Android Question Why does the widget update stop working after a few seconds?

[amir hosein]

Hello every one .
I wrote a widget program that include a setting page and 2 services including widget service & socket service .
Sometimes when I put the widget on the home screen , It didn't read my settings that created by setting form .
Besides the above problem , It must work every 5 seconds and connect to a socket and retrieve data and show them on views in widget , but after several 5 seconds , It doesn't work anymore .
ٌWhere is the possibility of the problem ?

Please help me to solve this problem .

Thanks in advance

 

[amir hosein]

P.S. : My IDE is version 11.5 and the android version of cellphone is 10.

 

[Erel]

1. Upgrade to latest version of B4A.
2. Use a receiver instead of a service.

Android home screen widgets tutorial - part I

Edit: widgets are handled with receivers now. See the attached example. This tutorial will explain how to implement your own home screen widgets (also named App Widgets). It is important to understand that the widgets are created and managed in another process, different than the process that...

www.b4x.com

 

[udg]

Another problem you may experience with your home widget is after a boot/reboot.
Read here in case you need it.
I consider it a temporary (and complex) solution but it so far worked for me.

 

[amir hosein]

Thanks for your response .
I will do it and I will inform the result.

 

[amir hosein]

Hello again ,
I Downloaded the HelloWidget app. and installed it on my cellphone . No fail encountered and every things went OK.
I added a timer to HelloWidget and in that's event called rv_RequestUpdate and it worked again without fail .
I prepared an application like "HelloWidget" and Added a Socket service to it and called "StartService" in the Receiver_Receive and it faced to fail .
Some time I put widget on screen ,it works and some time not works and it's like hanged . (I have a timer and it's not work some time)
Some time that my timer on my widget is working , after several minutes it stops...

Private Sub Receiver_Receive (FirstTime As Boolean, StartingIntent As Intent)
    imageFiles = Array As String("alarm1.png", "alarm1_cut.png")
    timerInterval=5
    If FirstTime Then
        rv = ConfigureHomeWidget("wid", "rv", 31, "TankMonitor Widget")
    End If
    rv.HandleWidgetEvents(StartingIntent)
    tmr.Initialize("tmr",2000)
    tmr.Enabled=True
    timerToSetAlarmOn= TIMER_DEFAULT_ALARM_ON
    StartService(Socket_Service)
    setDefaults
    readSettings
End Sub

private Sub rv_Disabled
    StopService(Socket_Service)
    
End Sub

Private Sub rv_RequestUpdate
    SetTime
    rv.UpdateWidget
End Sub

Sub tmr_Tick
    If timerToSetAlarmOn>0 Then  timerToSetAlarmOn = timerToSetAlarmOn - 1
    tmr.Enabled= False
    tmr.Interval= timerInterval * 1000
    tmr.Enabled= True
    updateViews
    rv_RequestUpdate
    
End Sub

Sub updateViews
    If IsPaused(Socket_Service) Then
        StartService(Socket_Service)
        tmr.Enabled= False
        tmr.Interval= 1000
        tmr.Enabled= True
        rv.SetText("lblStatus","Service Starting...")
        rv.UpdateWidget
    End If
    
    If Socket_Service.running Then
        If Socket_Service.connectedIP<>"" Then
            rv.SetText("lblStatus",Socket_Service.connectedIP)
        End If
    End If
End Sub

Private Sub SetTime
    rv.SetText("lblUpTime", DateTime.Time(DateTime.Now))
End Sub

private Sub setDefaults
    Socket_Service.myTanks(0).Capacity =20000
    Socket_Service.myTanks(1).Capacity =20000
    Socket_Service.myTanks(2).Capacity =20000
    Socket_Service.myTanks(3).Capacity =20000
    Socket_Service.myTanks(4).Capacity =20000
    Socket_Service.myTanks(5).Capacity =20000
    Socket_Service.TankNumbers= 2
    Socket_Service.directConnect = True
    IP = "192.168.1.34"
End Sub

 

[amir hosein]

I want to have a socket service that call every 5 or 10 or 20 seconds to make a TCP connection with a Device and send a command to it and collect returned data from that device . After getting data from device , the TCP connection can be close .

 

[Erel]

You need to have a foreground service for this. The problem is that you can't start a service while the app is in the background.

It can only work when the user first opens your app and then you start the service.

 

[amir hosein]

Hello .
I can't understand exactly what i must do . Can you explain me more ?
May I create a notification object and run that as foreground service ?

 

[amir hosein]

Hello again .
I Checked the "HelloWidget" again and I saw that it will not work after about 2 hours .
Why this sample don't work correctly ?

 

[amir hosein]

I changed my socket service start subroutine as follows , and my widget works about 25 minutes and then nothing .

Sub Service_Start (StartingIntent As Intent)
    Service.AutomaticForegroundMode= Service.AUTOMATIC_FOREGROUND_ALWAYS
    running= True
End Sub

Sub Service_Destroy
    If socket1.IsInitialized Then
        socket1.Close
    End If
    If timer1.IsInitialized Then
        timer1.Enabled = False
    End If
    Service.StopAutomaticForeground
End Sub

 

[Erel]

I Checked the "HelloWidget" again and I saw that it will not work after about 2 hours .
Why this sample don't work correctly ?

Not enough information here. Make sure to test it in release mode.

I changed my socket service start subroutine as follows , and my widget works about 25 minutes and then nothing .

Start with this example: Background location tracking

Android doesn't like apps that run in the background. In most cases it is better to use push notifications instead.