Can an ACTION_USER_PRESENT BroadcastReceiver not be registered in the manifest?

Question

Hey all,

I see that multiple broadcasts (ACTION_TIME_TICK, for example) cannot be registered in the manifest, the must be explicitly registered via Context.registerReceiver(). I am having trouble with the ACTION_USER_PRESENT broadcast intent. Specifically, I test on the emulator and my application keeps force closing with the error:

08-30 09:44:23.397: ERROR/AndroidRuntime(290): java.lang.RuntimeException: Unable to start receiver me.turnerha.RegisterListeners: java.lang.IllegalArgumentException: Receiver not registered: me.turnerha.RegisterListeners@43d05690

This is caused by

08-30 09:44:23.397: ERROR/AndroidRuntime(290): Caused by: java.lang.IllegalArgumentException: Receiver not registered: me.turnerha.RegisterListeners@43d05690

My manifest is fairly simple:

    <receiver android:name=".RegisterListeners">
        <intent-filter>
            <action android:name="android.intent.action.SCREEN_ON" />
        </intent-filter>
    </receiver>

Any thoughts? I am essentially attempting to create a Receiver that is awakened as soon as possible after my application is installed. The first time it is awakened, it registers a few listeners, and then it unregisters itself so it is never called again. (I really wish there was an intent fired immediately after your app had been installed, to allow a small bit of setup :) )

Thanks, Hamilton

Answer 1

Correct -- neither ACTION_SCREEN_ON nor ACTION_USER_PRESENT can be registered in the manifest. I have filed a documentation bug on this issue.