Memory Leak in Android 14 Using an Asynchronous Task with a ViewModel
I just started working with I'm working with a memory leak scenario in my Android 14 application when using an AsyncTask within a ViewModel. I've implemented a ViewModel to manage UI-related data, and I'm trying to perform a long-running operation in the background using an AsyncTask to avoid blocking the UI thread. However, after completing the task, I noticed that the memory usage spikes significantly, and the application eventually crashes with an `OutOfMemoryError`. Here’s the code for my ViewModel and AsyncTask: ```kotlin class MyViewModel : ViewModel() { private val _data = MutableLiveData<String>() val data: LiveData<String> get() = _data fun fetchData() { MyAsyncTask().execute() } inner class MyAsyncTask : AsyncTask<Void, Void, String>() { override fun doInBackground(vararg params: Void?): String { // Simulate a long-running operation Thread.sleep(5000) return "Data fetched" } override fun onPostExecute(result: String) { _data.value = result } } } ``` I know that AsyncTask can lead to memory leaks if not handled properly, especially when the ViewModel is retained across configuration changes. To mitigate this, I attempted to cancel the task on ViewModel's `onCleared()` method, but it seems like it's not working effectively: ```kotlin override fun onCleared() { super.onCleared() MyAsyncTask().cancel(true) } ``` This approach does not seem to cancel the running AsyncTask correctly. I've also considered using Kotlin Coroutines instead, but I'm unsure how to implement that in conjunction with the ViewModel. Could someone provide guidance on the best practices for performing background tasks in ViewModel without causing memory leaks? Also, how can I transition this example to using Coroutines effectively? Thanks, I really appreciate it!