Android Service With Google Play Services Location Causing App to Open Randomly

Question

I have a service which should capture the user's location and current battery level and send it to my firebase backend. For some reason it seems like whenever I have this service enabled in my app, my app will randomly open without any user interaction (even if the user is in another app, my app will pop open). Does anyone have any idea why this is happening?

Here is my code for the service:

import android.app.Service;
import android.content.Intent;
import android.content.IntentFilter;
import android.content.SharedPreferences;
import android.location.Address;
import android.location.Geocoder;
import android.location.Location;
import android.os.BatteryManager;
import android.os.Bundle;
import android.os.IBinder;
import android.preference.PreferenceManager;
import android.util.Log;
import android.widget.Toast;

import com.google.android.gms.common.ConnectionResult;
import com.google.android.gms.common.api.GoogleApiClient;
import com.google.android.gms.common.server.converter.StringToIntConverter;
import com.google.android.gms.location.LocationListener;
import com.google.android.gms.location.LocationRequest;
import com.google.android.gms.location.LocationServices;
import com.google.firebase.database.DataSnapshot;
import com.google.firebase.database.DatabaseError;
import com.google.firebase.database.DatabaseReference;
import com.google.firebase.database.FirebaseDatabase;
import com.google.firebase.database.ValueEventListener;

import java.io.IOException;
import java.util.HashMap;
import java.util.List;
import java.util.Locale;
import java.util.Map;
import java.util.concurrent.TimeUnit;

import static android.R.attr.lines;
import static com.package.R.id.location;
import static com.package.R.id.view;

public class LocationBatteryService extends Service implements
    GoogleApiClient.ConnectionCallbacks, GoogleApiClient.OnConnectionFailedListener, LocationListener {
    private String currentUser;
    private String city;
    private String country;
    private float batteryLevel;
    private int batteryLevelInt;
    protected GoogleApiClient mGoogleApiClient;
    protected LocationRequest mLocationRequest;
    protected Location mCurrentLocation;
    List<Address> addresses;
    Geocoder geocoder;




    @Override
    public void onCreate() {
        super.onCreate();
        buildGoogleApiClient();
    }
    @Override
    public IBinder onBind(Intent intent) {
        return null;
    }

    protected synchronized void buildGoogleApiClient() {
        Log.i("TAG", "Building GoogleApiClient");
        mGoogleApiClient = new GoogleApiClient.Builder(this)
                .addConnectionCallbacks(this)
                .addOnConnectionFailedListener(this)
                .addApi(LocationServices.API)
                .build();
        createLocationRequest();
        mGoogleApiClient.connect();
    }



    protected void createLocationRequest() {
        SharedPreferences prefs = PreferenceManager.getDefaultSharedPreferences(this);
        String locationSyncSettings = prefs.getString("location_sync_time", "");
        long intervalTime = 5;
        if(locationSyncSettings.equals("5 minutes")) {
            intervalTime = 5;
        }
        if (locationSyncSettings.equals("10 minutes")) {
            intervalTime = 10;
        }
        if (locationSyncSettings.equals("15 minutes")) {
            intervalTime = 15;
        }
        if (locationSyncSettings.equals("30 minutes")) {
            intervalTime = 30;
        }
        if (locationSyncSettings.equals("1 hour")) {
            intervalTime = 60;
        }
        mLocationRequest = new LocationRequest();
        mLocationRequest.setInterval(TimeUnit.MINUTES.toMillis(intervalTime));
        mLocationRequest.setFastestInterval(60000);
        mLocationRequest.setPriority(LocationRequest.PRIORITY_BALANCED_POWER_ACCURACY);
    }


    @Override
    public void onConnected(Bundle connectionHint) {
        Log.i("TAG", "Connected to GoogleApiClient");
        try {
            LocationServices.FusedLocationApi.requestLocationUpdates(
                    mGoogleApiClient, mLocationRequest, this);
            mCurrentLocation = LocationServices.FusedLocationApi.getLastLocation(mGoogleApiClient);
            onLocationChanged(mCurrentLocation);
        }
        catch (SecurityException e){
            Log.d("TAG", "Error: " + e);
        }
    }

    @Override
    public void onDestroy() {
        super.onDestroy();
        Log.d("TAG", "You got destoryed mate");
    }

    @Override
    public void onLocationChanged(Location location) {
        updateLocationBackend(mCurrentLocation);
    }

    @Override
    public void onConnectionSuspended(int cause) {
        // The connection to Google Play services was lost for some reason. We call connect() to
        // attempt to re-establish the connection.
        Log.i("TAG", "Connection suspended");
        mGoogleApiClient.connect();
    }

    public void onTaskRemoved (Intent rootIntent){
        this.stopSelf();
    }

    @Override
    public void onConnectionFailed(ConnectionResult result) {
        // Refer to the javadoc for ConnectionResult to see what error codes might be returned in
        // onConnectionFailed.
        Log.i("TAG", "Connection failed: ConnectionResult.getErrorCode() = " + result.getErrorCode());
    }

    public float getBatteryLevel() {
        Intent batteryIntent = registerReceiver(null, new IntentFilter(Intent.ACTION_BATTERY_CHANGED));
        int level = batteryIntent.getIntExtra(BatteryManager.EXTRA_LEVEL, -1);
        int scale = batteryIntent.getIntExtra(BatteryManager.EXTRA_SCALE, -1);

        // Error checking that probably isn't needed but I added just in case.
        if(level == -1 || scale == -1) {
            return 50.0f;
        }

        return ((float)level / (float)scale) * 100.0f;
    }

    private void updateLocationBackend(final Location location) {

        Log.i("TAG", "Location and battery being updated");
        batteryLevel = getBatteryLevel();
        batteryLevelInt = Math.round(batteryLevel);
        // Get current user
        SharedPreferences sharedPrefs = PreferenceManager.getDefaultSharedPreferences(getApplicationContext());
        currentUser = sharedPrefs.getString("Username", "");

        // Get users added by you
        DatabaseReference ref = FirebaseDatabase.getInstance().getReferenceFromUrl(Passwords.FB_URL).child("Relations").child(currentUser);
        ref.addListenerForSingleValueEvent(
                new ValueEventListener() {
                    @Override
                    public void onDataChange(DataSnapshot dataSnapshot) {
                        // Get user value
                        for (DataSnapshot ds : dataSnapshot.getChildren()) {
                            final String contactNumber = ds.getKey();
         // Check to see if users added you
                            final DatabaseReference ref = FirebaseDatabase.getInstance().getReferenceFromUrl(Passwords.FB_URL).child("Contacts").child(contactNumber).child(currentUser);
                            ref.addListenerForSingleValueEvent(new ValueEventListener() {
                                @Override
                                public void onDataChange(DataSnapshot dataSnapshot) {
                                    if (!dataSnapshot.child("name").exists()) {
                                    // User has not added you so do not update location
                                    }
                                    // User has added you so update location
                                    else {
                                        SharedPreferences sharedPrefs = PreferenceManager.getDefaultSharedPreferences(getApplicationContext());
                                        boolean contactLocationSetting = sharedPrefs.getBoolean(contactNumber + "_location_pref", true);
                                        Log.d("TAG", "ContactLocationSetting for " + contactNumber + " is equal to: " + contactLocationSetting);
                                        if (location != null && contactLocationSetting == true) {
                                            Map updateLocation = new HashMap();
                                            double latitude = location.getLatitude();
                                            double longitude = location.getLongitude();

                                            geocoder = new Geocoder(getApplicationContext(), Locale.getDefault());
                                            try {
                                                addresses = geocoder.getFromLocation(latitude, longitude, 1); // Here 1 represent max location result to returned, by documents it recommended 1 to 5
                                            } catch (IOException e) {
                                                Log.e("TAG", "error is: " + e);
                                            }
                                            if (addresses.size() == 0) {
                                                // Do nothing
                                            } else {
                                                city = addresses.get(0).getLocality();
                                                country = addresses.get(0).getCountryName();
                                                // String knownName = addresses.get(0).getFeatureName(); // Only if available else return NULL
                                            }
                                            updateLocation.put("battery", batteryLevelInt);
                                            updateLocation.put("latitude", latitude);
                                            updateLocation.put("longitude", longitude);
                                            updateLocation.put("city", city);
                                            updateLocation.put("country", country);
                                            updateLocation.put("lastUpdated", System.currentTimeMillis());
                                            ref.updateChildren(updateLocation);
                                            Log.d("TAG", "Updated location for: " + contactNumber);
                                        }
                                    }
                                }

                                @Override
                                public void onCancelled(DatabaseError databaseError) {

                                }
                            });


                        }
                    }

                    @Override
                    public void onCancelled(DatabaseError databaseError) {
                        Log.w("TAG", "getUser:onCancelled", databaseError.toException());
                    }
                });
    }

}

Here is the code where I start the service:

import android.app.ActivityManager;
import android.content.Context;
import android.content.Intent;
import android.content.SharedPreferences;
import android.os.Bundle;
import android.preference.PreferenceManager;
import android.support.design.widget.TabLayout;
import android.support.v4.app.Fragment;
import android.support.v4.app.FragmentManager;
import android.support.v4.app.FragmentPagerAdapter;
import android.support.v4.view.ViewPager;
import android.support.v7.app.AppCompatActivity;
import android.support.v7.widget.Toolbar;
import android.util.Log;

import java.util.ArrayList;
import java.util.List;

public class MainActivity extends AppCompatActivity {
    private Toolbar toolbar;
    private TabLayout tabLayout;
    public static ViewPager viewPager;
    public static ViewPagerAdapter adapter;

    @Override
    protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
        super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
        SharedPreferences sharedPrefs = PreferenceManager.getDefaultSharedPreferences(getApplicationContext());
        String currentUser = sharedPrefs.getString("Username", null);
        if (currentUser == null) {
            // Take user to log in screen
            Log.d("TAG", "user needs to login");
            Intent intent = new Intent(this, MyIntro.class);
            startActivity(intent);
            finish();
        }
        else {
            // User already logged in
            setupMainActivity();
        }
    }

    @Override
    public void onResume() {
        super.onResume();
return;
    }

    private void setupViewPager(ViewPager viewPager) {
        adapter = new ViewPagerAdapter(getSupportFragmentManager());
        adapter.addFragment(new ChalkboardFragment(), getString(R.string.chalkboard_label));
        adapter.addFragment(new ContactsFragment(), getString(R.string.contacts_label));
        viewPager.setAdapter(adapter);
    }

    class ViewPagerAdapter extends FragmentPagerAdapter {
        private final List<Fragment> mFragmentList = new ArrayList<>();
        private final List<String> mFragmentTitleList = new ArrayList<>();

        public ViewPagerAdapter(FragmentManager manager) {
            super(manager);
        }

        @Override
        public Fragment getItem(int position) {
            switch (position) {
                case 0:
                    return new ChalkboardFragment();
                case 1:
                    return new ContactsFragment();
            }
            return null;
        }

        @Override
        public int getCount() {
            return mFragmentList.size();
        }

        public void addFragment(Fragment fragment, String title) {
            mFragmentList.add(fragment);
            mFragmentTitleList.add(title);
        }

        @Override
        public CharSequence getPageTitle(int position) {
            return mFragmentTitleList.get(position);
        }
    }
public void setupMainActivity() {
    setContentView(R.layout.activity_main);
    toolbar = (Toolbar) findViewById(R.id.toolbar);
    setSupportActionBar(toolbar);
    getSupportActionBar().setDisplayHomeAsUpEnabled(false);
    viewPager = (ViewPager) findViewById(R.id.viewpager);
    setupViewPager(viewPager);
    tabLayout = (TabLayout) findViewById(R.id.tabs);
    tabLayout.setupWithViewPager(viewPager);
    SharedPreferences prefs = PreferenceManager.getDefaultSharedPreferences(this);
    boolean locationSetting = prefs.getBoolean("location_pref", false);
    Log.d("TAG", "location_pref " + locationSetting);
    if (isMyServiceRunning(LocationBatteryService.class) == false && locationSetting == true) {
        startService(new Intent(this, LocationBatteryService.class));
    }
}
    private boolean isMyServiceRunning(Class<?> serviceClass) {
        ActivityManager manager = (ActivityManager) getSystemService(Context.ACTIVITY_SERVICE);
        for (ActivityManager.RunningServiceInfo service : manager.getRunningServices(Integer.MAX_VALUE)) {
            if (serviceClass.getName().equals(service.service.getClassName())) {
                return true;
            }
        }
        return false;
    }
}

Application Start:

import android.app.Application;
import android.content.Context;
import android.content.Intent;
import android.content.SharedPreferences;
import android.preference.PreferenceManager;
import android.util.Log;
import com.digits.sdk.android.Digits;
import com.twitter.sdk.android.core.TwitterAuthConfig;
import com.twitter.sdk.android.core.TwitterCore;

import io.fabric.sdk.android.Fabric;

public class ApplicationStart extends Application {
    private static Context mContext;

    @Override
    public void onCreate() {
        super.onCreate();
        mContext = this.getApplicationContext();
        /*if (!FirebaseApp.getApps(this).isEmpty()) {
            FirebaseDatabase.getInstance().setPersistenceEnabled(true);
        }*/
        SharedPreferences sharedPrefs = PreferenceManager.getDefaultSharedPreferences(getApplicationContext());
        String currentUser = sharedPrefs.getString("Username", null);
        if (currentUser == null) {
            // Take user to log in screen
            Log.d("TAG", "user needs to login");
            Intent intent = new Intent(this, MyIntro.class);
            intent.addFlags(Intent.FLAG_ACTIVITY_NEW_TASK);
            startActivity(intent);
        }
        else {
            // User already logged in
            Log.d("TAG", "user logged in: " + currentUser);
            Intent intent = new Intent(this, MainActivity.class);
            intent.addFlags(Intent.FLAG_ACTIVITY_NEW_TASK);
            startActivity(intent);
        }
        TwitterAuthConfig authConfig = new TwitterAuthConfig(TWITTER_KEY,TWITTER_SECRET);
        Fabric.with(this, new TwitterCore(authConfig),new Digits.Builder().build());
    }
    public static Context getAppContext(){
        return mContext;
    }
}

Complete manifest:

<manifest xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
package="com.package">
<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.INTERNET" />
<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.ACCESS_NETWORK_STATE" />
<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.GET_ACCOUNTS" />
<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.READ_PROFILE" />
<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.READ_CONTACTS" />
<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.READ_PHONE_STATE" />
<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.RECEIVE_SMS" />
<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.READ_SMS" />
<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.WRITE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE" />
<uses-permission android:name="com.android.alarm.permission.SET_ALARM" />
<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.WAKE_LOCK" />
<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.DISABLE_KEYGUARD" />
<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.ACCESS_COARSE_LOCATION" />
<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.ACCESS_FINE_LOCATION" />
<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.RECEIVE_BOOT_COMPLETED" />
<uses-permission android:name="com.google.android.providers.gsf.permission.READ_GSERVICES" />
    <permission android:name="android.permission.INTERACT_ACROSS_USERS_FULL" android:protectionLevel="signature" />

<application android:name=".ApplicationStart" android:allowBackup="false" android:icon="@mipmap/ic_launcher"
    android:label="@string/app_name" android:supportsRtl="true" android:theme="@style/AppTheme">
    <activity android:name=".MainActivity" android:label="@string/app_name" android:launchMode="singleTop">
        <intent-filter>
            <action android:name="android.intent.action.MAIN" />

            <category android:name="android.intent.category.LAUNCHER" />
        </intent-filter>
    </activity>
    <activity android:name=".LoginActivity" android:label="@string/title_activity_login"
        android:parentActivityName=".MainActivity" />
    <activity android:name=".ContactsSettingsActivity" android:label="Contact Settings"
        android:launchMode="singleTop">
        <meta-data android:name="android.support.PARENT_ACTIVITY" android:value="com.package.ContactsChalkboard" />
    </activity>
    <activity android:name=".MyIntro" />
    <activity android:name=".ContactsChalkboard" />
    <activity android:name=".AlarmActivity" />
    <activity android:name=".AddContactActivity" android:parentActivityName=".MainActivity">
        <meta-data android:name="android.support.PARENT_ACTIVITY" android:value="com.package.MainActivity" />
    </activity>
    <activity android:name=".PictureNameActivity" android:label="@string/title_activity_picture_name"
        android:parentActivityName=".LoginActivity">
        <meta-data android:name="android.support.PARENT_ACTIVITY" android:value="com.package.LoginActivity" />
    </activity>
    <activity android:name=".Test" />
    <activity android:name=".SettingsActivity" android:label="Settings">
        <meta-data android:name="android.support.PARENT_ACTIVITY" android:value="com.package.MainActivity" />
    </activity>
    <activity android:name="com.package.GeofenceActivity" android:label="@string/title_activity_geofence">
    </activity>

    <service android:name=".LocationBatteryService" android:enabled="true" android:exported="true" />
    <service android:name=".MyFirebaseMessagingService">
        <intent-filter>
            <action android:name="com.google.firebase.MESSAGING_EVENT" />
        </intent-filter>
    </service>
    <service android:name=".MyFirebaseInstanceIDService">
        <intent-filter>
            <action android:name="com.google.firebase.INSTANCE_ID_EVENT" />
        </intent-filter>
    </service>
    <service android:name=".GeofenceTransitionsIntentService" />
    <receiver android:name=".AlarmReceiver" android:enabled="true" android:exported="true" />
    <receiver android:name=".BootReceiver" android:enabled="true" android:exported="true">
        <intent-filter>
            <action android:name="android.intent.action.BOOT_COMPLETED" />
        </intent-filter>
    </receiver>
    <meta-data android:name="com.google.android.geo.API_KEY" android:value="API KEY VALUE" />
    <meta-data android:name="io.fabric.ApiKey" android:value="API KEY VALUE" />
</application>
</manifest>

Answer 1

Well, there is no guarantee that the system keeps running your service all the time. When the application is killed, and a new location has to be delivered the play services lib will instantiate the application and start your service. You have to remove startActivity from your application class.