Android Settings Example

Rivu ChakrabortyApril 28th, 2016Last Updated: April 24th, 2019

3 672 9 minutes read

During the development of mobile applications, a common requirement is of storing app related data to the phone. In Android we perform this task with the help of Preference APIs. We may also need settings that allow users to modify preferences in app. Thankfully Android provides a powerful framework to manage user preferences.

The provided mechanism allows us to show, save and manipulate user’s preferences very easily, it also has support for automatic UI creation. Yes, you read it right, by declaring the type of a user preference, a user interface for manipulating these preferences is automatically generated, without having us to write a single line of code. All we need to do is to simply use it in our app. Doesn’t it sound cool? Lets start then.

1. Introduction
2. Create a New Android Application Project
3. Use MainActivity as Starting Point
4. The Preference Framework – PreferenceActivity
5. PreferenceFragment and Preference Headers
6. Download the Source Code

1. Introduction

In the Preference Framework we have four components to cover, they are:

Preference Activity or Fragment – these host the Preference Screen, displaying your settings. We may use any one (Activity or Fragment) as per our requirement.
Preference XML – a xml file defining your settings items.
Preference Headers – these are lists of subscreens. An xml file defines the Preference Fragments used for the Headers subscreens.
Shared Preference Change Listener – listens for any changes in the Shared Preference values.

So, now we have a brief introduction to the Preference Framework. We would move forward by creating the project.

2. Create a New Android Application Project

We will create a simple Android Project as we are used to. There is nothing special or new for this tutorial. We have some screenshots for those who are new to android development, which will definitely help them start with.

Figure 1 : Start with specifying company domain and project name.

Figure 2 : Select Minimum SDK, click next to continue.

Figure 3 : Add an Activity and Continue.

Figure 4 : Provide activity details. Click on Finish to start coding.

So, now we have our project. We also have the MainActivity, which we will use to show the Preference Settings and also as the start point of PreferenceActivity.
The final structure of the created project is shown in the image below.

We’ll have a look at the auto generated MainActivity class.

MainActivity.java

package com.javacodegeeks.examples.rivu.chakraborty.androidsettingsexample;

import android.os.Bundle;
import android.support.design.widget.FloatingActionButton;
import android.support.design.widget.Snackbar;
import android.support.v7.app.AppCompatActivity;
import android.support.v7.widget.Toolbar;
import android.view.View;
import android.view.Menu;
import android.view.MenuItem;

public class MainActivity extends AppCompatActivity {

    @Override
    protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
        super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
        setContentView(R.layout.activity_main);
        Toolbar toolbar = (Toolbar) findViewById(R.id.toolbar);
        setSupportActionBar(toolbar);

        FloatingActionButton fab = (FloatingActionButton) findViewById(R.id.fab);
        fab.setOnClickListener(new View.OnClickListener() {
            @Override
            public void onClick(View view) {
                Snackbar.make(view, "Replace with your own action", Snackbar.LENGTH_LONG)
                        .setAction("Action", null).show();
            }
        });
    }

}

And here is the auto generated xml layout files.

activity_main.xml

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<android.support.design.widget.CoordinatorLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
    xmlns:app="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res-auto"
    xmlns:tools="http://schemas.android.com/tools"
    android:layout_width="match_parent"
    android:layout_height="match_parent"
    android:fitsSystemWindows="true"
    tools:context="com.webege.rivu.myapplication.MainActivity">

    <android.support.design.widget.AppBarLayout
        android:layout_width="match_parent"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:theme="@style/AppTheme.AppBarOverlay">

        <android.support.v7.widget.Toolbar
            android:id="@+id/toolbar"
            android:layout_width="match_parent"
            android:layout_height="?attr/actionBarSize"
            android:background="?attr/colorPrimary"
            app:popupTheme="@style/AppTheme.PopupOverlay" />

    </android.support.design.widget.AppBarLayout>

    <include layout="@layout/content_main" />

    <android.support.design.widget.FloatingActionButton
        android:id="@+id/fab"
        android:layout_width="wrap_content"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:layout_gravity="bottom|end"
        android:layout_margin="@dimen/fab_margin"
        android:src="@android:drawable/ic_dialog_email" />

</android.support.design.widget.CoordinatorLayout>

content_main.xml

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<RelativeLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
    xmlns:app="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res-auto"
    xmlns:tools="http://schemas.android.com/tools"
    android:layout_width="match_parent"
    android:layout_height="match_parent"
    android:paddingBottom="@dimen/activity_vertical_margin"
    android:paddingLeft="@dimen/activity_horizontal_margin"
    android:paddingRight="@dimen/activity_horizontal_margin"
    android:paddingTop="@dimen/activity_vertical_margin"
    app:layout_behavior="@string/appbar_scrolling_view_behavior"
    tools:context="com.webege.rivu.myapplication.MainActivity"
    tools:showIn="@layout/activity_main">

    <TextView
        android:layout_width="wrap_content"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:text="Hello World!" />
</RelativeLayout>

and here is the primary screen.

3. Use MainActivity as Starting Point

There is nothing new in the codes I’ve pasted above. We will make a slight alteration to this one. As I already told I’ll use MainActivity to show settings. I will also use the FloatingActionButton to start the PreferenceActivity. So let us first have a little alteration in the layout files and in the code of MainActivity. I have simply changed the icon in FloatingActionButton to a settings icon in activity_main.xml.

In the content_main.xml, I have provided id to the TextView, so that i can use it in code for showing the preferences in text. I have also removed the Hello World! text from there. Here is the final code.

activity_main.xml

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<android.support.design.widget.CoordinatorLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
    xmlns:app="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res-auto"
    xmlns:tools="http://schemas.android.com/tools"
    android:layout_width="match_parent"
    android:layout_height="match_parent"
    android:fitsSystemWindows="true"
    tools:context="com.javacodegeeks.examples.rivu.chakraborty.androidsettingsexample.MainActivity">

    <android.support.design.widget.AppBarLayout
        android:layout_width="match_parent"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:theme="@style/AppTheme.AppBarOverlay">

        <android.support.v7.widget.Toolbar
            android:id="@+id/toolbar"
            android:layout_width="match_parent"
            android:layout_height="?attr/actionBarSize"
            android:background="?attr/colorPrimary"
            app:popupTheme="@style/AppTheme.PopupOverlay" />

    </android.support.design.widget.AppBarLayout>

    <include layout="@layout/content_main" />

    <android.support.design.widget.FloatingActionButton
        android:id="@+id/fab"
        android:layout_width="wrap_content"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:layout_gravity="bottom|end"
        android:layout_margin="@dimen/fab_margin"
        android:src="@android:drawable/ic_menu_preferences" />

</android.support.design.widget.CoordinatorLayout>

content_main.xml

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<RelativeLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
    xmlns:app="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res-auto"
    xmlns:tools="http://schemas.android.com/tools"
    android:layout_width="match_parent"
    android:layout_height="match_parent"
    android:paddingBottom="@dimen/activity_vertical_margin"
    android:paddingLeft="@dimen/activity_horizontal_margin"
    android:paddingRight="@dimen/activity_horizontal_margin"
    android:paddingTop="@dimen/activity_vertical_margin"
    app:layout_behavior="@string/appbar_scrolling_view_behavior"
    tools:context="com.javacodegeeks.examples.rivu.chakraborty.androidsettingsexample.MainActivity"
    tools:showIn="@layout/activity_main">

    <TextView
        android:id="@+id/settingsContent"
        android:layout_width="wrap_content"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content" />
</RelativeLayout>

In the MainActivity, I’ve used SharedPreferences to show the settings primarily. Here it is.

MainActivity.java

package com.javacodegeeks.examples.rivu.chakraborty.androidsettingsexample;

import android.content.Intent;
import android.content.SharedPreferences;
import android.os.Bundle;
import android.preference.PreferenceManager;
import android.support.design.widget.FloatingActionButton;
import android.support.design.widget.Snackbar;
import android.support.v7.app.AppCompatActivity;
import android.support.v7.widget.Toolbar;
import android.view.View;
import android.view.Menu;
import android.view.MenuItem;
import android.widget.TextView;

public class MainActivity extends AppCompatActivity {

    @Override
    protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
        super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
        setContentView(R.layout.activity_main);
        Toolbar toolbar = (Toolbar) findViewById(R.id.toolbar);
        setSupportActionBar(toolbar);

        FloatingActionButton fab = (FloatingActionButton) findViewById(R.id.fab);
        fab.setOnClickListener(new View.OnClickListener() {
            @Override
            public void onClick(View view) {
                Intent modifySettings=new Intent(MainActivity.this,SettingsActivity.class);
                startActivity(modifySettings);
            }
        });

        SharedPreferences sharedPrefs = PreferenceManager.getDefaultSharedPreferences(this);

        StringBuilder builder = new StringBuilder();

        builder.append("\n" + "Perform Sync:\t" + sharedPrefs.getBoolean("perform_sync", false));
        builder.append("\n" + "Sync Intervals:\t" + sharedPrefs.getString("sync_interval", "-1"));
        builder.append("\n" + "Name:\t" + sharedPrefs.getString("full_name", "Not known to us"));
        builder.append("\n" + "Email Address:\t" + sharedPrefs.getString("email_address", "No EMail Address Provided"));
        builder.append("\n" + "Customized Notification Ringtone:\t" + sharedPrefs.getString("notification_ringtone", ""));
        builder.append("\n\nClick on Settings Button at bottom right corner to Modify Your Prefrences");

        TextView settingsTextView = (TextView) findViewById(R.id.settingsContent);
        settingsTextView.setText(builder.toString());

    }

    
}

So as I told, I’m using settingsTextView to show the SharedPreferences data. For simplicity I’m assuming of an application which has background sync. I’m assuming that the application would allow user to enable or disable the background sync, and also users can specify the sync interval. This application also stores user’s name and email, and also allows to modify them. It also has an option to customise push notification ringtone.

In the above code I’ve initialised SharedPreferences with PreferenceManager.getDefaultSharedPreferences(context). I have used getBoolean and getString methods to read them if they are present and assigned a default value if they are not. There is one more thing, you can easily get from the above code that I’ve already created another activity SettingsActivity, which I’ve called on the FloatingActionButton click event. That FloatingActionButton is actually a subclass of PreferenceActivity.

4. The Preference Framework – PreferenceActivity

So now we have stepped in to the core part of this tutorial. We will go through the steps of creating the SettingsActivity, but let us first look at the framework. We will look at the four most common types of Preferences present in this framework.

CheckBoxPreference: Provides checkbox widget functionality. Will store a Boolean value into the SharedPreferences.
EditTextPreference: Provides UI for string input dialog. Will store the entered string into the SharedPreferences.
ListPreference: Displays a list of entries as a dialog. The selected preference will store a string into the SharedPreferences.
RingtonePreference: Provides UI to choose a ringtone from the device. The selected ringtone’s URI will be persisted as a string into the SharedPreferences.
PreferenceScreen: It is the root of a Preference hierarchy. When a PreferenceActivity points to this, it is not shown but the contained preferences are shown. When it appears inside another preference hierarchy, it is shown and serves as the gateway to another screen of preferences (may be via Dialog or via Intent).
PreferenceCategory: It is used to group Preference objects and provide a disabled (non-selectable) title above the group..

So now lets create the preferences.xml file in the values–xml folder, it will be used in the SettingsActivity.

preferences.xml

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<PreferenceScreen xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android">
    <PreferenceCategory
        android:title="Sync Information"
        android:key="sync_category">

        <CheckBoxPreference
            android:key="perform_sync"
            android:summary="Enable or disable data sync"
            android:title="Enable Auto Sync"
            android:defaultValue="true"/>

        <ListPreference
            android:key="sync_interval"
            android:title="Sync interval"
            android:summary="Define how often sync will be performed"
            android:defaultValue="1000"
            android:entries="@array/updateInterval"
            android:entryValues="@array/updateIntervalValues"
            android:dependency="perform_sync"/>

    </PreferenceCategory>

    <PreferenceCategory
        android:title="Personal Informations"
        android:key="personal_category">


        <EditTextPreference
            android:key="full_name"
            android:title="Name"
            android:summary="Enter Your Complete Name"
            android:dialogTitle="Your Name"
            android:dialogMessage="Enter Your Complete Name"
            android:defaultValue=""
            android:inputType="textCapWords"/>

        <EditTextPreference
            android:key="email_address"
            android:title="Email Address"
            android:summary="Enter Your Email Address"
            android:dialogTitle="Enter Your Email Address"
            android:dialogMessage="Enter Your Email Address"
            android:defaultValue=""
            android:inputType="textEmailAddress"/>

    </PreferenceCategory>


    <PreferenceCategory
        android:title="Customisations"
        android:key="custom_category">


        <RingtonePreference
            android:key="notification_ringtone"
            android:title="Notification Ringtone"
            android:summary="Customise Notification Ringtone for you"
            android:dialogTitle="Notification Ringtone"
            android:dialogMessage="Customise Notification Ringtone for you"/>



    </PreferenceCategory>

</PreferenceScreen>

I would like to describe a bit. As I already mentioned PreferenceScreen is the root. Under that I have three PreferenceCategory groups, that are sync_category (Sync Information), personal_category (Personal Informations) and custom_category (Customisations).

The provided user settings are already discussed. So we would move forward and create the PreferenceActivity. Please follow the screenshots.

SettingsActivity Creation — Figure 8 : Provide Activity Name

So the SettingsActivity is created. We will now add a code to this newly created Activity.

SettingsActivity.java

package com.javacodegeeks.examples.rivu.chakraborty.androidsettingsexample;

import android.preference.PreferenceActivity;
import android.os.Bundle;

public class SettingsActivity extends PreferenceActivity {

    @Override
    protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
        super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
        addPreferencesFromResource(R.xml.preferences);
    }
}

That set. We are done. We will now look at the output screenshots.

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