reimplemented BackgroundPlayer extending Service, not IntentService. See http://stackoverflow.com/questions/17237746 and http://stackoverflow.com/questions/8690198

app/src/main/AndroidManifest.xml

@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@
     package="org.schabi.newpipe" >
 
     <uses-permission android:name= "android.permission.INTERNET" />
+    <uses-permission android:name= "android.permission.WAKE_LOCK" />
     <uses-permission android:name="android.permission.ACCESS_NETWORK_STATE"/>
     <uses-permission android:name="android.permission.WRITE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE"/>
     <application

app/src/main/java/org/schabi/newpipe/ActionBarHandler.java

@@ -298,8 +298,8 @@ public class ActionBarHandler {
             intent.putExtra(Intent.EXTRA_TITLE, videoTitle);
             intent.putExtra("title", videoTitle);
             activity.startService(intent);
-        }
-        /*Intent intent = new Intent();
+        } else {
+            intent = new Intent();
             try {
                 intent.setAction(Intent.ACTION_VIEW);
                 intent.setDataAndType(Uri.parse(audioStream.url),
@@ -330,6 +330,7 @@ public class ActionBarHandler {
                 builder.create().show();
                 Log.e(TAG, "Either no Streaming player for audio was installed, or something important crashed:");
                 e.printStackTrace();
-        }*/
+            }
+        }
     }
 }

app/src/main/java/org/schabi/newpipe/BackgroundPlayer.java

@@ -2,11 +2,21 @@ package org.schabi.newpipe;
 
 import android.app.IntentService;
 import android.app.Notification;
-import android.app.PendingIntent;
+import android.app.Service;
+import android.content.Context;
 import android.content.Intent;
 import android.media.AudioManager;
 import android.media.MediaPlayer;
+import android.net.wifi.WifiManager;
+import android.os.Handler;
+import android.os.HandlerThread;
+import android.os.IBinder;
+import android.os.Looper;
+import android.os.Message;
 import android.os.PowerManager;
+import android.support.v7.app.NotificationCompat;
+import android.widget.Toast;
+import android.os.Process;
 
 import java.io.IOException;
 
@@ -30,44 +40,145 @@ import java.io.IOException;
  * You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
  * along with NewPipe.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
  */
-public class BackgroundPlayer extends IntentService /*implements MediaPlayer.OnPreparedListener*/ {
+
+/**Plays the audio stream of videos in the background. */
+public class BackgroundPlayer extends Service /*implements MediaPlayer.OnPreparedListener*/ {
 
     private static final String TAG = BackgroundPlayer.class.toString();
-    /**
-     * Creates an IntentService.  Invoked by your subclass's constructor.
-     */
+    private Looper mServiceLooper;
+    private ServiceHandler mServiceHandler;
+
     public BackgroundPlayer() {
-        super(TAG);
+        super();
     }
 
     @Override
+    public void onCreate() {
+        // Start up the thread running the service.  Note that we create a
+        // separate thread because the service normally runs in the process's
+        // main thread, which we don't want to block.  We also make it
+        // background priority so CPU-intensive work will not disrupt our UI.
+        super.onCreate();
+        HandlerThread thread = new HandlerThread(TAG, Process.THREAD_PRIORITY_BACKGROUND);
+        thread.start();
+
+        // Get the HandlerThread's Looper and use it for our Handler
+        mServiceLooper = thread.getLooper();
+        mServiceHandler = new ServiceHandler(mServiceLooper);
+    }
+    @Override
+    public int onStartCommand(Intent intent, int flags, int startId) {
+        Toast.makeText(this, "Playing in background", Toast.LENGTH_SHORT).show();//todo:translation string
+
+        // For each start request, send a message to start a job and deliver the
+        // start ID so we know which request we're stopping when we finish the job
+        Message msg = mServiceHandler.obtainMessage();
+        msg.arg1 = startId;
+        msg.obj = intent;
+        mServiceHandler.sendMessage(msg);
+
+        // If we get killed, after returning from here, don't restart
+        return START_NOT_STICKY;
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public IBinder onBind(Intent intent) {
+        // We don't provide binding yet, so return null
+        return null;
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public void onDestroy() {
+        //Toast.makeText(this, "service done", Toast.LENGTH_SHORT).show();
+        mServiceLooper.quit();
+    }
+
     protected void onHandleIntent(Intent intent) {
         String source = intent.getDataString();
 
+        if (intent.getAction().equals(ACTION_PLAY)) {
+            mMediaPlayer.setOnPreparedListener(this);
+            mMediaPlayer.prepareAsync(); // prepare async to not block main thread
+        }
+
+
         MediaPlayer mediaPlayer = new MediaPlayer();
-        //mediaPlayer.setWakeMode(getApplicationContext(), PowerManager.PARTIAL_WAKE_LOCK);//cpu lock apparently
+        mediaPlayer.setWakeMode(getApplicationContext(), PowerManager.PARTIAL_WAKE_LOCK);//cpu lock
         mediaPlayer.setAudioStreamType(AudioManager.STREAM_MUSIC);
         try {
             mediaPlayer.setDataSource(source);
-            mediaPlayer.prepare(); // IntentService already puts us in a separate worker thread,
+            mediaPlayer.prepare(); //IntentService already puts us in a separate worker thread,
             //so calling the blocking prepare() method should be ok
         } catch (IOException ioe) {
             ioe.printStackTrace();
             //can't really do anything useful without a file to play; exit early
             return;
         }
+
+        WifiManager wifiMgr = ((WifiManager)getSystemService(Context.WIFI_SERVICE));
+        WifiManager.WifiLock wifiLock = wifiMgr.createWifiLock(WifiManager.WIFI_MODE_FULL, TAG);
+
+        mediaPlayer.setOnCompletionListener(new EndListener(wifiLock));//listen for end of video
+/*
+        //get audio focus
+        AudioManager audioManager = (AudioManager) getSystemService(Context.AUDIO_SERVICE);
+        int result = audioManager.requestAudioFocus(this, AudioManager.STREAM_MUSIC,
+                AudioManager.AUDIOFOCUS_GAIN);
+
+        if (result != AudioManager.AUDIOFOCUS_REQUEST_GRANTED) {
+            // could not get audio focus.
+        }
+*/
+        wifiLock.acquire();
         //mediaPlayer.setOnPreparedListener(this);
         mediaPlayer.start();
+
+        String videoTitle = intent.getStringExtra("title");
+
+        Notification noti = new NotificationCompat.Builder(this)
+                .setPriority(Notification.PRIORITY_LOW)
+                .setCategory(Notification.CATEGORY_TRANSPORT)
+                .setContentTitle(videoTitle)
+                .setContentText("NewPipe is playing in the background")//todo: add translatable string
+                .setOngoing(true)
+                .setSmallIcon(R.mipmap.ic_launcher)
+                .build();
+
+        startForeground(TAG.hashCode(), noti);
+    }
 /*
-        PendingIntent pi = PendingIntent.getActivity(getApplicationContext(), 0,
-                new Intent(getApplicationContext(), MainActivity.class),
-                PendingIntent.FLAG_UPDATE_CURRENT);
-        Notification notification = new Notification();
-        notification.tickerText = text;
-        notification.icon = R.drawable.play0;
-        notification.flags |= Notification.FLAG_ONGOING_EVENT;
-        notification.setLatestEventInfo(getApplicationContext(), "MusicPlayerSample",
-                "Playing: " + songName, pi);
-        startForeground(NOTIFICATION_ID, notification);*/
+    private class ListenerThread extends Thread implements AudioManager.OnAudioFocusChangeListener {
+
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public void onAudioFocusChange(int focusChange) {
+
+    }*/
+
+    private class EndListener implements MediaPlayer.OnCompletionListener {
+        private WifiManager.WifiLock wl;
+        public EndListener(WifiManager.WifiLock wifiLock) {
+            this.wl = wifiLock;
+        }
+
+        @Override
+        public void onCompletion(MediaPlayer mp) {
+            wl.release();
+        }
+    }
+
+    // Handler that receives messages from the thread
+    private final class ServiceHandler extends Handler {
+        public ServiceHandler(Looper looper) {
+            super(looper);
+        }
+        @Override
+        public void handleMessage(Message msg) {
+            onHandleIntent((Intent)msg.obj);
+            // Stop the service using the startId, so that we don't stop
+            // the service in the middle of handling another job
+            stopSelfResult(msg.arg1);
+        }
     }
 }

app/src/main/java/org/schabi/newpipe/services/youtube/YoutubeExtractor.java

@@ -509,8 +509,8 @@ public class YoutubeExtractor extends Extractor {
         //this page causes the NullPointerException, after finding it by searching for "tjvg":
         //https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uqg0aEhLFAg
         String views = li.select("span.view-count").first().text();
-        Log.i(TAG, "title:"+info.title);
-        Log.i(TAG, "view count:"+views);
+        //Log.i(TAG, "title:"+info.title);
+        //Log.i(TAG, "view count:"+views);
         try {
             info.view_count = Long.parseLong(li.select("span.view-count")
                     .first().text().replaceAll("[^\\d]", ""));