IssueTracker

My app has a TileService, and the quick tiles are used for toggling on and off VpnServices. For that, I have code like this:

unlockAndRun {
	applicationScope.launch {
		try {
			...
			context.startService(new Intent(context, VpnService.class));
			...
		} catch (_: Throwable) {
			val toggleIntent = Intent(this@QuickTileService, TunnelToggleActivity::class.java)
			toggleIntent.addFlags(Intent.FLAG_ACTIVITY_NEW_TASK)
			startActivity(toggleIntent)
		}
	}
}

Basically, I try to start the service in the usual way, but if that fails because the app is backgrounded, then I start a transparent activity to start the service for me. This has worked well for some time. The result is that the quick tile toggles on or off, the same way that toggling on and off bluetooth or airplane mode or the flashlight works. Most importantly, the quick settings panel does not collapse, since it's a toggle switch.

In Android 14, this stopped working, because of this code in TileLifecycleManager.java:

        if (CompatChanges.isChangeEnabled(START_ACTIVITY_NEEDS_PENDING_INTENT, packageName,
                mUser)) {
            return mContext.bindServiceAsUser(mIntent, this,
                    Context.BIND_AUTO_CREATE
                            | Context.BIND_FOREGROUND_SERVICE_WHILE_AWAKE
                            | Context.BIND_WAIVE_PRIORITY,
                    mUser);
        }
        return mContext.bindServiceAsUser(mIntent, this,
                Context.BIND_AUTO_CREATE
                        | Context.BIND_FOREGROUND_SERVICE_WHILE_AWAKE
                        | Context.BIND_ALLOW_BACKGROUND_ACTIVITY_STARTS
                        | Context.BIND_WAIVE_PRIORITY,
                mUser);

As you can see, BIND_ALLOW_BACKGROUND_ACTIVITY_STARTS is no longer passed to the service when the START_ACTIVITY_NEEDS_PENDING_INTENT change flag is enabled, which it is for API 34 and up.

Note that using startActivityAndCollapse() isn't a viable option, because that collapses the quick settings panel. The whole idea is for this to function like any other quick settings tile toggle switch and not collapse, which is how it's worked for years.

I believe this is largely a mistake. The documentation for this change states:

Apps running on Android 10 or higher can start activities when one or more of the following conditions are met: ...

• The app has one of the following services that is bound by the system. These services might need to launch a UI.
  • ...
  • TileService
  • ...

Yet, with this change, that doc is no longer honored, as startActivity now fails in API 34, despite there being a TileService bound by the system, exactly as the doc described.

This further seemed to be a last minute mistake made, as the START_ACTIVITY_NEEDS_PENDING_INTENT compat flag actually isn't listed on the Android 14 compatibility flag page. It looks like maybe the initial goal was to enforce the deprecation of startActivityAndCollapse(Intent intent), taking an Intent rather than a PendingIntent as in the new API, but overall change has the likely unintended side effect of also removing the ability to start an activity without collapsing the quick settings panel.

So, this seems to be a bug that can hopefully be rectified during the Android 14 cycle ASAP.