When to unregister BroadcastReceiver? In onPause(), onDestroy(), or onStop()?

Question

When should I use unregisterReceiver? In onPause(), onDestroy(), or onStop()?

Note: I need the service to run in the background.

Update:

1. I get an exception releasing receivers null.

2. Activity has leaked intent receivers are you missing call to unregisterReceiver();

Please tell me if there's something wrong, here's my code:

private boolean processedObstacleReceiverStarted; private boolean mainNotificationReceiverStarted;  protected void onResume() {      super.onResume();     try {         registerReceivers();      } catch (Exception e) {          Log.e(MatabbatManager.TAG,                 "MAINActivity: could not register receiver for Matanbbat Action "                         + e.getMessage());     } }  private void registerReceivers() {      if (!mainNotificationReceiverStarted) {         mainNotificationReceiver = new MainNotificationReceiver();          IntentFilter notificationIntent = new IntentFilter();          notificationIntent                 .addAction(MatabbatManager.MATABAT_LOCATION_ACTION);         notificationIntent                 .addAction(MatabbatManager.MATABAT_New_DATA_RECEIVED);         notificationIntent                 .addAction(MatabbatManager.STATUS_NOTIFCATION_ACTION);         registerReceiver(mainNotificationReceiver, notificationIntent);          mainNotificationReceiverStarted = true;      }      if (!processedObstacleReceiverStarted) {         processedObstacleReceiver = new ProcessedObstacleReceiver();         registerReceiver(processedObstacleReceiver, new IntentFilter(                 MatabbatManager.MATABAT_ALARM_LOCATION_ACTION));         processedObstacleReceiverStarted = true;      }  }  private void unRegisterReceivers() {      if (mainNotificationReceiverStarted) {         unregisterReceiver(mainNotificationReceiver);         mainNotificationReceiverStarted = false;     }     if (processedObstacleReceiverStarted) {         unregisterReceiver(processedObstacleReceiver);         processedObstacleReceiverStarted = false;     }  }   @Override protected void onDestroy() {     // TODO Auto-generated method stub     super.onDestroy();      try {          unRegisterReceivers();         mWakeLock.release();//keep screen on     } catch (Exception e) {         Log.e(MatabbatManager.TAG, getClass() + " Releasing receivers-" + e.getMessage());     }  } 

Answer 1

it depends on where you have register the receiver. The complementary method pairs are

onCreate - onDestroy onResume - onPause onStart  - onStop 

if you register the receiver in the first one then unregister it in it's ending method.

Answer 2

From the Android documentation:

You should implement onStop() to release activity resources such as a network connection or to unregister broadcast receivers.

Then, I would follow these pairs (using @StinePike's analogy):

onResume - onPause onStart  - onStop 

Because of the Android Lifecycle, and as @w3bshark mentioned:

In post-HoneyComb (3.0+) devices, onStop() is the last guaranteed handler.