Sending Alarm Clock no longer working in Android 13

[rkoshak]

If this is going to be covered in #2994 I'll close this one.

Actual behaviour

I upgraded to Android 13 and ever since sending the alarm clock time to the server no longer works.

Expected behaviour

When the alarm clock is set on the phone, it sends the date time to the configured Item.

Steps to reproduce

I've set the alarm directly and using Sleep as Android and there is no indication on the server that the time was attempted to be sent.

In the app's logs I do see that it recognizes the alarm clock changed but that it wasn't sent for some reason.

Click to expand

-----------------------
Device information
Model: Pixel 6 Pro
Manufacturer: Google
Brand: google
Device: raven
Product: raven
OS: 13
Display: 1440x2898, 3.825 density
Data usage policy: DataUsagePolicy(canDoLargeTransfers=true, loadIconsWithState=true, autoPlayVideos=true, canDoRefreshes=true), data saver: 1, battery saver: false
-----------------------

--------- beginning of events
08-24 09:15:04.243  8375  8375 I view_enqueue_input_event: [Motion - Cancel,org.openhab.habdroid.beta/org.openhab.habdroid.ui.LogActivity]
08-24 09:15:04.945  8375  8375 I wm_on_top_resumed_lost_called: [66558864,org.openhab.habdroid.ui.LogActivity,topStateChangedWhenResumed]
08-24 09:15:04.953  8375  8375 I wm_on_paused_called: [66558864,org.openhab.habdroid.ui.LogActivity,performPause]
08-24 09:15:04.971  8375  8375 I wm_on_stop_called: [66558864,org.openhab.habdroid.ui.LogActivity,STOP_ACTIVITY_ITEM]
--------- beginning of main
08-24 09:15:11.470  8375  8375 D BackgroundTasksManager: onReceive() with intent android.app.action.NEXT_ALARM_CLOCK_CHANGED
08-24 09:15:11.470  8375  8375 D BackgroundTasksManager: Alarm clock changed
08-24 09:15:11.470  8375  8375 D BackgroundTasksManager: Alarm sent by null
08-24 09:15:11.470  8375  8375 D BackgroundTasksManager: Got value 'ValueWithInfo(value=UNDEF, mappedValue=null, type=Timestamp, debugInfo=Ignored alarm time update to 09:17 2022-08-24 which was sent by null)' for alarmClock
08-24 09:15:11.470  8375  8375 I BackgroundTasksManager: Don't send update for item AlarmClock with value ValueWithInfo(value=UNDEF, mappedValue=null, type=Timestamp, debugInfo=Ignored alarm time update to 09:17 2022-08-24 which was sent by null)
08-24 09:15:32.058  8375  8375 I wm_on_restart_called: [66558864,org.openhab.habdroid.ui.LogActivity,performRestartActivity]
08-24 09:15:32.059  8375  8375 I wm_on_start_called: [66558864,org.openhab.habdroid.ui.LogActivity,handleStartActivity]
08-24 09:15:32.062  8375  8375 I wm_on_resume_called: [66558864,org.openhab.habdroid.ui.LogActivity,RESUME_ACTIVITY]
08-24 09:15:32.063  8375  8375 I wm_on_top_resumed_gained_called: [66558864,org.openhab.habdroid.ui.LogActivity,topWhenResuming]

Can you reproduce the issue in demo mode?

Yes, though I don't know if it tries to send the alarm clock to my server when in demo mode so it's not clear if it's useful. On my server's side things look the same. The logs when I sent it with demo mode active are as follows.

Click to expand

-----------------------
Device information
Model: Pixel 6 Pro
Manufacturer: Google
Brand: google
Device: raven
Product: raven
OS: 13
Display: 1440x2898, 3.825 density
Data usage policy: DataUsagePolicy(canDoLargeTransfers=true, loadIconsWithState=true, autoPlayVideos=true, canDoRefreshes=true), data saver: 1, battery saver: false
-----------------------

--------- beginning of events
08-24 09:21:22.433  8375  8375 I view_enqueue_input_event: [Motion - Cancel,org.openhab.habdroid.beta/org.openhab.habdroid.ui.LogActivity]
08-24 09:21:23.084  8375  8375 I wm_on_top_resumed_lost_called: [25284991,org.openhab.habdroid.ui.LogActivity,topStateChangedWhenResumed]
08-24 09:21:23.104  8375  8375 I wm_on_paused_called: [25284991,org.openhab.habdroid.ui.LogActivity,performPause]
08-24 09:21:23.121  8375  8375 I wm_on_stop_called: [25284991,org.openhab.habdroid.ui.LogActivity,STOP_ACTIVITY_ITEM]
--------- beginning of main
08-24 09:21:28.137  8375  8375 D BackgroundTasksManager: onReceive() with intent android.app.action.NEXT_ALARM_CLOCK_CHANGED
08-24 09:21:28.137  8375  8375 D BackgroundTasksManager: Alarm clock changed
08-24 09:21:31.810  8375  8375 D BackgroundTasksManager: onReceive() with intent android.app.action.NEXT_ALARM_CLOCK_CHANGED
08-24 09:21:31.810  8375  8375 D BackgroundTasksManager: Alarm clock changed
08-24 09:21:32.428  8375  8375 D BackgroundTasksManager: onReceive() with intent android.app.action.NEXT_ALARM_CLOCK_CHANGED
08-24 09:21:32.428  8375  8375 D BackgroundTasksManager: Alarm clock changed
08-24 09:21:34.883  8375  8375 I wm_on_restart_called: [25284991,org.openhab.habdroid.ui.LogActivity,performRestartActivity]
08-24 09:21:34.883  8375  8375 I wm_on_start_called: [25284991,org.openhab.habdroid.ui.LogActivity,handleStartActivity]
08-24 09:21:34.885  8375  8375 I wm_on_resume_called: [25284991,org.openhab.habdroid.ui.LogActivity,RESUME_ACTIVITY]
08-24 09:21:34.885  8375  8375 I wm_on_top_resumed_gained_called: [25284991,org.openhab.habdroid.ui.LogActivity,topWhenResuming]

Environment data

Client

• Android version: 13
• Device model: Pixel 6 Pro
• App version : 2.20.16-beta
• Build flavor : Full
• Device language: English

Server

• Server version: 3.4.0 #3053
• Reverse Proxy: HAProxy, but all tests above were done on LAN
• Authentication method : User and Password

openHAB Cloud

• Self hosted cloud or myopenhab.org: No
• openHAB Cloud version : NA
• Authentication method : user and password

Logs

App log

See above

openHAB Server log

None

[mueller-ma]

I couldn't find any information that the sender of the alarm is hidden on Android 13, but that seems to be the case.

[rkoshak]

In case it helps, that log from above was created by asking Google Assistant to set an alarm, not but using the clock app or Sleep as Android app. I can generate logs for those if you think it will help.

[mueller-ma]

I was able to reproduce this issue with an Android 13 emulator. I read through all migration guides for Android 13, but couldn't find a clue for this.

#3017 adds a workaround and will accept null as valid sender. But that means you might get invalid alarms, e.g. set by Tasker.

[Jordo-o]

Problem still occures on Android 12 after installing the beta application 2.22.3.

The app only sends a value once, on setup of the alarm clock item and never sends an update.

[mueller-ma]

Can you enable debug logging? Do any notifications appear then?

[Jordo-o]

I have enabled the logging for troubleshooting and waited a little bit. Then I received this notification:

"Ignored alarm time update to 09:45 2022-09-23 which was sent by com.android.providers.calendar"

I got this message several times. I can't find anything in the log it self about the alarm. I only see updates for call state and charging.

[mueller-ma]

As you can see in the message this alarm was sent by the calendar app, so it's not a real alarm clock. Can you try the Google alarm app?

[Jordo-o]

I noticed that too! I did have a lot of meetings today...

I've tried with the Google clock app. And the Samsung clock app. Both don't show up in the logging. Only the ignored calendar app when I search for alarm in the logging

[Jordo-o]

Is there anything else I can test to help find the problem?

[mueller-ma]

Are there any other debug notifications?

[Jordo-o]

No, no other messages... Also still nothing in the logging.

[Johboh]

FYI, there is a bug report for the Android Framework regarding the missing pendingIntent.creatorPackage from AlarmClockInfo on Android 13 https://issuetracker.google.com/issues/275678087

[Jordo-o]

Thanks for the feedback! This explains why the alarm is not working on the Google clock app, as well as the build in Samsung clock app.

[Jordo-o]

Hi @Johboh Any update on this one yet?

[Johboh]

You can check the issue at https://issuetracker.google.com/issues/275678087 I don't know more than that.

[mueller-ma]

The alarms send by the ignored Signal messenger does include an app on Android 13. Alarms by the alarm clock don't. Maybe this isn't an issue in the OS, but in several apps?

[maniac103]

I rather think this is some security policy enforcement. creatorPackage can be filtered from being filled out here, which - with some intermediate layers inbetween - ends up here. I have made no attempts to fully understand the latter method yet, but it's IMHO it's clear the problem is related to package visibility filtering. I guess a first step would be validating that assumption by using the QUERY_ALL_PACKAGES permission; if that's the problem we need to think about how to deal with that.

Edit: One way to deal with that would be removing the 'send alarm clock' feature, which - given all the issues we have with the unreliable API - would not be an unreasonable option, IMO.

Another edit: Since the date of the commit introducing the filtering falls between the Android 12 and 13 releases, I'm pretty sure it's the root cause of our issue.

[Jordo-o]

That sounds like a very reasonable issue. Maybe more then google making a mistake in their API.

Is there something I can test on my Android 13 device, to verify your ideas?

[mueller-ma]

@maniac103 Thanks for looking into this. Indeed I can see the sender by adding the permission QUERY_ALL_PACKAGES. Google Play will reject the app when we add this permission, but we could add the ignored apps to the manifest: https://github.com/openhab/openhab-android/blob/main/mobile/src/main/java/org/openhab/habdroid/background/BackgroundTasksManager.kt#L308C27-L315

One way to deal with that would be removing the 'send alarm clock' feature, which - given all the issues we have with the unreliable API - would not be an unreasonable option, IMO.

I causes issue for some people, but it's also working flawless for others. The only issue I had was one wrong alarm (send by Signal) in years of using this feature.

The only issue I still see is that people with wrong alarms don't see the package name of the app that causes these alarms. Maybe add QUERY_ALL_PACKAGES to the F-Droid version and ask people to download the beta version from there if they have an issue?

[Jordo-o]

It works great now 😁 Many thanks!

[CSchlipp]

This change appears to break alarms on Samsung phones. Alarms set via default clock app or "Sleep as Android" are neither detected/sent on a S23, nor on a S21 FE (both on Android 13) since the recent update in the playstore stating to "Improve sending alarm clock on Android 12 and higher"

Debug Log states:

06-13 22:28:55.807 9719 9869 I BackgroundTasksManager: Don't send update for item AlarmClock with value ValueWithInfo(value=UNDEF, mappedValue=null, type=Timestamp, debugInfo=Alarmzeit-Update auf 00:00 2023-06-14 wurde ignoriert, da es von com.android.providers.calendar gesendet wurde)

...though the timestamp doesn't match with me activating/deactivating the alarm. No other related log lines.

Update: After trying to find a workaround using Tasker and tinkering around with the alarm clock events in there, all of a sudden the intents are correctly recognized again by the openhab app. :raised_eyebrow: