Android Geofence eventually stop getting transition intents

Question

I have an app that started with the Google's geofencing sample code. It works great for a few days, and I get all the transition intents as I anticipate. However, after a bit of time, something like 3 days, the app stops getting these intents, and I don't know why.

When I create my fences, I'm setting the expiration duration to Geofence.NEVER_EXPIRE

Here is my IntentService where I get the transition intents before they stop working:

public class ReceiveTransitionsIntentService extends IntentService {
    @Override
    protected void onHandleIntent(Intent intent) {

        Intent broadcastIntent = new Intent();

        broadcastIntent.addCategory(GeofenceUtils.CATEGORY_LOCATION_SERVICES);

        // First check for errors
        if (LocationClient.hasError(intent)) {
                ...handle errors
        } else {

            // Get the type of transition (entry or exit)
            int transition = LocationClient.getGeofenceTransition(intent);

            // Test that a valid transition was reported
            if ((transition == Geofence.GEOFENCE_TRANSITION_ENTER)
                    || (transition == Geofence.GEOFENCE_TRANSITION_EXIT)) {

                // Post a notification
                NEVER GETS HERE
            } else {
                ...log error
            }
        }
    }
}

Here is pertinent part of the manifest:

<service
            android:name="com.aol.android.geofence.ReceiveTransitionsIntentService"
            android:exported="false" >
        </service>

In my GeofenceRequester class, it is almost identical to the sample code. Here are the pertinent parts:

// Get a PendingIntent that Location Services issues when a geofence transition occurs
        mGeofencePendingIntent = createRequestPendingIntent();

        // Send a request to add the current geofences
        mLocationClient.addGeofences(mCurrentGeofences, mGeofencePendingIntent, this);

private PendingIntent createRequestPendingIntent() {

            // Create an Intent pointing to the IntentService
            Intent intent = new Intent(context, ReceiveTransitionsIntentService.class);

            return PendingIntent.getService(
                    context,
                    0,
                    intent,
                    PendingIntent.FLAG_UPDATE_CURRENT);
        }
    }

Can anyone see why this would stop working?

Answer 1

So after playing around with this a bit, it looks like the ReceiveTransitionsIntentService as defined in the sample code will stop getting the notifications when the app is not around. I think this is a big problem with the example code... Seems like that will trip folks like me up.

So I used a broadcast receiver instead, and so far it seems to be working from my tests.

Add this to the manifest:

<receiver android:name="com.aol.android.geofence.GeofenceReceiver"
        android:exported="false">
        <intent-filter >
            <action android:name="com.aol.android.geofence.ACTION_RECEIVE_GEOFENCE"/>
        </intent-filter>
    </receiver>

Then in the GeofenceRequester class you need to change the createRequestPendingIntent method so that it goes to your BroadcastReceiver instead of the ReceiveTransitionsIntentService

private PendingIntent createRequestPendingIntent() {

        // If the PendingIntent already exists
        if (null != mGeofencePendingIntent) {

            // Return the existing intent
            return mGeofencePendingIntent;

        // If no PendingIntent exists
        } else {

            // Create an Intent pointing to the IntentService
            Intent intent = new Intent("com.aol.android.geofence.ACTION_RECEIVE_GEOFENCE");
//            Intent intent = new Intent(context, ReceiveTransitionsIntentService.class);
            /*
             * Return a PendingIntent to start the IntentService.
             * Always create a PendingIntent sent to Location Services
             * with FLAG_UPDATE_CURRENT, so that sending the PendingIntent
             * again updates the original. Otherwise, Location Services
             * can't match the PendingIntent to requests made with it.
             */
            return PendingIntent.getBroadcast(
                    context,
                    0,
                    intent,
                    PendingIntent.FLAG_UPDATE_CURRENT);
        }
    }

Then I added the GeofenceReceiver class that looks something like this:

public class GeofenceReceiver extends BroadcastReceiver {
    Context context;

    Intent broadcastIntent = new Intent();

    @Override
    public void onReceive(Context context, Intent intent) {
        this.context = context;

        broadcastIntent.addCategory(GeofenceUtils.CATEGORY_LOCATION_SERVICES);

        if (LocationClient.hasError(intent)) {
            handleError(intent);
        } else {
            handleEnterExit(intent);
        }
    }

    private void handleError(Intent intent){
        // Get the error code
        int errorCode = LocationClient.getErrorCode(intent);

        // Get the error message
        String errorMessage = LocationServiceErrorMessages.getErrorString(
                context, errorCode);

        // Log the error
        Log.e(GeofenceUtils.APPTAG,
                context.getString(R.string.geofence_transition_error_detail,
                        errorMessage));

        // Set the action and error message for the broadcast intent
        broadcastIntent
                .setAction(GeofenceUtils.ACTION_GEOFENCE_ERROR)
                .putExtra(GeofenceUtils.EXTRA_GEOFENCE_STATUS, errorMessage);

        // Broadcast the error *locally* to other components in this app
        LocalBroadcastManager.getInstance(context).sendBroadcast(
                broadcastIntent);
    }


    private void handleEnterExit(Intent intent) {
        // Get the type of transition (entry or exit)
        int transition = LocationClient.getGeofenceTransition(intent);

        // Test that a valid transition was reported
        if ((transition == Geofence.GEOFENCE_TRANSITION_ENTER)
                || (transition == Geofence.GEOFENCE_TRANSITION_EXIT)) {

            // Post a notification
            List<Geofence> geofences = LocationClient
                    .getTriggeringGeofences(intent);
            String[] geofenceIds = new String[geofences.size()];
            String ids = TextUtils.join(GeofenceUtils.GEOFENCE_ID_DELIMITER,
                    geofenceIds);
            String transitionType = GeofenceUtils
                    .getTransitionString(transition);

            for (int index = 0; index < geofences.size(); index++) {
                Geofence geofence = geofences.get(index);
                ...do something with the geofence entry or exit. I'm saving them to a local sqlite db

            }
            // Create an Intent to broadcast to the app
            broadcastIntent
                    .setAction(GeofenceUtils.ACTION_GEOFENCE_TRANSITION)
                    .addCategory(GeofenceUtils.CATEGORY_LOCATION_SERVICES)
                    .putExtra(GeofenceUtils.EXTRA_GEOFENCE_ID, geofenceIds)
                    .putExtra(GeofenceUtils.EXTRA_GEOFENCE_TRANSITION_TYPE,
                            transitionType);

            LocalBroadcastManager.getInstance(MyApplication.getContext())
                    .sendBroadcast(broadcastIntent);

            // Log the transition type and a message
            Log.d(GeofenceUtils.APPTAG, transitionType + ": " + ids);
            Log.d(GeofenceUtils.APPTAG,
                    context.getString(R.string.geofence_transition_notification_text));

            // In debug mode, log the result
            Log.d(GeofenceUtils.APPTAG, "transition");

            // An invalid transition was reported
        } else {
            // Always log as an error
            Log.e(GeofenceUtils.APPTAG,
                    context.getString(R.string.geofence_transition_invalid_type,
                            transition));
        }
    }

    /**
     * Posts a notification in the notification bar when a transition is
     * detected. If the user clicks the notification, control goes to the main
     * Activity.
     * 
     * @param transitionType
     *            The type of transition that occurred.
     * 
     */
    private void sendNotification(String transitionType, String locationName) {

        // Create an explicit content Intent that starts the main Activity
        Intent notificationIntent = new Intent(context, MainActivity.class);

        // Construct a task stack
        TaskStackBuilder stackBuilder = TaskStackBuilder.create(context);

        // Adds the main Activity to the task stack as the parent
        stackBuilder.addParentStack(MainActivity.class);

        // Push the content Intent onto the stack
        stackBuilder.addNextIntent(notificationIntent);

        // Get a PendingIntent containing the entire back stack
        PendingIntent notificationPendingIntent = stackBuilder
                .getPendingIntent(0, PendingIntent.FLAG_UPDATE_CURRENT);

        // Get a notification builder that's compatible with platform versions
        // >= 4
        NotificationCompat.Builder builder = new NotificationCompat.Builder(
                context);

        // Set the notification contents
        builder.setSmallIcon(R.drawable.ic_notification)
                .setContentTitle(transitionType + ": " + locationName)
                .setContentText(
                        context.getString(R.string.geofence_transition_notification_text))
                .setContentIntent(notificationPendingIntent);

        // Get an instance of the Notification manager
        NotificationManager mNotificationManager = (NotificationManager) context
                .getSystemService(Context.NOTIFICATION_SERVICE);

        // Issue the notification
        mNotificationManager.notify(0, builder.build());
    }
}

Hopefully that helps someone else.