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We recently implemented foreground service and on Android 9 (Samsung devices only) some users experience some recurring crashes and we don't know what's causing this. Has anyone encountered the same issue? Is there a fix for this issue?

Fatal Exception: android.app.RemoteServiceException Context.startForegroundService() did not then call Service.startForeground() 
android.app.ActivityThread$H.handleMessage (ActivityThread.java:1874) android.os.Handler.dispatchMessage (Handler.java:106) android.os.Looper.loop (Looper.java:214) android.app.ActivityThread.main (ActivityThread.java:7073) java.lang.reflect.Method.invoke (Method.java) com.android.internal.os.RuntimeInit$MethodAndArgsCaller.run (RuntimeInit.java:494) com.android.internal.os.ZygoteInit.main (ZygoteInit.java:964)

AndroidManigest.xml

<service android:name="com.sotg.base.util.GeoNotification" android:exported="true" android:foregroundServiceType="location" />

GeoNotificationManager.kt

 override fun startService() { val geoService = Intent(context, GeoNotification::class.java) geoService.action = GeoNotification.START_SERVICE_ACTION // for android Oreo and higher start as foreground if (Build.VERSION.SDK_INT >= Build.VERSION_CODES.O) { context.startForegroundService(geoService) } else { context.startService(geoService) } } override fun stopService() { // Shouldn't initialize the service to stop it when the service is not running. if (!GeoNotification.isServiceRunning()) return; val geoService = Intent(context, GeoNotification::class.java) geoService.action = GeoNotification.STOP_TRACKING_ACTION runCatching { context.startService(geoService) } .onFailure(analytics::logException) }

GoeNotification.java

 private static boolean isServiceRunning; public static boolean isServiceRunning() { return isServiceRunning; } @Override public void onCreate() { super.onCreate(); isServiceRunning = false; } @Override public void onDestroy() { stopTracking(); super.onDestroy(); } @Override public int onStartCommand(Intent intent, int flags, int startId) { if (START_SERVICE_ACTION.equals(intent.getAction())) { startTracking(); } else if (STOP_TRACKING_ACTION.equals(intent.getAction())) { stopTracking(); } else { Log.w(TAG, "Unknown action for location service"); } // Service restarts if it gets terminated // the original Intent is re-delivered to the onStartCommand // method when using START_REDELIVER_INTENT. return START_REDELIVER_INTENT; } private void startTracking() { if (isServiceRunning) return; // create notification and config as foreground only for android Oreo and higher if (Build.VERSION.SDK_INT >= Build.VERSION_CODES.O) { startForeground(Constants.NOTIFY_SURVEY_GCM, createForegroundNotification(this)); } isServiceRunning = true; ... } private void stopTracking() { if (!isServiceRunning) { if (Build.VERSION.SDK_INT >= Build.VERSION_CODES.O) { stopForeground(true); } stopSelf(); return; } // stop location updates on partner SDKs .... stopSelf(); isServiceRunning = false; } public static Notification createForegroundNotification(Context context) { NotificationChannelUtil.INSTANCE.getPreparedManager(context); String channel = NotificationChannelUtil.INSTANCE.getSYSTEM_CHANNEL_ID(); // The PendingIntent to launch activity. PendingIntent activityPendingIntent = PendingIntent.getActivity(context, 0, new Intent(context, MainTabActivity.class), 0); NotificationCompat.Action settingsAction = NotificationUtil.createSettingAction(context); String title = context.getResources().getString(R.string.foreground_service_notification_title); String desc = context.getResources().getString(R.string.foreground_service_notification_description); String expandedText = context.getResources().getString(R.string.foreground_service_notification_description_expanded); NotificationCompat.Builder builder = new NotificationCompat.Builder(context, channel) .setContentIntent(activityPendingIntent) .setSmallIcon(R.drawable.noti) .setContentTitle(title) .setContentText(desc) .setStyle(new NotificationCompat.BigTextStyle() .bigText(expandedText)) .addAction(settingsAction) .setColorized(false) .setOngoing(true); return builder.build(); }
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  • Does this answer your question? Context.startForegroundService() did not then call Service.startForeground() Commented Apr 14, 2020 at 17:46
  • Is the fact that it doesn't have an accepted answer the only problem? It has several highly upvoted answers - did you try them? Commented Apr 15, 2020 at 1:11
  • @RyanM I haven't been able to reproduce this bug. After release some users experienced this issue and I saw the crashes on Firebase. I'll try some of them. Thank you Commented Apr 15, 2020 at 21:39

2 Answers 2

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2

I had the same problem with Samsung and Huawei devices with Android Oreo or above. I would get the same errors.

If I remember correctly, since Android Oreo and above it is required to make use of startForeground() when using startService() or startForegroundService().

I solved it by adding the following code to the onCreate function of the service class. I created a notification and launched it with startForeground().

 if (Build.VERSION.SDK_INT >= Build.VERSION_CODES.O) { NotificationManager mNotificationManager = (NotificationManager) getSystemService(NOTIFICATION_SERVICE); NotificationChannel mNotificationChannel = new NotificationChannel(CHANNEL_ID, CHANNEL_NAME, NotificationManager.IMPORTANCE_NONE); mNotificationChannel.setLockscreenVisibility(Notification.VISIBILITY_PRIVATE); mNotificationManager.createNotificationChannel(mNotificationChannel); Notification note = new NotificationCompat.Builder(this, CHANNEL_ID) .setContentTitle("Reboot Sequence") .setContentText("Rescheduling Alarms") .setSmallIcon(R.drawable.ic_alarm_24dp) .build(); startForeground(1, note); }

I hope this will help you.

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Thank you @Fatih I'll try this
0

This happens even if a notification is launched with startForeground(). This problem is caused by bugs in the software on some devices. So it can not be solved in the app code. The only realistic solution is to go to crashes and ANR on the play developer console and find the problem devices. Then go to device manager on the same developer console and exclude those devices. I have seen that Huawei HUAWEI Y5 causes a lot of these crashes.

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2 Comments

that's not a good solution. For me it happens on S8, S9, S9+, Pixel 6. I can't blame the OS on the device.
If it happens on S8, S9 and S9+ it is probably caused by your app code. I never see this exception on those devices. Then you should update your code according to the recommendations for startForeGroundservice(). But even efter you do this, this exception can occur on some low quality devices. That is what I meant by my answer.

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