Android 12 ForegroundServiceStartNotAllowedException while in Foreground?

Question

While it seems there are a few questions on here regarding Android 12 service restrictions, I have yet to see one specific to this use case.

Background: I am starting a foreground service to handle a very long running background media player (Exoplayer). Due to the setup of the app, I cannot use the built in notification manager from exoplayer. However I am seeing an odd behavior from Crashlytics. I am getting ForegroundServiceStartNotAllowedException While the app is undoubtedly in the foreground. Per the logs, it is easy to see the user is navigating the app within a second of the startForeground call.

I am also listening to

override fun onStateChanged(source: LifecycleOwner, event: Lifecycle.Event)

to ensure the app is in a foreground state.

I am beginning to run out of ideas as to what would cause this. As you can see by the timestamps, less than 1 second had gone by. The app has no use cases where the service could even accidentally be started from the background.

Thanks

Edit:

I am also declaring my service type:

        <service
            android:name=".service.SoundPlayerService"
            android:enabled="true"
            android:exported="false"
            android:foregroundServiceType="mediaPlayback"
            android:stopWithTask="false">
            <intent-filter>
                <action android:name="android.media.browse.MediaBrowserService" />
            </intent-filter>
        </service>

        if (!audioFocusTakenBackground && Application.instance.isAppInForeground) {
            if (Build.VERSION.SDK_INT >= Build.VERSION_CODES.Q) {
                startForeground(
                    ONGOING_NOTIFICATION_ID,
                    builder.build(),
                    ServiceInfo.FOREGROUND_SERVICE_TYPE_MEDIA_PLAYBACK
                )
            } else {
                startForeground(
                    ONGOING_NOTIFICATION_ID,
                    builder.build()
                )
            }
        }

Edit: Device State tab suggested by @Arlind

Answer 1

One thing that's looking promising (I won't mark anything as answered until I get more data in) is by adding this bit to the notification builder:

if (Build.VERSION.SDK_INT >= Build.VERSION_CODES.S) {
    foregroundServiceBehavior = Notification.FOREGROUND_SERVICE_IMMEDIATE
}

Then to prevent crashes but still be notified of an issue I wrapped the startForeground in a try/catch that posts to crashlytics so i know there's an issue:

        if (!audioFocusTakenBackground && Application.instance.isAppInForeground && !isForegroundActive) {
            isForegroundActive = if (Build.VERSION.SDK_INT >= Build.VERSION_CODES.Q) {
                try {
                    startForeground(ONGOING_NOTIFICATION_ID, builder.build(), ServiceInfo.FOREGROUND_SERVICE_TYPE_MEDIA_PLAYBACK)
                    true
                } catch (e: Exception) {
                    Timber.e("Unable to start foreground: ${e.message}")
                    FirebaseCrashlytics.getInstance().recordException(e)
                    false
                }
            } else {
                try {
                    startForeground(ONGOING_NOTIFICATION_ID, builder.build())
                    true
                } catch (e: Exception) {
                    Timber.e("Unable to start foreground: ${e.message}")
                    FirebaseCrashlytics.getInstance().recordException(e)
                    false
                }
            }
        }

Note that in the area where Build.VERSION.SDK_INT >= Build.VERSION_CODES.Q, it adds that the notification is a FOREGROUND_SERVICE_TYPE_MEDIA_PLAYBACK. According to the google docs here: https://developer.android.com/guide/components/foreground-services#notification-immediate this should be enough to initially show the notification. I'm curious if some implementations don't use or listen to that.

I will update this when I get more data, but for now my crashes have subsided and I am not seeing any logging from the catch blocks in crashlytics. Hopefully someone else can use this and verify my findings.

EDIT:

After a few days my crashes from this error have gone down to 0 and no noticeable logs from the catch's have been observed. Finally calling this one closed