Android , exiting / pausing application, how to destroy thread

Question

I have an android application with a background thread that contains a socket connection for sending/receiving data from a server.

If my application ends (back button, etc) or is paused (Home button, calling other app), what is the best way of dealing with this background thread?

I have seen 2 ways:

• Call Thread.setDaemon(true) after creation and before starting the thread

• Override onStop() , onPause() , or onDestroy()

I just want to ensure that my application doesn't hang or have other strange behavior.

edit:

Also, what's the best solution to close the socket? Do I close it and the inputStream as well? Is that enough?

Answer 1

I'd suggest using a signal variable of some sort: doing something like

public void run(){
while(!stopped){
  // do work
}

// clean up

return;
}

And then in onStop() or onDestroy() set stopped to true. You'll need to make sure you clean up behind yourself as well, and if you need to re-start the thread you do so in onResume or onCreate .