other ways around this?
Note: This post has been updated to include the JobScheduler API of the Android Lollipop release. The following is still a viable way, but can be considered deprecated if you're targeting Android Lollipop and beyond. See the second half for the JobScheduler alternative.
One way to do recurrent tasks is this:
Create a class AlarmReceiver
public class AlarmReceiver extends BroadcastReceiver
{
#Override
public void onReceive(Context context, Intent intent)
{
Intent myService = new Intent(context, YourService.class);
context.startService(myService);
}
}
with YourService being your service ;-)
If you require a wake lock for your Task, it is advisable to extend from WakefulBroadcastReceiver. Don't forget to add the WAKE_LOCK permission in your Manifest in this case!
Create a Pending Intent
To start your recurrent polling, execute this code in your activity:
Intent myAlarm = new Intent(getApplicationContext(), AlarmReceiver.class);
//myAlarm.putExtra("project_id", project_id); //Put Extra if needed
PendingIntent recurringAlarm = PendingIntent.getBroadcast(getApplicationContext(), 0, myAlarm, PendingIntent.FLAG_CANCEL_CURRENT);
AlarmManager alarms = (AlarmManager) this.getSystemService(Context.ALARM_SERVICE);
Calendar updateTime = Calendar.getInstance();
//updateTime.setWhatever(0); //set time to start first occurence of alarm
alarms.setInexactRepeating(AlarmManager.RTC_WAKEUP, updateTime.getTimeInMillis(), AlarmManager.INTERVAL_DAY, recurringAlarm); //you can modify the interval of course
This code sets up an alarm and a canceable pendingIntent. The alarmManager gets the job to repeat the recurringAlarm every day (third argument), but inexact so the CPU does wake up approximately after the interval but not exactly (It lets the OS choose the optimal time, which reduces battery drain). The first time the alarm (and thus the service) is started will be the time you choose to be updateTime.
last but not least: here is how to kill the recurring alarm
Intent myAlarm = new Intent(getApplicationContext(), AlarmReceiver.class);
//myAlarm.putExtra("project_id",project_id); //put the SAME extras
PendingIntent recurringAlarm = PendingIntent.getBroadcast(getApplicationContext(), 0, myAlarm, PendingIntent.FLAG_CANCEL_CURRENT);
AlarmManager alarms = (AlarmManager) getApplicationContext().getSystemService(Context.ALARM_SERVICE);
alarms.cancel(recurringAlarm);
This code creates a copy of your (probably) existing alarm and tells the alarmManager to cancel all alarms of that kind.
of course there is also something to do in the Manifest:
include these two lines
< receiver android:name=".AlarmReceiver"></receiver>
< service android:name=".YourService"></service>
inside the < application>-tag. Without it, the system does not accept the start of recurrent alarm of a service.
Starting with the Android Lollipop release, there's a new way of solving this task elegantly.
This also makes it easier to only perform an action if certain criteria such as network state are met.
// wrap your stuff in a componentName
ComponentName mServiceComponent = new ComponentName(context, MyJobService.class);
// set up conditions for the job
JobInfo task = JobInfo.Builder(mJobId, mServiceComponent)
.setPeriodic(mIntervalMillis)
.setRequiresCharging(true) // default is "false"
.setRequiredNetworkCapabilities(JobInfo.NetworkType.UNMETERED) // Parameter may be "ANY", "NONE" (=default) or "UNMETERED"
.build();
// inform the system of the job
JobScheduler jobScheduler = (JobScheduler) context.getSystemService(Context.JOB_SCHEDULER_SERVICE);
jobScheduler.schedule(task);
You may also provide a deadline with setOverrideDeadline(maxExecutionDelayMillis).
To get rid of such a task, just call jobScheduler.cancel(mJobId); or jobScheduler.cancelAll();.
I would have recommended, if building this application from the beginning to use a server-side component (yes, would also need monitoring!) and send push notifications, polling is never a reliable solution.
From Android Documentation in doze mode following happens: (https://developer.android.com/training/monitoring-device-state/doze-standby):
The system ignores wake locks.
The system does not allow JobScheduler to run.
Android ignores AlarmManager as well unless they are in setAndAllowWhileIdle() or setExactAndAllowWhileIdle().
Network access is suspended.
So the only way is to use FCM on high priority or AlarmManager with setAndAllowWhileIdle() or setExactAndAllowWhileIdle().

Notifications is not received in Android

I have a service which sends notifications every 2 minutes..
When the phone gets locked no new notifications are received and only when I unlock my phone I receive notifications )
Whether there is any way to change it..?
Best solution for running some task every 2 minutes is AlarmManager And do not use wakelocks except you don't need to hold device in work mode (like mp3 player for example), because it will spend battery.
UPDATE FOR ENYONE WHO TO LAZY FOR READING MANUAL
For using AlarmManager you need broadcast receiver at first.
public class ExampleReceiver extends BroadcastReceiver
{
public void onReceive(Context context, Intent intent)
{
// this method will be called by AlarmManager. But be carefull it has timeout
// if your task need more time, you should run thread from there with wakelocks
}
}
Then you can set task to AlarmManager.
public class ExampleActivity extends Activity
{
#Override
public void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState)
{
Intent intent = new Intent(this,ExampleReceiver.class);
PendingIntent pendingIntent = PendingIntent.getBroadcast(this, 0, intent, 0);
AlarmManager am = (AlarmManager)getSystemService(ALARM_SERVICE);
am.set(AlarmManager.ELAPSED_REALTIME_WAKEUP,SystemClock.elapsedRealtime()+INTERVAL,pendingIntent);
}
}
This example run task once after INTERVAL. And it will wakeup phone for this task. You can set repeating tasks due AlarmManager, or it possible better to set new task just from receiver
When phone is locked, the device goes to deep-sleep mode and it will not handle any wait/sleep timer related delays.
Try using AlarmManager instead for getting notification every 2 mins. Or may be hold WAKE LOCKS (though might result in battery drain and not recommended)
You might be able to accomplish your goal using the PowerManager API:
http://developer.android.com/reference/android/os/PowerManager.html
You can use this to wake the phone up briefly to handle your notification. Make sure you're familiar with how the PowerManager API works, though - it's easy to write your code in a way that drains the battery.

Categories

Resources