There is no API function to check if a receiver is registered. The workaround is to put your code in a try catch block as done below.

try { //Register or UnRegister your broadcast receiver here} catch(IllegalArgumentException e) {    e.printStackTrace();}

I am not sure the API provides directly an API, if you consider this thread:

I was wondering the same thing.
In my case I have a BroadcastReceiver implementation that calls Context#unregisterReceiver(BroadcastReceiver) passing itself as the argument after handling the Intent that it receives.
There is a small chance that the receiver's onReceive(Context, Intent) method is called more than once, since it is registered with multiple IntentFilters, creating the potential for an IllegalArgumentException being thrown from Context#unregisterReceiver(BroadcastReceiver).

In my case, I can store a private synchronized member to check before calling Context#unregisterReceiver(BroadcastReceiver), but it would be much cleaner if the API provided a check method.

simplest solution

in receiver:

public class MyReceiver extends BroadcastReceiver {       public boolean isRegistered;    /**    * register receiver    * @param context - Context    * @param filter - Intent Filter    * @return see Context.registerReceiver(BroadcastReceiver,IntentFilter)    */    public Intent register(Context context, IntentFilter filter) {        try {              // ceph3us note:              // here I propose to create               // a isRegistered(Contex) method               // as you can register receiver on different context                // so you need to match against the same one :)               // example  by storing a list of weak references                // see LoadedApk.class - receiver dispatcher               // its and ArrayMap there for example               return !isRegistered                      ? context.registerReceiver(this, filter)                      : null;            } finally {               isRegistered = true;            }    }    /**     * unregister received     * @param context - context     * @return true if was registered else false     */     public boolean unregister(Context context) {         // additional work match on context before unregister         // eg store weak ref in register then compare in unregister          // if match same instance         return isRegistered                     && unregisterInternal(context);     }     private boolean unregisterInternal(Context context) {         context.unregisterReceiver(this);          isRegistered = false;         return true;     }    // rest implementation  here     // or make this an abstract class as template :)    ...}

in code:

MyReceiver myReceiver = new MyReceiver();myReceiver.register(Context, IntentFilter); // register myReceiver.unregister(Context); // unregister 

ad 1

-- in reply to:

This really isn't that elegant because you have to remember to set the isRegistered flag after you register. – Stealth Rabbi

-- "more ellegant way" added method in receiver to register and set flag

this won't work If you restart the device or if your app got killed by OS. – amin 6 hours ago

@amin - see lifetime of in code (not system registered by manifest entry) registered receiver :)