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Abort Jsoup request [duplicate]

I use an async task to upload an image and get some results.
While uploading the image I see a progress dialog, written in onPreExecute() method like this:
protected void onPreExecute() {
uploadingDialog = new ProgressDialog(MyActivity.this);
uploadingDialog.setMessage("uploading");
uploadingDialog.setCancelable(true);
uploadingDialog.show();
}
Ok when I press the back button, obviously the dialog disappears because of the setCancelable(true).
But (obviously) the async task doesn't stop.
So how can I fix this? I want to cancel both dialog and async task when I press the back button. Any ideas?

From SDK:
Cancelling a task
A task can be cancelled at any time by invoking cancel(boolean).
Invoking this method will cause subsequent calls to isCancelled()
to return true.
After invoking this method, onCancelled(Object), instead of
onPostExecute(Object) will be invoked after doInBackground(Object[]) returns.
To ensure that a task is cancelled as quickly as possible,
you should always check the return value of isCancelled() periodically from
doInBackground(Object[]), if possible (inside a loop for instance.)
So your code is right for dialog listener:
uploadingDialog.setOnCancelListener(new DialogInterface.OnCancelListener() {
public void onCancel(DialogInterface dialog) {
myTask.cancel(true);
//finish();
}
});
Now, as I have mentioned earlier from SDK, you have to check whether the task is cancelled or not, for that you have to check isCancelled() inside the onPreExecute() method.
For example:
if (isCancelled())
break;
else
{
// do your work here
}

FOUND THE SOLUTION:
I added an action listener before uploadingDialog.show() like this:
uploadingDialog.setOnCancelListener(new DialogInterface.OnCancelListener(){
public void onCancel(DialogInterface dialog) {
myTask.cancel(true);
//finish();
}
});
That way when I press the back button, the above OnCancelListener cancels both dialog and task. Also you can add finish() if you want to finish the whole activity on back pressed. Remember to declare your async task as a variable like this:
MyAsyncTask myTask=null;
and execute your async task like this:
myTask = new MyAsyncTask();
myTask.execute();

I spent a while figuring this out, all I wanted was a simple example of how to do it, so I thought I'd post how I did it. This is some code that updates a library and has a progress dialog showing how many books have been updated and cancels when a user dismisses the dialog:
private class UpdateLibrary extends AsyncTask<Void, Integer, Boolean>{
private ProgressDialog dialog = new ProgressDialog(Library.this);
private int total = Library.instance.appState.getAvailableText().length;
private int count = 0;
//Used as handler to cancel task if back button is pressed
private AsyncTask<Void, Integer, Boolean> updateTask = null;
#Override
protected void onPreExecute(){
updateTask = this;
dialog.setProgressStyle(ProgressDialog.STYLE_HORIZONTAL);
dialog.setOnDismissListener(new OnDismissListener() {
#Override
public void onDismiss(DialogInterface dialog) {
updateTask.cancel(true);
}
});
dialog.setMessage("Updating Library...");
dialog.setMax(total);
dialog.show();
}
#Override
protected Boolean doInBackground(Void... arg0) {
for (int i = 0; i < appState.getAvailableText().length;i++){
if(isCancelled()){
break;
}
//Do your updating stuff here
}
}
#Override
protected void onProgressUpdate(Integer... progress){
count += progress[0];
dialog.setProgress(count);
}
#Override
protected void onPostExecute(Boolean finished){
dialog.dismiss();
if (finished)
DialogHelper.showMessage(Str.TEXT_UPDATELIBRARY, Str.TEXT_UPDATECOMPLETED, Library.instance);
else
DialogHelper.showMessage(Str.TEXT_UPDATELIBRARY,Str.TEXT_NOUPDATE , Library.instance);
}
}

create some member variables in your activity like
YourAsyncTask mTask;
Dialog mDialog;
use these for your dialog and task;
in onPause() simply call
if(mTask!=null) mTask.cancel();
if(mDialog!=null) mDialog.dismiss();

I would like to improve the code. When you canel the aSyncTask the onCancelled() (callback method of aSyncTask) gets automatically called, and there you can hide your progressBarDialog.
You can include this code as well:
public class information extends AsyncTask<String, String, String>
{
#Override
protected void onPreExecute() {
super.onPreExecute();
}
#Override
protected String doInBackground(String... arg0) {
return null;
}
#Override
protected void onPostExecute(String result) {
super.onPostExecute(result);
this.cancel(true);
}
#Override
protected void onProgressUpdate(String... values) {
super.onProgressUpdate(values);
}
#Override
protected void onCancelled() {
Toast.makeText(getApplicationContext(), "asynctack cancelled.....", Toast.LENGTH_SHORT).show();
dialog.hide(); /*hide the progressbar dialog here...*/
super.onCancelled();
}
}

Most of the time that I use AsyncTask my business logic is on a separated business class instead of being on the UI. In that case, I couldn't have a loop at doInBackground(). An example would be a synchronization process that consumes services and persist data one after another.
I end up handing on my task to the business object so it can handle cancelation. My setup is like this:
public abstract class MyActivity extends Activity {
private Task mTask;
private Business mBusiness;
public void startTask() {
if (mTask != null) {
mTask.cancel(true);
}
mTask = new mTask();
mTask.execute();
}
}
protected class Task extends AsyncTask<Void, Void, Boolean> {
#Override
protected void onCancelled() {
super.onCancelled();
mTask.cancel(true);
// ask if user wants to try again
}
#Override
protected Boolean doInBackground(Void... params) {
return mBusiness.synchronize(this);
}
#Override
protected void onPostExecute(Boolean result) {
super.onPostExecute(result);
mTask = null;
if (result) {
// done!
}
else {
// ask if user wants to try again
}
}
}
public class Business {
public boolean synchronize(AsyncTask<?, ?, ?> task) {
boolean response = false;
response = loadStuff(task);
if (response)
response = loadMoreStuff(task);
return response;
}
private boolean loadStuff(AsyncTask<?, ?, ?> task) {
if (task != null && task.isCancelled()) return false;
// load stuff
return true;
}
}

I had a similar problem - essentially I was getting a NPE in an async task after the user had destroyed the activity. After researching the problem on Stack Overflow, I adopted the following solution:
volatile boolean running;
public void onActivityCreated (Bundle savedInstanceState) {
super.onActivityCreated(savedInstanceState);
running=true;
...
}
public void onDestroy() {
super.onDestroy();
running=false;
...
}
Then, I check "if running" periodically in my async code. I have stress tested this and I am now unable to "break" my activity. This works perfectly and has the advantage of being simpler than some of the solutions I have seen on SO.

You can just ask for cancellation but not really terminate it. See this answer.

How to cancel AsyncTask
Full answer is here - Android AsyncTask Example
AsyncTask provides a better cancellation strategy, to terminate currently running task.
cancel(boolean mayInterruptIfitRunning)
myTask.cancel(false)- It makes isCancelled returns true. Helps to cancel the task.
myTask.cancel(true) – It also makes isCancelled() returns true, interrupt the background thread and relieves resources .
It is considered as an arrogant way, If there is any thread.sleep() method performing in background thread, cancel(true) will interrupt background thread at that time. But cancel(false) will wait for it and cancel task when that method completes.
If you invoke cancel() and doInBackground() hasn’t begun execute yet. onCancelled() will invoke.
After invoking cancel(…) you should check value returned by isCancelled() on doInbackground() periodically. just like shown below.
protected Object doInBackground(Params… params) {
while (condition)
{
...
if (isCancelled())
break;
}
return null;
}

Handle AsyncTask if the task completes while the Activity is in the background

I've been using AsyncTasks for a while however, I've recently encountered a scenario where I'm unsure of how to handle correctly. Since I thought it would be a somewhat common scenario I decided to ask the question here.
So, I'm trying to use an AsyncTask to make a simple call to sign a user in to the app. After the call completes, if it succeeds, the user should be taken to another activity. This logic is simple. The problem arrises when the user navigates away from the app before the sign in call returns. In such a case, what should I do in onPostExecute()?
What I've seen some apps do is they continue with the call anyways, as long as the activity is still around, and will launch the next activity. However this creates a weird experience where the user navigates away from the app, then several seconds later, the app just pops back up in their face. Of course, I would like to avoid doing this.
Update
Example code:
public class ExampleActivity extends Activity {
private boolean mIsPaused;
...
#Override
protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
...
Button btnSignIn = (Button) findViewById(R.id.btn_sign_in);
btnSignIn.setOnClickListener(new OnClickListener() {
#Override
public void onClick(View v) {
new SignInTask(ExampleActivity.this).execute();
}
});
...
}
#Override
protected void onPause() {
super.onPause();
mIsPaused = true;
}
#Override
protected void onResume() {
super.onResume();
mIsPaused = false;
}
private boolean isPaused() {
return mIsPaused;
}
...
private static class SignInTask extends AsyncTask<Void, Void, SomeResult> {
private final WeakReference<ExampleActivity> mAct;
public SignInTask(ExampleActivity act) {
mAct = new WeakReference<ExampleActivity>(act);
}
#Override
protected SomeResult doInBackground(Void... params) {
return mApi.signIn(creds);
}
#Override
protected void onPostExecute(SomeResult result) {
if (result.getCode() == OK) {
ExampleActivity act = mAct.get();
if (act != null) {
if (act.isPaused()) {
// do something
} else {
startActivity(new Intent(act, NextActivity.class));
}
} else {
// do something
}
}
}
}
}

made your AsyncTask class as static inner class.

Pretty interesting problem... Going with what you've started by using booleans, you could save the response the Activity receives to the SharedPreferences in the event it is paused, or continue processing normally if it is not. If the Activity later resumes (or is recreated), check whether or not there is a saved response and handle accordingly. I was thinking something along the lines of:
import org.json.JSONObject;
import android.app.Activity;
import android.os.Bundle;
public class TaskActivity extends Activity {
private static final String KEY_RESPONSE_JSON = "returned_response";
private boolean paused = false;
public void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState){
super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
// don't setup here, wait for onPostResume() to figure out what to do
}
#Override
public void onPostResume(){
super.onPostResume();
paused = false;
if(isSavedResponseAvailable()) processResponse(getSavedResponse());
else setup();
}
#Override
public void onPause(){
paused = true;
super.onPause();
}
private void setup(){
// normal setup
}
public void onReceiveResponse(JSONObject response){
if(paused) setSavedResponse(response);
else processResponse(response);
}
private void processResponse(JSONObject response){
// Continue with processing as if they never left
getSharedPreferences(this.getClass().getName(), 0).edit().clear().commit(); // Clear everything so re-entering won't parse old data
}
private boolean isSavedResponseAvailable(){
return getSavedResponse() != null;
}
private JSONObject getSavedResponse(){
try{
return new JSONObject(getSharedPreferences(this.getClass().getName(), 0).getString(KEY_RESPONSE_JSON, ""));
}
catch(Exception e){ }
return null;
}
private void setSavedResponse(JSONObject response){
getSharedPreferences(this.getClass().getName(), 0).edit().putString(KEY_RESPONSE_JSON, response.toString()).commit();
}
}
Clearly that's assuming your response from the task is JSON, but there's no reason you couldn't extend that to save the data individually and rebuild the necessary response object from the saved preference data.
As far as clean approaches go, though... I give this about a 3/10, but I can't think of anything better (well, other than making the TaskActivity abstract and forcing implementations to override setup(), processResponse(), isResponseAvailable(), getSavedResponse(), and setSavedResponse(), but that would only be mildly better for like a 4/10)

I would suggest putting a try/catch statement in the post execute - as far as I know what would happen in this situation is that you would get some kind of Window Manager exception.
What I would STRONGLY recommend, however, is stopping any async tasks (with the cancel method) on the onPause method, meaning that you won't interrupt them.
http://developer.android.com/reference/android/os/AsyncTask.html#cancel(boolean)
public final boolean cancel (boolean mayInterruptIfRunning)
Added in API level 3
Attempts to cancel execution of this task. This attempt will fail if the task has already completed, already been cancelled, or could not be cancelled for some other reason. If successful, and this task has not started when cancel is called, this task should never run. If the task has already started, then the mayInterruptIfRunning parameter determines whether the thread executing this task should be interrupted in an attempt to stop the task.
Calling this method will result in onCancelled(Object) being invoked on the UI thread after doInBackground(Object[]) returns. Calling this method guarantees that onPostExecute(Object) is never invoked. After invoking this method, you should check the value returned by isCancelled() periodically from doInBackground(Object[]) to finish the task as early as possible.
Parameters
mayInterruptIfRunning true if the thread executing this task should be interrupted; otherwise, in-progress tasks are allowed to complete.
Returns
false if the task could not be cancelled, typically because it has already completed normally; true otherwise
See Also
isCancelled()
onCancelled(Object)

boolean isRunning; //set it to true in onResume, and false in onStop
boolean isWaiting; // set it to true in onPostExecute, if "isRunning" is false
check in onResume whether isWaiting is true, if yes, take user to another screen.

Use the cancel() of AsynchTask class onBackPress() of Activty class
public class ExampleActivity extends Activity {
private boolean mIsPaused;
SignInTask singleTaskObj;
...
#Override
protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
...
Button btnSignIn = (Button) findViewById(R.id.btn_sign_in);
btnSignIn.setOnClickListener(new OnClickListener() {
#Override
public void onClick(View v) {
singleTaskObj = new SignInTask(ExampleActivity.this).execute();
}
});
...
}
#Override
protected void onPause() {
super.onPause();
mIsPaused = true;
}
#Override
protected void onResume() {
super.onResume();
mIsPaused = false;
}
protected void onBackPressed()
{
singleTaskObj.cancel();
}
private boolean isPaused() {
return mIsPaused;
}
...
private static class SignInTask extends AsyncTask<Void, Void, SomeResult> {
private final WeakReference<ExampleActivity> mAct;
public SignInTask(ExampleActivity act) {
mAct = new WeakReference<ExampleActivity>(act);
}
#Override
protected SomeResult doInBackground(Void... params) {
return mApi.signIn(creds);
}
#Override
protected void onPostExecute(SomeResult result) {
if (result.getCode() == OK) {
ExampleActivity act = mAct.get();
if (act != null) {
if (act.isPaused()) {
// do something
} else {
startActivity(new Intent(act, NextActivity.class));
}
} else {
// do something
}
}
}
}
}

Activity is destroyed but asynctask is still running

I am working on push notifications. The issue is when i am loading a form which is very huge and i recieve notification, before the form is completely loaded i try to click on the notification i get a blank screen after 5-6 seconds. The exception is due to dialog.dismiss.
According to my understanding, while opening notification the current activity is destroyed a new activity is created. while creating a new activity i am using asynctask to accomplish some other functionality in my app. So when the current activity is destroyed, activity context is null but the asynctask is still running also progress dialog. As soon as the activity is destroyed there is no window to show the dialog and hence window leaked exception.
Can anybody help me to get me out of this issue.I also get the blank screen when app is idle for a long time then i open the notifications.
Is there a way to stop running the asynctask as soon as the activity is destroyed.
My code is :
public class MainActivity extends Activity {
private MyProgressDialog myProgressDialog;
public LinearLayout mainPanel;
private VMobilet mobilet = null;
private String mobiletId;
private String formId ;
#Override
protected void onCreate(Bundle icicle) {
super.onCreate(icicle);
setContentView(mainPanel);
Intent i = getIntent();
mobiletId = i.getStringExtra("Mobilet Id");
formId = i.getStringExtra("Form ID");
VUiHelper.getInstance().setIsFinish(false);
myProgressDialog = MyProgressDialog.show(MainActivity.this,"","",true);
BackgroundTask backgroundTask = new BackgroundTask();
backgroundTask.execute(MainActivity.this);
}
#Override
protected void onPause() {
super.onPause();
if(VUiHelper.getInstance().isFinish())
{
this.finish();
}
else {
System.out.println("pausing mainactivity");
}
}
#Override
protected void onDestroy() {
super.onDestroy();
System.out.println("mainactivity ondestroy called");
if(mobilet != null)
mobilet.getForms().clear();
mobilet = null;
mainPanel = null;
VUiHelper.getInstance().clearControlCache();
VUiHelper.getInstance().MediaInput.clear();
System.gc();
}
private class BackgroundTask extends AsyncTask<Context, String, Boolean> {
#Override
public void onPreExecute() {
super.onPreExecute();
}
#Override
protected Boolean doInBackground(Context... arg0) {
if (mobiletId != null) {
** some logic **
}
return true;
}
#Override
public void onPostExecute(Boolean status){
super.onPostExecute(status);
myProgressDialog.dismiss(); //dismissing the progress dialogs
if (mobilet != null) {
** some logic **
} else {
** some logic **
}
}
}
}
}
I tried printing the activity context in onDestroy() and it is null.

You can stop running an Asynctask (as long as you have a reference to it). You might want to do something like this
when starting:
Task ref = new Task();
ref.execute()
then in onPause()
if(ref != null)
ref.cancel(true);
then inside your doInBackground() if you are doing something periodically (like downloading) have something like this:
if(isCanceled())
{
return;
}
The above snippets should allow you to gracefully exit the asynctask.
Also in your onPause
if(myProgressDialog != null)
{
if(myProgressDialog.isShowing())
{
myProgressDialog.dismiss()
}
myProgressDialog = null
}
then in your onPostExecute
if(myProgressDialog != null)
{
if(myProgressDialog.isShowing())
{
myProgessDialog.dismiss;
myProgessDialog = null;
}
}
the setting of myProgessDialog to null in onPuase should make it null in onPOstExecute()

You can cancel an AsyncTask by calling cancel(Boolean). For more usage info ctrl-f for "Cancelling a task" on that page

I think the best solution to the problem is let your asyntask check whether there is still an application running. If not simply exit. Set a flag in Activity.onPause and the let the asynctask check it before sending some output.

Android Update Current Activity From Background Thread

My application has a refresh button on the main activity. When the user presses that button, a new thread is created which starts updating the SQLite database. When this thread started, user could possibly get into another activies of the application.
The problem is these other activities(ListActivity) should be updated according to the DB when that background thread is completed. How could I provide that. I tried getting current task with ActivityManager but It requires extra permission which I dont want.

Edit:
Sorry seems I misunderstood you. Please take a look at the following code, it is similar to Chinaski's (you just use an interface for the callback methods) but I added a bit more to ensure you know how to use it in a way that will avoid memory leaks.
Note how the activity detaches during onDestroy -- alternatively you could use a WeakReference, however these days you'd use a Fragment with setRetainInstance(true) and completely avoid the detaching/attaching as the fragment would be retained.
MyAsyncTask
public class MyAsyncTask extends AsyncTask<Void, Void, Void> {
private Callback mCallback;
private boolean mIsComplete = false;
private boolean mHasCallbackBeenCalled = false;
public MyBackgroundTask(Callback callback) {
mCallback = callback;
}
/** Only safe to call this from the UI thread */
public void attach(Callback callback) {
mCallback = callback;
if (mIsComplete && !mHasCallbackBeenCalled) {
fireCallback();
}
}
/** Only safe to call this from the UI thread */
public void detach() {
mCallback = callback;
}
#Override
public void doInBackground() {
// do the heavy stuff here
return null;
}
#Override
public void onPostExecute(Void result) {
mIsComplete = true;
fireCallback();
}
private void fireCallback() {
if (mCallback != null) {
mCallback.callbackMethod();
mHasCallbackBeenCalled = true;
}
}
public static interface Callback {
public void callbackMethod();
}
}
MyActivity
public class MyActivity extends Activity implements MyAsyncTask.Callback {
private MyAsyncTask mTask;
#Override
public void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
// Check for a retained task after a configuration change
// e.g. a rotation
if (getLastNonConfigurationInstance() != null) {
mTask = (MyAsyncTask) getLastNonConfigurationInstance();
// Re-attach the task
mTask.attach(this);
}
}
#Override
public void onDestroy() {
// Detach from task to avoid memory leak
if (mTask != null) {
mTask.detach();
}
super.onDestroy();
}
#Override
public Object onRetainNonConfigurationInstance() {
// Retain the async task duration a rotation
return mTask;
}
/** Callback method */
#Override
public void callbackMethod() {
// Do something here
}
}

You could make a singleton in which you will have your thread and a queue of "tasks". When a task is finished, you check / launch the next task, and when you add a task, you launch it, or add it in the queue if a task is already running.
I don't say this is the best solution, but it's one.

Run code when Android app is closed/sent to background

I have an Android application which sends some data to a webservice. I need to send this data as soon as the application is closed or sent to background.. But how do I accomplish this?
My current solution is to run it on the OnPause() on my home activity, but I need this to run no matter which activity the user is on when closing the app.. Is this possible or do I have to add the OnPause method to all activities?

Check this solution first https://stackoverflow.com/a/5862048/1037294 before you decide to use the code below!
To check if your application is sent to background, you can call this code on onPause() or onStop() on every activity in your application:
/**
* Checks if the application is being sent in the background (i.e behind
* another application's Activity).
*
* #param context the context
* #return <code>true</code> if another application will be above this one.
*/
public static boolean isApplicationSentToBackground(final Context context) {
ActivityManager am = (ActivityManager) context.getSystemService(Context.ACTIVITY_SERVICE);
List<RunningTaskInfo> tasks = am.getRunningTasks(1);
if (!tasks.isEmpty()) {
ComponentName topActivity = tasks.get(0).topActivity;
if (!topActivity.getPackageName().equals(context.getPackageName())) {
return true;
}
}
return false;
}
For this to work you should include this in your AndroidManifest.xml
<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.GET_TASKS" />

This is the method that I used and it seems to work pretty well:
I have a top level Application class of my own that extends Application as such
public class MyApplication extends Application implements Application.ActivityLifecycleCallbacks {
You also need to register this Application object in your manifest file:
<application android:label="#string/app_name" android:icon="#drawable/ic_launcher" android:name=".MyApplication">
Notice how I also implement the ActivityLifeCycleCallbacks interface. This interface has the following methods:
public static interface ActivityLifecycleCallbacks {
void onActivityCreated(android.app.Activity activity, android.os.Bundle bundle);
void onActivityStarted(android.app.Activity activity);
void onActivityResumed(android.app.Activity activity);
void onActivityPaused(android.app.Activity activity);
void onActivityStopped(android.app.Activity activity);
void onActivitySaveInstanceState(android.app.Activity activity, android.os.Bundle bundle);
void onActivityDestroyed(android.app.Activity activity);
}
You need to implement those methods and then register for these events in your applications onCreate() as follows
#Override
public void onCreate() {
super.onCreate();
registerActivityLifecycleCallbacks(this);
}
This will then call the callback (the MyApplication object) whenever an activity lifecycle method happens such as onCreate(), onPause etc.
In your onActivityPaused() you can then check if the app was backgrounded or not by calling #peceps method : isApplicationSentToBackground(...)
This is what my code looks like then...
/**
* Application.ActivityLifecycleCallbacks methods
*/
#Override
public void onActivityCreated(Activity activity, Bundle bundle) {
}
#Override
public void onActivityStarted(Activity activity) {
}
#Override
public void onActivityResumed(Activity activity) {
}
#Override
public void onActivityStopped(Activity activity) {
try {
boolean foreground = new ForegroundCheckTask().execute(getApplicationContext()).get();
if(!foreground) {
//App is in Background - do what you want
}
} catch (InterruptedException e) {
e.printStackTrace();
} catch (ExecutionException e) {
e.printStackTrace();
}
}
#Override
public void onActivityPaused(Activity activity) {
}
#Override
public void onActivitySaveInstanceState(Activity activity, Bundle bundle) {
}
#Override
public void onActivityDestroyed(Activity activity) {
}
Create a new class to go the Foreground checking (which is an async. task). See check android application is in foreground or not? for more.
class ForegroundCheckTask extends AsyncTask<Context, Void, Boolean> {
#Override
protected Boolean doInBackground(Context... params) {
final Context context = params[0];
return isAppOnForeground(context);
}
private boolean isAppOnForeground(Context context) {
ActivityManager activityManager = (ActivityManager) context.getSystemService(Context.ACTIVITY_SERVICE);
List<ActivityManager.RunningAppProcessInfo> appProcesses = activityManager.getRunningAppProcesses();
if (appProcesses == null) {
return false;
}
final String packageName = context.getPackageName();
for (ActivityManager.RunningAppProcessInfo appProcess : appProcesses) {
if (appProcess.importance == ActivityManager.RunningAppProcessInfo.IMPORTANCE_FOREGROUND && appProcess.processName.equals(packageName)) {
return true;
}
}
return false;
}
}

Edit
This answer only serves for one purpose, that is, running a code in onPause() for all activities. It doesn't let you run a code when your app is sent to background.
Original Answer
Make an Activity named YourBasicActivity and override its onPause() method and extend every Activity from YourBasicActivity

Maybe this can be helpfull, tell me if it worked for you.
only when you return from background the value of activities would be 0 (zero)
the rest of the times would be a number higher than 0(zero) when the onRestart()
is executed.
public class FatherClass extends Activity {
private static int activities = 0;
public void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState, String clase) {
super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
}
protected void onRestart()
{
super.onRestart();
if(activities == 0){
Log.i("APP","BACK FROM BACKGROUND");
}
}
protected void onStop(){
super.onStop();
activities = activities - 1;
}
protected void onStart(){
super.onStart();
activities = activities + 1;
}
}
All of your classes must extend from this class for this to work.
Explanation: The onStart is executed one the activity is "visible" and the onStop when the activity is "not visible". So when your APP (it says APP not activity) goes to background all the activities are "not visible" so they execute the onStop method, so the idea behind this is to ADD ONE each time an activity es started, and SUBTRACT ONE each time an activity es hided, so if the value of the variable "activities" is zero that means that all the activities that where started in some point are now not visible, so when you APP returns from background and executes the onRestart method on the activity in "front" you can check whether comes from background or is just restarting an activity.

you can use onAppForegroundStateChange() method which call when app is open and closed.this method is only called when your app comes in foreground/background.
onAppForegroundStateChange() method is better then you used onPause() method because onPause method is also called every time when you go to other activity.
you can use this method like that
public class MyApplication extends Application {
#Override
public void onCreate() {
super.onCreate();
AppForegroundStateManager.getInstance().addListener(this);
}
#Override
public void onAppForegroundStateChange(AppForegroundStateManager.AppForegroundState newState) {
if (AppForegroundStateManager.AppForegroundState.IN_FOREGROUND == newState) {
// App just entered the foreground. Do something here!
} else {
// App just entered the background. Do something here!
}
}
}

override the onStop() method of your Home activity and run the code there.

I think you need to run your own thread which will check whether all running activities in background or destroyed.
MyBasicActivity extends Activity
{
private static ArrayList<MyBasicActivity> activities=new ArrayList<MyBasicActivities);
private boolean started;
public void onCreate()
{
activities.add(this);
}
public void onDestroy()
{
activities.remove(this);
}
public void onStart()
{
this.started=true;
}
public void onPause()
{
this.started=false;
}
public boolean isStarted()
{
return started;
}
}
MyThread implements Runnable
{
private ArrayList<MyBasicActivity> activities;
public MyThread(ArrayList<MyBasicActivity> activities)
{
this.activities=activities;
}
void run()
{
while(!stopped)
{
boolean inBackground=true;
for(MyBasicActivity activity:activities)
{
if(activity.isStarted())
{
inBackground=false;
break;
}
}
if(inBackground)
//run your code here;
sleep(10000); //10 secs
}
}
}

If you are trying to submit/save data the user input, there are better ways to go about it than doing it when he tries to close the app. There are many ways to close an app. The user could even turn down the phone. So it's hard to take precautions against all of them.
I'd suggest you submit the data everytime the user stops writing, every any number of seconds or when he presses a button for example if your call to the webservice is too slow.
This way it's more safeproof and it's easier to implement.