07.4 Services

Android Developer Fundamentals V2
Background
Tasks
Lesson 7
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Fundamentals V2 International License
7.4 Services

Contents
● Services for long tasks.

● IntentService

Services is an advanced topic
● Services are complex.

● Many ways of configuring a service.
● This lesson has introductory information only.
● Explore and learn for yourself if you want to use
services.

Services for
Long Tasks

What is a service?
A Service is an application component that can

perform long-running operations in the background
and does not provide a user interface.

What are services good for?
● Network transactions.
● Play music.
● Perform file I/O.
● Interact with a database.

Characteristics of services
● Started with an Intent.

● Can stay running when user switches applications.
● Lifecycle—which you must manage.
● Other apps can use the service—manage
permissions.
● Runs in the main thread of its hosting process.
Forms of services: started
● Started with startService()

● Runs indefinitely until it stops
itself
● Usually does not update the UI

Forms of services: bound
● Offers a client-server interface that

allows components to interact with
the service
● Clients send requests and get results
● Started with bindService()
● Ends when all clients unbind

Services and threads
Although services are separate from the UI, they

still run on the main thread by default (except
IntentService)
Offload CPU-intensive work to a separate thread

within the service

Updating the app
If the service can't access the UI, how do you update

the app to show the results?
Use a broadcast receiver!

Foreground services
Runs in the background but requires that the user is

actively aware it exists—e.g. music player using
music service
● Higher priority than background services since
user will notice its absence—unlikely to be killed
by the system
● Must provide a notification which the user cannot
dismiss while the serviceServices
Android Developer
is running
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Background services limitations
● Starting from API 26, background app is not allowed to create a
background service.
● A foreground app, can create and run both foreground and
background services.
● When an app goes into the background, the system stops the
app's background services.
● The startService() method now throws an
IllegalStateException if an app is targeting API 26.
● These limitations don't affect foreground services or bound
services. This work is licensed under a
Creating a service
● <service android:name=".ExampleService" />
● Manage permissions.
● Subclass IntentService or Service class.
● Implement lifecycle methods.
● Start service from Activity.
● Make sure service is stoppable.
Stopping a service
● A started service must manage its own lifecycle
● If not stopped, will keep running and consuming
resources
● The service must stop itself by calling stopSelf()
● Another component can stop it by calling
stopService()
● Bound service is destroyed when all clients
unbound Android Developer
Fundamentals V2
Services
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International License
16
IntentServic
e

IntentService
● Simple service with simplified lifecycle

● Uses worker threads to fulfill requests
● Stops itself when done
● Ideal for one long task on a single background

thread
IntentService Limitations
● Cannot interact with the UI

● Can only run one request at a time
● Cannot be interrupted

IntentService restrictions
● IntentService are subjected to the new
restrictions on background services.
● For the apps targeting API 26,
Android Support Library 26.0.0 introduces a new
JobIntentService.
● JobIntentService provides the same functionality
as IntentService but uses jobs instead of
services.
IntentService Implementation
public class HelloIntentService extends IntentService {
public HelloIntentService() { super("HelloIntentService");}
@Override
protected void onHandleIntent(Intent intent) {
try {
// Do some work
} catch (InterruptedException e) {
Thread.currentThread().interrupt();
}
} // When this method returns, IntentService stops the service, as
appropriate.
}

Learn more
● Services overview
● Background Execution Limits

What's Next?
● Concept Chapter: 7.4 Services

● No practical

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Android Developer Fundamentals V2

This work is licensed under a

This work is licensed under a

● Services for long tasks.

This work is licensed under a

● Services are complex.

This work is licensed under a

This work is licensed under a

A Service is an application component that can

This work is licensed under a

This work is licensed under a

● Started with an Intent.

● Started with startService()

This work is licensed under a

● Offers a client-server interface that

This work is licensed under a

Although services are separate from the UI, they

Offload CPU-intensive work to a separate thread

This work is licensed under a

If the service can't access the UI, how do you update

Use a broadcast receiver!

This work is licensed under a

Runs in the background but requires that the user is

This work is licensed under a

● Simple service with simplified lifecycle

● Ideal for one long task on a single background

● Cannot interact with the UI

This work is licensed under a

This work is licensed under a

This work is licensed under a

● Concept Chapter: 7.4 Services

This work is licensed under a

This work is licensed under a

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