in-app billing doesn't work: "IAB Helper is not set up"

Question

I tried to include in-app billing in my app and for the purpose of testing, based the whole procedure on the "TrivialDrive" example for version 3 of in-app billing (and implementing the unmodified versions of the IAB files as supplied in the "util" subdirectory of the demo), but it doesn't work for me - on LogCat, just before the app terminates with an error, it gives the message "In-app billing error: Illegal state for operation (launchPurchaseFlow): IAB Helper is not set up." (right after the startRegistered() function has been fired and given me the LOG message "Register button clicked; launching purchase flow for upgrade.")...

Any idea what goes wrong here?

Here are the relevant parts of my code:

package com.mytest;

(..)
import com.mytest.iab.IabHelper; // the originals from the demo example, unmodified
import com.mytest.iab.IabResult;
import com.mytest.iab.Inventory;
import com.mytest.iab.Purchase;

public class Result3 extends Activity implements OnClickListener {

private static final String TAG = "BillingService";

private Context mContext;

boolean mIsRegistered = false;

    // this has already been set up for my app at the publisher's console
static final String IS_REGISTERED = "myregistered";

static final int RC_REQUEST = 10001;

// The helper object
IabHelper mHelper; 

/** Call when the activity is first created. */
@Override
public void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
    super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
    setContentView(R.layout.result3);
    mContext = this;

    String base64EncodedPublicKey = "[my public key]"; // (from publisher's console for my app)

    // Create the helper, passing it our context and the public key to verify signatures with
    Log.d(TAG, "Creating IAB helper.");
    mHelper = new IabHelper(this, base64EncodedPublicKey);

    // enable debug logging (for a production application, you should set this to false).
    mHelper.enableDebugLogging(true);

    // Start setup. This is asynchronous and the specified listener
    // will be called once setup completes.
    Log.d(TAG, "Starting setup.");
    mHelper.startSetup(new IabHelper.OnIabSetupFinishedListener() {
        public void onIabSetupFinished(IabResult result) {
            Log.d(TAG, "Setup finished.");

            if (!result.isSuccess()) {
                complain("Problem setting up in-app billing: " + result);
                return;
            }

            // Hooray, IAB is fully set up. Now, let's get an inventory of stuff we own.
            Log.d(TAG, "Setup successful. Querying inventory.");
            mHelper.queryInventoryAsync(mGotInventoryListener);
        }
    });

   // Set the onClick listeners
   findViewById(R.id.btnPurchase).setOnClickListener(this);
}

// Listener that's called when we finish querying the items we own
IabHelper.QueryInventoryFinishedListener mGotInventoryListener = new IabHelper.QueryInventoryFinishedListener() {
    public void onQueryInventoryFinished(IabResult result, Inventory inventory) {
        Log.d(TAG, "Query inventory finished.");
        if (result.isFailure()) {
            complain("Failed to query inventory: " + result);
            return;
        }

        Log.d(TAG, "Query inventory was successful.");

        // Do we have the premium upgrade?
        mIsRegistered = inventory.hasPurchase(IS_REGISTERED);
        Log.d(TAG, "User is " + (mIsRegistered ? "REGISTERED" : "NOT REGISTERED"));

        setWaitScreen(false);
        Log.d(TAG, "Initial inventory query finished; enabling main UI.");
    }
};      

// User clicked the "Register" button.
private void startRegistered() {
    Log.d(TAG, "Register button clicked; launching purchase flow for upgrade.");
    setWaitScreen(true);
    mHelper.launchPurchaseFlow(this, IS_REGISTERED, RC_REQUEST, mPurchaseFinishedListener);
}

@Override
protected void onActivityResult(int requestCode, int resultCode, Intent data) {
    Log.d(TAG, "onActivityResult(" + requestCode + "," + resultCode + "," + data);

    // Pass on the activity result to the helper for handling
    if (!mHelper.handleActivityResult(requestCode, resultCode, data)) {
        // not handled, so handle it ourselves (here's where you'd
        // perform any handling of activity results not related to in-app billing..
        super.onActivityResult(requestCode, resultCode, data);
    }
    else {
        Log.d(TAG, "onActivityResult handled by IABUtil.");
    }
}

// Callback for when a purchase is finished
IabHelper.OnIabPurchaseFinishedListener mPurchaseFinishedListener = new IabHelper.OnIabPurchaseFinishedListener() {
    public void onIabPurchaseFinished(IabResult result, Purchase purchase) {
        Log.d(TAG, "Purchase finished: " + result + ", purchase: " + purchase);
        if (result.isFailure()) {
            // Oh noes!
            complain("Error purchasing: " + result);
            setWaitScreen(false);
            return;
        }

        Log.d(TAG, "Purchase successful.");

        if (purchase.getSku().equals(IS_REGISTERED)) {
            Log.d(TAG, "User has registered..");
            alert("Thank you.");
            mIsRegistered = true;
            setWaitScreen(false);
        }
    }
};

// We're being destroyed. It's important to dispose of the helper here!
@Override
public void onDestroy() {
    // very important:
    Log.d(TAG, "Destroying helper.");
    if (mHelper != null) mHelper.dispose();
    mHelper = null;
}

void complain(String message) {
    Log.e(TAG, "**** Register Error: " + message);
    alert("Error: " + message);
}

void setWaitScreen(boolean set) {
    // just a dummy for now
}

void alert(String message) {
    AlertDialog.Builder bld = new AlertDialog.Builder(this);
    bld.setMessage(message);
    bld.setNeutralButton("OK", null);
    Log.d(TAG, "Showing alert dialog: " + message);
    bld.create().show();
}

@Override
public void onClick(View v) {
    switch (v.getId()) {
    case R.id.btnPurchase:
        startRegistered();
        break;
    default:
        break;
    }
}

}

Here more lines from Logcat:

12-20 01:06:36.701: D/dalvikvm(299): GC_FOR_MALLOC freed 4262 objects / 308592 bytes in 84ms
12-20 01:06:36.701: D/webviewglue(299): nativeDestroy view: 0x2ea718
12-20 01:06:36.771: W/webcore(299): Can't get the viewWidth after the first layout
12-20 01:07:07.111: W/webcore(299): Can't get the viewWidth after the first layout
12-20 01:07:18.510: D/webviewglue(299): nativeDestroy view: 0x2dd458
12-20 01:07:18.510: D/dalvikvm(299): GC_FOR_MALLOC freed 6042 objects / 544504 bytes in 50ms
12-20 01:07:18.530: D/webviewglue(299): nativeDestroy view: 0x2ea8d0
12-20 01:07:18.660: D/BillingService(299): Creating IAB helper.
12-20 01:07:18.660: D/BillingService(299): Starting setup.
12-20 01:07:18.660: D/IabHelper(299): Starting in-app billing setup.
12-20 01:07:19.621: W/webcore(299): Can't get the viewWidth after the first layout
12-20 01:07:20.160: W/webcore(299): Can't get the viewWidth after the first layout
12-20 01:07:32.481: D/webviewglue(299): nativeDestroy view: 0x3f88e8
12-20 01:07:32.491: D/dalvikvm(299): GC_FOR_MALLOC freed 5798 objects / 513640 bytes in 50ms
12-20 01:07:32.511: D/BillingService(299): Register button clicked; launching purchase flow for upgrade.    
12-20 01:07:32.511: E/IabHelper(299): In-app billing error: Illegal state for operation (launchPurchaseFlow): IAB helper is not set up.
12-20 01:07:32.521: D/AndroidRuntime(299): Shutting down VM
12-20 01:07:32.521: W/dalvikvm(299): threadid=1: thread exiting with uncaught exception (group=0x4001d800)
12-20 01:07:32.541: E/AndroidRuntime(299): FATAL EXCEPTION: main
12-20 01:07:32.541: E/AndroidRuntime(299): java.lang.IllegalStateException: IAB helper is not set up. Can't perform operation: launchPurchaseFlow
12-20 01:07:32.541: E/AndroidRuntime(299):  at com.test_ed.iab.IabHelper.checkSetupDone(IabHelper.java:673)
12-20 01:07:32.541: E/AndroidRuntime(299):  at com.test_ed.iab.IabHelper.launchPurchaseFlow(IabHelper.java:315)
12-20 01:07:32.541: E/AndroidRuntime(299):  at com.test_ed.iab.IabHelper.launchPurchaseFlow(IabHelper.java:294)
12-20 01:07:32.541: E/AndroidRuntime(299):  at com.test_ed.Result3.startRegistered(Result3.java:157)
12-20 01:07:32.541: E/AndroidRuntime(299):  at com.test_ed.Result3.onClick(Result3.java:248)
12-20 01:07:32.541: E/AndroidRuntime(299):  at android.view.View.performClick(View.java:2408)
12-20 01:07:32.541: E/AndroidRuntime(299):  at android.view.View$PerformClick.run(View.java:8816)
12-20 01:07:32.541: E/AndroidRuntime(299):  at android.os.Handler.handleCallback(Handler.java:587)
12-20 01:07:32.541: E/AndroidRuntime(299):  at android.os.Handler.dispatchMessage(Handler.java:92)
12-20 01:07:32.541: E/AndroidRuntime(299):  at android.os.Looper.loop(Looper.java:123)
12-20 01:07:32.541: E/AndroidRuntime(299):  at android.app.ActivityThread.main(ActivityThread.java:4627)
12-20 01:07:32.541: E/AndroidRuntime(299):  at java.lang.reflect.Method.invokeNative(Native Method)
12-20 01:07:32.541: E/AndroidRuntime(299):  at java.lang.reflect.Method.invoke(Method.java:521)
12-20 01:07:32.541: E/AndroidRuntime(299):  at com.android.internal.os.ZygoteInit$MethodAndArgsCaller.run(ZygoteInit.java:868)
12-20 01:07:32.541: E/AndroidRuntime(299):  at com.android.internal.os.ZygoteInit.main(ZygoteInit.java:626)
12-20 01:07:32.541: E/AndroidRuntime(299):  at dalvik.system.NativeStart.main(Native Method)

Answer 1

The fundamental problem is that startRegistered() is being invoked in direct response to a UI user click, whereas the setup of your IabHelper object is triggered asynchronously, and so cannot be known to have completed until an asynchronous response is received via onIabSetupFinished().

Your startRegistered() method is triggered by a user click, and that calls launchPurchaseFlow(), which in turn requires that the IabHelper object has already completed setup, but if the user clicks to trigger a purchase before that confirmation is received (either because setup failed or because the user is exceptionally quick on the draw), then setup will not have been completed, and launchPurchaseFlow() will report the error that you're seeing. In the case of your logcat, the delay is 14 seconds, which would usually be enough time, but...maybe not in this case. Or, maybe something went wrong and you never would have connected no matter how long you had waited.

In your logcat, there's no message indicating "Billing service connected," which is one of the first things that must happen if your setup is to complete. Since that does not occur, you are also not seeing any message (either of success or of failure) from onIabSetupFinished().

This is tricky stuff because of the asynchronous responses required. One approach would be to disable the button used to trigger a purchase until your onIabSetupFinished() returns with success. This would prevent the triggering of the purchase until the IabHelper object had been successfully set up. Of course, if setup fails, you'll have a non-functioning button, but at least you can tell the user what's up (by putting up a message that indicates you're waiting for setup to complete - e.g., as part of the button text).

Even then, once your purchase is initiated and the payment dialog appears to the user, there's the possibility of your app going through an onStop() cycle that flushes your app from memory while the user is pondering her purchase (since the purchase dialog is part of Google Play, not part of your app, and the OS may require memory to run it, and that memory may be obtained by stopping your app). That would destroy your IabHelper() object, which would then have to be created and asynchronously set up again. And again, since that is be triggered asynchronously in your onCreate() method, onActivityResult() may be invoked by the Google Play service to report the user's purchase action before the IabHelper object's setup has completed, and since in onActivityResult() you will need to use your IabHelper instance, this could result in an error. It seems that you have to be prepared for anything.

This should give you the flavor of what you're dealing with. IAB is difficult for exactly these reasons - multiple threads of asynchronous stuff (e.g., setup vs. purchases vs. Android OS actions that stop your app to grab memory for use by, quite possibly, the very Google Play app purchase operation for which your app is waiting to obtain the results of the purchase). A lot of what gets implemented (including by the TrivialDrive sample) is flaky because it implicitly relies upon your app staying in memory when in fact it might get recycled, or because it relies upon one leg of a race condition (e.g. setup) completing before another leg (e.g., purchase launch) does, and so on.

Answer 2

Had the same issue while executing purchaseFlow function. Take a look at Activity class in the Google's example and specifically at the method protected void onActivityResult(int requestCode, int resultCode, Intent data). You probably forgot to implement this one. This function is vital for the whole mechanism to work without a glitch.

@Override
protected void onActivityResult(int requestCode, int resultCode, Intent data) {
    Log.i(TAG, "onActivityResult(" + requestCode + "," + resultCode + "," + data);

    // Pass on the activity result to the helper for handling
    if (!inappBillingHelper.handleActivityResult(requestCode, resultCode, data)) {
        super.onActivityResult(requestCode, resultCode, data);
    }
    else {
        Log.i(TAG, "onActivityResult handled by IABUtil.");
    }
}

EDIT: Additionally the problem also exists when you have wrong password associated with your gmail account on your phone (this happened on me today). Of course all the Inapp billing features should be tested on the phone, but that I think is obvious.

Answer 3

I have just finished wrapping my head around the exact same problem. IabHelper-Setup starts, but after that, nothing else happens. And clicking on an in-App-Purchase returns the exact same error you had.

Here's what I figured out: I only used emulators from eclipse. Once I read that a certain Google Play version is required, I noticed that Google Play was missing entirely on my test emulation drives.

When I then used a real phone it worked flawlessly! So if you happen to be still stuck on that problem, try to use a real device (if you have one available). That should do the trick.

Answer 4

Another thing that I came across; while you might have the latest version of google play on your device which supports the latest version of in app billing, other users may not. And while crashes caused by this in theory should appear in the developer console, I could not see these crashes until I implemented firebase...and then I saw a lot of them. What I ended up doing was using a try catch and linking users who didn't have the latest version of google play or experienced a problem on the google play store end to this page https://support.google.com/googleplay/answer/1050566?hl=en

try {
        mHelper.launchPurchaseFlow(this, SKU_PRO_LT, RC_REQUEST,
                mPurchaseFinishedListener, payload);
    } catch (Exception e) { //with IabHelper.IabAsyncInProgressException the code still fatally crashes for some reason
        //complain("Error launching purchase flow. Another async operation in progress.");
        alert2("[error msg]");
        setWaitScreen(false);
    }

alert2 is just a dialog box with a link to the webpage above.

But firstly I'd recommend testing out in app purchases on a few friends phones just to make sure it's a play store update issue and not a code issue.