Request Location Permissions from a service Android M

Question

I am using a service that on boot starts up and begins to check for location updates. Once i deny location access on permission popup now thanks to Android M my service crashes once the phone boots up.

Since i have no activity in this case the call to requestPermissions() returns a ClassCastException as my service Context cannot be cast to an activity.

My method call:

ActivityCompat.requestPermissions((Activity) mContext, new String[]{Manifest.permission.ACCESS_COARSE_LOCATION}, REQUEST_COARSE_LOCATION); 

Is there any solution so far to this OR do I have to revoke the service rights to NOT run in such a state.

Answer 1

You can not request permission via a service, since a service is not tied to a UI, this kind of makes sense. Since a service context is not an activity the exception you are getting makes sense.

You can check if the permission is available in a service and request the permission in an activity (yes you need an activity).

In a service:

 public static boolean checkPermission(final Context context) { return ActivityCompat.checkSelfPermission(context, Manifest.permission.ACCESS_FINE_LOCATION) == PackageManager.PERMISSION_GRANTED         && ActivityCompat.checkSelfPermission(context, Manifest.permission.ACCESS_COARSE_LOCATION) == PackageManager.PERMISSION_GRANTED;  } 

and in an activity:

private void showPermissionDialog() {     if (!LocationController.checkPermission(this)) {         ActivityCompat.requestPermissions(             this,             new String[]{Manifest.permission.ACCESS_COARSE_LOCATION, Manifest.permission.ACCESS_FINE_LOCATION},             PERMISSION_LOCATION_REQUEST_CODE);     } }