title: Asynchronous requests to server posted in a loop - Android
body: <p>I am a Java developer with no Android experience, and I am trying to quickly put an app together. It seems that what I would normally do in Java isn't helping.</p>
  
  <p>At this stage, ease of implementation is more important than efficiency or style - I will sort the latter out when there is more time and I will have educated myself properly when it comes to Android.</p>
  
  <p>People can use the app to ask for support, or offer it to those who need it. Asking for support posts a request with the details to the server, and that's done. </p>
  
  <p>Now I would like the app to post an asynchronous request to the server, to be notified of outstanding support requests once a minute. I guess it's the same principle of WhatsApp checking if there is any new message on the server.</p>
  
  <p>I tried doing that in a separate thread with an infinite loop which sleeps for 60 seconds but for some reasons that stops the UI from working.</p>
  
  <p>From what I now understand, I should use a service with a Looper, a Timer and a Handler. Is that correct?</p>
  
  <p>Could anybody point me to a tutorial which explains exactly what to do, step by step? Or at least suggest keywords I should look for?</p>
  
  <p>All I found so far are snippets of code which don't work together when I try to assemble it. Possibly because I am not searching for the right terms?</p>
  
  <p>Thanks, Dan</p>