Android Widget Not Updating

Question

I am trying to implement a simple widget for display on the home screen. The problem I am experiencing is that onUpdate is only being called once when I install the widget. The configuration is below. Note: I will not leave update period at 20 secs as I know that would kill battery (just testing).

Configuration:

<appwidget-provider xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
   android:minWidth="294dp"
   android:minHeight="72dp"
   android:updatePeriodMillis="20000"
   android:initialLayout="@layout/my_custom_app_widget">`
</appwidget-provider>`

Manifest Excerpt:

<receiver android:name="MyCustomWidgetProvider">
    <intent-filter>
        <action android:name="android.appwidget.action.APPWIDGET_UPDATE" />
    </intent-filter>
    <meta-data android:name="android.appwidget.provider"
        android:resource="@xml/my_custom_app_widget_info" />
</receiver>

I am observing the following behavior when I install the widget: In my WidgetProvider class on onReceive is called then onEnabled then onReceive, then onUpdate.

After that the widget displays and onUpdate is never called again. I also inspect the settings of the provder when onUpdate is called and everything set in XML above (e.g. update period) is correct.

Answer 1

While you have android:updatePeriodMillis set to 20 seconds, the minimum actual time is 30 minutes. So, if you have not been waiting 30 minutes to see if there is an update during your testing, you will need to wait a bit longer.