java.lang.IllegalStateException: Not allowed to start service Intent while trying to run RingtoneService

Question

I am creating an organizer app which contains many functions one of them is an alarm, while trying to start the RingtoneService for my alarm most of the times I get this exception "java.lang.IllegalStateException: Not allowed to start service Intent" because it's running in the background (sometimes it runs with delay)! I extensively searched for an answer and tried the following and none worked: - JobScheduler : I get the same exception - bindService() and writing the code inside onServiceConnected() : it never hits the onServiceConnected()

Below are the important parts of my code:

public class AlarmReceiver extends BroadcastReceiver {
    @Override
    public void onReceive(final Context context, Intent intent) {

        Intent serviceIntent = new Intent(context, RingtonePlayingService.class);
        context.startService(serviceIntent);
    }
}

Broadcast call from activity below:

Intent intent = new Intent(AddAlarm.this, AlarmReceiver.class)
                .putExtra("ALARM_ON", true);
        PendingIntent pendingIntent = PendingIntent.getBroadcast(this.getApplicationContext(), 0, intent, PendingIntent.FLAG_UPDATE_CURRENT);

        alarmManager.set(AlarmManager.RTC_WAKEUP, calendar.getTimeInMillis(), pendingIntent);

Service class below:

public class RingtonePlayingService extends Service {

    // Player
    MediaPlayer player;
    boolean isRunning;

    @Nullable
    @Override
    public IBinder onBind(Intent intent) {
        return null;
    }

    @Override
    public int onStartCommand(Intent intent, int flags, int startId) {

        if (!isRunning) {

            player = MediaPlayer.create(this, R.raw.ringtone);
            player.start();

            this.isRunning = true;

            showNotification();

        }
        else if (isRunning) {

            player.stop();

            this.isRunning = false;

        }

        return START_STICKY;
    }
}

Answer 1

If you are running your code on Android 8.0 then this behavior is expected. Based on the documentation, starting from Android 8.0, you cannot start a service in background if your application is not in foreground. You need to replace following:

Intent serviceIntent = new Intent(context, RingtonePlayingService.class);
context.startService(serviceIntent);

Do

Intent serviceIntent = new Intent(context, RingtonePlayingService.class);
ContextCompat.startForegroundService(context, serviceIntent );

Ensure to call startForeground() in your onHandleIntent with notification. You can refer to this SO for details to implement it.