Not allowed to start service in background

[uladzislau-melikhau-aionys]

My app uses Zello SDK and is often crashing in background with the following exception:

Fatal Exception: android.app.BackgroundServiceStartNotAllowedException: 
Not allowed to start service Intent { cmp=com.loudtalks/com.zello.ui.Svc }: 
app is in background uid UidRecord{ba56fa8 u0a156 TRNB idle change:idle|uncached procs:0 seq(0,0,0)}
       at android.app.ContextImpl.startServiceCommon(ContextImpl.java:1867)
       at android.app.ContextImpl.startService(ContextImpl.java:1823)
       at android.content.ContextWrapper.startService(ContextWrapper.java:776)
       at com.zello.sdk.Sdk.onServiceConnected(Sdk.java:672)
       at android.app.LoadedApk$ServiceDispatcher.doConnected(LoadedApk.java:2095)
       at android.app.LoadedApk$ServiceDispatcher$RunConnection.run(LoadedApk.java:2128)
       at android.os.Handler.handleCallback(Handler.java:938)
       at android.os.Handler.dispatchMessage(Handler.java:99)
       at android.os.Looper.loopOnce(Looper.java:201)
       at android.os.Looper.loop(Looper.java:288)
       at android.app.ActivityThread.main(ActivityThread.java:7924)
       at java.lang.reflect.Method.invoke(Method.java)
       at com.android.internal.os.RuntimeInit$MethodAndArgsCaller.run(RuntimeInit.java:568)
       at com.android.internal.os.ZygoteInit.main(ZygoteInit.java:1045)

On Android versions >=12 i see exact this exception, on earlier versions I see IllegalStateException instead, but the rest of the stacktrace is exactly the same.

Have you come across this before?
Would really appreciate any help in solving this issue.

[zello-eugene]

Duplicate of #53. We will be releasing an SDK update shortly to address.

[zello-eugene]

Please try the latest SDK release https://github.com/zelloptt/zello-android-client-sdk/releases/tag/v5.22.0.

[uladzislau-melikhau-aionys]

Thank you!

[uladzislau-melikhau-aionys]

Hello @zello-eugene

We have rolled out a new version with latest Zello SDK release.
However, we are still facing crashes related to the same problem.

Previously, we had crash Sdk.java: 672
now, we are having Sdk.java: 678

Fatal Exception: android.app.ForegroundServiceStartNotAllowedException:
startForegroundService() not allowed due to mAllowStartForeground false: service com.loudtalks/com.zello.ui.Svc
       at android.app.ForegroundServiceStartNotAllowedException$1.createFromParcel(ForegroundServiceStartNotAllowedException.java:54)
       at android.app.ForegroundServiceStartNotAllowedException$1.createFromParcel(ForegroundServiceStartNotAllowedException.java:50)
       at android.os.Parcel.readParcelable(Parcel.java:3364)
       at android.os.Parcel.createExceptionOrNull(Parcel.java:2451)
       at android.os.Parcel.createException(Parcel.java:2440)
       at android.os.Parcel.readException(Parcel.java:2423)
       at android.os.Parcel.readException(Parcel.java:2365)
       at android.app.IActivityManager$Stub$Proxy.startService(IActivityManager.java:6007)
       at android.app.ContextImpl.startServiceCommon(ContextImpl.java:1848)
       at android.app.ContextImpl.startForegroundService(ContextImpl.java:1824)
       at android.content.ContextWrapper.startForegroundService(ContextWrapper.java:781)
       at androidx.core.content.ContextCompat$Api26Impl.startForegroundService(ContextCompat.java:931)
       at androidx.core.content.ContextCompat.startForegroundService(ContextCompat.java:703)
       at com.zello.sdk.Sdk.onServiceConnected(Sdk.java:678)
       at android.app.LoadedApk$ServiceDispatcher.doConnected(LoadedApk.java:2095)
       at android.app.LoadedApk$ServiceDispatcher$RunConnection.run(LoadedApk.java:2128)
       at android.os.Handler.handleCallback(Handler.java:938)
       at android.os.Handler.dispatchMessage(Handler.java:99)
       at android.os.Looper.loopOnce(Looper.java:207)
       at android.os.Looper.loop(Looper.java:294)
       at android.app.ActivityThread.main(ActivityThread.java:7881)
       at java.lang.reflect.Method.invoke(Method.java)
       at com.android.internal.os.RuntimeInit$MethodAndArgsCaller.run(RuntimeInit.java:568)
       at com.android.internal.os.ZygoteInit.main(ZygoteInit.java:1045)

These are changes from Zello last pull request with the fix:

Could you please reopen the issue and assist with it?

[zello-eugene]

@uladzislau-melikhau-aionys please check out restrictions on background service starts. Zello has to rely on a foreground service to be able to stay running and connected in the background. When a partner app uses Zello SDK to sign in, the SDK asks the Zello app to sign in, which attempts to start a foreground service. But it’s the third-party app itself that needs to comply with the restrictions in order to make the flow work as expected.

[uladzislau-melikhau-aionys]

@zello-eugene I finally found a way to reproduce this crash in our app (Rythmos).
I think Rythmos uses Zello in a right way, and this is a Zello SDK issue.

Crash only happens when user is not authorized - no need to Login neither to Zello, nor to our app.

//---

Steps to reproduce:
1/ Just launch Rythmos app (Splash screen -> Login screen).
2/ And exit Login screen (click system back button).

3/ After some time, Android OS kills Rythmos app:
• I see in logs PROCESS ENDED (7506) for package com.intrex.caregiver.

4/ After some time, Android OS restarts Rythmos app:
• I see in logs PROCESS STARTED (9345) for package com.intrex.caregiver;
• I see in logs Application onCreate is called;
• Right after that, app crashes with ForegroundServiceStartNotAllowedException.

*Android OS might restart an app after a crash, so sometimes step 4/ repeats several times in a row.

//---

The only Zello related operation we do in Application class is SDK config:

public class CareGiverApp extends Application {

    @Override
    public void onCreate() {
        super.onCreate();
        
        Zello.getInstance().configure(this);

        //...
    }
}

I tried to comment out that one line, and the crash was gone.

I suspect, calling configure attempts to start Zello foreground service.
And Application onCreate is a recommended place for calling configure.
But Application onCreate may be called when app is in the background.

Could you please check this issue?

[zello-eugene]

Re-opening the ticket based on the new information.