Android - Enable automatic sync when sync adapter is setup

Question

I am writing an application which uses a sync adapter to synchronize data.

I've read up on the documentation and I'm pretty sure I understand how it all works. I've got most of my sync adapter working by following this great guide written by Udi Cohen.

However I do have one issue which I can't seem to solve, and thats enabling sync automatically when my app is installed.

When my app runs up, it creates a sync adapter and an account, does all the work you would expect it to do, which is great. However, if I go to Settings > Accounts > 'My App', the sync is off. Is there anyway I can get this to be automatically enabled?

Screenshot of Accounts > 'My App'

When setting up the sync adapter my code looks like this:

if(accountManager.addAccountExplicitly(account,null,null))
{
    // Inform the system that this account supports sync
    ContentResolver.setIsSyncable(account, CONTENT_AUTHORITY, 1);

    // Inform the system that this account is eligible for auto sync
    ContentResolver.setSyncAutomatically(account, CONTENT_AUTHORITY, true);

    // Recommend a schedule for auto sync
    ContentResolver.addPeriodicSync(account, CONTENT_AUTHORITY, new Bundle(), SYNC_FREQUENCY);

    newAccount = true;
}

From reading up around sync adapters, I believed that ContentResolver.setSyncAutomatically() was the right method to use to enable sync automatically.

I have also tried setting ContentResolver.setMasterSyncAutomatically(true); but that doesn't seem to have any effect.

I have the permission android.permission.WRITE_SYNC_SETTINGS declared in my AndroidManifest so that's not the problem. I also have the sync service and xml file in my project too. I have attached the code for these below.

Has anyone else had a similar issue? Could it be a permissions problem? If anyone has any suggestions I would be happy to try them. Thanks.

AndroidManifest.xml

<service
    android:name=".syncadapter.CalendarSyncService"
    android:exported="true"
    android:process=":sync">
    <intent-filter>
        <action android:name="android.content.SyncAdapter"/>
    </intent-filter>
    <meta-data
        android:name="android.content.SyncAdapter"
        android:resource="@xml/calendar_syncadapter"/>
</service>

syncadapter.xml

<sync-adapter xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
              android:accountType="com.companyname.rostering"
              android:allowParallelSyncs="true"
              android:contentAuthority="com.android.calendar"
              android:isAlwaysSyncable="true"
              android:supportsUploading="true"
              android:userVisible="true"/>

Answer 1

I eventually found out what was causing my issue.

In my syncadapter.xml I had my content authority set to android:contentAuthority="com.android.calendar".

However, in my code where I was setting the sync to automatic using ContentResolver.setSyncAutomatically(account, CONTENT_AUTHORITY, true); my content authority value was actually set to something different from my content authority in the XML.

The content authority when setting up your sync adapter must match the content authority used in the XML.

Answer 2

Change your manifest to look like the following:

     <service
        android:name=".SyncService"
        android:exported="true"
        >
        <intent-filter>
            <action android:name="android.content.SyncAdapter" />
        </intent-filter>
        <meta-data
            android:name="android.content.SyncAdapter"
            android:resource="@xml/syncadapter" />
    </service>

And in your syncadapter.xml have the following property:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>

<sync-adapter xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
    android:contentAuthority="@string/content_authority"
    android:accountType="@string/sync_account_type"
    android:isAlwaysSyncable="true" />

I checked the tutorial link provided and android:isAlwaysSyncable is false in that so I think making it true will solve the problem

UPDATE

One other thing is that if you installing the app on version greater than KITKAT, then you probably want to change how you call addPeriodicSync:

    if (Build.VERSION.SDK_INT >= Build.VERSION_CODES.KITKAT) {
        // we can enable inexact timers in our periodic sync
        SyncRequest request = new SyncRequest.Builder().
                syncPeriodic(syncInterval, flexTime).
                setSyncAdapter(account, authority).
                setExtras(new Bundle()).build();
        ContentResolver.requestSync(request);
    } else {
        ContentResolver.addPeriodicSync(account,
                authority, new Bundle(), syncInterval);