Using Alarmmanager to start a service at specific time

Question

I have searched a lot of places but couldnt find a clean sequential explanation of how to start a service (or if thats not possible then an activity) at a specific time daily using the AlarmManager??

I want to register several such alarms and triggering them should result in a service to be started. I'll be having a small piece of code in the service which can then execute and i can finish the service for good....

Calendar cal = Calendar.getInstance();
Calendar cur_cal = Calendar.getInstance();
cur_cal.setTimeInMillis(System.currentTimeMillis());
Date date = new Date(cur_cal.get(Calendar.YEAR), cur_cal.get(Calendar.MONTH), cur_cal.get(Calendar.DATE), 16, 45);
cal.setTime(date);
Intent intent = new Intent(ProfileList.this, ActivateOnTime.class);
intent.putExtra("profile_id", 2);
PendingIntent pintent = PendingIntent.getService(ProfileList.this, 0, intent, 0);
AlarmManager alarm = (AlarmManager)getSystemService(Context.ALARM_SERVICE);
alarm.set(AlarmManager.RTC_WAKEUP, cal.getTimeInMillis(), pintent);
System.out.println("The alarm set!!");

i tried this code to activate the alarm at 4.45... but its not firing the service... do i have to keep the process running?? M i doing anything wrong???

One more thing, my service gets perfectly executed in case i use the following code:

long firstTime = SystemClock.elapsedRealtime();
alarm.setRepeating(AlarmManager.ELAPSED_REALTIME_WAKEUP, firstTime, 30*1000,pintent);

Czarist

possible duplicate of How to set an alarm to fire properly at fixed time? – Wisp

i checked ur question "Pentium10" and i spose its similar, but did u find the solution for the same??? – Czarist

Answer 1

HI friends, After a lot of researching and with reference from "Pentium10"'s question on the same topic i managed to get it working. Though i still cant understand why the "date" concept and the Calendar(non GregorianCalendar) object which i have mentioned in the question are not working correctly.

Calendar cur_cal = new GregorianCalendar();
cur_cal.setTimeInMillis(System.currentTimeMillis());//set the current time and date for this calendar

Calendar cal = new GregorianCalendar();
cal.add(Calendar.DAY_OF_YEAR, cur_cal.get(Calendar.DAY_OF_YEAR));
cal.set(Calendar.HOUR_OF_DAY, 18);
cal.set(Calendar.MINUTE, 32);
cal.set(Calendar.SECOND, cur_cal.get(Calendar.SECOND));
cal.set(Calendar.MILLISECOND, cur_cal.get(Calendar.MILLISECOND));
cal.set(Calendar.DATE, cur_cal.get(Calendar.DATE));
cal.set(Calendar.MONTH, cur_cal.get(Calendar.MONTH));
Intent intent = new Intent(ProfileList.this, IntentBroadcastedReceiver.class);
PendingIntent pintent = PendingIntent.getService(ProfileList.this, 0, intent, 0);
AlarmManager alarm = (AlarmManager)getSystemService(Context.ALARM_SERVICE);
alarm.setRepeating(AlarmManager.RTC_WAKEUP, cal.getTimeInMillis(), 30*1000, pintent);

Czarist

Try using the Time object, and also, according to the documentation, this alarm will start at 18:32 UTC – Student

@JaVadid: I have the same Question please help me for that. Here it is: #10040093 – Needlework

@JaVadid: So if i have set the Alarm to be start from the 12:30. and if it is set to play at every 30 minutes and if there is 1:25 in time during installation of my app So if 1:30 occurs then will the alarm play ?? – Needlework

1)Wther this ll start alarm everyday at 18:32 ? 2) And how to stop the alarm at specific time ? – Gymnastics

@ JaVadid ... Hello All i tried using this code but alarm doesn't ring.... does it need anything extra? – Bucky

If I do more than one like these, will them override each other? – Fondafondant

@Czarist can u help me same code i had used only change is that i had set interval is AlarmManager.INTERVAL_DAY but it will not trigger as exact set time – Arsenite

user2481102 working code is shorter. Merely check time in virtual android device – Lightfooted

Answer 2

//Create alarm manager
AlarmManager alarmMgr0 = (AlarmManager)getSystemService(Context.ALARM_SERVICE);

//Create pending intent & register it to your alarm notifier class
Intent intent0 = new Intent(this, AlarmReciever.class);
PendingIntent pendingIntent0 = PendingIntent.getBroadcast(this, 0, intent0, 0);

//set timer you want alarm to work (here I have set it to 7.20pm)
Intent intent0 = new Intent(this, OldEntryRemover.class);
Calendar timeOff9 = Calendar.getInstance();
timeOff9.set(Calendar.HOUR_OF_DAY, 19);
timeOff9.set(Calendar.MINUTE, 20);
timeOff9.set(Calendar.SECOND, 0);

//set that timer as a RTC Wakeup to alarm manager object
alarmMgr0.set(AlarmManager.RTC_WAKEUP, timeOff0.getTimeInMillis(), pendingIntent0);

Then in your AlarmReciever class which is a broadcastReciever, under onRecieve method put your logic. This will take care of what ever the logic you want to handle when the time comes to 7.20 pm.

If you need to set multiple alarms, create another Calendar instance & set time values appropriately. You also need to create another instance for pendingIntent otherwise timers will overlap. Then set it to same alarmManager with new timer & pendingIntent.

Nicotine

What is the logic of using broadcast receiver here ?. I mean if you want to do something at some time (e.g. getting temperature), running a service should do the job , right ? – Tedi

Indeed a service will be a better choice if the "logic" is more than showing a toast. Also, the variable naming could be improved. – Dibbuk

Answer 3

You can read document from https://developer.android.com/training/scheduling/alarms.html

private AlarmManager alarmMgr;
private PendingIntent alarmIntent;

alarmMgr = (AlarmManager)context.getSystemService(Context.ALARM_SERVICE);
Intent intent = new Intent(context, AlarmReceiver.class);
alarmIntent = PendingIntent.getBroadcast(context, 0, intent, 0);

// Set the alarm to start at 8:30 a.m.

Calendar calendar = Calendar.getInstance();
calendar.setTimeInMillis(System.currentTimeMillis());
calendar.set(Calendar.HOUR_OF_DAY, 8);
calendar.set(Calendar.MINUTE, 30);

// setRepeating() lets you specify a precise custom interval--in this case, // 20 minutes.

alarmMgr.setRepeating(AlarmManager.RTC_WAKEUP, calendar.getTimeInMillis(),
        1000 * 60 * 20, alarmIntent);

Germaine

Answer 4

The following code should work fine and it starts the service @ 7:40 PM every day. Also, if device shuts down then all your alarms get cancelled.

Make sure to set up all the alarms after BOOT is completed.

Intent slIntent = new Intent(this, x.class);

Calendar calendar = Calendar.getInstance(); 
calendar.setTimeInMillis(System.currentTimeMillis());
calendar.set(Calendar.HOUR_OF_DAY, 19);
calendar.set(Calendar.MINUTE, 40);
calendar.set(Calendar.SECOND, 0);

PendingIntent slPendingIntent = PendingIntent.getService(this, 1, slIntent, PendingIntent.FLAG_ONE_SHOT);

AlarmManager alarmManager=(AlarmManager) getSystemService(Context.ALARM_SERVICE);

alarmManager.setRepeating(AlarmManager.RTC_WAKEUP, calendar.getTimeInMillis(),
                          AlarmManager.INTERVAL_DAY, slPendingIntent);

Fretted

Answer 5

I tried a lot To Start Service on Time So I Have one solution like

1. Calculate the difference between current time and selected time from date picker "Return Long timeMileSec = Milliseconds" Difference

2. after this create a handler inside it and Sleep if "Milliseconds" seconds

   new Handler().postDelayed(new Runnable() {
       @Override
       public void run() {
           CreateService();
           getActivity().startService(intentServiceObj);
       }
   }, timeMileSec);
   
   
   // Below is the service Methods.
   private void CreateService() {
       Calendar cal = Calendar.getInstance();
       cal.setTimeInMillis(System.currentTimeMillis());
   
       cal.add(Calendar.DAY_OF_YEAR, year);
       cal.set(Calendar.HOUR_OF_DAY, hourScreen);
       cal.set(Calendar.MINUTE, minuteScreen);
   
       // cal.setTimeInMillis(timeselectedmillisecond);
   
       Intent intent = new Intent(getActivity(),
           ServiceDailyLocationUpdate.class);
       pintent = PendingIntent.getService(getActivity(), 0, intent, 0);
   
       alarm = (AlarmManager) getActivity().getSystemService(
           Context.ALARM_SERVICE);
   
       alarm.setRepeating(AlarmManager.RTC_WAKEUP, cal.HOUR, 86000 * 1000,
           pintent);
   
   }
   
   // Return Differnce between two date
   private long calculateDateDiffSecond(String firstDate, String secondDate) {
   
       long numberOfDays = 0;
   
       String dateStart = firstDate;
       String dateStop = secondDate;
   
       Date d1 = null;
       Date d2 = null;
   
       try {
           d1 = sdfTime.parse(dateStart);
           d2 = sdfTime.parse(dateStop);
   
           // in milliseconds
           long diff = d2.getTime() - d1.getTime();
   
           long diffSeconds = diff / 1000 % 60;
           long diffMinutes = diff / (60 * 1000) % 60;
           long diffHours = diff / (60 * 60 * 1000) % 24;
           long diffDays = diff / (24 * 60 * 60 * 1000);
   
           System.out.print(diffDays + " days, ");
           System.out.print("Hours::" + diffHours + " hours, ");
           System.out.print("HoursMinute::" + diffMinutes + " minutes, ");
           System.out.print(diffSeconds + " seconds.");
           numberOfDays = diffDays;
           numberOfDays = diff;
       } catch (Exception e) {
           e.printStackTrace();
       }
       return numberOfDays;
   
   }
   

Lozenge

Answer 6

codes above didn't work and below code worked for me.

month decreases 1. and hours 0-11.

int day = ff.getGregorianDay() ;
int month = ff.getGregorianMonth() ;
int year = ff.getGregorianYear();
int hour = TimePicker1.getCurrentHour();
int minute = TimePicker1.getCurrentMinute();

Calendar cal_alarm = Calendar.getInstance(); 
cal_alarm.setTimeInMillis(System.currentTimeMillis() );
cal_alarm.set(Calendar.YEAR, year);
cal_alarm.set(Calendar.MONTH, month-1);
cal_alarm.set(Calendar.DAY_OF_MONTH, day);


cal_alarm.set(Calendar.AM_PM, Calendar.AM );
cal_alarm.set(Calendar.HOUR, hour);

if( hour >= 12){
    cal_alarm.set(Calendar.AM_PM, Calendar.PM );
    cal_alarm.set(Calendar.HOUR, hour-12);
} 
cal_alarm.set(Calendar.MINUTE, minute );
cal_alarm.set(Calendar.SECOND, 0 );

Intent myIntent = new Intent(YadavariNewActivity.this, Alarm_Sag.class); 
PendingIntent pendingIntent = PendingIntent.getBroadcast(YadavariNewActivity.this, 0, myIntent,0);

AlarmManager alarmManager = (AlarmManager)getSystemService(ALARM_SERVICE);
alarmManager.set( AlarmManager.RTC_WAKEUP, cal_alarm.getTimeInMillis(),  pendingIntent);

Dray

what is ff stands for here? – Attract

is custom class. has year month and day . @umar-ata – Dray

why not you add it in your answer – Attract

simple class class ff{ int day; int month; int year; public ff(int day,int month,int year){ this.day = day ; this.month = month ; this.year = year ; } public int getGregorianDay(){ return day; } public int getGregorianMonth(){ return month; } public int getGregorianYear(){ return year; } } @umar-ata – Dray

we not call for the people says, who loves too fight – Mangle