“speak failed: not bound to TTS engine” inside Service

Question

I have a service where I have to speak when a user enters a geographical area(monitored by Geofence). Following is my code:

public class GeoIntentService extends Service implements TextToSpeech.OnInitListener {
private TextToSpeech engine;

@Override
public IBinder onBind(Intent intent) {
    return null;
}

@Override
public void onCreate(){
    engine = new TextToSpeech(this,
            this  // OnInitListener
    );
    engine.setLanguage(Locale.ENGLISH);
    super.onCreate();
}

@Override
public int onStartCommand(Intent intent, int flags, int startId) {
    GeofencingEvent geofencingEvent = GeofencingEvent.fromIntent(intent);
    if (!geofencingEvent.hasError()) {
        sendNotification(this, getTriggeringGeofences(intent));
    return Service.START_NOT_STICKY;
}
    return flags;
}

@Override
public void onDestroy() {
    while  (engine.isSpeaking()) {
        System.out.println("Hey engine is still speaking...");
    }
    if(engine!=null){
        engine.stop();
        engine.shutdown();
    }
    super.onDestroy();
}

@Override
public void onInit(int status) {
    if (status == TextToSpeech.SUCCESS) {
        int result = engine.setLanguage(Locale.US);
        isInit = true;
        if (result == TextToSpeech.LANG_MISSING_DATA ||
                result == TextToSpeech.LANG_NOT_SUPPORTED) {
            Log.v("OnInit", "Language is not available.");
        } else {
            Log.v("OnInit","Language Set");
        }
    } else {
        Log.v("onInit", "Could not initialize TextToSpeech.");
    }

}

@TargetApi(Build.VERSION_CODES.LOLLIPOP)
private void sendNotification(Context context, String notificationText) {
    System.out.println("Time speak start: " + new Date(System.currentTimeMillis()));
    engine.speak("You are approaching Bus Stop " + notificationText,
            TextToSpeech.QUEUE_FLUSH, null, null);
    while (engine.isSpeaking()) {
        System.out.println("Hey engine is still speaking inside...");
    }
    stopSelf();
    engine.shutdown();
    System.out.println("Time speak end: " + new Date(System.currentTimeMillis()));
    //engine.shutdown();
}

private String getTriggeringGeofences(Intent intent) {
    GeofencingEvent geofenceEvent = GeofencingEvent.fromIntent(intent);
    List<Geofence> geofences = geofenceEvent
            .getTriggeringGeofences();

    String[] geofenceIds = new String[geofences.size()];

    for (int i = 0; i < geofences.size(); i++) {
        geofenceIds[i] = geofences.get(i).getRequestId();
    }

    return TextUtils.join(", ", geofenceIds);
}

}

I am getting error: Speak failed not bound to TTS engine . What's wrong here? I am binding engine to TextToSpeech. I am binding this service like this:

private PendingIntent createRequestPendingIntent() {
        if (mPendingIntent == null) {
            Log.v(TAG, "Creating PendingIntent");
            Intent intent = new Intent(mContext, GeoIntentService.class);
            mPendingIntent = PendingIntent.getService(mContext, 0, intent,
                    PendingIntent.FLAG_UPDATE_CURRENT);
        }

        return mPendingIntent;
    }

Answer 1

You have a timing problem.

When your Service is started via PendingIntent , Android will create an instance of the Service , then call onCreate() and then call onStartCommand() . You are trying to speak using the TTS engine in onStartCommand() . But the TTS engine has not had enough time to initialize.

To give the engine enough time to initialize before you use it, you'll need to modify your architecture.

Use a private boolean variable to keep track of whether or not the initialization is complete. Set it to true in onInit() if everything is successful.

in onStartCommand() , check if the TTS initialization has completed by checking your private boolean . If it has, you can speak immediately. If not, you'll need to start a background Thread that loops, waiting a bit, checking the flag, etc., until the initialization has completed. Only then, can you actually use the TTS engine to speak.