Develop Reference

Run Android app in background without user interaction

I have an android app which keeps updating logs every 5 minutes.
I used Alarm Manager to achieve this.
But the app kept opening and closing automatically.
Is there any way to do this in background??

you can use android Services for this task.
http://developer.android.com/guide/components/services.html

First of all, you have to user `Service: http://developer.android.com/guide/components/services.html
Next, you can start your program in background on BOOT event:
public class BootReciever extends BroadcastReceiver {
#Override
public void onReceive(Context context, Intent intent) {
Intent myIntent = new Intent(context, LogService.class);
context.startService(myIntent);
}
Declare theese in your manifest:
<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.RECEIVE_BOOT_COMPLETED" />
<!-- Declaring broadcast receiver for BOOT_COMPLETED event -->
<receiver android:name=".BootReciever" android:enabled="true" android:exported="false">
<intent-filter>
<action android:name="android.intent.action.BOOT_COMPLETED"/>
</intent-filter>
</receiver>

how to start activity when android turned on?

I have the next code:
public class BootCompleteReceiver extends BroadcastReceiver {
#Override
public void onReceive(Context context, Intent intent) {
Intent startActivityIntent = new Intent("android.intent.action.MAIN");
startActivityIntent.setClass(context, MainActivity.class);
startActivityIntent.addFlags(Intent.FLAG_ACTIVITY_NEW_TASK);
startActivityIntent.addFlags(WindowManager.LayoutParams.FLAG_SHOW_WHEN_LOCKED + WindowManager.LayoutParams.FLAG_DISMISS_KEYGUARD + WindowManager.LayoutParams.FLAG_KEEP_SCREEN_ON + WindowManager.LayoutParams.FLAG_TURN_SCREEN_ON);
context.startActivity(startActivityIntent);
}}
And the manifest:
<receiver android:name=".BootCompleteReceiver" android:enabled="true" android:exported="false" android:label="BootCompleteReceiver">
<intent-filter >
<action android:name="android.intent.action.BOOT_COMPLETED" />
<category android:name="android.intent.category.HOME"/>
</intent-filter>
</receiver>
It works perfectly when I turn on the device the activity starts, but I think it take about 30 seconds, I think is too much time, I want to do something like the Famigo's app, when the device is turned on inmediately start.

There is no way for you to speed up this process. It takes 30 seconds on your device, because the program has to wait until your device is completely booted. Boot_Completed is the first notification that the system sends out after boot.
Google has done this intentionally to prevent apps from starting before the system is finished booting.

the reciver calls BootCompleteReceiver, the reciver will start after the boot will complete.
it takes about 30 seconds.
you cant start the app before the OS!

Start service at boot time for android 4.0

I can't not start service when I want to start service at boot time for android 4.0, in android.
My code is below:
> public class StartUpReceiver extends BroadcastReceiver{ #Override
> public void onReceive(Context context, Intent intent) { String
> action = intent.getAction(); if
> (action.equalsIgnoreCase("android.intent.action.BOOT_COMPLETED")) {
> Intent myIntent = new Intent(context, StartAUT_Service.class);
> Log.i("Broadcast", "startService on boot time:." + myIntent);
> context.startService(myIntent); }
> } }
> <uses-permission
> android:name="android.permission.RECEIVE_BOOT_COMPLETED" />
> <application android:icon="#drawable/icon" android:label="#string/app_name">
> <receiver android:name="com.Android.Exercise.StartUpReceiver" android:exported="false">
> <intent-filter>
> <action android:name="android.intent.action.BOOT_COMPLETED"/>
> <action android:name="StartInstrument" />
> <action android:name="PrintControlName" />
> </intent-filter>
> </receiver>
> <service android:enabled="true" android:name="StartAUT_Service">
> <intent-filter>
> <action android:name="com.Android.Exercise.StartAUT_Service" />
> </intent-filter>
> </service>
> </application>
And in LogCat show Shutting down VM when i run above project, so my broadcast don't receive action.
Plz help me.!!!
Thanks so much.

Mybe this will help you:
Broadcast Regression Confirmed
In a previous post, I cited evidence that the BOOT_COMPLETED broadcast will not work out of the box on Android 3.1 until the user uses your app.
It’s actually somewhat bigger than that.
In the issue that I filed seeking clarification, Ms. Hackborn indicated:
Starting with 3.1 when applications are installed they are in a “stopped” state so they will not be able to run until the user explicitly launches them. Pressing Force Stop will return them to this state.
As a result, when applications are first installed, they are totally ignored by the system until and unless the user manually launches something: clicking on a launcher activity or adding an app widget, most likely.
Developers who had been relying upon getting some sort of system broadcast without user intervention will need to adjust their apps for Android 3.1.
As I wrote in the previous post:
I expect that most apps will be OK. For example, if your boot receiver is there to establish an AlarmManager schedule, you also needed to establish that schedule when the app is first run, so the user does not have to reboot their phone just to set up your alarms. That pattern doesnot change – it’s just that if the user happens to reboot the phone, it will not set up your alarms, until the user runs one of your activities.
UPDATE: To clarify the above quote, once the user runs the app for the first time (and does not Force Stop it), everything behaves as before — a reboot will cause BOOT_COMPLETED broadcasts to be received and so on. However, if the user installs the app, until and unless they run the app manually, no broadcasts will be received. And if the user force-stops the app, until and unless they run the app manually, no broadcasts will be received.
This change is not terribly shocking, as it ratchets up the security another notch by limiting ways malware can run without user knowledge. While it does not offer perfect security — the malware can still install its own copy of an Angry Birds launcher icon and hope users screw up — it is an improvement.

In your onResume method of a BroadCastReceiver class put following code
public void onReceive(Context context, Intent intent) {
// TODO Auto-generated method stub
super.onReceive(context, intent);
if(intent.getAction().equals(Intent.ACTION_BOOT_COMPLETED)){
Intent i = new Intent(context, yourService.class);
i.setFlags(Intent.FLAG_ACTIVITY_NEW_TASK);
context.startService(i);
}
}

Android 3.1 USB-Host - BroadcastReceiver does not receive USB_DEVICE_ATTACHED

I worked through the description and samples for USB host at developer.android.com to detect attached and detached USB-devices.
If I use an intent-filter in the manifest file to start my application when a device is attached, it works perfectly fine: Plug in, device is detected, android asks for permission to start the application, device information is displayed in a table.
The application I'm developing shouldn't be started/finished only if a device is attached/detached (e.g. data management purposes). Also I do not want the open-dialog to pop up if the app is already running. So I decided not to start the activity directly if a device is attached, but to register a BroadcastReceiver, which is (later) supposed to notify the activity if a device is at-/detached. This receiver recognizes the detach-action just fine, but not the attach-action.
Am I missing a permission or data attribute or something like that? The tutorial and samples don't say anything about additional necessary attributes.
Here is the manifest file:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<manifest
xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
package="de.visira.smartfdr"
android:versionCode="1"
android:versionName="1.0">
<uses-sdk android:minSdkVersion="12" />
<uses-feature android:name="android.hardware.usb.host" />
<application android:icon="#drawable/icon" android:label="#string/app_name">
<receiver android:name=".usb.Detector">
<intent-filter>
<action android:name="android.hardware.usb.action.USB_DEVICE_ATTACHED" />
<action android:name="android.hardware.usb.action.USB_DEVICE_DETACHED" />
</intent-filter>
<meta-data android:name="android.hardware.usb.action.USB_DEVICE_ATTACHED"
android:resource="#xml/device_filter" />
<meta-data android:name="android.hardware.usb.action.USB_DEVICE_DETACHED"
android:resource="#xml/device_filter" />
</receiver>
</application>
And the receiver:
public class FDRDetector extends BroadcastReceiver{
#Override
public void onReceive(Context context, Intent intent) {
String action = intent.getAction();
Toast.makeText(context, "Action: " + action, 3).show();
// pops up only if action == DETACHED
}
I don't understand why the same intent-filter works, if I use them on an activity, but not if they are applied to a receiver? Even if I set up the receiver and filter in code, attaches are not recognized.
My work environment:
IDE: Eclipse 3.7 with Android Plugin
Device: Acer Iconia Tab A500
Android: 3.1
Thanks in advance

Aha! I figured it out. I was having the exact same problem.
The gist of it is - if you have your application launch automatically when a device is plugged in (using the manifest file), then it appears the Android system gets the ACTION_USB_DEVICE_ATTACHED intent, and then since it knows your application wants to run in that situation, it actually sends your application the android.intent.action.MAIN intent. It never sends the ACTION_USB_DEVICE_ATTACHED action to your application because it thinks it already knows what your application wants to do in that situation.
I've just now identified the problem, and I think I have a solution, but I can tell you what I've found:
Even if your app is running and in the foreground, when you plug in the USB device and the Android system gets the ACTION_USB_DEVICE_ATTACHED intent, it will call onResume() in your activity.
Unfortunately, you cannot just do this:
#Override
public void onResume() {
super.onResume();
Intent intent = getIntent();
Log.d(TAG, "intent: " + intent);
String action = intent.getAction();
if (UsbManager.ACTION_USB_DEVICE_ATTACHED.equals(action)) {
//do something
}
}
Because the intent will come back as android.intent.action.MAIN, NOT ACTION_USB_DEVICE_ATTACHED.
An annoyingly, you also get android.intent.action.MAIN if you just leave the app, but don't unplug USB. I imagine putting the device to sleep and waking it back up will do the same thing.
So from what I have found, you can't get the intent directly, but it does appear that you can rely on onResume() being called when a USB device is plugged in, so the solution is to just check to see if USB is connected every time you get an onResume. You can also set a flag when USB is disconnected, because of course the USB disconnect intent fires just fine.
So in total, your broadcast receiver might look like this:
// BroadcastReceiver when remove the device USB plug from a USB port
BroadcastReceiver mUsbReceiver = new BroadcastReceiver() {
public void onReceive(Context context, Intent intent) {
String action = intent.getAction();
if (UsbManager.ACTION_USB_DEVICE_DETACHED.equals(action)) {
usbConnected=false;
}
}
};
You'd have this inside of onCreate:
// listen for new devices
IntentFilter filter = new IntentFilter();
filter.addAction(UsbManager.ACTION_USB_DEVICE_DETACHED);
registerReceiver(mUsbReceiver, filter);
This goes inside of the activity tag in your manifest:
<intent-filter>
<action android:name="android.hardware.usb.action.USB_DEVICE_ATTACHED" />
</intent-filter>
<meta-data android:name="android.hardware.usb.action.USB_DEVICE_ATTACHED"
android:resource="#xml/device_filter" />
You'll have a device_filter.xml file in your /res/xml/ folder that looks like this:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<resources>
<usb-device vendor-id="1027" product-id="24577" />
<usb-device vendor-id="1118" product-id="688" />
</resources>
(of course with whatever vendor IDs and product IDs you need)
And then your onCreate looks something like this:
#Override
public void onResume() {
super.onResume();
Intent intent = getIntent();
Log.d(TAG, "intent: " + intent);
String action = intent.getAction();
if (usbConnected==false ) {
//check to see if USB is now connected
}
}
I don't have specific code for checking to see if USB is connected as I actually haven't delved into that yet. I'm using a library that will just connect if it can, so for my application I can just start that loop and I'm good.
Its also probably important to set the launchmode of your activity in the manifest to "singleTask" to prevent it from running again when its already running, or else plugging in a USB device will just launch a second instance of your application!
So my whole activity tag in my manifest looks like this:
<activity
android:label="#string/app_name"
android:name="com.awitness.common.TorqueTablet"
android:theme="#android:style/Theme.Holo.NoActionBar.Fullscreen"
android:screenOrientation="landscape"
android:configChanges="orientation|keyboardHidden"
android:launchMode="singleTask"
>
<intent-filter >
<action android:name="android.intent.action.MAIN" />
<category android:name="android.intent.category.HOME"/>
<category android:name="android.intent.category.DEFAULT" />
<category android:name="android.intent.category.LAUNCHER" />
</intent-filter>
<intent-filter>
<action android:name="android.hardware.usb.action.USB_DEVICE_ATTACHED" />
</intent-filter>
<meta-data android:name="android.hardware.usb.action.USB_DEVICE_ATTACHED"
android:resource="#xml/device_filter" />
</activity>
Anyway, I hope this helps someone! I was surprised that I was unable to find a solution for this already!

Just to follow on from #Gusdor's insightful comment (+1): I implemented a check in onNewIntent() that, as #Gusdor points out, is called when your activity launchMode is set as singleTask or singleTop. Then, rather than checking for boolean flags as the accepted answer suggests, simply pass on the intent to your USB broadcast receiver using a LocalBroadcastManager. For example,
#Override
protected void onNewIntent(Intent intent) {
super.onNewIntent(intent);
if (UsbManager.ACTION_USB_ACCESSORY_ATTACHED.equals(intent.getAction())) {
LocalBroadcastManager.getInstance(this).sendBroadcast(intent);
}
}
Then, wherever you're registering your existing (system) USB broadcast receiver, just register the same receiver with a local broadcast manager instance, i.e.,
#Override
protected void onResume() {
super.onResume();
myContext.registerReceiver(myUsbBroadcastReceiver, myIntent); // system receiver
LocalBroadcastManager.getInstance(myContext).registerReceiver(myUsbBroadcastReceiver, intent); // local receiver
}
#Override
protected void onPause() {
super.onResume();
myContext.unregisterReceiver(myUsbBroadcastReceiver); // system receiver
LocalBroadcastManager.getInstance(myContext).unregisterReceiver(myUsbBroadcastReceiver); // local receiver
}
You could send another system broadcast rather than a local broadcast, but I don't think you'll be able to use the action UsbManager.ACTION_USB_ACCESSORY_ATTACHED (system would see that as potential security risk), so you'd have to define your own action. No big deal, but why bother, especially as there's no IPC overhead with local broadcasts.

Creating the broadcast receiver within the application, and not the manifest, allows your application to only handle detached events while it is running. This way, detached events are only sent to the application that is currently running and not broadcast to all applications.

Android, Start App on Launch of Emulator

I want to do some testing on the Android emulator to run an app of mine automatically and pass it a parameter how can I do this?
For now lets assume, I have an app that opens a URL (parameter) in a browser. How can I get my emulator to do this upon launch of app?
This is for testing and this app will not be give to other to be used.
Thanks all

You want to add the "boot completed" permission, then add an intent for the broadcast and make a broadcastreceiver:
--in your manifest:
<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.RECEIVE_BOOT_COMPLETED" />
--and also in the manifest:
<receiver android:name=".receiver.BootReceiver">
<intent-filter>
<action android:name="android.intent.action.BOOT_COMPLETED"/>
</intent-filter>
</receiver>
--then make a receiver:
public class MyBootReceiver extends BroadcastReceiver {
#Override
public void onReceive(Context context, Intent intent) {
//use an intent to stat your activity here!
}
}