Run service on incoming SMS in android Oreo

Question

I\'m developing an app which needs to run some code (Networking) whenever an SMS is received.
In API 25 and lower it\'s fine, I register an implicit receiver

Answer 1

Since there are lots of ways to do the job in android O, I post this answer and mention my approach to solve the problem. Obviously by problem I mean the general problem not the SMS_RECEIVED receiver itself.

I start a foreground service and in there I register a dynamic or explicit receiver to listen to the incoming calls (for instance):

In MainActivity.java:

String action = "START"
final Intent intent = new Intent(this, CallMonitorService.class);
intent.setAction(action);
startService(intent);

In CallMonitorService.javas onCreate() method where I have BroadcastReceiver callExplicitReceiver as a field:

    final IntentFilter intentFilter = new IntentFilter();
    intentFilter.setPriority(2147483647);
    intentFilter.addAction("android.intent.action.PHONE_STATE");
    this.callExplicitReceiver = new BroadcastReceiver() {
        @Override
        public void onReceive(Context context, Intent intent) {
            if (intent.getAction().equals(TelephonyManager.ACTION_PHONE_STATE_CHANGED)) {
                // do the stuff here
            }
        }
    };
    registerReceiver(callExplicitReceiver, intentFilter);

and then in onStartCommand():

    if (intent.getAction().equals("START")) {
        Intent callServiceNotificationIntent = new Intent(this, MainActivity.class);
        callServiceNotificationIntent.setFlags(
            Intent.FLAG_ACTIVITY_NEW_TASK | Intent.FLAG_ACTIVITY_CLEAR_TASK);
        PendingIntent pendingIntent = PendingIntent
            .getActivity(this, CALL_SERVICE_REQUEST_CODE,
                    callServiceNotificationIntent, CALL_SERVICE_FLAG);

        Notification notification = new NotificationCompat.Builder(this)
            .setContentTitle(CALL_NOTIFICATION_CONTENT_TITLE)
            .setTicker(CALL_NOTIFICATION_TICKER)
            .setContentText(CALL_NOTIFICATION_CONTENT_TEXT)
            .setSmallIcon(R.drawable.ic_info_outline_black_24dp)
            .setContentIntent(pendingIntent)
            .setOngoing(true)
            .build();
        startForeground(CALL_NOTIFICATION_ID, notification);
    }

and finally:

@Override
public void onDestroy() {
    super.onDestroy();
    unregisterReceiver(callExplicitReceiver);
}

I think of this as a good approach since the user is notified of the running service because of the undismissable notification and that's what android Oreo wants, however through a button in the app user could stop the service and the monitoring receiver as a direct result of destroying service (I cleared that part of code).

Answer 2

I think for now you are safe as SMS_RECEIVED_ACTION is present in the current exempted implicit broadcast list. Also, upon receiving the system broadcast you can either start a foreground service or schedule a job (to perform network operation in your case). Moreover, I am also using the same action and upon testing it seems to work okay.