Android Question Show notoficacion programmed to several hours

[Cebuvi]

Hello,

I am working on an app that submits notifications several hours apart by a fixed or variable interval. For example, 10:00, 11:00 and 12:00.
After researching the forum I get it to work using a service in background and StartServiceAtExact but I have the following problems

• if the interval is longer than 10 minutes, the first notification is made at the correct time, but the following notifications are moved 2 minutes. That is to say the first occurs at 10:00, the second at 11:02 and the third at 12:02 (that increase of 2 minutes this for an hour or for two hours)
• when the interval is large the system sometimes kills the service and notifications stop occurring.

If anyone could help me, I’d appreciate it.

 

[Erel]

StartServiceAt / Exact is supposed to start the process if it is not currently running. However for various reasons it doesn't always work on all devices.

You have several options:

- Create a foreground service and try to keep your app running all the time. It will work on most devices.
- Schedule the app to start a few minutes earlier, use a foreground service with partial lock to keep the process running and show the notification on time.
- Switch to push notifications.

Relevant example: Background location tracking

 

[Cebuvi]

Thanks, Erel, I’m going to try out the different options. Clearly the problem is with the device because with the virtual device it works properly.

 

[Cebuvi]

I’ve tried the first option

- Create a foreground service and try to keep your app running all the time. It will work on most devices.

The same thing continues to happen while maintaining the foreground service and lock.PartialLock. What I do not understand is that the 2 minutes are always added between the first notification and the second, but between the second and the third the time that I have set is maintained, for example 60 minutes.

To test the second option,

Schedule the app to start a few minutes earlier, use a foreground service with partial lock to keep the process running and show the notification on time.

I understand that to schedule the app to start a little before I have to do it with a servce that in turn starts another foreground service?

 

[Erel]

I understand that to schedule the app to start a little before I have to do it with a servce that in turn starts another foreground service?

You can do it in the same service. Make it foreground to prevent the OS from killing the process until the relevant time.

 

[Cebuvi]

I keep working with the second option and I read in the forum that I need to start the service every less than 15 seconds so that Samsung devices allow me to give the notification at the set time. I’m gonna do this in the last four minutes.

Is it possible to call StartServiceAtExact from a subroutine within the service itself?

 

[Erel]

I read in the forum that I need to start the service every less than 15 seconds so that Samsung devices allow me to give the notification at the set time.

This is wrong. You shouldn't call StartServiceAt with an interval less than 15 or even 30 minutes. You should instead use a foreground service.

Is it possible to call StartServiceAtExact from a subroutine within the service itself?

Yes. Just pass Me as the first parameter.

 

[Cebuvi]

This is wrong. You shouldn't call StartServiceAt with an interval less than 15 or even 30 minutes. You should instead use a foreground service.

This does not work on a Samsung S8. If, for example, at 9:00 I start a service for him to give a notification at 11:00. To avoid problems I start the service in foreground mode at 10:56 and I use StartServiceAtExact by 11:00, if the screen is off the notification occurs at 11:02.

The first StartserviceAtExact is produced at the scheduled time, but the second is produced 2 minutes later even if there is only a 4 minute difference. If the screen is turned on, it occurs at the scheduled time.
I test that those four minutes the servce is running on foreground for example by making an account and even if the time since the first planning is more than 20 or 30 minutes, the error occurs.

 

[Erel]

The second StartServiceAt call is not required. You should keep the process running with a foreground service + partial lock and use a timer or call to Sleep to show a notification after two minutes.

 

[Cebuvi]

I’m sorry for the delay in answering, but the tests take a long time to prove that everything works.

With the last suggestion I get the notification to occur at the desired time even if they are scheduled a long time in advance, a day or more.

But I have a question, does a service running on foreground consume a lot of battery?

 

[Erel]

How long is the service running in foreground state? If it only runs for a few minutes then it will be insignificant.

 

[Cebuvi]

I want to present a notification every day when the sun goes down the meridian.

 

[Cebuvi]

Is there a way to maintain a service or process that determines the hours of notification in backgroud and only start a service in foreground to give the notification, without the system killing the service/process in background? This is in order not to waste battery in excess.

Thanks

 

[Erel]

You should use StartServiceAtExact to schedule your app to start a few minutes before the desired time. Then keep it running in the foreground until the exact time.

 

[Cebuvi]

But if I use a background service to use StartServiceAtExact, if it is more than 30 minutes after the first service is created until the instruction StartServiceAtExact is executed it is almost certain that the system kills the service in backgroud and the instruction is not executed. It works great if between the two events, service creation and StartServiceAtExact instruction up to 20 minutes. I need more time.

 

[Erel]

Don't wait before calling StartServiceAtExact. Call it to set the next scheduled time.

 

[Cebuvi]

For example , I want to show a notification tomorrow at 09:00h.
I have an app with two services: ser_Crono and ser_Notif.
In the app I enter the time 09:00 and start the service ser_Crono in background in which there is a StartServiceAtExact command to boot it at 8:54 and start on foreground the ser_Notif having a Sleep to display the notification at 9:00.
If the time for the notification is short, 20 minutes, everything works, but if one hour is missing, the system kills the service and everything stops. This happens on the real Samsung device, on the virtual device there is no problem.

Sorry for my bad english.

 

[Erel]

In the app I enter the time 09:00 and start the service ser_Crono in background in which there is a StartServiceAtExact command to boot it at 8:54

Post the relevant code.

 

[Cebuvi]

I send you a test app and a log log file when I run it on a Samsung S8.
As you can see from the log, notifications were scheduled every 10 minutes and two were given, before the third an error occurs.
If the time until the first notification is, for example, one hour, the system kills the service and the app stops without giving any error in the log.
Thank you very much for your patience, many users of my app have asked me for this feature that I found simple but it is driving me crazy.

 

[Erel]

The error is expected. You set the automatic foreground mode to NEVER and you are not calling Service.StartForeground. This means that the app will crash when srv_Crono starts while the app is in the background.