unbindService() does not unbind from a service?

Question

I have a service that stores a Messenger as a member variable and returns messenger.getBinder() on onBind(Intent). I am connecting to this service with:

void Bind()
{
    Intent intent = new Intent("com.example.RemoteBindingService");
    bindService(intent, mServiceConnection,
            Context.BIND_AUTO_CREATE); // Context.BIND_AUTO_CREATE
                                       // means
                                       // "start if not started"

    mBound = true;
}

Before calling Bind(), sending a Message to the service does nothing. After calling Bind(), sending a Message to the service works correctly. However, I would expect that after calling

void Unbind()
{
    if(mBound == true)
    {
        unbindService(mServiceConnection);
        mBound = false;
    }
}

that sending a Message to the service would again do nothing. However, this is not the case - the service keeps working. Can anyone explain how to properly disconnect from a service?

score 0 · Accepted Answer · answered Oct 02 '13 at 12:03

0

I assume you started your Service with startService(), because if it would be a bound Service it would get killed if the last Activity unbounds from the Service.

You can stop it

Inside the Service with stopSelf()
Outside the Service with stopService(Intent)

answered Oct 02 '13 at 12:03

Steve Benett

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I did not call startService(). So you're saying if something else is bound to it, even if I unbindService the service will still receive my messages? – David Doria Oct 02 '13 at 12:05
Yes, the service will be up until the last Activity/whatever unbounds. – Steve Benett Oct 02 '13 at 12:07
Can I call stopService even if I didn't call startService to disconnect everyone? – David Doria Oct 02 '13 at 12:09
I never tried that. But it should work. Please tell me what the result was. – Steve Benett Oct 02 '13 at 12:11
It's not possible as mentioned [here](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/2176375/android-service-wont-stop). – Steve Benett Oct 02 '13 at 12:17
When debugging this kind of app, is there a UI way (i.e. through the Android Settings or similar) to stop a service? In this case, I wouldn't expect anything else to be bound to this service, but it is behaving as if something is. I'd like to "force stop" the service so I can restart it the way I want (using only bind). – David Doria Oct 02 '13 at 12:23
let us [continue this discussion in chat](http://chat.stackoverflow.com/rooms/38482/discussion-between-steve-benett-and-david-doria) – Steve Benett Oct 02 '13 at 12:24

unbindService() does not unbind from a service?

1 Answers1