Android Developer Fundamentals V2

Background
Tasks

Lesson 7

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7.3 Broadcasts

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Contents

● Broadcasts
● Send a custom broadcasts
● Broadcast receivers
● Implementing broadcast receivers
● Restricting the broadcasts
● Best practices

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Broadcasts

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Broadcast vs. Implicit Intents
Broadcasts
Broadcasts are messages sent by Android system and
other Android apps, when an event of interest occurs.

Broadcasts are wrapped in an Intent object. This

Intent object’s contains the event details such as,
android.intent.action.HEADSET_PLUG, sent when a
wired headset is plugged or unplugged.

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Broadcast
Types of broadcasts
vs. Implicit Intents

Types of broadcast:
● System broadcast.
● Custom broadcast.

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 Broadcast
System broadcasts
vs. Implicit Intents
System broadcast are the messages sent by the Android system,
when a system event occurs, that might affect your app.

Few examples:
● An Intent with action, ACTION_BOOT_COMPLETED is broadcasted
when the device boots.
● An Intent with action, ACTION_POWER_CONNECTED is
broadcasted when the device is connected to the external
power.
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Broadcast
Custom broadcasts
vs. Implicit Intents

Custom broadcasts are broadcasts that your app sends out,

similar to the Android system.
For example, when you want to let other app(s) know that some
data has been downloaded by your app, and its available for
their use.

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 Send a
custom
broadcasts

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Send a custom broadcast

Android provides three ways for sending a broadcast:

● Ordered broadcast.
● Normal broadcast.
● Local broadcast.

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Ordered Broadcast
● Ordered broadcast is delivered to one receiver at a time.
● To send a ordered broadcast, use the
sendOrderedBroadcast() method.
● Receivers can propagate result to the next receiver or even
abort the broadcast.
● Control the broadcast order with android:priority attribute
in the manifest file.
● Receivers with same priority run in arbitrary order.
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Normal Broadcast
● Delivered to all the registered receivers at the same
time, in an undefined order.
● Most efficient way to send a broadcast.
● Receivers can’t propagate the results among
themselves, and they can’t abort the broadcast.
● The sendBroadcast() method is used to send a
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 Local Broadcast
● Sends broadcasts to receivers within your app.
● No security issues since no interprocess
communication.
● To send a local broadcast:
○ To get an instance of LocalBroadcastManager.
○ Call sendBroadcast() on the instance.

LocalBroadcastManager.getInstance(this)
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.sendBroadcast(customBroadcastIntent);
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Broadcast
Receivers

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What is a broadcast receiver?
● Broadcast receivers are app components.
● They register for various system broadcast and or
custom broadcast.
● They are notified (via an Intent):
○ By the system, when an system event occurs
that your app is registered for.
○ By another app, including your own if your app
is registered for that custom event.
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Register your broadcast
receiver
Broadcast receivers can be registered in two ways:
● Static receivers
○ Registered in your AndroidManifest.xml, also called as
Manifest-declared receivers.
● Dynamic receivers
○ Registered using app or activities' context in your Java files,
also called as Context-registered receivers.

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 Receiving a system broadcast
● Starting from Android 8.0 (API level 26), static receivers
can't receive most of the system broadcasts.
● Use a dynamic receiver to register for these broadcasts.
● If you register for the system broadcasts in the manifest,
the Android system won't deliver them to your app.
● A few broadcasts, are excepted from this restriction. See
the complete list of implicit broadcast exceptions.
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Implementin
g Broadcast
Receivers

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To create a broadcast receiver
● Subclass the BroadcastReceiver class and override
its onReceive() method.

● Register the broadcast receiver and specify the intent-

filters:
○ Statically, in the Manifest.
○ Dynamically, with registerReceiver().

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What are Intent-filters
Intent-filters specify the types of intents a broadcast
receiver can receive. They filter the incoming intents
based on the Intent values like action.

To add an intent-filter:
● To your AndroidManifest.xml file, use <intent-
filter> tag.
● To your Java file use the IntentFilter object.
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 Subclass a broadcast receiver

In Android studio, File > New > Other > BroadcastReceiver

public class CustomReceiver extends BroadcastReceiver {

@Override
public void onReceive(Context context, Intent intent) {
// This method is called when the BroadcastReceiver
// is receiving an Intent broadcast.
throw new UnsupportedOperationException("Not yet
implemented");
}
} Android Developer
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 Implement onReceive()
Example implementation of onReceive() method which handles
power connected and disconnected.
@Override
public void onReceive(Context context, Intent intent) {
String intentAction = intent.getAction();
switch (intentAction){
case Intent.ACTION_POWER_CONNECTED:
break;
case Intent.ACTION_POWER_DISCONNECTED:
break;
}
} Android Developer
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Register statically in Android
manifest
● <receiver> element inside <application> tag.
● <intent-filter> registers receiver for specific
intents.
<receiver
android:name=".CustomReceiver"
android:enabled="true"
android:exported="true">
<intent-filter>
<action
android:name="android.intent.action.BOOT_COMPLETED"/>
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Register dynamically
●
Register your receiver in onCreate() or
onResume().
// Register the receiver using the activity context.
this.registerReceiver(mReceiver, filter);

● Unregister in onDestroy() or onPause().

// Unregister the receiver
this.unregisterReceiver(mReceiver);
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Register a Local broadcast
receiver
Register local receivers dynamically,
because static registration in the manifest
is not possible for a local broadcasts.

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Register a Local broadcast
receiver
To register a receiver for local broadcasts:
● Get an instance of LocalBroadcastManager.
● Call registerReceiver().

LocalBroadcastManager.getInstance(this).registerReceiver
(mReceiver,
new IntentFilter(CustomReceiver.ACTION_CUSTOM_BROADCAST));

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Unregister a Local broadcast
receiver
To unregister a local broadcast receiver:
● Get an instance of the LocalBroadcastManager.
● Call LocalBroadcastManager.unregisterReceiver().

LocalBroadcastManager.getInstance(this)
.unregisterReceiver(mReceiver);

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Restricting
broadcasts

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Restricting broadcasts
● Restricting your broadcast is strongly
recommended.
● An unrestricted broadcast can pose a security
threat.
● For example: If your apps’ broadcast is not
restricted and includes sensitive information, an
app that contains malware could register and
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Ways to restrict a broadcast
● If possible, use a LocalBroadcastManager, which
keeps the data inside your app, avoiding security
leaks.
● Use the setPackage() method and pass in the
package name. Your broadcast is restricted to apps
that match the specified package name.
● Access permissions can be enforced by sender or
receiver.
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Enforce permissions by sender
To enforce a permission when sending a broadcast:
● Supply a non-null permission argument to
sendBroadcast().
● Only receivers that request this permission using
the <uses-permission> tag in their
AndroidManifest.xml file can receive the
broadcast.
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Enforce permissions by receiver

To enforce a permission when receiving a broadcast:

● If you register your receiver dynamically, supply a
non-null permission to registerReceiver().
● If you register your receiver statically, use the
android:permission attribute inside the
<receiver> tag in your AndroidManifest.xml.

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 Best
practices

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Best practices
● Make sure namespace for intent is unique and you
own it.
● Restrict broadcast receivers.
● Other apps can respond to broadcast your app
sends —use permissions to control this.
● Prefer dynamic receivers over static receivers.
● Never perform a long running operation inside
your broadcast receiver. Broadcasts
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Learn more

● BroadcastReceiver Reference
● Intents and Intent Filters Guide
● LocalBroadcastManager Reference
● Broadcasts overview

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What's Next?

● Concept Chapter: 7.3 Broadcasts

● Practical: 7.3 Broadcast Receivers

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END

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