startForeground fail after upgrade to Android 8.1

After upgrading my phone to 8.1 Developer Preview my background service no longer starts up properly.

In my long-running service I've implemented a startForeground method to start the ongoing notification which is called in on create.

@TargetApi(Build.VERSION_CODES.O)
private fun startForeground() {
    // Safe call, handled by compat lib.
    val notificationBuilder = NotificationCompat.Builder(this, DEFAULT_CHANNEL_ID)

    val notification = notificationBuilder.setOngoing(true)
            .setSmallIcon(R.drawable.ic_launcher_foreground)
            .build()
    startForeground(101, notification)
}

Error message:

11-28 11:47:53.349 24704-24704/$PACKAGE_NAMEE/AndroidRuntime: FATAL EXCEPTION: main
    Process: $PACKAGE_NAME, PID: 24704
    android.app.RemoteServiceException: Bad notification for startForeground: java.lang.RuntimeException: invalid channel for service notification: Notification(channel=My channel pri=0 contentView=null vibrate=null sound=null defaults=0x0 flags=0x42 color=0x00000000 vis=PRIVATE)
        at android.app.ActivityThread$H.handleMessage(ActivityThread.java:1768)
        at android.os.Handler.dispatchMessage(Handler.java:106)
        at android.os.Looper.loop(Looper.java:164)
        at android.app.ActivityThread.main(ActivityThread.java:6494)
        at java.lang.reflect.Method.invoke(Native Method)
        at com.android.internal.os.RuntimeInit$MethodAndArgsCaller.run(RuntimeInit.java:438)
        at com.android.internal.os.ZygoteInit.main(ZygoteInit.java:807)

invalid channel for service notification, apparently my old channel the DEFAULT_CHANNEL_ID is no longer appropriate for API 27 I assume. What would be the proper channel? I've tried to look through the documentation

After some tinkering for a while with different solutions i found out that one must create a notification channel in Android 8.1 and above.

private fun startForeground() {
    val channelId =
            if (Build.VERSION.SDK_INT >= Build.VERSION_CODES.O) {
                createNotificationChannel("my_service", "My Background Service")
            } else {
                // If earlier version channel ID is not used
                // https://developer.android.com/reference/android/support/v4/app/NotificationCompat.Builder.html#NotificationCompat.Builder(android.content.Context)
                ""
            }

    val notificationBuilder = NotificationCompat.Builder(this, channelId )
    val notification = notificationBuilder.setOngoing(true)
            .setSmallIcon(R.mipmap.ic_launcher)
            .setPriority(PRIORITY_MIN)
            .setCategory(Notification.CATEGORY_SERVICE)
            .build()
    startForeground(101, notification)
}

@RequiresApi(Build.VERSION_CODES.O)
private fun createNotificationChannel(channelId: String, channelName: String): String{
    val chan = NotificationChannel(channelId,
            channelName, NotificationManager.IMPORTANCE_NONE)
    chan.lightColor = Color.BLUE
    chan.lockscreenVisibility = Notification.VISIBILITY_PRIVATE
    val service = getSystemService(Context.NOTIFICATION_SERVICE) as NotificationManager
    service.createNotificationChannel(chan)
    return channelId
}

From my understanding background services are now displayed as normal notifications that the user then can select to not show by deselecting the notification channel.

Update: Also don't forget to add the foreground permission as required Android P:

<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.FOREGROUND_SERVICE" />

Java Solution (Android 9.0, API 28)

In your Service class, add this:

@Override
public void onCreate(){
    super.onCreate();
    if (Build.VERSION.SDK_INT >= Build.VERSION_CODES.O)
        startMyOwnForeground();
    else
        startForeground(1, new Notification());
}

private void startMyOwnForeground(){
    String NOTIFICATION_CHANNEL_ID = "com.example.simpleapp";
    String channelName = "My Background Service";
    NotificationChannel chan = new NotificationChannel(NOTIFICATION_CHANNEL_ID, channelName, NotificationManager.IMPORTANCE_NONE);
    chan.setLightColor(Color.BLUE);
    chan.setLockscreenVisibility(Notification.VISIBILITY_PRIVATE);
    NotificationManager manager = (NotificationManager) getSystemService(Context.NOTIFICATION_SERVICE);
    assert manager != null;
    manager.createNotificationChannel(chan);

    NotificationCompat.Builder notificationBuilder = new NotificationCompat.Builder(this, NOTIFICATION_CHANNEL_ID);
    Notification notification = notificationBuilder.setOngoing(true)
            .setSmallIcon(R.drawable.icon_1)
            .setContentTitle("App is running in background")
            .setPriority(NotificationManager.IMPORTANCE_MIN)
            .setCategory(Notification.CATEGORY_SERVICE)
            .build();
    startForeground(2, notification);
}

UPDATE: ANDROID 9.0 PIE (API 28)

Add this permission to your AndroidManifest.xml file:

<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.FOREGROUND_SERVICE" />

The first answer is great only for those people who know kotlin, for those who still using java here I translate the first answer

 public Notification getNotification() {
        String channel;
        if (Build.VERSION.SDK_INT >= Build.VERSION_CODES.O)
            channel = createChannel();
        else {
            channel = "";
        }
        NotificationCompat.Builder mBuilder = new NotificationCompat.Builder(this, channel).setSmallIcon(android.R.drawable.ic_menu_mylocation).setContentTitle("snap map fake location");
        Notification notification = mBuilder
                .setPriority(PRIORITY_LOW)
                .setCategory(Notification.CATEGORY_SERVICE)
                .build();


        return notification;
    }

    @NonNull
    @TargetApi(26)
    private synchronized String createChannel() {
        NotificationManager mNotificationManager = (NotificationManager) this.getSystemService(Context.NOTIFICATION_SERVICE);

        String name = "snap map fake location ";
        int importance = NotificationManager.IMPORTANCE_LOW;

        NotificationChannel mChannel = new NotificationChannel("snap map channel", name, importance);

        mChannel.enableLights(true);
        mChannel.setLightColor(Color.BLUE);
        if (mNotificationManager != null) {
            mNotificationManager.createNotificationChannel(mChannel);
        } else {
            stopSelf();
        }
        return "snap map channel";
    } 

For android, P don't forget to include this permission

<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.FOREGROUND_SERVICE" />

Works properly on Andorid 8.1:

Updated sample (without any deprecated code):

public NotificationBattery(Context context) {
    this.mCtx = context;

    mBuilder = new NotificationCompat.Builder(context, CHANNEL_ID)
            .setContentTitle(context.getString(R.string.notification_title_battery))
            .setSmallIcon(R.drawable.ic_launcher)
            .setVisibility(NotificationCompat.VISIBILITY_PUBLIC)
            .setChannelId(CHANNEL_ID)
            .setOnlyAlertOnce(true)
            .setPriority(NotificationCompat.PRIORITY_MAX)
            .setWhen(System.currentTimeMillis() + 500)
            .setGroup(GROUP)
            .setOngoing(true);

    mRemoteViews = new RemoteViews(context.getPackageName(), R.layout.notification_view_battery);

    initBatteryNotificationIntent();

    mBuilder.setContent(mRemoteViews);

    mNotificationManager = (NotificationManager) context.getSystemService(Context.NOTIFICATION_SERVICE);

    if (AesPrefs.getBooleanRes(R.string.SHOW_BATTERY_NOTIFICATION, true)) {
        if (Build.VERSION.SDK_INT >= Build.VERSION_CODES.O) {
            NotificationChannel channel = new NotificationChannel(CHANNEL_ID, context.getString(R.string.notification_title_battery),
                    NotificationManager.IMPORTANCE_DEFAULT);
            channel.setShowBadge(false);
            channel.setSound(null, null);
            mNotificationManager.createNotificationChannel(channel);
        }
    } else {
        mNotificationManager.cancel(Const.NOTIFICATION_CLIPBOARD);
    }
}

Old snipped (it's a different app - not related to the code above):

@Override
public int onStartCommand(Intent intent, int flags, final int startId) {
    Log.d(TAG, "onStartCommand");

    String CHANNEL_ONE_ID = "com.kjtech.app.N1";
    String CHANNEL_ONE_NAME = "Channel One";
    NotificationChannel notificationChannel = null;
    if (android.os.Build.VERSION.SDK_INT >= android.os.Build.VERSION_CODES.O) {
        notificationChannel = new NotificationChannel(CHANNEL_ONE_ID,
                CHANNEL_ONE_NAME, IMPORTANCE_HIGH);
        notificationChannel.enableLights(true);
        notificationChannel.setLightColor(Color.RED);
        notificationChannel.setShowBadge(true);
        notificationChannel.setLockscreenVisibility(Notification.VISIBILITY_PUBLIC);
        NotificationManager manager = (NotificationManager) getSystemService(NOTIFICATION_SERVICE);
        manager.createNotificationChannel(notificationChannel);
    }

    Bitmap icon = BitmapFactory.decodeResource(getResources(), R.mipmap.ic_launcher);
    Notification notification = new Notification.Builder(getApplicationContext())
            .setChannelId(CHANNEL_ONE_ID)
            .setContentTitle(getString(R.string.obd_service_notification_title))
            .setContentText(getString(R.string.service_notification_content))
            .setSmallIcon(R.mipmap.ic_launcher)
            .setLargeIcon(icon)
            .build();

    Intent notificationIntent = new Intent(getApplicationContext(), MainActivity.class);
    notificationIntent.setFlags(Intent.FLAG_ACTIVITY_CLEAR_TOP | Intent.FLAG_ACTIVITY_SINGLE_TOP);
    notification.contentIntent = PendingIntent.getActivity(getApplicationContext(), 0, notificationIntent, 0);

    startForeground(START_FOREGROUND_ID, notification);

    return START_STICKY;
}

In my case, it's because we tried to post a notification without specifying the NotificationChannel:

public static final String NOTIFICATION_CHANNEL_ID_SERVICE = "com.mypackage.service";
public static final String NOTIFICATION_CHANNEL_ID_TASK = "com.mypackage.download_info";

public void initChannel(){
    if (Build.VERSION.SDK_INT >= Build.VERSION_CODES.O) {
        NotificationManager nm = (NotificationManager) getSystemService(NOTIFICATION_SERVICE);
        nm.createNotificationChannel(new NotificationChannel(NOTIFICATION_CHANNEL_ID_SERVICE, "App Service", NotificationManager.IMPORTANCE_DEFAULT));
        nm.createNotificationChannel(new NotificationChannel(NOTIFICATION_CHANNEL_ID_INFO, "Download Info", NotificationManager.IMPORTANCE_DEFAULT));
    }
}

The best place to put above code is in onCreate() method in the Application class, so that we just need to declare it once for all:

public class App extends Application {

    @Override
    public void onCreate() {
        super.onCreate();
        initChannel();
    }
}

After we set this up, we can use notification with the channelId we just specified:

Intent i = new Intent(this, MainActivity.class);
i.setFlags(Intent.FLAG_ACTIVITY_CLEAR_TOP | Intent.FLAG_ACTIVITY_SINGLE_TOP);
PendingIntent pi = PendingIntent.getActivity(this, 0, i, PendingIntent.FLAG_UPDATE_CURRENT);
NotificationCompat.Builder builder = new NotificationCompat.Builder(this, NOTIFICATION_CHANNEL_ID_INFO);
            .setContentIntent(pi)
            .setWhen(System.currentTimeMillis())
            .setContentTitle("VirtualBox.exe")
            .setContentText("Download completed")
            .setSmallIcon(R.mipmap.ic_launcher);

Then, we can use it to post a notification:

int notifId = 45;
NotificationManager nm = (NotificationManager) getSystemService(NOTIFICATION_SERVICE);
nm.notify(notifId, builder.build());

If you want to use it as foreground service's notification:

startForeground(notifId, builder.build());

Thanks to @CopsOnRoad, his solution was a big help but only works for SDK 26 and higher. My app targets 24 and higher.

To keep Android Studio from complaining you need a conditional directly around the notification. It is not smart enough to know the code is in a method conditional to VERSION_CODE.O.

@Override
public void onCreate(){
    super.onCreate();
    if (Build.VERSION.SDK_INT >= Build.VERSION_CODES.O)
        startMyOwnForeground();
    else
        startForeground(1, new Notification());
}

private void startMyOwnForeground(){

    if (Build.VERSION.SDK_INT >= Build.VERSION_CODES.O){

        String NOTIFICATION_CHANNEL_ID = "com.example.simpleapp";
        String channelName = "My Background Service";
        NotificationChannel chan = new NotificationChannel(NOTIFICATION_CHANNEL_ID, channelName, NotificationManager.IMPORTANCE_NONE);
        chan.setLightColor(Color.BLUE);
        chan.setLockscreenVisibility(Notification.VISIBILITY_PRIVATE);
        NotificationManager manager = (NotificationManager) getSystemService(Context.NOTIFICATION_SERVICE);
        assert manager != null;
        manager.createNotificationChannel(chan);

        NotificationCompat.Builder notificationBuilder = new NotificationCompat.Builder(this, NOTIFICATION_CHANNEL_ID);
        Notification notification = notificationBuilder.setOngoing(true)
                .setSmallIcon(AppSpecific.SMALL_ICON)
                .setContentTitle("App is running in background")
                .setPriority(NotificationManager.IMPORTANCE_MIN)
                .setCategory(Notification.CATEGORY_SERVICE)
                .build();
        startForeground(2, notification);
    }
}

This worked for me. In my service class, I created the notification channel for android 8.1 as below:

public class Service extends Service {

    public static final String NOTIFICATION_CHANNEL_ID_SERVICE = "com.package.MyService";
    public static final String NOTIFICATION_CHANNEL_ID_INFO = "com.package.download_info";

    @Override
    public void onCreate() {

        super.onCreate();
        if (Build.VERSION.SDK_INT >= Build.VERSION_CODES.O) {
            NotificationManager nm = (NotificationManager) getSystemService(NOTIFICATION_SERVICE);
            nm.createNotificationChannel(new NotificationChannel(NOTIFICATION_CHANNEL_ID_SERVICE, "App Service", NotificationManager.IMPORTANCE_DEFAULT));
            nm.createNotificationChannel(new NotificationChannel(NOTIFICATION_CHANNEL_ID_INFO, "Download Info", NotificationManager.IMPORTANCE_DEFAULT));
        } else {
            Notification notification = new Notification();
            startForeground(1, notification);
        }
    }
}

Note: Create the channel where you are creating the Notification for Build.VERSION.SDK_INT >= Build.VERSION_CODES.O

Alternative answer: if it's a Huawei device and you have implemented requirements needed for Oreo 8 Android and there are still issues only with Huawei devices than it's only device issue, you can read https://dontkillmyapp.com/huawei

I had the same issue. The problem occurred when I used same channel id and notification id for two apps. So try with a unique notification id and channel id.

this maybe old but, incase someone had the same situation as I did. for some reason, on Android 11 OnePlus Nord

Notification.Builder().Build()

crashes,

NotificationCompat.Builder().Build()

works fine. Consider migrating to androidx.core.app.NotificationCompat.

Here is my solution

private static final int NOTIFICATION_ID = 200;
private static final String CHANNEL_ID = "myChannel";
private static final String CHANNEL_NAME = "myChannelName";

private void startForeground() {

    final NotificationCompat.Builder mBuilder = new NotificationCompat.Builder(
            getApplicationContext(), CHANNEL_ID);

    Notification notification;



        notification = mBuilder.setTicker(getString(R.string.app_name)).setWhen(0)
                .setOngoing(true)
                .setContentTitle(getString(R.string.app_name))
                .setContentText("Send SMS gateway is running background")
                .setSmallIcon(R.mipmap.ic_launcher)
                .setShowWhen(true)
                .build();

        NotificationManager notificationManager = (NotificationManager) getApplication().getSystemService(Context.NOTIFICATION_SERVICE);

        //All notifications should go through NotificationChannel on Android 26 & above
        if (Build.VERSION.SDK_INT >= Build.VERSION_CODES.O) {
            NotificationChannel channel = new NotificationChannel(CHANNEL_ID,
                    CHANNEL_NAME,
                    NotificationManager.IMPORTANCE_DEFAULT);
            notificationManager.createNotificationChannel(channel);

        }
        notificationManager.notify(NOTIFICATION_ID, notification);

    }

Hope it will help :)