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I want to build an application for the Android TV platform. Part of this app is a service/daemon, which must start when the device boots, and must always run when the Android TV is powered on, even in stand-by.

Why do I want this service/daemon to run at all times? Part of my project is an application for portable devices (such as a smartphones and/or tablets), which will send commands via TCP to the Android TV app. Based on the kind of TCP message, the app will perform an action (power device on/off, push my app to the foreground etc.).

I have tried different code examples, but Android TV Oreo just kills this service after a while. I think these code examples were made before the Android Oreo restrictions.

An application like Kodi for the Android TV, has a web service that is always running in the background. Even on Oreo. but I can't figure it out how they have done that. Does anyone have some tips for me?

Edit: Yatse Remote Starter does what I want for Kodi, what I want to do with my app. It starts on boot, runs even in stand-by. https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=tv.yatse.android.remotestarter&hl=en. Still I would like to know how, so I can do it myself as well. Thanks in advance!

Waxyen Flax
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1 Answers1

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Many android apps and services are running simultaneously. To lower the chance of problems which cause poor user experience, Android 8.0 apps has two ways to limit what an app can do:

Background Service Limitations: While an app is idle, there are limits to its use of background services. This does not apply to foreground services, which are more noticeable to the user.

Broadcast Limitations: With limited exceptions, apps cannot use their manifest to register for implicit broadcasts. They can still register for these broadcasts at runtime, and they can use the manifest to register for explicit broadcasts targeted specifically at their app.

Therefore, you need to create a ForegroundService in order to continue processing of your app. You can check this SO post regarding this issue.

droidBomb
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