Set initial delay to a Periodic Work Manager in Android

Question

I have a Worker instance that needs to run every 24 hours which is pretty simple considering the PeriodicWorkRequest API. But here's the catch.

If the user initiates the work at say 8 PM, I need the first instance of the work manager to run at 9 AM the next morning and then follow the 24-hour periodic constraint.

I looked hereand I found that the OneTimeWorkRequest API has a setInitialDelay() function that can be used but I wasn't able to find anything for the PeriodicWork API.

Ther are some hacks for this such as I can use the OneTimeWork with the initial delay and then schedule a PeriodicWork from there but it's kinda a dirty hack.

Is there any way to do this with just the PeriodicWorkRequest API?

Answer 1

On the new version of Work manager (Version 2.1.0-alpha02 released on May 16, 2019) PeriodicWorkRequests now support initial delays. You can use the setInitialDelay method on PeriodicWorkRequest.Builder to set an initial delay.

Example:

    PeriodicWorkRequest workRequest = new PeriodicWorkRequest.Builder(
        WorkerReminderPeriodic.class,
        24,
        TimeUnit.HOURS,
        PeriodicWorkRequest.MIN_PERIODIC_FLEX_MILLIS,
        TimeUnit.MILLISECONDS)
      .setInitialDelay(1, TimeUnit.HOURS)
      .addTag("send_reminder_periodic")
      .build();


    WorkManager.getInstance()
        .enqueueUniquePeriodicWork("send_reminder_periodic", ExistingPeriodicWorkPolicy.REPLACE, workRequest);