Alarm runs erratically after the app is put to sleep by the OS

[AgileWit]

Hello,
This is a very nice piece of software, and it works great. However, I noticed there is something that is not quite right, at least on Android, in the use case where there are multiple upcoming alarms set up.
Let's say I set up the alarm for 8, 8:30, 9, 9:30, 10, 10:30 etc.
As long as my app keeps running in the background (or foreground, obviously), all those alarms will activate as advertised.
However, let's say the app runs in the background, and OS will put my app to sleep at, say, 8:45. By "put to sleep" I mean I no longer see my app on the list of background processes.
The alarm at 9 will always run correctly. However, the rest will run at random - some may run, but most will not. Sometimes, only the first alarm that is scheduled after the app is put to sleep will run.
I would appreciate any hints on how to solve this!

[gdelataillade]

Hi @AgileWit,

Thanks for sharing your issue. I’ll try to reproduce it. In the meantime, could you provide some more information?

1. What device do you use, and what version of Android is it?
2. Which version of the alarm plugin are you using?
3. Do you stop your alarms by pressing the notification button, opening the app, or simply setting ‘loopAudio = false’ and waiting for the audio to finish?

Any additional information you can provide would be very helpful. Thanks!

[AgileWit]

I checked my code: the notification title and body are not empty- they have some dummy strings in them. As I said, notifications for my app are disabled - they make no sense in what I'm trying to do.
I understand that no Dart code will run once the app is killed. However, the native (Android) part acts strangely. Here is a fresh example from a test I ran yesterday.
5:30 - my app's UI is running, the following alarms are scheduled:
6:00, 7:00, 8:00, 9:00, 10:00, 11:00 ...
6:00 - the app runs in the background, alarm sounds, and the Dart code executes.
Sometime between 6:30 and 6:45, OS kills my app due to inactivity.
7:00 - the alarm does ring, but no Dart code runs.
8:00 - no alarm
9:00 - alarm rings again, no Dart code
After that, the app remains dead :-), and no alarms ring.

[gdelataillade]

Hi @AgileWit, sorry for the late reply. I was not able to reproduce the issue with my Google Pixel 8a. Do you still have the issue ? Maybe try to disable battery optimization in your device settings. Let me know if it helps.

[AgileWit]

Thank you for looking into this. I can no longer reproduce the problem myself, either.
Android "learns" which apps are used and appears to prioritize them accordingly.
I (re)installed and started/stopped my app so many times. Android "thinks" this app is important, and now it keeps running in the background no matter what I do.
That's bad news for me - I have no clue how it will behave on some other phone...
I consider doing a 'factory reset' of my phone, but that's another story.
As for the battery optimization, I think that may or may not be the case. Before my app got 'prioritized', Android would remove it from the background, whether the optimization was turned on or not.
Anyway, thanks again for spending time on this!

[gdelataillade]

OK, let me know what happens after the factory reset.

[AgileWit]

Hi Gautier,
I did a factory reset of my phone to start afresh. I did extensive testing, and I definitely see a problem, at least on Android.
I opened a bug for this.
-Thank you