Android Remote Service without help?

Not. If you want to write a remote service, you will use code very similar to AIDL at some level. Although AIDL is used to generate stub and packaging data, you can also use a pair of Messenger and Handler: but this is simply implemented on top of AIDL, so you use it anyway. For simple exchanges a pair of Messenger and Handler works, but for more complex situations, using AIDL is appropriate. If your question is whether there is an easier communication mechanism (other than intents) than AIDL, the answer is no.