Job Scheduler not running on Android N

Question

Job Scheduler is working as expected on Android Marshmallow and Lollipop devices, but it is not running and Nexus 5x (Android N Preview).

Code for scheduling the job

        ComponentName componentName = new ComponentName(MainActivity.this, TestJobService.class.getName());
        JobInfo.Builder builder;
        builder = new JobInfo.Builder(JOB_ID, componentName);
        builder.setPeriodic(5000);
        JobInfo jobInfo;
        jobScheduler = (JobScheduler) getSystemService(Context.JOB_SCHEDULER_SERVICE);
        jobInfo = builder.build();
        int jobId = jobScheduler.schedule(jobInfo);

Service is defined in manifest as:

<service android:name=".TestJobService"
            android:permission="android.permission.BIND_JOB_SERVICE" />

Is any one having this issue on Android N (Preview)?

Answer 1

In Android Nougat the setPeriodic(long intervalMillis) method call makes use of setPeriodic (long intervalMillis, long flexMillis) to schedule periodic jobs.

As per the documentation:

JobInfo.Builder setPeriodic (long intervalMillis, long flexMillis)

Specify that this job should recur with the provided interval and flex. The job can execute at any time in a window of flex length at the end of the period.

intervalMillis long: Millisecond interval for which this job will repeat. A minimum value of getMinPeriodMillis() is enforced.

flexMillis long: Millisecond flex for this job. Flex is clamped to be at least getMinFlexMillis() or 5 percent of the period, whichever is higher.

Sample periodic job scheduled for 5 seconds:

private static final int JOB_ID = 1001;
private static final long REFRESH_INTERVAL  = 5 * 1000; // 5 seconds

JobInfo jobInfo = new JobInfo.Builder(JOB_ID, serviceName)
        .setPeriodic(REFRESH_INTERVAL)
        .setExtras(bundle).build();

The above code works well in Lollipop & Marshmallow but when you run in Nougat you will notice the following log:

W/JobInfo: Specified interval for 1001 is +5s0ms. Clamped to +15m0s0ms
W/JobInfo: Specified flex for 1001 is +5s0ms. Clamped to +5m0s0ms

Since we have set the periodic refresh interval to 5 seconds which is less than the thresholdgetMinPeriodMillis(). Android Nougat enforces the getMinPeriodMillis().

As a workaround, I'm using following code to schedule jobs at periodic intervals if job interval is less than 15minutes.

JobInfo jobInfo;
if (Build.VERSION.SDK_INT >= Build.VERSION_CODES.N) {
  jobInfo = new JobInfo.Builder(JOB_ID, serviceName)
      .setMinimumLatency(REFRESH_INTERVAL)
      .setExtras(bundle).build();
} else {
  jobInfo = new JobInfo.Builder(JOB_ID, serviceName)
      .setPeriodic(REFRESH_INTERVAL)
      .setExtras(bundle).build();
}

Sample JobService example:

public class SampleService extends JobService {
    @Override public boolean onStartJob(JobParameters params) {
        doSampleJob(params); 
        return true;
    }

    @Override public boolean onStopJob(JobParameters params) {
        return false;
    }

    public void doSampleJob(JobParameters params) {
        // Do some heavy operation
        ...... 
        // At the end inform job manager the status of the job.
        jobFinished(params, false);
    }
}