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For this question I'm going to quote another user who got no response to their question:

I've written an Andoid app that uses the hardware Volume buttons for another purpose.

It works fine if the app is running and visible, but when I turn the screen off or let it time out, the button clicks don't get into my handlers.

Does anyone know if there is a way to detect these button clicks when the screen is off? Source: AV695's question

I'm working on an app myself that makes use of the volume buttons, but as this user also noted, the normal behavior of checking buttons with onKeyPress stops working once the screen is off. This is because the Activity gets paused on screen off.

Is there a way to keep the activity running while the screen is off, or check for the usage of the volume buttons when the screen is off? I tried using a Service for this before but it's impossible to check for the volume keys like that as noted by Commonsware.

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Sander van't Veer
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  • Do you have any examples of something that appears to do this, which would suggest it is even possible? Outside of the limited case where the application CPU is running but the screen is off, is there any indication that the kernel gets woken up and made aware of the fact that the key has been pressed? If not hardware or at least radio firmware mods would be needed. Only if/when the kernel is aware of the key event could it become a problem of persuading the platform to let your code know about it. – Chris Stratton Apr 26 '12 at 19:14
  • Sadly I don't. The only thing I can think off are mediaplayers. I'm starting to believe that my idea, as simple as it is (check for notifications without having to take your phone out of your pocket, simply by pressing the volume button which will make your device vibrate if you have notifications pending) is simply too complex to create. – Sander van't Veer Apr 26 '12 at 20:30
  • Doesn't the LED usually flash if you have new notifications in the status bar, including custom ones from 3rd party apps? – Chris Stratton Apr 26 '12 at 21:07
  • Yes, but this was a custom request by someone who couldn't be bothered getting their phone out of their pocket to check for notifications. Sounds simple enough, but turns out to be rather tricky. – Sander van't Veer Apr 28 '12 at 01:57
  • Registering handler should work, but i think it is platform specific bug. Maybe on device below 2.1 wont work. But gingerbread and above work – Superbiji Apr 28 '12 at 02:21
  • I think this would need to be baked into the kernel. I know some have the option to wake on volume button presses. – emd May 03 '12 at 15:45
  • https://stackoverflow.com/a/35168869/1293492 – Tamás Bolvári Apr 07 '20 at 19:20

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I doubt that this is supported (without resorting to a battery-draining wakelock) at either the platform, kernel, or underlying radio firmware levels without modifications to the last to bring volume presses during sleep to the attention of the kernel.

Within the realm of reasonable system-ROM modifications, a more reasonable one might be to modify an existing open source ROM for the device to insert some custom platform level code into the handling of the power button usually used to wake up the device preparatory to unlocking it - that at least we know does get the attention of the kernel. That code could then inform the user by sound or vibration if there are unacknowledged notifications.

You could optionally wait briefly, check device orientation, or look for another key press to avoid doing this in an annoying way when the user is holding the device outside their pocket and trying to unlock it.

Or you could not use the volume key and just set a timer to wake up every 15 minutes and vibrate if there are unacknowledged notifications, avoiding the need to fumble in ones pockets.

You mention it's a custom request: if implies it's one off or low-volume, another option to consider would be that a few vendors have "bluetooth watches" out with an SDK that lets you push notifications from an android device.

If you can capture the notification when it's generated, you could push it to the user's wrist, and then let the phone go back to sleep.

Chris Stratton
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    Thanks for the extensive comment. Sadly I think I'll just stop thinking about this little project and move on, possibly try it again in the far future where things like this are a bit easier. It was one of those "Gee, you know what would be cool?" kind of ideas from a random online stranger, so I think the bluetooth watch idea is a bit too much. Thanks for the idea though :) – Sander van't Veer May 02 '12 at 11:03
  • How would you do it when actually resorting to a wake-lock? It seems to me that once the screen is off, the activity gets paused and no keys are delivered? – ondra Oct 23 '17 at 14:58
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You cannot intercept the key while your application is in background, but instead of listening to the KeyPress itself. You can register a ContentObserver, as described in this question.

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MByD
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As Chris Stratton mentioned, the only way to keep your App alive is by using battery-draining wake locks.

However, since I found myself in the same situation, I came up with another solution. Unfortunately, you'll need a rooted device as well as the Xposed framework.

With Xposed, which replaces the zygot process so you can hook yourself into any constructor and method of the system, you will be able to catch the raw KeyEvents before the system handles them.

This is done in PhoneWindowManager.interceptKeyBeforeQueueing(). By using a XC_MethodHook, you can use beforeHookedMethod() on the afore mentioned method to catch every hardware button event, even if the device is in deep sleep.

After catching events you are interested in, you can create a temporary wake lock to do your things but don't forget to release the wake lock after you finished your work.

A good example of how to accomplish this is the Xposed Torch Module. If you, however, rely on a non rooted system, the bad news is that it's simply not possible without draining the battery...

xxtesaxx
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I was also trying to implement volume button press detection in my app and I left that part to be developed later once the core part is done. I was able to detect volume key press while screen is on even when phone is locked, from a background service.

Background Video Recorder 2 (BVR2) (and possible BVR1 also, I did not try) is one of the apps that can detect volume key press even when screen is off. While trying to implement volume key detection while screen is off in my app, I installed BVR2, hoping to find how it works. To my surprise it gave my app the ablity to detect volume keys even when screen is off. My app had a ContentObserver to monitor volume changes, but was not working when screen is off. When BVR2 is active my app also could detect volume key press when screen is off. Still digging.

But BVR2 has its own trigger action, that is to record video, an action you may not want to occur just for the sake of you application detecting volume key presses.

Another app is QuickClick. This app can give your app what it lacks, the power to detect volume key presses even when screen is off, without extra unwanted actions. Just install QuickClick and do not configure any action. Create a ContentObserver to monitor for stream volume changes and you are ready. You app will now be able to detect volume key presses even when screen is off.

Please note that my app runs as a background service.

Both of the apps mentioned above are meant for other uses, but uses volume key detection to perform action. I am in no way connected to any of the apps mentioned.

If these apps, and possibly dozens others, can detect volume key press, it can be done. I request experts to find out how to do it, so that we can implement in our app without relying on another app.

If you find this answer useful, please up-vote.

Raghav Pete
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I am not sure if it is as simple as this but check this android blog:

Allowing applications to play nice(r) with each other: Handling remote control buttons

It explains the usage of a broadcast receiver that receives the up/down volume controls and other music controls.

In summary you should use registerMediaButtonEventReceiver

Sherif elKhatib
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