onServiceConnected() not called

Question

I have a problem with using a background service.
I am using the service from 2 activities.

The first activity starts the Service with startService(intent) and the binds to it with bindService(intent, mConnection, Context.BIND_AUTO_CREATE);

This works perfectly and I can send a Message in onServiceConnected().

The second activity only binds to the Service (since it's already started), again using bindService(intent, mConnection, Context.BIND_AUTO_CREATE);

Now here is my problem:
In the second activity I have a Button which should use the service when I press it.
However, the onServiceConnected() is never called in this activity, so I can not get the binder to create a Messenger to send a Message to the server.

Does anyone know when onServiceConnected() is called exactly, or what it is possibly waiting for?
Or maybe something else to fix this problem?

EDIT: bindService returns false, what could cause this?

Thanks in advance

`bindService` should return `false` if you want `onRebind` to be called after the first binding. — omerfarukdogan, Jun 18 '15 at 11:54
Possible duplicate of [onServiceConnected never called after bindService method](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/2486692/onserviceconnected-never-called-after-bindservice-method) — TT--, Jul 12 '19 at 22:42

score 37 · Answer 1 · answered Oct 28 '13 at 13:38

37

You need to add:

<service android:name="package.path.to.your.service.class" android:enabled="true"></service>

in the Android manifest file.

answered Oct 28 '13 at 13:38

Erdinc Ay

3,224
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2

for me, it no need .class – Frank Myat Thu Jun 19 '16 at 12:33
1

is very very import add package + name in manifest package.path.to.your.service.class – David Hackro Jun 24 '16 at 16:35
1

I met this problem because I merged two projects into one, and forgot to add the service declaration into main manifest file. It's annoying that Android didn't give any prompt about this. – vainquit Mar 27 '21 at 14:49

score 30 · Accepted Answer · answered Oct 25 '11 at 07:16

30

After some more research, I discovered this is a known issue in Android.

The second activity I was talking about was an activity which is used as content within a TabActivity.

The way to fix this was to call bindService(...) on the application context, instead of on the activity context using getApplicationContext().bindService(...)

answered Oct 25 '11 at 07:16

Leon van Noord

868
1
7
24

2

Hi there, I have the same problem. Could you explain the remedy a little bit more? If possible could you look at my code here and tell me what should be changed? Thank you so much. This error is driving me insane for a day. My code: http://ideone.com/cV5BJa – Max Mar 16 '13 at 22:28
Could you explain me why we need using getApplicationContext().bindService not bindService? bindService works in my one activity but not working in my another activity (getApplicationContext().bindService works). It's very strange. – Thinsky May 21 '15 at 02:23
Thank you so much!! This is exactly what I was facing and it makes a lot of sense to use application context rather than activity context. It solved my issue! Thanks man!! – Sjd Jun 21 '17 at 12:24

score 9 · Answer 3 · edited Jun 24 '16 at 17:59

9

Add bind in manifest..

 <service
            android:name=".MyAccessibilityService"
            android:permission="android.permission.BIND_ACCESSIBILITY_SERVICE" >
            <intent-filter>
                <action android:name="android.accessibilityservice.AccessibilityService" />
            </intent-filter>

</service>

MyAccessibilityService your service name.

edited Jun 24 '16 at 17:59

David Hackro

3,652
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answered Jun 03 '13 at 19:55

febaisi

644
6
15

score 8 · Answer 4 · edited Mar 19 '19 at 04:11

8

It happened to me just now.
Don't forget to instantiate your binder class before the onbind return. Silly mistake, but it happens. hopefully this will help someone in the future.

private YourBinder thisBinder;

oncreate
{
  thisBinder = new YourBinder(); //don't forget this.
}


public class YourBinder extends Binder
{

}

public IBinder onBind(Intent intent) 
{
  return thisBinder;
}

edited Mar 19 '19 at 04:11

Thelouras

852
1
10
30

answered Oct 30 '15 at 06:37

hepizoj

243
4
9

Came from the future, that helped me. Thank you. – David Tabernero M. Jan 04 '19 at 00:05

score 3 · Answer 5 · answered Dec 15 '14 at 00:16

3

This is what worked for me

Instead of

public IBinder onBind(Intent intent) {
    return null;
}

I used

public IBinder onBind(Intent intent) {
    return mMessenger.getBinder();
}

answered Dec 15 '14 at 00:16

Barrie Galitzky

1,166
12
14

It even works with a new Binder() if you don't need a specific implementation – DrinkBird Apr 22 '15 at 23:36

score 0 · Answer 6 · answered Dec 22 '17 at 17:13

0

I was xmarian and had the same problem and later found that i have not given proper name to that service . So the service name should be given name attribute. Which I suppose the xmarian compiler does the same thing make that entry in Android XML.

answered Dec 22 '17 at 17:13

Gaurav Kanwar

1

score 0 · Answer 7 · answered Sep 28 '18 at 08:52

0

In my case, it was because I had forgotten to instantiate the binder inside the service and so onBind returned null. I had this:

    private ServiceBinder mServiceBinder;

instead of this:

    private ServiceBinder mServiceBinder = new ServiceBinder();

answered Sep 28 '18 at 08:52

Apostolos Apostolidis

179
4
16

score 0 · Answer 8 · answered Sep 22 '21 at 09:26

<service
            android:name="com.app.triad.tseacro.services.LocationUpdatesService"
            android:enabled="true"
            android:exported="true"
            android:permission="android.permission.BIND_ACCESSIBILITY_SERVICE"
            android:foregroundServiceType="location"
            >
        <intent-filter>
            <action android:name="android.accessibilityservice.AccessibilityService" />
        </intent-filter>
    </service>

onServiceConnected() not called

8 Answers8

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