I have two apps, App A and App B, which share the same signature. App A contains an exported service that I want App B to bind to. Here are the specifics of my issue:

• App A:

  • Contains an exported service declared as follows in AndroidManifest.xml:

    <service
        android:name="com.example.appa.ServiceName"
        android:enabled="true"
        android:exported="true"
        android:permission="com.example.permission.EXPORTED_SERVICE" />
    

  • The service is not started by default.

• App B:

  • Declares the necessary permission in its AndroidManifest.xml:

    <uses-permission android:name="com.example.permission.EXPORTED_SERVICE" />
    

Issue:

On a device running Android 11, App B fails to bind to the service in App A, returning false. The relevant logcat output is:

W ActivityManager: Unable to start service Intent { cmp=com.example.appa/com.example.appa.ServiceName } U=0: not found

However, App A can bind to its own service without issue. Furthermore, once App A has bound to its own service, App B can then successfully bind to the service.

Expectation:

I expect App B to be able to bind to App A’s service under any conditions, regardless of whether the service has been previously bound by App A.

Additional Context:

• Both apps share the same signature.
• The device is running Android 11.
• The service in App A is set to exported=true.

Questions:

1. Why can App A bind to its own service even if it hasn’t been started, but App B cannot?
2. What changes can I make to ensure that App B can bind to App A’s service without relying on App A to bind it first?

Any help or pointers would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!