illegalargumentexception - Android 5.0 (L) Service Intent must be explicit in Google analytics

Question

My code worked in <5 but in Android 5.0 I'm running into an issue that I don't quite understand.

10-23 10:18:18.945: E/AndroidRuntime(8987): java.lang.IllegalArgumentException: Service Intent must be explicit: Intent { act=com.google.android.gms.analytics.service.START (has extras) }

My code works, even now, on 4.4.4 and below. So what do I need to do? I'll post relative code below. Also, during my googling I found this post about java.lang.IllegalArgumentException: Service Intent must be explicit in regard to Android 5.0 but I don't understand what it means.

Manifest

<manifest xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
    package="xxxxx.android.phone.xxxxx"
    android:versionCode="3"
    android:versionName="v1.2.4065" >

    <uses-sdk android:minSdkVersion="12"
        android:targetSdkVersion="21" />

    <!-- Required for Google Analytics -->
    <uses-permission android:name="android.permission.ACCESS_NETWORK_STATE" />

    <!-- For push notifications (GCM) -->
    <permission android:name="xxxxx.android.phone.xxxxx.permission.C2D_MESSAGE" android:protectionLevel="signature" />
    <uses-permission android:name="xxxxx.android.phone.xxxxx.permission.C2D_MESSAGE" />
    <!-- App receives GCM messages. -->
    <uses-permission android:name="com.google.android.c2dm.permission.RECEIVE" />
    <!-- GCM connects to Google Services. -->
    <uses-permission android:name="android.permission.INTERNET" /> 
    <!-- GCM requires a Google account. -->
    <uses-permission android:name="android.permission.GET_ACCOUNTS" />
    <!-- Keeps the processor from sleeping when a message is received. -->
    <uses-permission android:name="android.permission.WAKE_LOCK" />
    <!-- GCM - We handle notifications differently if the app is running -->
    <uses-permission android:name="android.permission.GET_TASKS" /> 

    <!-- Caching -->
    <uses-permission android:name="android.permission.WRITE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE" />

    <!-- The event subscribe button adds events to the calendar -->
<!--    <uses-permission android:name="android.permission.WRITE_CALENDAR" /> -->
<!--    <uses-permission android:name="android.permission.READ_CALENDAR" />  -->

    <supports-screens
        android:resizeable="true"
        android:smallScreens="false"
        android:normalScreens="true"
        android:largeScreens="true"
        android:xlargeScreens="true"
        android:anyDensity="true" />

    <application
        android:name="xxxxx.xxxxxApplication"
        android:icon="@drawable/app_icon"
        android:label="@string/app_name"
        android:allowBackup="true"
        android:largeHeap="true" >
        <receiver 
            android:name="com.google.android.gcm.GCMBroadcastReceiver" 
            android:permission="com.google.android.c2dm.permission.SEND" >
            <intent-filter>
                <action android:name="com.google.android.c2dm.intent.RECEIVE" />
                <category android:name="xxxxx.android.phone.xxxxx" />
            </intent-filter>
            <intent-filter>
                <action android:name="com.google.android.c2dm.intent.REGISTRATION" />
                <category android:name="xxxxx.android.phone.xxxxx" />
            </intent-filter>
        </receiver>

        <receiver 
            android:name="xxxxx.ConnectivityReceiver"
            android:enabled="false" >
            <intent-filter>
                <action android:name="android.net.conn.CONNECTIVITY_CHANGE" />
            </intent-filter>
        </receiver>

        <activity 
            android:name=".SplashActivity"
            android:configChanges="locale|orientation" 
            android:theme="@style/Theme.Splash"
            android:screenOrientation="portrait"
            android:noHistory="true" >
            <intent-filter >
                <action android:name="android.intent.action.MAIN" />
                <category android:name="android.intent.category.LAUNCHER" />
            </intent-filter>
        </activity>
        <activity
            android:label="@string/app_name"
            android:theme="@style/Theme"
            android:windowSoftInputMode="adjustPan|stateVisible"
            android:name=".LoginActivity"
            android:configChanges="locale|orientation|screenSize" 
            android:screenOrientation="portrait" >
        </activity>
        <activity 
            android:name=".MainActivity" 
            android:theme="@style/Theme"
            android:configChanges="locale|orientation|screenSize" 
            android:screenOrientation="portrait"
            android:windowSoftInputMode="adjustPan|stateVisible" />

        <activity 
            android:name=".CountryPickerActivity" 
            android:theme="@style/Theme.Floating"
            android:configChanges="locale|orientation|screenSize" 
            android:screenOrientation="portrait"
            android:windowSoftInputMode="adjustPan|stateVisible" />
        <activity 
            android:name=".EventPickerActivity" 
            android:theme="@style/Theme.Floating"
            android:configChanges="locale|orientation|screenSize" 
            android:screenOrientation="portrait"
            android:windowSoftInputMode="adjustPan|stateVisible" />
        <activity 
            android:name=".TutorialActivity"
            android:theme="@style/Theme.Transparent"
            android:configChanges="locale|orientation|screenSize"
            android:screenOrientation="portrait" />

        <activity 
            android:name=".VideoPlayerActivity" 
            android:theme="@style/Theme"
            android:configChanges="orientation|screenSize" />

        <service android:name=".GCMIntentService" android:enabled="true" />
        <meta-data android:name="com.crashlytics.ApiKey" android:value="xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx"/>
    </application>

</manifest>

GCMIntentService.java

public class GCMIntentService extends GCMBaseIntentService {
private static final int ATTEMPTS_MAX = 3;

final static boolean USE_DEV = false;
final static String XXXXX = "https://xxxxx/api.php";
final static String XXXXX = "http://dev.xxxxx/api.php";
final static String SUBSCRIPTION_KEY = "xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx"; // unique per app

    public GCMIntentService() {
        super(xxxxxx.SENDER_ID);
        if(GCMIntentService.USE_DEV) {
            host = XXXXX;
        } else {
            host = XXXXX;
        }
    }

    ...

}

** EDIT **

The more I look at this issue the more I think it's not in GCMIntentService.java. I should have posted my stack trace before which is:

10-23 13:17:08.095: E/AndroidRuntime(10560): FATAL EXCEPTION: GAThread
10-23 13:17:08.095: E/AndroidRuntime(10560): Process: xxxxx.android.phone.xxxxx, PID: 10560
10-23 13:17:08.095: E/AndroidRuntime(10560): java.lang.IllegalArgumentException: Service Intent must be explicit: Intent { act=com.google.android.gms.analytics.service.START (has extras) }
10-23 13:17:08.095: E/AndroidRuntime(10560):    at android.app.ContextImpl.validateServiceIntent(ContextImpl.java:1674)
10-23 13:17:08.095: E/AndroidRuntime(10560):    at android.app.ContextImpl.bindServiceCommon(ContextImpl.java:1773)
10-23 13:17:08.095: E/AndroidRuntime(10560):    at android.app.ContextImpl.bindService(ContextImpl.java:1751)
10-23 13:17:08.095: E/AndroidRuntime(10560):    at android.content.ContextWrapper.bindService(ContextWrapper.java:538)
10-23 13:17:08.095: E/AndroidRuntime(10560):    at com.google.analytics.tracking.android.AnalyticsGmsCoreClient.connect(AnalyticsGmsCoreClient.java:82)
10-23 13:17:08.095: E/AndroidRuntime(10560):    at com.google.analytics.tracking.android.GAServiceProxy.connectToService(GAServiceProxy.java:279)
10-23 13:17:08.095: E/AndroidRuntime(10560):    at com.google.analytics.tracking.android.GAServiceProxy.createService(GAServiceProxy.java:163)
10-23 13:17:08.095: E/AndroidRuntime(10560):    at com.google.analytics.tracking.android.GAThread.init(GAThread.java:95)
10-23 13:17:08.095: E/AndroidRuntime(10560):    at com.google.analytics.tracking.android.GAThread.run(GAThread.java:493)

So I'm going to try to run GA as explicit intent.

Answer 1

If you're trying to use Google's Licensing mechanism, solution that worked for me:

// explicit Intent, safe
Intent serviceIntent = new Intent(ILicensingService.class.getName());
serviceIntent.setPackage("com.android.vending");
boolean bindResult = mContext.bindService(serviceIntent, this, Context.BIND_AUTO_CREATE);

This is located in com/google/android/vending/licensing/LicenseChecker.java. Do a search for "Base64.decode("

Edit:

Adding reference to Google Licensing java file that has to be patched:

com.google.android.vending.licensing.LicenseChecker.checkAccess(LicenseChecker.java:150)

patch:

new String(
-    Base64.decode("Y29tLmFuZHJvaWQudmVuZGluZy5saWNlbnNpbmcuSUxpY2Vuc2luZ1NlcnZpY2U="))),
+    Base64.decode("Y29tLmFuZHJvaWQudmVuZGluZy5saWNlbnNpbmcuSUxpY2Vuc2luZ1NlcnZpY2U=")))
+    .setPackage("com.android.vending"), // this fix the 'IllegalArgumentException: Service Intent must be explicit'
     this, // ServiceConnection.

Source: https://code.google.com/p/android/issues/detail?id=78505#c19