How to check internet access on Android? InetAddress never times out

📱🔍 Checking Internet Access on Android: Troubleshooting and Solutions! 🌐✅

Introduction: Hey Tech Lovers! Having trouble checking internet access on your Android device? Don't worry, we've got you covered! 🤩 In this post, we will address a common issue where the doInBackground() method in an AsyncTask never times out. Let's dive right in! 💪

The Problem: So, you're using an AsyncTask to check network access to a particular host name, but it seems like the doInBackground() method is never timing out. What's the deal, right? 🤔

The Code: Here's the code snippet you shared:

public class HostAvailabilityTask extends AsyncTask<String, Void, Boolean> {

    private Main main;

    public HostAvailabilityTask(Main main) {
        this.main = main;
    }

    protected Boolean doInBackground(String... params) {
        Main.Log("doInBackground() isHostAvailable():" + params[0]);

        try {
            return InetAddress.getByName(params[0]).isReachable(30); 
        } catch (UnknownHostException e) {
            e.printStackTrace();
        } catch (IOException e) {
            e.printStackTrace();
        }
        return false;       
    }

    protected void onPostExecute(Boolean... result) {
        Main.Log("onPostExecute()");

        if(result[0] == false) {
            main.setContentView(R.layout.splash);
            return;
        }

        main.continueAfterHostCheck();
    }   
}

The Solution: The issue you're facing might be caused by the fact that the isReachable() method in the InetAddress class never times out. 😕 To overcome this, we can use a different approach - let's use a Socket and set a timeout for it. Here's how we can modify the doInBackground() method to achieve that:

protected Boolean doInBackground(String... params) {
    Main.Log("doInBackground() isHostAvailable():" + params[0]);

    try {
        InetAddress address = InetAddress.getByName(params[0]);
        Socket socket = new Socket();
        int timeout = 5000; // Set timeout in milliseconds
        socket.connect(new InetSocketAddress(address, 80), timeout);

        return true; // Connection successful
    } catch (UnknownHostException e) {
        e.printStackTrace();
    } catch (IOException e) {
        e.printStackTrace();
    }
    
    return false; // Connection failed
}

By using a Socket and setting a timeout, we ensure that the connection attempt will not hang indefinitely. Instead, it will timeout after the specified period (5 seconds in this example). 🕒

That's it! 🎉 By making this simple modification, you should now be able to check for internet access and avoid the issue of doInBackground() never timing out. Feel free to ask any questions or share your experiences in the comments below! 🗣️

Call-to-Action: Are you tired of facing pesky issues while developing Android apps? Check out our blog for more helpful tips, tricks, and solutions! 📚✨ Don't forget to hit that share button to help fellow developers facing the same challenges! 🤝🌟

Happy coding! 😎👨‍💻