Android studio memory leak activity does not finish in a thread

Question

It seems like my activity does not finish properly because I get a bigger memory consumption every time I launch and close it. Can someone suggest me an idea? Here is the code:

new Thread(new Runnable() {
        @Override
        public void run() {
            Looper.prepare();
            ProgressDialog mProgressDialog = new ProgressDialog(thisActivity);
            mProgressDialog.setTitle("Getting location");
            mProgressDialog.setMessage("Please wait while the device is being located.");
            mProgressDialog.show();
            long startTime = SystemClock.currentThreadTimeMillis();
            long time = SystemClock.currentThreadTimeMillis();
            while (mLastLocation == null)
            {
                if(SystemClock.currentThreadTimeMillis() - startTime >= 5000){
                    mLastLocation = mLocationManager.getLastKnownLocation(LocationManager.GPS_PROVIDER);
                }
                if(SystemClock.currentThreadTimeMillis() - time >= 1000) {
                    if (ActivityCompat.checkSelfPermission(thisActivity, Manifest.permission.ACCESS_FINE_LOCATION) != PackageManager.PERMISSION_GRANTED && ActivityCompat.checkSelfPermission(thisActivity, Manifest.permission.ACCESS_COARSE_LOCATION) != PackageManager.PERMISSION_GRANTED) {
                        return;
                    }
                    mLocationManager.requestSingleUpdate(LocationManager.GPS_PROVIDER, mLocationListener, null);
                    time = SystemClock.currentThreadTimeMillis();
                }
            }

            String date = new SimpleDateFormat("dd/MM/yyyy").format(new Date());

            ServiceModel model = new ServiceModel(0, Globals.LoggedUser.Id, ScheduleAdapter.currentToilet.Id, edt_note.getText().toString(), photo, null, reason, date, mLastLocation.getLatitude(), mLastLocation.getLongitude());
            Globals.DomainServiceManager.ServiceRepository.Create(model);
            runOnUiThread(new Runnable() {
                @Override
                public void run() {
                    photo = null;
                    imv_camera.setImageBitmap(null);
                    ActivityScheduleList.setToolbarPosition(0, DATA_NOT_CAPTURED);
                }
            });
            mProgressDialog.dismiss();
            ActivityNotServeced.this.finish();
        }
    }).start();

Answer 1

First thing the Android Studio has a built in support in finding a memory leak . Another option is to use Leak Canary . Now, in your code I see: mLocationManager . I suspect it this causes the leak. You can verify it with the methods I mentioned earlier. When you constarct it, don't pass the activity context - use the mActivity.getApplicationContext() .

Answer 2

There are few conditions where your ProgressDialog is never canceled, for example

 while (mLastLocation == null)
        {
            if(SystemClock.currentThreadTimeMillis() - startTime >= 5000){
                mLastLocation = mLocationManager.getLastKnownLocation(LocationManager.GPS_PROVIDER);
            }
            if(SystemClock.currentThreadTimeMillis() - time >= 1000) {
                if (ActivityCompat.checkSelfPermission(thisActivity, Manifest.permission.ACCESS_FINE_LOCATION) != PackageManager.PERMISSION_GRANTED && ActivityCompat.checkSelfPermission(thisActivity, Manifest.permission.ACCESS_COARSE_LOCATION) != PackageManager.PERMISSION_GRANTED) {
                    return;
                }
                mLocationManager.requestSingleUpdate(LocationManager.GPS_PROVIDER, mLocationListener, null);
                time = SystemClock.currentThreadTimeMillis();
            }
        }

Your thread could never finished but it holds the refference to your activity (for example in ProgressDialog). I suggest you to refactor your code. For example you can cancel() your ProgressDialog in onStop() method.