Get LocationUpdates in background service continuously

Question

I am working on application which requires to fetch location updates continuously in background service. I have used background sticky service with which it is working. But service is not starting after boot complete even though I have added boot broadcast and have started the service there. Service starts and immediately gets killed.

Also, this is not working on Oreo. Service stops after few minutes of application gets closed and never restarts till app is relaunched.

I have gone through lot of links, blogs which suggest to use AlarmManager/JobScheduler/JobIntentService but didn't get satisfactory solution. So please suggest the working strategy/solution that can be used to continuously fetch location in background even after boot and should work on Oreo.

Answer 1

Using notification, you can make your service alive. It works up to android 8.1. Below is code for background service

Note:

1) Use startForegroundService for above Build.VERSION_CODES.O

2) Use targetSdkVersion 25

        if (Build.VERSION.SDK_INT < Build.VERSION_CODES.O) {
            mainActivity.startService(new Intent(getContext(), GpsServices.class));
        } else {
            mainActivity.startForegroundService(new Intent(getContext(), GpsServices.class));
        }

BackgroundGpsServices Class

public class BackgroundGpsServices extends Service implements LocationListener {
private LocationManager mLocationManager;
public final long UPDATE_INTERVAL = 500;  /* 0.5 sec */
public static final int NOTIFICATION_ID = 200;

@Override
public void onCreate() {
    sendNotification(this, false);
    startLocationUpdates();
}

private void startLocationUpdates() {
    if (!isLocationUpdateRunning) {
        isLocationUpdateRunning = true;
        mLocationManager = (LocationManager) this.getSystemService(Context.LOCATION_SERVICE);
        if (ActivityCompat.checkSelfPermission(this, Manifest.permission.ACCESS_FINE_LOCATION) != PackageManager.PERMISSION_GRANTED) {
            return;
        }
        if (mLocationManager != null) {
            mLocationManager.requestLocationUpdates(LocationManager.GPS_PROVIDER, UPDATE_INTERVAL, 0, this);
        }
    }
}

@Override
public void onLocationChanged(Location location) {
    sendNotification(BackgroundGpsServices.this, true);
    System.out.println("onLocationChanged ----- location=" + location);
}

@Override
public void onStatusChanged(String provider, int status, Bundle extras) {

}

@Override
public void onProviderEnabled(String provider) {

}

@Override
public void onProviderDisabled(String provider) {
}

public static void sendNotification(Service service, boolean isUpdate) {
    if (Build.VERSION.SDK_INT >= Build.VERSION_CODES.O) {
        Intent intent = new Intent(service, MainActivity.class);
        PendingIntent pendingIntent = PendingIntent.getActivity(service, 0, intent, PendingIntent.FLAG_NO_CREATE);
        NotificationCompat.Builder mNotifyBuilder = new NotificationCompat.Builder(service)
                .setSmallIcon(R.mipmap.ic_launcher)
                .setContentTitle("INFO_NOTIFICATION_TITLE")
                .setOngoing(true)
                .setAutoCancel(false)
                .setContentText("INFO_NOTIFICATION_MESSAGE")
                .setContentIntent(pendingIntent);
        Notification notification = mNotifyBuilder.build();

        if (isUpdate) {
            NotificationManager notificationManager = (NotificationManager) service.getSystemService(NOTIFICATION_SERVICE);
            if (notificationManager != null) {
                notificationManager.notify(NOTIFICATION_ID, notification);
            }
        } else {
            service.startForeground(NOTIFICATION_ID, notification);
        }
    }
}

@Override
public int onStartCommand(Intent intent, int flags, int startId) {
    // If we get killed, after returning from here, restart
    return START_STICKY;
}

@Override
public IBinder onBind(Intent intent) {
    // We don't provide binding, so return null
    return null;
}

/* Remove the locationlistener updates when Services is stopped */
@Override
public void onDestroy() {
    try {
        stopLocationUpdates();
        stopForeground(true);
    } catch (Exception e) {
        e.printStackTrace();
    }
}

private void stopLocationUpdates() {
    isLocationUpdateRunning = false;
    if (mLocationManager != null) {
        mLocationManager.removeUpdates(this);
    }
}
}