The AlarmManager class provides access to the system alarm services. It allows you to schedule your application to run at some point in the future, even when it’s not active.

From API 19 onwards, the alarm delivery is inexact in order to save battery life. The Android OS now batches together alarms from all apps that occur at reasonably similar times so the system wakes the device once instead of several times to handle each alarm.

It is possible to use exact alarms with setExact, setExactAndAllowWhileIdle, setWindow and setAlarmClock. Exact alarms should be used only when strict delivery guarantees are required, for example for an alarm clock application or for calendar notifications.

The rule raises an issue when an exact alarm is set, or when a window is set to less than 10 minutes.

Why is this an issue?

The use of exact alarms triggers the device to wake up at precise times that can lead several wake-ups in a short period of time. The wake-up mechanism is a significant battery drain because it requires powering up the main processor and pulling it out of a low-power state.

It’s highly recommended to create an inexact alarm whenever possible.

It is also recommended for normal timing operations, such as ticks and timeouts, using the Handler, and for long-running operations, such as network downloads, using WorkManager or JobScheduler.

What is the potential impact?

Usability: the device may run out of battery faster than expected.
Sustainability: the extra battery usage has a negative impact on the environment.

How to fix it

Replace occurrences of setExact with set and setExactAndAllowWhileIdle with setAndAllowWhileIdle, and avoid to use setWindow with a window less than 10 minutes.

Alternatively, consider using Handler, WorkManager or JobScheduler instead of AlarmManager when possible, depending on your use case.

Code examples

Noncompliant code example

public class AlarmScheduler {
    private Context context;

    public AlarmScheduler(Context context) {
        this.context = context;
    }

    public void scheduleAlarm(long triggerTime) {
        AlarmManager alarmManager = (AlarmManager) context.getSystemService(Context.ALARM_SERVICE);
        Intent intent = new Intent(context, AlarmReceiver.class);
        PendingIntent pendingIntent = PendingIntent.getBroadcast(context, 0, intent, 0);

        alarmManager.setExact(AlarmManager.RTC_WAKEUP, triggerTime, pendingIntent); // Noncompliant, avoid using exact alarms unless necessary
        alarmManager.setExactAndAllowWhileIdle(AlarmManager.RTC_WAKEUP, triggerTime, pendingIntent); // Noncompliant, avoid using exact alarms unless necessary

        long windowLengthMillis = 5 * 60 * 1000; // 5 minutes in milliseconds
        alarmManager.setWindow(AlarmManager.RTC_WAKEUP, triggerTime, windowLengthMillis, pendingIntent); // Noncompliant, don't use windows below 10 minutes
    }
}

Compliant solution

public class AlarmScheduler {
    private Context context;

    public AlarmScheduler(Context context) {
        this.context = context;
    }

    public void scheduleAlarm(long triggerTime) {
        AlarmManager alarmManager = (AlarmManager) context.getSystemService(Context.ALARM_SERVICE);
        Intent intent = new Intent(context, AlarmReceiver.class);
        PendingIntent pendingIntent = PendingIntent.getBroadcast(context, 0, intent, 0);

        alarmManager.set(AlarmManager.RTC_WAKEUP, triggerTime, pendingIntent); // Compliant
        alarmManager.setAndAllowWhileIdle(AlarmManager.RTC_WAKEUP, triggerTime, pendingIntent);  // Compliant

        long windowLengthMillis = 10 * 60 * 1000; // 10 minutes in milliseconds
        alarmManager.setWindow(AlarmManager.RTC_WAKEUP, triggerTime, windowLengthMillis, pendingIntent); // Compliant
    }
}