Bespoke Android App Developers: WorkManager

Bespoke Android App Developers: WorkManager

Android WorkManager is a library that helps you manage deferrable, asynchronous tasks and background processing on Android. It provides a consistent and flexible API for scheduling tasks based on various constraints, such as network availability, battery status, and device idle state.

With WorkManager, you can easily run tasks in the background without worrying about device API levels, whether the app is in the foreground or not, and other complexities of scheduling tasks. WorkManager uses the most appropriate and battery-efficient API based on the device's current state.

Some of the key features of WorkManager include:

  • Ability to schedule tasks that run immediately, at a specific time, or based on specific conditions
  • Support for chaining and combining tasks into complex workflows
  • Support for long-running tasks that survive device restarts and updates
  • Automatic retrying of failed tasks
  • Support for observing the state of tasks, including whether they are running, successful, or failed

WorkManager is part of the Android Jetpack library and is backward compatible to API level 14, making it easy to use in a wide variety of Android applications.


Android WorkManager is an API provided by Google for scheduling background tasks or work that needs to be performed in the app even when the app is not running. It is part of the Android Jetpack library and was introduced in Android 8.0 (API level 26).

WorkManager offers a simple and flexible way to schedule asynchronous tasks that need to be executed even when the app is not in the foreground. It allows developers to create and schedule work requests that can run immediately or at a later time. WorkManager automatically selects the most appropriate way to run the work based on the device's API level and the app's requirements.

Some of the key features of WorkManager include:

  • Guaranteed execution: WorkManager ensures that scheduled work will be executed even if the app is killed or the device is restarted.
  • Battery optimization: WorkManager takes care of optimizing battery usage and ensures that work is run in the most efficient way possible.
  • Chaining and grouping of work: Developers can chain and group work requests to define dependencies and ensure that work is executed in the correct order.
  • Flexibility: WorkManager allows developers to choose the type of work they want to execute, including one-off work requests, periodic work requests, and work requests that are triggered by system events.

Overall, WorkManager simplifies the process of scheduling and executing background work in Android apps and helps developers to create more robust and reliable applications.

Read more about WorkManager