Android: Why can't I create a handler in new thread

Question

I had a problem creating a handler in new thread. This is my code:

    @Override
    protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
    super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
    setContentView(R.layout.activity_main);
    new Thread(new Runnable() {
        public void run() {
            Handler handler = new Handler();
        }
    }).start();
}

But it raised an error! Can someone please explain this to me? Thanks so much!

Here are the details of my error:

09-17 18:05:29.484: E/AndroidRuntime(810): FATAL EXCEPTION: Thread-75
09-17 18:05:29.484: E/AndroidRuntime(810): java.lang.RuntimeException: Can't create handler inside thread that has not called Looper.prepare()
09-17 18:05:29.484: E/AndroidRuntime(810):  at android.os.Handler.<init>(Handler.java:197)
09-17 18:05:29.484: E/AndroidRuntime(810):  at android.os.Handler.<init>(Handler.java:111)
09-17 18:05:29.484: E/AndroidRuntime(810):  at com.example.handler.MainActivity$1.run(MainActivity.java:57)
09-17 18:05:29.484: E/AndroidRuntime(810):  at java.lang.Thread.run(Thread.java:856)

Answer 1

You could also use a HandlerThread like this:

HandlerThread thread = new HandlerThread("MyHandlerThread");
thread.start();
Handler handler = new Handler(thread.getLooper());

HandlerThreads have a Looper associated with them, so this wouldn't throw an exception.