How to setContentView in a service class to password protect apps upon opening

Question

So right now I am trying to develop an Android App for my young children. I want to set a pin or passwords on selected applications for a particular amount of time to prevent them from opening the app. For example, let's say that my daughter wants to play angry birds for some time on my phone while I am doing work. I will select my important apps like messaging, gmail, etc and put a pin or password on it for 30 minutes while she plays angry birds. After 30 minutes, I get my phone from my daughter and I can open the app without a pin because the time limit expired.

I have done a ton of research and I was able to get a basic service class written.

package com.spicycurryman.getdisciplined10.app;

import android.app.ActivityManager;
import android.app.Service;
import android.content.Context;
import android.content.Intent;
import android.os.IBinder;
import android.util.Log;
import android.widget.Toast;

import java.util.List;
import java.util.concurrent.Executors;
import java.util.concurrent.ScheduledExecutorService;
import java.util.concurrent.TimeUnit;

/**
 * Created by Spicycurryman on 8/21/14.
 */
public class SaveMyAppsService extends Service{

    public void onCreate(){
        super.onCreate();
        //UNABLE TO SETCONTENTVIEW HERE. METHOD DOESN'T WORK
        while(true) {
            Toast.makeText(SaveMyAppsService.this,
                    "Your Message", Toast.LENGTH_LONG).show();
        }

    }

    String CURRENT_PACKAGE_NAME = "com.spicycurryman.getdisciplined10.app.dev";
    String lastAppPN = "";
    boolean noDelay = false;
    public static SaveMyAppsService instance;

    @Override
    public IBinder onBind(Intent intent) {
        // TODO Auto-generated method stub
        return null;
    }

    @Override
    public int onStartCommand(Intent intent, int flags, int startId) {
        // TODO Auto-generated method stub

        scheduleMethod();
        CURRENT_PACKAGE_NAME = getApplicationContext().getPackageName();
        Log.e("Current PN", "" + CURRENT_PACKAGE_NAME);

        instance = this;

        return START_STICKY;
    }

    private void scheduleMethod() {
        // TODO Auto-generated method stub

        ScheduledExecutorService scheduler = Executors
                .newSingleThreadScheduledExecutor();
        scheduler.scheduleAtFixedRate(new Runnable() {

            @Override
            public void run() {
                // TODO Auto-generated method stub

                // This method will check for the Running apps after every 100ms
                if(29==30 ) //check if the time is spent
                {
                    stop();
                }
                else{
                    checkRunningApps();
                }
            }
        }, 0, 100, TimeUnit.MILLISECONDS);
    }

    public void checkRunningApps() {
        ActivityManager mActivityManager = (ActivityManager) getSystemService(Context.ACTIVITY_SERVICE);
        List<ActivityManager.RunningTaskInfo> RunningTask = mActivityManager
                .getRunningTasks(1);
        ActivityManager.RunningTaskInfo ar = RunningTask.get(0);
        String activityOnTop = ar.topActivity.getPackageName();

        Log.e("activity on TOp", "" + activityOnTop);


// Provide the packagename(s) of apps here, you want to show password activity
        if (activityOnTop.contains("com.android.camera")  // you can make this check even better
                || activityOnTop.contains(CURRENT_PACKAGE_NAME)) {
            while(true) {
                Toast.makeText(SaveMyAppsService.this,
                        "Your Message", Toast.LENGTH_LONG).show();
            }

        } else {
            // DO nothing
        }
    }

    public static void stop() {
        if (instance != null) {
            instance.stopSelf();
        }
    }
}

I use this code to start it.

startService(new Intent(this, SaveMyAppsService.class));

Essentially I just want to create a custom lock screen and show it to the user so they have to enter the correct pin or password to get into the app. But I am unable to do that here.

How would I go about setting the content view of a password or pin screen for the app of my choice (given I have the packagenames) so I can protect my apps with my service class?

Answer 1

Take a look at Activity.runOnUiThread

I think part of the problem might be that you are trying to use setContentView() in a service, but it needs an activity/UI to actually set the content for. So you might do something like

YourActivity.runOnUiThread(new Runnable() {
     @Override
     public void run() {
         // your setContentView code
     }
});

EDIT 1:

Intent localIntent = new Intent("android.intent.action.VIEW");
localIntent.addFlags(Intent.FLAG_ACTIVITY_NEW_TASK);
localIntent.setClassName("com.example.applockerservice", "com.example.applockerservice.AppLockerScreen");
startActivity(localIntent);