CODEWITHSUNDEEP
androidandroid-intent
Pawel Veselov
Pawel Veselov

Reputation: 4225

How to start android service from another Android app

I'm having a problem starting a service from another Android app (API 17). However, if I do run 'am' from the shell, the service starts fine.

# am startservice com.xxx.yyy/.SyncService
Starting service: Intent { act=android.intent.action.MAIN cat=
[android.intent.category.LAUNCHER] cmp=com.xxx.yyy/.SyncService }
(service starts fine at this point)
# am to-intent-uri com.xxx.yyy/.SyncService
intent:#Intent;action=android.intent.action.MAIN;
category=android.intent.category.LAUNCHER;
component=com.xxx.yyy/.SyncService;end

So, it doesn't look like I'm missing anything from the intent when I do the same in the code:

Intent i = new Intent();
i.setAction(Intent.ACTION_MAIN);
i.addCategory(Intent.CATEGORY_LAUNCHER);
i.setComponent(new ComponentName("com.xxx.yyy", ".SyncService"));
ComponentName c = ctx.startService(i);
if (c == null) { Log.e(TAG, "failed to start with "+i); }

What I get is (the service is not running at that time):

E/tag( 4026): failed to start with Intent { 
act=android.intent.action.MAIN 
cat=[android.intent.category.LAUNCHER] 
cmp=com.xxx.yyy/.SyncService }

I don't have an intent filter on the service, and I don't want to set one up, I'm really trying to understand what am I doing wrong starting it through its component name, or what may be making it impossible to do so.

Upvotes: 23

Views: 37046

Answers (3)

Yaroslav Shulyak
Yaroslav Shulyak

Reputation: 181

As an addition to David Wasser's answer to make it work when targeting API 30 and above you also have to add either:

Required package name in queries tag in manifest:

<queries>
        <package android:name="com.example.service.owner.app" />
</queries>

or permission

<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.QUERY_ALL_PACKAGES" />

Additional info on package visibility changes here

Upvotes: 6

Sophus H. B. Weirs&#248;e
Sophus H. B. Weirs&#248;e

Reputation: 171

Start your service like this 

Intent intent = new Intent();
intent.setComponent(new ComponentName("pkg", "cls"));
ComponentName c = getApplicationContext().startForegroundService(intent);

btw you actually need to use the applicationId, instead of the pkg. it can be found in the app gradle. I was struggling with that mistake for hours! 

   defaultConfig {
        applicationId "com.xxx.zzz"
}

the cls is the name of your service declared in the manifest. example: com.xxx.yyy.yourService. 

 <service android:name="com.xxx.yyy.yourService"
android:exported="true"/>

Upvotes: 4

David Wasser
David Wasser

Reputation: 95578

You should be able to start your service like this:

Intent i = new Intent();
i.setComponent(new ComponentName("com.xxx.yyy", "com.xxx.yyy.SyncService"));
ComponentName c = ctx.startService(i);

You don't need to set ACTION or CATEGORY if you are specifying a specific component. Make sure that your service is properly defined in the manifest.

Upvotes: 61

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