Is an Android Service a process or thread?

Question

Is an Android "Service" considered a process or a thread according to operating system?

Answer 1

It is neither, any more than an activity is "a process or a thread".

All components of an Android application run inside a process and by default utilize one main application thread. You can create your own threads as needed.

Answer 2

A Service can be implemented as a separate process depending on the requirement. Here is a good explanation when to implement the service as a separate process or as a component inside an existing app (Service with Activities in same process).