𝚊𝚗𝚍𝚛𝚘𝚒𝚍-𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚎𝚐𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍-𝚜𝚎𝚛𝚟𝚒𝚌𝚎

⚙️ 𝙵𝚘𝚛𝚎𝚐𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍 𝚜𝚎𝚛𝚟𝚒𝚌𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚛𝚞𝚗 𝚊𝚗 𝚒𝚗𝚏𝚒𝚗𝚒𝚝𝚎 𝚝𝚊𝚜𝚔 𝚒𝚗 𝚊𝚗𝚍𝚛𝚘𝚒𝚍

𝙲𝙾𝙽𝚃𝙴𝙽𝚃𝚂
What is a foreground service
Demo
Starting service from background
Creating a simple foreground service

What is a foreground service

• In Android, a foreground service is a type of service that has a higher priority than regular background services.
• It is designed to perform operations that are noticeable to the user, and its notification is shown to keep the user aware of ongoing tasks. When an app runs a foreground service, it is less likely to be killed by the system, even when resources are scarce.

Where a foreground service is used

• Foreground services are often used for tasks that the user should be aware of and that have a visual or noticeable impact on the application.
• For example, when an app is playing music in the background, downloading files, or providing navigation instructions, it might use a foreground service to ensure that the user is aware of these activities.

Why a foreground service is useful

• The notification associated with a foreground service serves as a persistent visual indicator to the user, informing them that the app is running a foreground service.
• This helps users understand why certain operations are ongoing, even when the app is not in the foreground.
• It ensures that the user is informed about ongoing activities that might affect their interaction with the app.

Demo

demo.mp4

Starting service from background

• Apps that target Android 12 or higher can't start foreground services while the app is running in the background, except for a few special cases.
• If an app tries to start a foreground service while the app runs in the background, and the foreground service doesn't satisfy one of the exceptional cases, the system throws a ForegroundServiceStartNotAllowedException.

Creating a simple foreground service

Contents
Define the constants needed
Create a service class
Define the channel creation
Define the runtime permission
Define the permissions in the manifest
Declare the service tag in the manifest
Initiate start and stop actions from your UI

Define the constants needed

object Constants {
    const val NOTIFICATION_CHANNEL_ID = "STOPWATCH_NOTIFICATION_ID"
    const val NOTIFICATION_CHANNEL_NAME = "STOPWATCH_NOTIFICATION"
    const val NOTIFICATION_ID = 10
}

Create a service class

class StopwatchService : Service() {

    override fun onBind(intent: Intent?): IBinder? {
        return null
    }

    /**
     * This method is triggered when another Android component sends the intent to the running service
     */
    override fun onStartCommand(intent: Intent?, flags: Int, startId: Int): Int {

        when(intent?.action){
            Actions.START.toString() ->{
                start()
            }
            Actions.STOP.toString() ->{
                stopSelf()
            }
        }

        return super.onStartCommand(intent, flags, startId)
    }

    private fun start() {
        val notification = NotificationCompat
            .Builder(this,NOTIFICATION_CHANNEL_ID).setSmallIcon(R.mipmap.ic_launcher)
            .setContentTitle("Stop Watch")
            .setContentText("Content of the notification")
            .build()

        startForeground(NOTIFICATION_ID,notification)
    }


    enum class Actions{
        START, STOP
    }

}

Define the channel creation

MyApplication.kt

class MyApplication: Application() {
    override fun onCreate() {
        super.onCreate()
        if(Build.VERSION.SDK_INT >= (Build.VERSION_CODES.O)){
            val channel = NotificationChannel(
                NOTIFICATION_CHANNEL_ID,
                NOTIFICATION_CHANNEL_NAME ,
                NotificationManager.IMPORTANCE_HIGH
            )
            val notificationManager = getSystemService(Context.NOTIFICATION_SERVICE) as NotificationManager
            notificationManager.createNotificationChannel(channel)
        }
    }
}

Define the runtime permission

class MainActivity : ComponentActivity() {
    override fun onCreate(savedInstanceState: Bundle?) {
        super.onCreate(savedInstanceState)
        if (Build.VERSION.SDK_INT >= (Build.VERSION_CODES.TIRAMISU)) {
            ActivityCompat.requestPermissions(
                this, arrayOf(Manifest.permission.POST_NOTIFICATIONS), 0
            )
        }
        setContent {
            // Content
        }
    }
}

Define the permissions in the manifest

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

Declare the service tag in the manifest

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<manifest xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
    xmlns:tools="http://schemas.android.com/tools">

    <!--- Define your permissions ---!>

    <application
        android:name=".MyApplication">
      
        <!-- Other codes -->

        <service
            android:name=".service.StopwatchService"
            android:foregroundServiceType="shortService"
            android:exported="false"/>

    </application>

</manifest>

Initiate start and stop actions from your UI

@Composable
fun CurrentScreen() {

    val context = LocalContext.current

    Column(
        modifier = Modifier.fillMaxSize(),
        horizontalAlignment = Alignment.CenterHorizontally,
        verticalArrangement = Arrangement.Center
    ) {
        Button(onClick = {
            Intent(context,StopwatchService::class.java).also {
                it.action = StopwatchService.Actions.START.toString()
                context.startService(it)
            }
        }) {
            Text(text = "Start Service")
        }
        Button(onClick = {
            Intent(context,StopwatchService::class.java).also {
                it.action = StopwatchService.Actions.STOP.toString()
                context.startService(it)
            }
        }) {
            Text(text = "Stop Service")
        }
    }
}

𝚂𝚞𝚙𝚙𝚘𝚛𝚝 ☕

𝙸𝚏 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚏𝚎𝚎𝚕 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚜𝚞𝚙𝚙𝚘𝚛𝚝 𝚖𝚎 𝚊 𝚌𝚘𝚏𝚏𝚎𝚎 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚖𝚢 𝚎𝚏𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚝𝚜, 𝙸 𝚠𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚐𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚝𝚕𝚢 𝚊𝚙𝚙𝚛𝚎𝚌𝚒𝚊𝚝𝚎 𝚒𝚝.

𝙲𝚘𝚗𝚝𝚛𝚒𝚋𝚞𝚝𝚎 🙋‍♂️

𝚁𝚎𝚊𝚍 𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚝𝚛𝚒𝚋𝚞𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚐𝚞𝚒𝚍𝚎𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚎𝚜 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚒𝚗𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚖𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚛𝚎𝚐𝚊𝚛𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚝𝚛𝚒𝚋𝚞𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗.

𝙵𝚎𝚎𝚍𝚋𝚊𝚌𝚔 ✍️

𝙵𝚎𝚊𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚎 𝚛𝚎𝚚𝚞𝚎𝚜𝚝𝚜 𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚊𝚕𝚠𝚊𝚢𝚜 𝚠𝚎𝚕𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚎, 𝙵𝚒𝚕𝚎 𝚊𝚗 𝚒𝚜𝚜𝚞𝚎 𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎.

𝙵𝚒𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚓𝚎𝚌𝚝 𝚞𝚜𝚎𝚏𝚞𝚕 ? ❤️

𝚂𝚞𝚙𝚙𝚘𝚛𝚝 𝚒𝚝 𝚋𝚢 𝚌𝚕𝚒𝚌𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚎 ⭐ 𝚋𝚞𝚝𝚝𝚘𝚗 𝚘𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚞𝚙𝚙𝚎𝚛 𝚛𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚙𝚊𝚐𝚎. ✌️

𝙻𝚒𝚌𝚎𝚗𝚜𝚎 💳

𝚃𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚓𝚎𝚌𝚝 𝚒𝚜 𝚕𝚒𝚌𝚎𝚗𝚜𝚎𝚍 𝚞𝚗𝚍𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝙰𝚙𝚊𝚌𝚑𝚎 𝙻𝚒𝚌𝚎𝚗𝚜𝚎 𝟸.𝟶 - 𝚜𝚎𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝙻𝙸𝙲𝙴𝙽𝚂𝙴 𝚏𝚒𝚕𝚎 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚍𝚎𝚝𝚊𝚒𝚕𝚜.