Android 5.0 (L) Service Intent must be explicit in Google analytics - android-5.0-lollipop

Question

My code worked in <5 but in Android 5.0 I'm running into an issue that I don't quite understand.
10-23 10:18:18.945: E/AndroidRuntime(8987): java.lang.IllegalArgumentException: Service Intent must be explicit: Intent { act=com.google.android.gms.analytics.service.START (has extras) }
My code works, even now, on 4.4.4 and below. So what do I need to do? I'll post relative code below. Also, during my googling I found this post about java.lang.IllegalArgumentException: Service Intent must be explicit in regard to Android 5.0 but I don't understand what it means.
Manifest
<manifest xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
package="xxxxx.android.phone.xxxxx"
android:versionCode="3"
android:versionName="v1.2.4065" >
<uses-sdk android:minSdkVersion="12"
android:targetSdkVersion="21" />
<!-- Required for Google Analytics -->
<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.ACCESS_NETWORK_STATE" />
<!-- For push notifications (GCM) -->
<permission android:name="xxxxx.android.phone.xxxxx.permission.C2D_MESSAGE" android:protectionLevel="signature" />
<uses-permission android:name="xxxxx.android.phone.xxxxx.permission.C2D_MESSAGE" />
<!-- App receives GCM messages. -->
<uses-permission android:name="com.google.android.c2dm.permission.RECEIVE" />
<!-- GCM connects to Google Services. -->
<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.INTERNET" />
<!-- GCM requires a Google account. -->
<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.GET_ACCOUNTS" />
<!-- Keeps the processor from sleeping when a message is received. -->
<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.WAKE_LOCK" />
<!-- GCM - We handle notifications differently if the app is running -->
<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.GET_TASKS" />
<!-- Caching -->
<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.WRITE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE" />
<!-- The event subscribe button adds events to the calendar -->
<!-- <uses-permission android:name="android.permission.WRITE_CALENDAR" /> -->
<!-- <uses-permission android:name="android.permission.READ_CALENDAR" /> -->
<supports-screens
android:resizeable="true"
android:smallScreens="false"
android:normalScreens="true"
android:largeScreens="true"
android:xlargeScreens="true"
android:anyDensity="true" />
<application
android:name="xxxxx.xxxxxApplication"
android:icon="#drawable/app_icon"
android:label="#string/app_name"
android:allowBackup="true"
android:largeHeap="true" >
<receiver
android:name="com.google.android.gcm.GCMBroadcastReceiver"
android:permission="com.google.android.c2dm.permission.SEND" >
<intent-filter>
<action android:name="com.google.android.c2dm.intent.RECEIVE" />
<category android:name="xxxxx.android.phone.xxxxx" />
</intent-filter>
<intent-filter>
<action android:name="com.google.android.c2dm.intent.REGISTRATION" />
<category android:name="xxxxx.android.phone.xxxxx" />
</intent-filter>
</receiver>
<receiver
android:name="xxxxx.ConnectivityReceiver"
android:enabled="false" >
<intent-filter>
<action android:name="android.net.conn.CONNECTIVITY_CHANGE" />
</intent-filter>
</receiver>
<activity
android:name=".SplashActivity"
android:configChanges="locale|orientation"
android:theme="#style/Theme.Splash"
android:screenOrientation="portrait"
android:noHistory="true" >
<intent-filter >
<action android:name="android.intent.action.MAIN" />
<category android:name="android.intent.category.LAUNCHER" />
</intent-filter>
</activity>
<activity
android:label="#string/app_name"
android:theme="#style/Theme"
android:windowSoftInputMode="adjustPan|stateVisible"
android:name=".LoginActivity"
android:configChanges="locale|orientation|screenSize"
android:screenOrientation="portrait" >
</activity>
<activity
android:name=".MainActivity"
android:theme="#style/Theme"
android:configChanges="locale|orientation|screenSize"
android:screenOrientation="portrait"
android:windowSoftInputMode="adjustPan|stateVisible" />
<activity
android:name=".CountryPickerActivity"
android:theme="#style/Theme.Floating"
android:configChanges="locale|orientation|screenSize"
android:screenOrientation="portrait"
android:windowSoftInputMode="adjustPan|stateVisible" />
<activity
android:name=".EventPickerActivity"
android:theme="#style/Theme.Floating"
android:configChanges="locale|orientation|screenSize"
android:screenOrientation="portrait"
android:windowSoftInputMode="adjustPan|stateVisible" />
<activity
android:name=".TutorialActivity"
android:theme="#style/Theme.Transparent"
android:configChanges="locale|orientation|screenSize"
android:screenOrientation="portrait" />
<activity
android:name=".VideoPlayerActivity"
android:theme="#style/Theme"
android:configChanges="orientation|screenSize" />
<service android:name=".GCMIntentService" android:enabled="true" />
<meta-data android:name="com.crashlytics.ApiKey" android:value="xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx"/>
</application>
</manifest>
GCMIntentService.java
public class GCMIntentService extends GCMBaseIntentService {
private static final int ATTEMPTS_MAX = 3;
final static boolean USE_DEV = false;
final static String XXXXX = "https://xxxxx/api.php";
final static String XXXXX = "http://dev.xxxxx/api.php";
final static String SUBSCRIPTION_KEY = "xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx"; // unique per app
public GCMIntentService() {
super(xxxxxx.SENDER_ID);
if(GCMIntentService.USE_DEV) {
host = XXXXX;
} else {
host = XXXXX;
}
}
...
}
** EDIT **
The more I look at this issue the more I think it's not in GCMIntentService.java. I should have posted my stack trace before which is:
10-23 13:17:08.095: E/AndroidRuntime(10560): FATAL EXCEPTION: GAThread
10-23 13:17:08.095: E/AndroidRuntime(10560): Process: xxxxx.android.phone.xxxxx, PID: 10560
10-23 13:17:08.095: E/AndroidRuntime(10560): java.lang.IllegalArgumentException: Service Intent must be explicit: Intent { act=com.google.android.gms.analytics.service.START (has extras) }
10-23 13:17:08.095: E/AndroidRuntime(10560): at android.app.ContextImpl.validateServiceIntent(ContextImpl.java:1674)
10-23 13:17:08.095: E/AndroidRuntime(10560): at android.app.ContextImpl.bindServiceCommon(ContextImpl.java:1773)
10-23 13:17:08.095: E/AndroidRuntime(10560): at android.app.ContextImpl.bindService(ContextImpl.java:1751)
10-23 13:17:08.095: E/AndroidRuntime(10560): at android.content.ContextWrapper.bindService(ContextWrapper.java:538)
10-23 13:17:08.095: E/AndroidRuntime(10560): at com.google.analytics.tracking.android.AnalyticsGmsCoreClient.connect(AnalyticsGmsCoreClient.java:82)
10-23 13:17:08.095: E/AndroidRuntime(10560): at com.google.analytics.tracking.android.GAServiceProxy.connectToService(GAServiceProxy.java:279)
10-23 13:17:08.095: E/AndroidRuntime(10560): at com.google.analytics.tracking.android.GAServiceProxy.createService(GAServiceProxy.java:163)
10-23 13:17:08.095: E/AndroidRuntime(10560): at com.google.analytics.tracking.android.GAThread.init(GAThread.java:95)
10-23 13:17:08.095: E/AndroidRuntime(10560): at com.google.analytics.tracking.android.GAThread.run(GAThread.java:493)
So I'm going to try to run GA as explicit intent.

Answer 1

If you're trying to use Google's Licensing mechanism, solution that worked for me:
// explicit Intent, safe
Intent serviceIntent = new Intent(ILicensingService.class.getName());
serviceIntent.setPackage("com.android.vending");
boolean bindResult = mContext.bindService(serviceIntent, this, Context.BIND_AUTO_CREATE);
This is located in com/google/android/vending/licensing/LicenseChecker.java. Do a search for "Base64.decode("
Edit:
Adding reference to Google Licensing java file that has to be patched:
com.google.android.vending.licensing.LicenseChecker.checkAccess(LicenseChecker.java:150)
patch:
new String(
- Base64.decode("Y29tLmFuZHJvaWQudmVuZGluZy5saWNlbnNpbmcuSUxpY2Vuc2luZ1NlcnZpY2U="))),
+ Base64.decode("Y29tLmFuZHJvaWQudmVuZGluZy5saWNlbnNpbmcuSUxpY2Vuc2luZ1NlcnZpY2U=")))
+ .setPackage("com.android.vending"), // this fix the 'IllegalArgumentException: Service Intent must be explicit'
this, // ServiceConnection.
Source: https://code.google.com/p/android/issues/detail?id=78505#c19

Answer 2

Since Android 5.0 (Lollipop) bindService() must always be called with an explicit intent. This was previously a recommendation, but since Lollipop it is enforced: java.lang.IllegalArgumentException: Service Intent must be explicit
is thrown every time a call to bindService() is made using implicit intents.
The difference between implicit and explicit intents is that the latter specifies the component to start by name (the fully-qualified class name).
See the documentation about intent types here.
The issue you are having is due to not having upgraded to a newer version of the google libraries, which comply with Android's restrictions on implicit intents when binding a service on Android 5 Lollipop.
To fix the issue, you can upgrade the library to a newer version if available, or update the library code yourself and build your project with the modified version.
If there's no suitable library upgrade in the general case, you need to modify the source code (in your case com.google.analytics.tracking.android.AnalyticsGmsCoreClient.connect()) to call intent.setPackage(packageName) before calling bindService() where intent is the first argument of the bindService() call and packageName is the name of the package containing the service the code is attempting to start (in your case "com.google.android.gms.analytics").
You can use this code as an example how to do this: Unity's updated version of the Google Licensing Library (LVL) which calls bindService with an explicit intent and does not result in IllegalArgumentException.
Yet another way to get around the problem is to rebuild your project and the google libraries using targetSDK no later than 19. This will make it run without crashing on Lollipop but is the less secure option and prevents you from using SDK functionality introduced in later versions (for Android 5).

Answer 3

Migration from Google Analytics v2 to v3 solve the problem for me.

Answer 4

I was just having this problem myself. The issue lies within your activity that is starting your service.
Basically, an explicit intent names the service directly in the intent when the service is started. See http://developer.android.com/guide/components/intents-filters.html for a more in-depth explanation.
Since, you don't have your activity code posted, I don't know how you're starting it now, but it should probably look something like this:
Intent startIntent = new Intent(this, ServiceToStart.class);
this.startService(startIntent); // or bindService(...)

Answer 5

I used this and it works great
public static Intent createExplicitFromImplicitIntent(Context context, Intent implicitIntent) {
//Retrieve all services that can match the given intent
PackageManager pm = context.getPackageManager();
List<ResolveInfo> resolveInfo = pm.queryIntentServices(implicitIntent, 0);
//Make sure only one match was found
if (resolveInfo == null || resolveInfo.size() != 1) {
return null;
}
//Get component info and create ComponentName
ResolveInfo serviceInfo = resolveInfo.get(0);
String packageName = serviceInfo.serviceInfo.packageName;
String className = serviceInfo.serviceInfo.name;
ComponentName component = new ComponentName(packageName, className);
//Create a new intent. Use the old one for extras and such reuse
Intent explicitIntent = new Intent(implicitIntent);
//Set the component to be explicit
explicitIntent.setComponent(component);
return explicitIntent;
}

Answer 6

I'm working on a project where we want to allow users to use older devices. I came up with the same solution as the one mentioned in Marias answer, however I've added a conditional statement for the setPackage call since it is only available in API 4 (Ice Cream Sandwich == SDK 14) and above. If developing for versions below that I reckon you don't need to include the setPackage call.
In function com.google.android.vending.licensing.LicenseChecker.checkAccess(callback)
Intent serviceIntent = new Intent(new String(
Base64.decode("Y29tLmFuZHJvaWQudmVuZGluZy5saWNlbnNpbmcuSUxpY2Vuc2luZ1NlcnZpY2U=")));
if (Build.VERSION.SDK_INT >= Build.VERSION_CODES.ICE_CREAM_SANDWICH) {
serviceIntent.setPackage("com.android.vending");
}
boolean bindResult =
mContext.bindService(
serviceIntent,
this, // ServiceConnection.
Context.BIND_AUTO_CREATE);

Answer 7

If you want to start a service which is in another application.you can use this:
Intent serviceIntent = new Intent("action name for the service");
serviceIntent.setPackage("the PackageName for which the service in)");//the destination packageName
context.startService(serviceIntent);

Answer 8

This worked for me..This worked in lollipop using android sdk 21..
Intent intent = new Intent(this, Class.forName(ServiceClassName.class.getName()));
bindService(intent,serviceConnection, Service.BIND_AUTO_CREATE);

Answer 9

For PhoneGap/Cordova users who are seeing this error, it's because the semi-official GAPlugin uses the deprecated Google Analytics v2 lib. khalidb91 forked it and updated to v3 which as of this writing hasn't been merged into the semi-official plugin. Grab the code from his fork, drop it in as a direct replacement to plugins/com.adobe.plugins.GAPlugin and no more crashes. Thanks khalidb91!
https://github.com/khalidb91/GAPlugin

Answer 10

This works for me:
Intent intent = new Intent(ACTION);
intent.setPackage(context.getPackageName());
context.startService(intent);

Answer 11

If you are trying to start service, try it this way:
var intent = new Intent (this,typeof(MyBoundService));
var serviceConnection = new MyBindServiceConnection (this);
BindService (intent, serviceConnection, Bind.AutoCreate);