Android JobScheduler executing several times

Question

I am using the below code to create and schedule a job using Androids JobScheduler API:

Log.d("hanif", "Scheduling periodic job 2 hrs with 20 mins backoff linear");

JobInfo jobInfo = new JobInfo.Builder(JOB_ID,
            new ComponentName(getApplicationContext(), MyJobService.class))
            .setPeriodic(TimeUnit.HOURS.toMillis(2))
            .setRequiresCharging(true)
            .setRequiredNetworkType(JobInfo.NETWORK_TYPE_ANY)
            .setBackoffCriteria(TimeUnit.MINUTES.toMillis(20),
                                        JobInfo.BACKOFF_POLICY_LINEAR)
            .build();
JobScheduler scheduler = 
                (JobScheduler) getSystemService(Context.JOB_SCHEDULER_SERVICE);
scheduler.schedule(jobInfo);

Ie a periodic job which executes every 2 hours and a linear back off policy which executes 20 min * number fails in case the job fails.

My job service code is written as below:

public class MyJobService extends JobService {

    @Override
    public boolean onStartJob(JobParameters jobParameters) {
        Log.d("hanif", "onStartJob");
        new MyWorker(getApplicationContext(), this, jobParameters).execute();
        return true;
    }

    @Override
    public boolean onStopJob(JobParameters jobParameters) {
        Log.d("hanif", "onStopJob");
        return true;
    }

    private static class MyWorker extends AsyncTask<Void, Void, Boolean> {
        private final Context mContext;
        private final MyJobService mJobService;
        private final JobParameters mJobParams;

        public MyWorker(Context context, MyJobService myJobService, JobParameters jobParameters) {
            mContext = context;
            mJobService = myJobService;
            mJobParams = jobParameters;
        }

        @Override
        protected Boolean doInBackground(Void... voids) {
            Log.d("hanif", "Work start!");
            for (int i=0; i<999999999; i++) {}
            int counter = Prefs.getCounter(mContext);
            Log.d("hanif", "Work done! counter: " + counter);
            if (counter == 3) {
                Log.d("hanif", "DO RESCHEDULE");
                Prefs.resetCounter(mContext);
                return true;
            }
            Log.d("hanif", "DO NOT RESCHEDULE");
            Prefs.increaseCounter(mContext);
            return false;
        }

        @Override
        public void onPostExecute(Boolean reschedule) {
            if (reschedule) {
                mJobService.jobFinished(mJobParams, true);
            } else {
                mJobService.jobFinished(mJobParams, false);
            }
            Log.d("hanif", "------------------------------------------");
        }
    }

}

And finally the log output is as below:

03-27 12:57:11.677  7383  7383 D hanif   : Scheduling periodic job 2 hrs with 20 mins backoff linear
03-27 12:57:31.904  7383  7383 D hanif   : onStartJob
03-27 12:57:31.909  7383  8623 D hanif   : Work start!
03-27 12:57:42.110  7383  8623 D hanif   : Work done! counter: 0
03-27 12:57:42.111  7383  8623 D hanif   : DO NOT RESCHEDULE
03-27 12:57:42.125  7383  7383 D hanif   : ------------------------
03-27 14:58:50.786  7383  7383 D hanif   : onStartJob
03-27 14:58:50.789  7383 21490 D hanif   : Work start!
03-27 14:59:00.952  7383 21490 D hanif   : Work done! counter: 1
03-27 14:59:00.953  7383 21490 D hanif   : DO NOT RESCHEDULE
03-27 14:59:00.962  7383  7383 D hanif   : ------------------------
03-27 16:57:12.021  7383  7383 D hanif   : onStartJob
03-27 16:57:12.045  7383 32028 D hanif   : Work start!
03-27 16:57:22.229  7383 32028 D hanif   : Work done! counter: 2
03-27 16:57:22.230  7383 32028 D hanif   : DO NOT RESCHEDULE
03-27 16:57:22.238  7383  7383 D hanif   : ------------------------
03-27 18:57:11.984  7383  7383 D hanif   : onStartJob
03-27 18:57:11.989  7383 13217 D hanif   : Work start!
03-27 18:57:22.123  7383 13217 D hanif   : Work done! counter: 3
03-27 18:57:22.124  7383 13217 D hanif   : DO RESCHEDULE
03-27 18:57:22.130  7383  7383 D hanif   : ------------------------
03-27 19:20:57.468  7383  7383 D hanif   : onStartJob
03-27 19:20:57.482  7383  1913 D hanif   : Work start!
03-27 19:21:07.723  7383  1913 D hanif   : Work done! counter: 0
03-27 19:21:07.724  7383  1913 D hanif   : DO NOT RESCHEDULE
03-27 19:21:07.733  7383  7383 D hanif   : ------------------------
03-27 19:21:57.669  7383  7383 D hanif   : onStartJob  <--- Why is this called again?
03-27 19:21:57.675  7383  3025 D hanif   : Work start!
03-27 19:22:07.895  7383  3025 D hanif   : Work done! counter: 1
03-27 19:22:07.896  7383  3025 D hanif   : DO NOT RESCHEDULE
03-27 19:22:07.906  7383  7383 D hanif   : ------------------------
03-27 21:40:53.419  7383  7383 D hanif   : onStartJob
03-27 21:40:53.423  7383 31526 D hanif   : Work start!
03-27 21:41:03.857  7383 31526 D hanif   : Work done! counter: 2
03-27 21:41:03.858  7383 31526 D hanif   : DO NOT RESCHEDULE
03-27 21:41:03.867  7383  7383 D hanif   : ------------------------

Why is onStartJob being called two times?

Answer 1

After much frustration, I figured out what causes this problem.

You should not call jobFinished(JobParameters, true) on a periodic job. Passing true for needsReschedule will cause the job to be duplicated in the queue (you would expect it to overwrite the original one, but apparently that's not the case). You must always use jobFinished(JobParameters, false) , even if your task fails.

As for whether this is counts as incorrect API usage or an Android bug, I'll leave that up to you.

Answer 2

Since JobScheduler will be used a lot more with Android Oreo, I wanted to describe a few issues with the example:

The onStopJob() overridden method only returns true . If your job gets interrupted while it is processing, ie charger is unplugged or no network as set in JobInfo, this function should be used to also immediately cancel the task/job. Then it should return true indicating the job needs to be rescheduled.

MyJobService should have a private reference to MyWorker task. onStartJob() sets it. onStopJob() uses it to immediately cancel the task.

Passing true for the needsReschedule within the jobFinished() method is generally not needed especially when called within your task. If a job is interrupted, onStopJob() will be called to cancel it and returning true will reschedule it. I have only seen one example here where needsReschedule is set to true . It is within onStartJob() and if the double-checking of preconditions is not met, jobFinished(args, true) and then return false instead of true .

Hope this helps!