Headless JS fails after 1 minute of usage about react-native HOT 11 CLOSED

Thanks @cortinico, I think I'll just create that documentation issue at this point. I won't be the one to pick it up though.

I've spent probably 15 hours on this now and I feel like I am not getting anywhere 😅. I don't think I am going to figure this out on my own. The Android solutions I keep seeing are increasingly complex and I can't figure out how to integrate them all.

Thank you for your patience though, sorry I couldn't help more. Here is the issue: facebook/react-native-website#4079

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Thanks for providing a reproducer @friyiajr this really helps to understand where is the problem.

The problem is here:
https://github.com/friyiajr/HeadlessJsReproducer/blob/c09cfc83df5e1f509c50111a77d58dac15f2b93d/android/app/src/main/java/com/wa2goose/BackgroundBLE/PulseReceiver.java#L21

For Android 8.0 devices, you have to call startForegroundService, as suggested here:
https://stackoverflow.com/a/47654126

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Thanks @cortinico would it make sense to update the React-Native documentation on this since the docs say?

Headless JS is a way to run tasks in JavaScript while your app is in the background. It can be used, for example, to sync fresh data, handle push notifications, or play music.

And this is impossible on modern Android without using startForegroundService.

I haven't had a chance to look into this much yet. But it does seem like it has a much different set or rituals and boilerplate then just calling startService does.

If I can get this to work in my project, I don't mind making a PR for this

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And this is impossible on modern Android without using startForegroundService.

I don't understand why you say that the documentation needs to be updated. Android has changed and requires different APIs to do computation in the background but the statement about about Headless JS still holds true

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First, thanks for being so responsive on this! I really appreciate it.

The example provided in the documentation uses startService in this section instead of startForegroundService. If you want to do what the first sentence of the article is describing which is:

Headless JS is a way to run tasks in JavaScript while your app is in the background. It can be used, for example, to sync fresh data, handle push notifications, or play music.

This is not possible unless you update the example to use startForegroundService.

I don't have as much context as others who have come from a pure Android background and I am sure I am not alone in this. Its very easy for others who've done mostly React-Native or Expo to follow this documentation as-is and come away with the impression that Headless JS has regressed or doesn't work because they are trying to use startService like the documentation tells them to do.

To do exactly what is described in that first sentence there are a lot of permissions to add and steps to take in your Android code. See: https://medium.com/@domen.lanisnik/guide-to-foreground-services-on-android-9d0127dc8f9a

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First, thanks for being so responsive on this! I really appreciate it.

<3

The example provided in the documentation uses startService in this section instead of startForegroundService. If you want to do what the first sentence of the article is describing which is:

Ah yes you're right, the snippets needs to be adapted. Don't you mind opening an issue on https://github.com/facebook/react-native-website/issues/ ?
If you're up also for sending a PR that updates them we can take the conversation forward over there

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Sounds good to me! I'll create an issue later today. I am going to start working on a documentation update soon! This sounds like fun.

It will probably take a few weeks to finish since I need to figure this out myself 😅 and this is a side project. If you feel like this is easy for you though and you want to pick it up ahead of me I won't be offended.

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So @cortinico it looks like this could be an actual bug in React-Native after all. I made changes so that I could use startForegroundService instead of startService. And the HeadlessJsTaskService no longer wakes up the JavaScript code at all.

I created a new branch and have a diff here that hopefully is useful. It could be a code error on my part or a lack of knowledge in Android. Please let me know.

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And the HeadlessJsTaskService no longer wakes up the JavaScript code at all.

Are there any crash or relevant logs I could look into?

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This is the one I am seeing. We need to start a foreground service when the app is in the foreground, but its weird because HeadlessJS forces you to have things be background only.

Logs are below the code

    @RequiresApi(Build.VERSION_CODES.O)
    override fun getTaskConfig(intent: Intent): HeadlessJsTaskConfig? {
        return intent.extras?.let {
            HeadlessJsTaskConfig(
                "PulseCheck",
                Arguments.fromBundle(it),
                5000,
                false,
                NoRetryPolicy.INSTANCE
            )
        }
    }

2024-04-10 11:17:44.052  9978-10100 AndroidRuntime          com.wa2goose.BackgroundBLE           E  FATAL EXCEPTION: Timer-0
                                                                                                    Process: com.wa2goose.BackgroundBLE, PID: 9978
                                                                                                    android.app.ForegroundServiceStartNotAllowedException: startForegroundService() not allowed due to mAllowStartForeground false: service com.wa2goose.BackgroundBLE/.PulseCheck
                                                                                                    	at android.app.ForegroundServiceStartNotAllowedException$1.createFromParcel(ForegroundServiceStartNotAllowedException.java:54)
                                                                                                    	at android.app.ForegroundServiceStartNotAllowedException$1.createFromParcel(ForegroundServiceStartNotAllowedException.java:50)
                                                                                                    	at android.os.Parcel.readParcelableInternal(Parcel.java:5015)
                                                                                                    	at android.os.Parcel.readParcelable(Parcel.java:4997)
                                                                                                    	at android.os.Parcel.createExceptionOrNull(Parcel.java:3177)
                                                                                                    	at android.os.Parcel.createException(Parcel.java:3166)
                                                                                                    	at android.os.Parcel.readException(Parcel.java:3149)
                                                                                                    	at android.os.Parcel.readException(Parcel.java:3091)
                                                                                                    	at android.app.IActivityManager$Stub$Proxy.startService(IActivityManager.java:6084)
                                                                                                    	at android.app.ContextImpl.startServiceCommon(ContextImpl.java:1932)
                                                                                                    	at android.app.ContextImpl.startForegroundService(ContextImpl.java:1907)
                                                                                                    	at android.content.ContextWrapper.startForegroundService(ContextWrapper.java:831)
                                                                                                    	at com.wa2goose.BackgroundBLE.MainActivity$onCreate$1.run(MainActivity.kt:58)
                                                                                                    	at java.util.TimerThread.mainLoop(Timer.java:563)
                                                                                                    	at java.util.TimerThread.run(Timer.java:513)

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android.app.ForegroundServiceStartNotAllowedException: startForegroundService() not allowed due to mAllowStartForeground false: service com.wa2goose.BackgroundBLE/.PulseCheck

This is again an issue with Android and not an issue with React Native itself.
See here for more context: https://stackoverflow.com/a/72131422

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