Hey, in this tutorial I will demonstrate how to enable your application to continue working in the background without requiring any user interaction.
To start with, first of all create 2 buttons to start and stop the background service.
<RelativeLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
xmlns:tools="http://schemas.android.com/tools"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="match_parent"
android:paddingBottom="@dimen/activity_vertical_margin"
android:paddingLeft="@dimen/activity_horizontal_margin"
android:paddingRight="@dimen/activity_horizontal_margin"
android:paddingTop="@dimen/activity_vertical_margin"
tools:context="com.codingreedefined.backgroundservice.MainActivity" >
<Button
android:id="@+id/btnStartService"
android:layout_width="fill_parent"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:text="Start Service"
android:onClick="startService"
/>
<Button
android:id="@+id/btnStopService"
android:layout_width="fill_parent"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:layout_below="@+id/btnStartService"
android:text="Stop Service"
android:onClick="stopService"
/>
</RelativeLayout>
After creating the buttons write functions to start and stop the background service in MainActivity file.
package com.codingreedefined.backgroundservice;
import android.support.v7.app.ActionBarActivity;
import android.content.Intent;
import android.os.Bundle;
import android.view.Menu;
import android.view.MenuItem;
import android.view.View;
public class MainActivity extends ActionBarActivity {
@Override
protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
setContentView(R.layout.activity_main);
}
@Override
public boolean onCreateOptionsMenu(Menu menu) {
// Inflate the menu; this adds items to the action bar if it is present.
getMenuInflater().inflate(R.menu.main, menu);
return true;
}
@Override
public boolean onOptionsItemSelected(MenuItem item) {
// Handle action bar item clicks here. The action bar will
// automatically handle clicks on the Home/Up button, so long
// as you specify a parent activity in AndroidManifest.xml.
int id = item.getItemId();
if (id == R.id.action_settings) {
return true;
}
return super.onOptionsItemSelected(item);
}
//Method to start the service
public void startService(View view)
{
startService(new Intent(getBaseContext(), MyService.class));
}
//Method to start the service
public void stopService(View view)
{
stopService(new Intent(getBaseContext(), MyService.class));
}
}
Now create a new Java class named MyService and extend Service. Finally write the following code.
package com.codingreedefined.backgroundservice;
import android.app.Service;
import android.content.Intent;
import android.os.IBinder;
import android.widget.Toast;
public class MyService extends Service
{
@Override
public IBinder onBind(Intent intent) {
// TODO Auto-generated method stub
return null;
}
@Override
public int onStartCommand(Intent intent, int flags, int startId)
{
//let it continue running until it is stopped
Toast.makeText(this, "Service Started!!!", Toast.LENGTH_SHORT).show();
return START_STICKY;
}
@Override
public void onDestroy()
{
super.onDestroy();
Toast.makeText(this, "Service Stopped!!!", Toast.LENGTH_SHORT).show();
}
}
Finally add <service /> tag in the manifest file and run the application.
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<manifest xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
package="com.codingreedefined.backgroundservice"
android:versionCode="1"
android:versionName="1.0" >
<uses-sdk
android:minSdkVersion="8"
android:targetSdkVersion="21" />
<application
android:allowBackup="true"
android:icon="@drawable/ic_launcher"
android:label="@string/app_name"
android:theme="@style/AppTheme" >
<activity
android:name=".MainActivity"
android:label="@string/app_name" >
<intent-filter>
<action android:name="android.intent.action.MAIN" />
<category android:name="android.intent.category.LAUNCHER" />
</intent-filter>
</activity>
<service android:name=".MyService" />
</application>
</manifest>
The following output shall be obtained.
