Context.startForegroundService() did not then call Service.startForeground()

I am getting firebase report with the following: Galaxy A6+

Fatal Exception: android.app.RemoteServiceException: Context.startForegroundService() did not then call Service.startForeground(): ServiceRecord{b2dfd2b u0 com.application.service.LocalExoplayerDownloadService}
       at android.app.ActivityThread$H.handleMessage(ActivityThread.java:2096)
       at android.os.Handler.dispatchMessage(Handler.java:107)
       at android.os.Looper.loop(Looper.java:237)
       at android.app.ActivityThread.main(ActivityThread.java:7860)
       at java.lang.reflect.Method.invoke(Method.java)
       at com.android.internal.os.RuntimeInit$MethodAndArgsCaller.run(RuntimeInit.java:493)
       at com.android.internal.os.ZygoteInit.main(ZygoteInit.java:1075)

Moto e6

Fatal Exception: android.app.RemoteServiceException: Context.startForegroundService() did not then call Service.startForeground(): ServiceRecord{1a60cf u0 com.application.service.LocalExoplayerDownloadService}
       at android.app.ActivityThread$H.handleMessage(ActivityThread.java:1915)
       at android.os.Handler.dispatchMessage(Handler.java:106)
       at android.os.Looper.loop(Looper.java:215)
       at android.app.ActivityThread.main(ActivityThread.java:6939)
       at java.lang.reflect.Method.invoke(Method.java)
       at com.android.internal.os.RuntimeInit$MethodAndArgsCaller.run(RuntimeInit.java:493)
       at com.android.internal.os.ZygoteInit.main(ZygoteInit.java:870)

Huawai Y5 Lite

Fatal Exception: android.app.RemoteServiceException: Context.startForegroundService() did not then call Service.startForeground()
       at android.app.ActivityThread$H.handleMessage(ActivityThread.java:1956)
       at android.os.Handler.dispatchMessage(Handler.java:106)
       at android.os.Looper.loop(Looper.java:166)
       at android.app.ActivityThread.main(ActivityThread.java:6861)
       at java.lang.reflect.Method.invoke(Method.java)
       at com.android.internal.os.RuntimeInit$MethodAndArgsCaller.run(RuntimeInit.java:450)
       at com.android.internal.os.ZygoteInit.main(ZygoteInit.java:936)

• ExoPlayer version number: 2.16.1
• Android version: From Android 8 to Android 11 so far
• Android device: Samsung Galaxy A6+, Motorola moto e6, HUAWEI Y5 lite

I’m using DownloadService class as specified in the doc https://exoplayer.dev/downloading-media.html and in https://github.com/google/ExoPlayer/blob/release-v2/demos/main/src/main/java/com/google/android/exoplayer2/demo/DemoDownloadService.java

LocalExoplayerDownloadService

private const val JOB_ID = 7654
const val FOREGROUND_NOTIFICATION_ID = 6909
const val DOWNLOAD_NOTIFICATION_CHANNEL_ID = "download_channel"
private const val GROUP_KEY = "com.example.DOWNLOAD_SERVICE"
class LocalExoplayerDownloadService: DownloadService(
    FOREGROUND_NOTIFICATION_ID,
    DEFAULT_FOREGROUND_NOTIFICATION_UPDATE_INTERVAL,
    DOWNLOAD_NOTIFICATION_CHANNEL_ID,
    R.string.exo_download_notification_channel_name, R.string.exo_download_description
) {

    override fun getDownloadManager(): DownloadManager {
        val downloadNotificationHelper: DownloadNotificationHelper = DownloadUtil.getDownloadNotificationHelper(this)
        val downloadManager = DownloadUtil.getDownloadManager()
        downloadManager.addListener(TerminalStateNotificationHelper(this, downloadNotificationHelper)
        return downloadManager
    }

    override fun getScheduler(): PlatformScheduler? {
        return if (Util.SDK_INT >= 21) PlatformScheduler(this, JOB_ID) else null
    }

    override fun getForegroundNotification(
        downloads: MutableList<Download>,
        notMetRequirements: Int
    ): Notification {
       val nManager = NotificationManagerCompat.from(this)
       downloads.filter { it.state == Download.STATE_DOWNLOADING }.forEach {
              val notification = NotificationCompat.Builder(this, DOWNLOAD_NOTIFICATION_CHANNEL_ID)
                   .setSmallIcon(R.drawable.ic_download)
                   .setContentTitle(Util.fromUtf8Bytes(it.request.data))
                   .setProgress(100, it.percentDownloaded.roundToInt(), false)
                   .setOngoing(true)
                   .setGroup(GROUP_KEY)
                   .build()
               nManager.notify(it.request.id.toInt(), notification)
       }
       val title = if(realDownload.isNotEmpty())
            getTranslation(R.string.download_progress, realDownload.size)
        else
            getString(R.string.download_sync)
        return NotificationCompat.Builder(this, DownloadUtil.DOWNLOAD_NOTIFICATION_CHANNEL_ID)
            .setSmallIcon(R.drawable.ic_download)
            .setContentText(getString(R.string.download_current_download))
            .setContentTitle(title)
            .setContentIntent(downloadFragmentIntent)
            .setOngoing(true)
            .setShowWhen(false)
            .setGroup(GROUP_KEY)
            .setGroupSummary(true)
            .build()
}


class TerminalStateNotificationHelper(
    context: Context,
    private val notificationHelper: DownloadNotificationHelper,
) : DownloadManager.Listener {
    private val context: Context = context.applicationContext

    override fun onDownloadChanged(downloadManager: DownloadManager, download: Download, finalException: Exception?) {
        val notification: Notification? = when(download.state) {
            Download.STATE_COMPLETED -> {
                val videoPendingIntent = NavDeepLinkBuilder(context)
                    .setGraph(R.navigation.nav_graph)
                    .setDestination(R.id.videoDetails)
                    .setArguments(
                        VideoDetailsFragmentArgs.Builder(
                            download.request.id,
                            Util.fromUtf8Bytes(download.request.data)
                        ).build().toBundle()
                    )
                    .createPendingIntent()

                notificationHelper.buildDownloadCompletedNotification(
                    context,
                    R.drawable.ic_download,
                    videoPendingIntent, /* contentIntent= */
                    Util.fromUtf8Bytes(download.request.data)
                )
            }
            Download.STATE_FAILED -> {
                val removePendingIntent = PendingIntent.getBroadcast(context, REQUEST_CODE,
                    Intent(context, DownloadReceiver::class.java).apply {
                        action = DownloadService.ACTION_REMOVE_DOWNLOAD
                        putExtra(EXTRA_VIDEO_ID, download.request.id)
                    }, flags)
                notificationHelper.buildDownloadFailedNotification(
                    context,
                    R.drawable.ic_download,
                    removePendingIntent, /* contentIntent= */
                    Util.fromUtf8Bytes(download.request.data)
                )
            }
            else -> { null }
        }
        NotificationUtil.setNotification(context, download.request.id.toInt(), notification)
    }
}

Manifest

<application
....
  <service android:name="com.example.service.LocalExoplayerDownloadService" android:exported="false">
     <!-- This is needed for Scheduler -->
     <intent-filter>
         <action android:name="com.google.android.exoplayer.downloadService.action.RESTART"/>
         <category android:name="android.intent.category.DEFAULT"/>
     </intent-filter>
 </service>
 <service android:name="com.google.android.exoplayer2.scheduler.PlatformScheduler$PlatformSchedulerService"
     android:permission="android.permission.BIND_JOB_SERVICE"
     android:exported="true"/>
 <receiver android:name="com.example.receiver.DownloadReceiver" android:exported="false" />
</application>

In the hope of fixing this issue I even added this recently but I’m still getting crash report

class App: Application() {
       
       fun onCreate() {
              super.onCreate()
              startDownloadServices()
       }

       private fun startDownloadServices() {
        if (Build.VERSION.SDK_INT >= 26) {
            DownloadService.startForeground(this, LocalExoplayerDownloadService::class.java)
        } else {
            DownloadService.start(this, LocalExoplayerDownloadService::class.java)
        }
    }
}

[ojw28]

I don’t think there’s anything actionable for us here. Closing for now, but please let us know if you discover something. We’ll also keep an eye out for other similar issues.

[yoobi]

Just giving some feedback, as said in the initial post I had this code at the startup of my application

class App: Application() {
       
       fun onCreate() {
              super.onCreate()
              startDownloadServices()
       }

       private fun startDownloadServices() {
        if (Build.VERSION.SDK_INT >= 26) {
            DownloadService.startForeground(this, LocalExoplayerDownloadService::class.java)
        } else {
            DownloadService.start(this, LocalExoplayerDownloadService::class.java)
        }
    }
}

after removing startDownloadServices I no longer have crash, it might be related to the 5 seconds delay to show a notification.