Memory leak caused by com.google.android.gms.internal.*

Question

I'm using smart-location-lib to get the current location of the device once. It's needed for later use during the activity's lifecycle.

Upon doing finish() from the activity to go back to the previous activity I get a memory leak.

Here's the code:

@Override
protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
    super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
    ...

    SmartLocation.with(this).location()
    .oneFix()
    .start(new OnLocationUpdatedListener() {
        @Override
        public void onLocationUpdated(Location location) {
            mCurrentLocation = location;
        }
    });

    ...
}

...

@Override
protected void onStop() {
    super.onStop();

    SmartLocation.with(this).location().stop();
}

As you can see I'm doing smart-location-lib's .stop() in the Activity's onStop() call as described in the documentation here.

But this doesn't prevent the leak. Here's information about the leak collected with LeakCanary:

In com.companyname.appname.development:1.0-development:1.
* com.companyname.appname.activities.TaskCheckoutActivity has leaked:
* GC ROOT com.google.android.gms.internal.zzbyw.zzfwc
* references com.google.android.gms.internal.zzbyt.zzhyy
* references io.nlopez.smartlocation.location.providers.LocationGooglePlayServicesProvider.context
* leaks com.companyname.appname.activities.TaskCheckoutActivity instance

* Retaining: 1,6 MB.
* Reference Key: ba2a19b1-d5ca-4971-a5c7-e0fd99ea95a6
* Device: samsung samsung SM-G930F heroltexx
* Android Version: 7.0 API: 24 LeakCanary: 1.5.4 74837f0
* Durations: watch=5010ms, gc=215ms, heap dump=1792ms, analysis=128865ms

* Details:
* Instance of com.google.android.gms.internal.zzbyw
|   static $classOverhead = byte[752]@858164225 (0x33268c01)
|   zzfwc = com.google.android.gms.internal.zzbyt@861919192 (0x335fd7d8)
|   mDescriptor = java.lang.String@854648480 (0x32f0e6a0)
|   mObject = 501026202704
|   mOwner = com.google.android.gms.internal.zzbyw@856066112 (0x33068840)
|   shadow$_klass_ = com.google.android.gms.internal.zzbyw
|   shadow$_monitor_ = 0
* Instance of com.google.android.gms.internal.zzbyt
|   static $classOverhead = byte[792]@855184385 (0x32f91401)
|   zzhyy = io.nlopez.smartlocation.location.providers.LocationGooglePlayServicesProvider@856875576 (0x3312e238)
|   zzfda = com.google.android.gms.common.api.Api@856792448 (0x33119d80)
|   zzfip = com.google.android.gms.common.api.Api$zzf@854593816 (0x32f01118)
|   mStatus = com.google.android.gms.common.api.Status@856929688 (0x3313b598)
|   zzaj = true
|   zzaop = java.util.concurrent.CountDownLatch@855708832 (0x330114a0)
|   zzfhl = com.google.android.gms.common.api.Status@856929688 (0x3313b598)
|   zzfiz = java.lang.Object@854593632 (0x32f01060)
|   zzfja = com.google.android.gms.common.api.internal.zzu@856066144 (0x33068860)
|   zzfjb = java.lang.ref.WeakReference@857866976 (0x332202e0)
|   zzfjc = java.util.ArrayList@857867120 (0x33220370)
|   zzfjd = null
|   zzfje = java.util.concurrent.atomic.AtomicReference@855708848 (0x330114b0)
|   zzfjf = null
|   zzfjg = false
|   zzfjh = false
|   zzfji = null
|   zzfjj = null
|   zzfjk = false
|   shadow$_klass_ = com.google.android.gms.internal.zzbyt
|   shadow$_monitor_ = -1953408656
* Instance of io.nlopez.smartlocation.location.providers.LocationGooglePlayServicesProvider
|   static REQUEST_CHECK_SETTINGS = 20001
|   static GMS_ID = java.lang.String@856784656 (0x33117f10)
|   static $classOverhead = byte[748]@857097217 (0x33164401)
|   static REQUEST_START_LOCATION_FIX = 10001
|   alwaysShow = true
|   checkLocationSettings = false
|   client = com.google.android.gms.common.api.internal.zzbd@856996208 (0x3314b970)
|   context = com.companyname.appname.activities.TaskCheckoutActivity@860313600 (0x33475800)
|   fulfilledCheckLocationSettings = false
|   googlePlayServicesListener = io.nlopez.smartlocation.location.providers.LocationGooglePlayServicesWithFallbackProvider@856791392 (0x33119960)
|   listener = com.companyname.appname.activities.TaskCheckoutActivity$1@856799680 (0x3311b9c0)
|   locationRequest = com.google.android.gms.location.LocationRequest@856876304 (0x3312e510)
|   locationStore = io.nlopez.smartlocation.location.LocationStore@859517520 (0x333b3250)
|   logger = io.nlopez.smartlocation.utils.LoggerFactory$Sssht@854569160 (0x32efb0c8)
|   serviceListener = null
|   settingsResultCallback = io.nlopez.smartlocation.location.providers.LocationGooglePlayServicesProvider$1@856798672 (0x3311b5d0)
|   shouldStart = false
|   stopped = true
|   shadow$_klass_ = io.nlopez.smartlocation.location.providers.LocationGooglePlayServicesProvider
|   shadow$_monitor_ = -2147272239
* Instance of com.companyname.appname.activities.TaskCheckoutActivity
|   static $classOverhead = byte[4720]@856289281 (0x3309f001)
|   BARCODE_SCANNER_REQUEST = java.lang.Integer@856384016 (0x330b6210)
|   BEGIN_SIGNATURE_REQUEST = java.lang.Integer@856384000 (0x330b6200)
|   mApiKey = java.lang.String@856965696 (0x33144240)
|   mCheckoutEmptyStepView = null
|   mCurrentLocation = android.location.Location@859607248 (0x333c90d0)
|   mDamagedAddressUnknownDescriptionCheckFailed = java.lang.Boolean@1881937168 (0x702c1510)
|   mDamagedAddressUnknownDescriptionEditText = null
|   mDamagedAddressUnknownStepView = null
|   mJobManager = com.birbit.android.jobqueue.JobManager@851730080 (0x32c45ea0)
|   mKibCardInputCheckFailed = java.lang.Boolean@1881937168 (0x702c1510)
|   mKibCardInputEditText = null
|   mKibCardInputStepView = null
|   mKibCardNextTimeframe = null
|   mKibNextAbbrevation = null
|   mKibNextDay = null
|   mMarginBetweenStatusAndIcons = android.support.v7.widget.AppCompatTextView@860264448 (0x33469800)
|   mNameCheckFailed = java.lang.Boolean@1881937168 (0x702c1510)
|   mNeighbourAddressStepView = null
|   mNeighbourCityFailed = java.lang.Boolean@1881937168 (0x702c1510)
|   mNeighbourCityInputEditText = null
|   mNeighbourStreetFailed = java.lang.Boolean@1881937168 (0x702c1510)
|   mNeighbourStreetInputEditText = null
|   mNeighbourStreetNumberFailed = java.lang.Boolean@1881937152 (0x702c1500)
|   mNeighbourStreetNumberInputEditText = null
|   mNeighbourZipcodeFailed = java.lang.Boolean@1881937168 (0x702c1510)
|   mNeighbourZipcodeInputEditText = null
|   mOpenBarcodeScannerButton = null
|   mParcelKey = java.lang.String@856985856 (0x33149100)
|   mPaymentCompleted = java.lang.Boolean@1881937168 (0x702c1510)
|   mPaymentStepView = null
|   mPaymentSwitch = null
|   mPaymentTextView = null
|   mRecipientContainer = android.widget.RelativeLayout@860361728 (0x33481400)
|   mRecipientNameEditText = android.widget.EditText@860366848 (0x33482800)
|   mRefusedReasonCheckFailed = java.lang.Boolean@1881937168 (0x702c1510)
|   mRefusedReasonEditText = null
|   mRefusedStepView = null
|   mSignatureBitmap = android.graphics.Bitmap@854106464 (0x32e8a160)
|   mSignatureButton = android.widget.Button@860369920 (0x33483400)
|   mSignatureFragmentContainer = android.widget.RelativeLayout@860368896 (0x33483000)
|   mSignaturePreviewImageView = android.widget.ImageView@860370944 (0x33483800)
|   mSignatureStepView = android.widget.RelativeLayout@860360704 (0x33481000)
|   mSigned = java.lang.Boolean@1881937152 (0x702c1500)
|   mSpecialContainerTaskStatusTextView = android.support.v7.widget.AppCompatTextView@860262400 (0x33469000)
|   mSpecialIconA = android.support.v7.widget.AppCompatImageView@860296192 (0x33471400)
|   mSpecialIconB = android.support.v7.widget.AppCompatImageView@860297216 (0x33471800)
|   mSpecialIconC = android.support.v7.widget.AppCompatImageView@860298240 (0x33471c00)
|   mSpecialIconD = android.support.v7.widget.AppCompatImageView@860299264 (0x33472000)
|   mSpecialIconsLinearLayout = android.widget.LinearLayout@860261376 (0x33468c00)
|   mSteps = java.lang.String[2]@860283592 (0x3346e2c8)
|   mTask = com.companyname.appname.models..Task@857797632 (0x3320f400)
|   mTaskCheckout = com.companyname.appname.helpers.TaskCheckout@859397192 (0x33395c48)
|   mTaskCheckoutMainLinLayout = android.widget.LinearLayout@856667136 (0x330fb400)
|   mTaskStatus = com.companyname.appname.enums.TaskStatus@851451392 (0x32c01e00)
|   mTaskStatusLabel = android.widget.TextView@860358656 (0x33480800)
|   mTaskStatusSelectedIndex = java.lang.Integer@1882345520 (0x70325030)
|   mTaskStatusText = java.lang.String@858039008 (0x3324a2e0)
|   mTaskStatusTextView = android.widget.TextView@860359680 (0x33480c00)
|   mTaskStatusView = android.widget.FrameLayout@860321792 (0x33477800)
|   mVerticalStepperForm = ernestoyaquello.com.verticalstepperform.VerticalStepperFormLayout@860300288 (0x33472400)
|   mDelegate = android.support.v7.app.AppCompatDelegateImplN@856322976 (0x330a73a0)
|   mResources = null
|   mThemeId = 2131427510
|   mCreated = true
|   mFragments = android.support.v4.app.FragmentController@856383984 (0x330b61f0)
|   mHandler = android.support.v4.app.FragmentActivity$1@856395936 (0x330b90a0)
|   mNextCandidateRequestIndex = 0
|   mPendingFragmentActivityResults = android.support.v4.util.SparseArrayCompat@856400656 (0x330ba310)
|   mReallyStopped = true
|   mRequestedPermissionsFromFragment = false
|   mResumed = false
|   mRetaining = false
|   mStopped = true
|   mStartedActivityFromFragment = false
|   mStartedIntentSenderFromFragment = false
|   mExtraDataMap = android.support.v4.util.SimpleArrayMap@856309016 (0x330a3d18)
|   mActionBar = null
|   mActionModeTypeStarting = 0
|   mActivityInfo = android.content.pm.ActivityInfo@855609200 (0x32ff8f70)
|   mActivityTransitionState = android.app.ActivityTransitionState@856227168 (0x3308fd60)
|   mAppLockCheckRunnable = android.app.Activity$1@856383936 (0x330b61c0)
|   mAppLockIsInMultiWindowMode = false
|   mApplication = com.companyname.appname.DeliveryApplication@851900944 (0x32c6fa10)
|   mCalled = true
|   mChangeCanvasToTranslucent = false
|   mChangingConfigurations = false
|   mComponent = android.content.ComponentName@856313936 (0x330a5050)
|   mConfigChangeFlags = 0
|   mCurrentConfig = android.content.res.Configuration@855650184 (0x33002f88)
|   mDecor = null
|   mDefaultKeyMode = 0
|   mDefaultKeySsb = null
|   mDestroyed = true
|   mDoReportFullyDrawn = false
|   mEatKeyUpEvent = false
|   mEmbeddedID = null
|   mEnableDefaultActionBarUp = false
|   mEnterTransitionListener = android.app.SharedElementCallback$1@1891321968 (0x70bb4870)
|   mExitTransitionListener = android.app.SharedElementCallback$1@1891321968 (0x70bb4870)
|   mFinished = true
|   mFlipfont = 0
|   mFragments = android.app.FragmentController@856383904 (0x330b61a0)
|   mHandler = android.os.Handler@856395872 (0x330b9060)
|   mHasCurrentPermissionsRequest = false
|   mIdent = 226856808
|   mInstanceTracker = android.os.StrictMode$InstanceTracker@856383920 (0x330b61b0)
|   mInstrumentation = android.app.Instrumentation@851709880 (0x32c40fb8)
|   mIntent = android.content.Intent@858578880 (0x332cdfc0)
|   mLastNonConfigurationInstances = null
|   mMainThread = android.app.ActivityThread@851460448 (0x32c04160)
|   mManagedCursors = java.util.ArrayList@856308968 (0x330a3ce8)
|   mManagedDialogs = null
|   mMenuInflater = null
|   mParent = null
|   mPolicyManager = null
|   mReferrer = java.lang.String@856356128 (0x330af520)
|   mResultCode = -1
|   mResultData = null
|   mResumed = false
|   mScreenChangeListener = null
|   mSearchEvent = null
|   mSearchManager = null
|   mStartedActivity = false
|   mStopped = true
|   mTaskDescription = android.app.ActivityManager$TaskDescription@856395904 (0x330b9080)
|   mTemporaryPause = false
|   mTitle = java.lang.String@851901504 (0x32c6fc40)
|   mTitleColor = 0
|   mTitleReady = true
|   mToken = android.os.BinderProxy@856318080 (0x330a6080)
|   mTranslucentCallback = null
|   mUiThread = java.lang.Thread@1999246640 (0x772a1530)
|   mVisibleBehind = false
|   mVisibleFromClient = true
|   mVisibleFromServer = true
|   mVoiceInteractor = null
|   mWindow = com.android.internal.policy.PhoneWindow@860593808 (0x334b9e90)
|   mWindowAdded = true
|   mWindowManager = android.view.WindowManagerImpl@856400152 (0x330ba118)
|   mInflater = com.android.internal.policy.PhoneLayoutInflater@858279648 (0x33284ee0)
|   mOverrideConfiguration = null
|   mResources = android.content.res.Resources@858466752 (0x332b29c0)
|   mTheme = android.content.res.Resources$Theme@856384208 (0x330b62d0)
|   mThemeResource = 2131427510
|   mBase = android.app.ContextImpl@854679440 (0x32f15f90)
|   shadow$_klass_ = com.companyname.appname.activities.TaskCheckoutActivity
|   shadow$_monitor_ = 1073743558
* Excluded Refs:
| Field: android.view.inputmethod.InputMethodManager.mNextServedView
| Field: android.view.inputmethod.InputMethodManager.mServedView
| Field: android.view.inputmethod.InputMethodManager.mServedInputConnection
| Field: android.view.textservice.SpellCheckerSession$1.this$0
| Field: com.samsung.android.content.clipboard.SemClipboardManager.mContext
| Field: com.samsung.android.emergencymode.SemEmergencyManager.mContext
| Field: android.view.Choreographer$FrameDisplayEventReceiver.mMessageQueue (always)
| Thread:FinalizerWatchdogDaemon (always)
| Thread:main (always)
| Thread:LeakCanary-Heap-Dump (always)
| Class:java.lang.ref.WeakReference (always)
| Class:java.lang.ref.SoftReference (always)
| Class:java.lang.ref.PhantomReference (always)
| Class:java.lang.ref.Finalizer (always)
| Class:java.lang.ref.FinalizerReference (always)

I've tried not using smart-location-lib and implement code to get the current location as written in the official training documentation from Android here. But this also causes a memory leak from com.google.android.gms.internal.*.

I've tried this on two devices (Galaxy S7 on Android 7.0 & Galaxy J2 2016 on Android 5.1.1) and they all produce a memory leak. The project uses compile 'com.google.android.gms:play-services-location:11.2.2'

What am I doing wrong?

Answer 1

I had the same issue with android.widget objects like imageview, button, etc while doing animations so i created static inner class like below instead of anonymous or non-static inner class and in the static i am storing android.widget objects in a weak reference.

private static class ImageViewAnimation implements ValueAnimator.AnimatorUpdateListener {

    private final WeakReference<ImageView> mpetImageView;
    private int axis;

    public ImageViewAnimation(ImageView mpetImageView, int axis) {
        this.mpetImageView = new WeakReference<>(mpetImageView);
        this.axis = axis;
    }

    @Override
    public void onAnimationUpdate(ValueAnimator valueAnimator) {
        ImageView view = mpetImageView.get();
        int value = (int) valueAnimator.getAnimatedValue();
        if (this.axis == 1) {
            view.setTranslationX(value);
        } else if (this.axis == 2) {
            view.setTranslationY(value);
        }
    }
}

I use the above class in my Activity as petx.addUpdateListener(new ImageViewAnimation(petImageView, 1));

The take away from this example for your use case would be the following

• try and create an static inner class and make it implement OnLocationUpdatedListener and use this classes instance where ever you want.
• Make sure android.Location instance mcurretLocation you are using is non-static
• try making the android.Location instance null explicitly in onPause() or onDestroy()