Can I make an apk that only has a service?
I'm trying to make a long running service that sits in the back and updates a database. No UI.
I always thought that a Service had to be bootstrapped to an Activity in order to make an APK but is that true?
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possible duplicate of [Launch Android application without main Activity and start Service on launching application](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/10909683/launch-android-application-without-main-activity-and-start-service-on-launching) – Tim Dec 02 '14 at 18:24
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I don't think this is a duplicate since it is related to a complete "app" as opposed to the "concept" of starting a service where the app may not be active but still have one or more activities... – Jim Dec 02 '14 at 18:31
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Why don't you just make an apk without a service and find out. You could've been done you've had 10 hours. – danny117 Dec 03 '14 at 04:38
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What's the big deal a activity without UI minus 1 again If I could – danny117 Dec 03 '14 at 04:41
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There are differences between an Activity and a Service that extend beyond the UI. That's probably why they only let you minus once :) – Josh Elias Dec 10 '14 at 19:01
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You can, but you might have problems. Google prohibits an app from starting an Activity with an "action" - something from the user.
See this post: How to start android service on installation
It may be possible to capture a user action not related to "your" activity, as suggested in that post and like this:
Can I start a service without activity or receiver?
However, I'm pretty sure that the last time I checked, the "start service" portion of Android required a user-visible activity to be displayed. Otherwise, malicious activities may occur without the user recognizing that an app was even installed or acknowledged.
