How to keep a foreground app running 24/7?

Question

I am looking into how to keep my Android app running in the foreground.

It will be a privately distributed app, so I can do anything possible to make sure it runs consta

Answer 1

use this:

import android.os.PowerManager;

public class MyActivity extends Activity {

    protected PowerManager.WakeLock mWakeLock;

    /** Called when the activity is first created. */
    @Override
    public void onCreate(final Bundle icicle) {
        setContentView(R.layout.main);

        /* This code together with the one in onDestroy() 
         * will make the screen be always on until this Activity gets destroyed. */
        final PowerManager pm = (PowerManager) getSystemService(Context.POWER_SERVICE);
        this.mWakeLock = pm.newWakeLock(PowerManager.SCREEN_DIM_WAKE_LOCK, "My Tag");
        this.mWakeLock.acquire();
    }

    @Override
    public void onDestroy() {
        this.mWakeLock.release();
        super.onDestroy();
    }
}

And in the manifest:

<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.WAKE_LOCK" />

Seen here: How do I keep the screen on in my App?

Answer 2

You may try startLockTask(); For More info, visit here

Answer 3

I solved that issue by having a sticky service running that relaunches the app when the activity is getting closed.

//Your activity

@Override
public void onPause() {
    super.onPause();

    if (yourservice != null) {
        yourservice.validateActivityOnPause();
    }
}

and in the validateActivityOnPause() have something like:

//Your service

public void validateLynxActivityOnPause() {
    //Do some stuff here

    Intent startActivityIntent = new Intent(this, LynxActivity.class);
    startActivityIntent.setFlags(Intent.FLAG_ACTIVITY_NEW_TASK);
    this.startActivity(startActivityIntent);
}

Answer 4

Now that activityManager.getRunningAppProcesses() is deprecated( as of API21 ), you will want to replace :

RunningTaskInfo foregroundTaskInfo = activityManager.getRunningTasks(1).get(0);
String foregroundTaskPackageName = foregroundTaskInfo .topActivity.getPackageName();

with:

List<ActivityManager.RunningAppProcessInfo> tasks = activityManager.getRunningAppProcesses();
String foregroundTaskPackageNameTest = tasks.get(0).processName;

do not forget to import List with:

import java.util.List;

As a side note, I am not sure about OP's way of keeping the screen always on. I'm not sure that it works the way he's done it, but more importantly, it is deprecated and very much advised against to be using Wake Locks as you need to add permissions, which opens the door to bugs. Rather, it is generally better practice to use Window manager flags: https://developer.android.com/reference/android/view/WindowManager.LayoutParams.html#FLAG_KEEP_SCREEN_ON

Answer 5

You could make your app become a launcher, by adding 2 following category tags into <intent-filter> tags:

  <category android:name="android.intent.category.DEFAULT"/>
  <category android:name="android.intent.category.HOME"/>

then you should always check if there's another app run on top, run following code to direct user to our app:

  Intent startMain = new Intent(Intent.ACTION_MAIN);
  startMain.addCategory(Intent.CATEGORY_HOME);
  startMain.setFlags(Intent.FLAG_ACTIVITY_NEW_TASK);
  startActivity(startMain);

I have tried this solution, but it cannot hide apps that draw on top, like Facebook Messenger chat head.

Answer 6

• If you want an external app use: Autostart and StaY!

• If you want to do this programmatically you can use a service that polls every "x" milliseconds to see if your app is in the foreground. If it is not, it will start/bring your app in the foreground. Do it like this:

  public class PersistService extends Service {
  
      private static final int INTERVAL = 3000; // poll every 3 secs
      private static final string YOUR_APP_PACKAGE_NAME = "YOUR_APP_PACKAGE_NAME";
  
      private static boolean stopTask;
      private PowerManager.WakeLock mWakeLock;
  
      @Override
      public void onCreate() {
          super.onCreate();
  
          stopTask = false;
  
          // Optional: Screen Always On Mode!
          // Screen will never switch off this way
          mWakeLock = null;
          if (settings.pmode_scrn_on){
              PowerManager pm = (PowerManager) getSystemService(Context.POWER_SERVICE);
              mWakeLock = pm.newWakeLock(PowerManager.SCREEN_DIM_WAKE_LOCK, "a_tag");
              mWakeLock.acquire();
          }
  
          // Start your (polling) task
          TimerTask task = new TimerTask() {
              @Override
              public void run() {
  
                  // If you wish to stop the task/polling
                  if (stopTask){
                      this.cancel();
                  }
  
                  // The first in the list of RunningTasks is always the foreground task.
                  RunningTaskInfo foregroundTaskInfo = activityManager.getRunningTasks(1).get(0);
                  String foregroundTaskPackageName = foregroundTaskInfo .topActivity.getPackageName();
  
                  // Check foreground app: If it is not in the foreground... bring it!
                  if (!foregroundTaskPackageName.equals(YOUR_APP_PACKAGE_NAME)){
                      Intent LaunchIntent = getPackageManager().getLaunchIntentForPackage(YOUR_APP_PACKAGE_NAME);
                      startActivity(LaunchIntent);
                  }
              }
          };
          Timer timer = new Timer();
          timer.scheduleAtFixedRate(task, 0, INTERVAL);
      }
  
      @Override
      public void onDestroy(){
          stopTask = true;
          if (mWakeLock != null)
              mWakeLock.release();
          super.onDestroy();
      }
  }
  

The above code has also the "option" to force the Screen to stay always on! Of course you will need the following permissions:

<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.GET_TASKS" />
<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.WAKE_LOCK" />

and do not also forget to register your service:

    <service android:name="YOURPACAKGE.PersistService" 
     android:enabled="true"/>