How to set a timer in android

Question

yes java's timer can be used, but as the question asks for better way (for mobile). Which is explained Here.

---

For the sake of StackOverflow:

Since Timer creates a new thread it may be considered heavy,

if all you need is to get is a call back while the activity is running a Handler can be used in conjunction with a

Runnable:

private final int interval = 1000; // 1 Second
private Handler handler = new Handler();
private Runnable runnable = new Runnable(){
    public void run() {
        Toast.makeText(MyActivity.this, "C'Mom no hands!", Toast.LENGTH_SHORT).show();
    }
};
...
handler.postAtTime(runnable, System.currentTimeMillis()+interval);
handler.postDelayed(runnable, interval);

or a Message

private final int EVENT1 = 1; 
private Handler handler = new Handler() {
    @Override
    public void handleMessage(Message msg) {
        switch (msg.what) {         
        case Event1:
            Toast.makeText(MyActivity.this, "Event 1", Toast.LENGTH_SHORT).show();
            break;

        default:
            Toast.makeText(MyActivity.this, "Unhandled", Toast.LENGTH_SHORT).show();
            break;
        }
    }
};

...

Message msg = handler.obtainMessage(EVENT1);
handler.sendMessageAtTime(msg, System.currentTimeMillis()+interval);
handler.sendMessageDelayed(msg, interval);

on a side note this approach can be used, if you want to run a piece of code in the UI thread from an another thread.

if you need to get a call back even if your activity is not running then, you can use an AlarmManager

Standard Java way to use timers via java.util.Timer and java.util.TimerTask works fine in Android, but you should be aware that this method creates a new thread.

You may consider using the very convenient Handler class (android.os.Handler) and send messages to the handler via sendMessageAtTime(android.os.Message, long) or sendMessageDelayed(android.os.Message, long). Once you receive a message, you can run desired tasks. Second option would be to create a Runnable object and schedule it via Handler's functions postAtTime(java.lang.Runnable, long) or postDelayed(java.lang.Runnable, long).

As I have seen it, java.util.Timer is the most used for implementing a timer.

For a repeating task:

new Timer().scheduleAtFixedRate(task, after, interval);

For a single run of a task:

new Timer().schedule(task, after);

task being the method to be executed
after the time to initial execution
(interval the time for repeating the execution)

I hope this one is helpful and may take less efforts to implement, Android CountDownTimer class

e.g.

 new CountDownTimer(30000, 1000) {
      public void onTick(long millisUntilFinished) {
          mTextField.setText("seconds remaining: " + millisUntilFinished / 1000);
      }

      public void onFinish() {
          mTextField.setText("done!");
      }  
}.start();

Probably Timerconcept

new CountDownTimer(40000, 1000) { //40000 milli seconds is total time, 1000 milli seconds is time interval

 public void onTick(long millisUntilFinished) {
  }
  public void onFinish() {
 }
}.start();

or

Method 2 ::

Program the timer

Add a new variable of int named time. Set it to 0. Add the following code to onCreate function in MainActivity.java.

//Declare the timer
Timer t = new Timer();
//Set the schedule function and rate
t.scheduleAtFixedRate(new TimerTask() {

    @Override
    public void run() {
        //Called each time when 1000 milliseconds (1 second) (the period parameter)
    }

},
//Set how long before to start calling the TimerTask (in milliseconds)
0,
//Set the amount of time between each execution (in milliseconds)
1000);

Go into the run method and add the following code.

//We must use this function in order to change the text view text
runOnUiThread(new Runnable() {

    @Override
    public void run() {
        TextView tv = (TextView) findViewById(R.id.main_timer_text);
        tv.setText(String.valueOf(time));
        time += 1;
    }

});

It is situational.

The Android documentation suggests that you should use AlarmManager to register an Intent that will fire at the specified time if your application may not be running.

Otherwise, you should use Handler.

Note: The Alarm Manager is intended for cases where you want to have your application code run at a specific time, even if your application is not currently running. For normal timing operations (ticks, timeouts, etc) it is easier and much more efficient to use Handler.

Here we go.. We will need two classes. I am posting a code which changes mobile audio profile after each 5 seconds (5000 mili seconds) ...

Our 1st Class

public class ChangeProfileActivityMain extends Activity {

    @Override
    protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
        // TODO Auto-generated method stub
        super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);

        Timer timer = new Timer();
        TimerTask updateProfile = new CustomTimerTask(ChangeProfileActivityMain.this);
        timer.scheduleAtFixedRate(updateProfile, 0, 5000);
    }

}

Our 2nd Class

public class CustomTimerTask extends TimerTask {

    private AudioManager audioManager;
    private Context context;
    private Handler mHandler = new Handler();

    // Write Custom Constructor to pass Context
    public CustomTimerTask(Context con) {
        this.context = con;
    }

    @Override
    public void run() {
        // TODO Auto-generated method stub

        // your code starts here.
        // I have used Thread and Handler as we can not show Toast without starting new thread when we are inside a thread.
        // As TimePicker has run() thread running., So We must show Toast through Handler.post in a new Thread. Thats how it works in Android..
        new Thread(new Runnable() {
            @Override
            public void run() {
                audioManager = (AudioManager) context.getApplicationContext().getSystemService(Context.AUDIO_SERVICE);
                mHandler.post(new Runnable() {
                    @Override
                    public void run() {
                        if(audioManager.getRingerMode() == AudioManager.RINGER_MODE_SILENT) {
                            audioManager.setRingerMode(AudioManager.RINGER_MODE_NORMAL);
                            Toast.makeText(context, "Ringer Mode set to Normal", Toast.LENGTH_SHORT).show();
                        } else {
                            audioManager.setRingerMode(AudioManager.RINGER_MODE_SILENT);
                            Toast.makeText(context, "Ringer Mode set to Silent", Toast.LENGTH_SHORT).show();
                        }
                    }
                });
            }
        }).start();

    }

}