Android L (API 21) - java.lang.IllegalArgumentException: Service Intent must be explicit

Android new version - "Lollipop" (API 21) brings quite a few changes with it, but it comes with some price if you wish to target your app to that API.

When we started adapting our apps to the new API, one of the first problems we've encountered is the `IllegalArgumentException: Service Intent must be explicit`



If you have encountered the problem, and you are actually intending to use your intent in explicit way (meaning that when starting the service you are expecting to hit exactly 1 service action), here's a quick fix for turning implicit --> explicit:

	/***
	* Android L (lollipop, API 21) introduced a new problem when trying to invoke implicit intent,
	* "java.lang.IllegalArgumentException: Service Intent must be explicit"
	*
	* If you are using an implicit intent, and know only 1 target would answer this intent,
	* This method will help you turn the implicit intent into the explicit form.
	*
	* Inspired from SO answer: http://stackoverflow.com/a/26318757/1446466
	* @param context
	* @param implicitIntent - The original implicit intent
	* @return Explicit Intent created from the implicit original intent
	*/
	public static Intent createExplicitFromImplicitIntent(Context context, Intent implicitIntent) {
	// Retrieve all services that can match the given intent
	PackageManager pm = context.getPackageManager();
	List<ResolveInfo> resolveInfo = pm.queryIntentServices(implicitIntent, 0);
	// Make sure only one match was found
	if (resolveInfo == null || resolveInfo.size() != 1) {
	return null;
	}
	// Get component info and create ComponentName
	ResolveInfo serviceInfo = resolveInfo.get(0);
	String packageName = serviceInfo.serviceInfo.packageName;
	String className = serviceInfo.serviceInfo.name;
	ComponentName component = new ComponentName(packageName, className);
	// Create a new intent. Use the old one for extras and such reuse
	Intent explicitIntent = new Intent(implicitIntent);
	// Set the component to be explicit
	explicitIntent.setComponent(component);
	return explicitIntent;
	}

view raw gistfile1.java hosted with ❤ by GitHub

That should do it. Please feel free to comment for additional insights on this new issue.