How to start a Service when .apk is Installed for

Question

In my Application I am not having any UI part, so I need to start a Service as soon as the Applicaton gets installed on the Device. I saw many links from which the answer was that its not possible but I guess it is surely possible. Just have a look at PlanB Application on the Android Market that does fulfil my requirement. Below is my Manifest file how I tried, but the Service was not called at all. So, let me know what is the best possible way to start a Service when the Application gets Installed.

UPDATE

I also tried using android.intent.action.PACKAGE_ADDED it works fine for detecting the Package for the other Applications but not for itself.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<manifest xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
    package="com.auto.start"
    android:versionCode="1"
    android:versionName="1.0" >

    <uses-sdk android:minSdkVersion="8" />
    <uses-permission android:name="android.permission.RECEIVE_BOOT_COMPLETED"/>

    <application
        android:icon="@drawable/ic_launcher" >

        <service android:name=".MyService">
            <intent-filter>
                <action android:name="android.intent.action.MAIN" />
                <category android:name="android.intent.category.LAUNCHER" />
            </intent-filter>
        </service>

        <receiver android:name=".BootUpReceiver">
            <intent-filter>
                <action android:name="android.intent.action.BOOT_COMPLETED"/>
                <category android:name="android.intent.category.DEFAULT"/>
                <action android:name="android.intent.action.PACKAGE_INSTALL" />
                <action android:name="android.intent.action.PACKAGE_ADDED" />
                <data android:scheme="package"/>
            </intent-filter>
        </receiver>
    </application>
</manifest>

Answer 1

As stated by CommonsWare in the answer to this question (which I suppose you have all ready seen, but chose to ignore) starting a Service on install is not possible - it is simply not a thing that is implemented into the platform.

Starting it automaticly at the next boot is however possible.

As stated in the Technical Details for PlanB:

Plan B will attempt to launch as soon as it downloads, but in some cases you will need to send an SMS to get it started.

My guess is that on a rooted phone you might be able to start the Service on install - but there's no guarantee that the phone is rooted, which is why PlanB will require recieving a text in some cases because that can be registered by the IntentFilter of the app and then used to start the Service.

Answer 2

Perhaps the best way to accomplish this (and now I'm speaking to the specific intent of the OP, a program that gets installed in order to retrieve a stolen phone, not the general question) is social engineering, not software engineering.

So, an icon with text like "Password List" or "My Bank Accounts" which suddenly appeared on the home screen would undoubtedly be clicked on. Look at the success of all sorts of other phishing, and here you would be targeting a thief, who's already motivated to continue nefarious activity. Let the thief start it for you. :)

Answer 3

I don't think so You can start service immediately after installed your application on device,

The application must first be invoked by the user through some sort of Activity.The only things you have to register some Broadcast Receiver with appropriate intents in manifest which invoke you service when something is happening on device but this remaing to Android 3.1 version.

EDIT:

After Android 3.1+ onwards you can not use any Broadcast for starting your application, because all application remains in inactive state after completion of device boot and to launch the application the user have to invoke it.(By touching the app icon).

Answer 4

I'm not sure what your constraints/purpose is, but if you can install another application that has an activity you can have it send an intent with the flag FLAG_INCLUDE_STOPPED_PACKAGES.

This will use your application for the intent resolution, even though it's in a stopped state. If the action of the intent matches one of your filters, it will also bring the package out of the stopped state.

Answer 5

there is an app on google play Android Lost which invoke the registration service for google push messages via an incoming sms without launching the app even once for version 3.0+.

Answer 6

I agree with CommonsWare's answer to question: How to start android service on installation. In other words, you can't automatically start your service after you've just been installed.

One more thing about newer Android platforms: if you don't have UI at all, you'll have trouble starting your service even when using BOOT_COMPLETE intent on Android 3.1+.

That's because all installed applications are in stopped state. In this state applications will not receive ANY broadcast notifications.

In order to activate your application some other application (or user) needs to start your service or activity, or content provider. The usual workflow is when user clicks on your application's icon.

I've written a detailed explanations about this in my blog post.