This must come up very often.

When the user is editing preferences in an Android app, I&#39;d like them to be able to see the currently set value of the preference in the `Preference` summary.

Example: if I have a Preference setting for &quot;Discard old messages&quot; that specifies the number of days after which messages need to be cleaned up. In the `PreferenceActivity` I&#39;d like the user to see:

*&quot;Discard old messages&quot;* &lt;- title

*&quot;Clean up messages after **x** days&quot;* &lt;- [summary][1] where **x** is the current Preference value 

Extra credit: make this reusable, so I can easily apply it to all my preferences regardless of their type (so that it work with EditTextPreference, ListPreference etc. with minimal amount of coding).

  [1]: http://code.google.com/android/reference/android/preference/Preference.html#setSummary(java.lang.CharSequence)

How do I display the current value of an Android Preference in the Preference summary?

I&#39;m registering a preference change listener like this (in the `onCreate()` of my main activity):

	SharedPreferences prefs = PreferenceManager.getDefaultSharedPreferences(this);

	prefs.registerOnSharedPreferenceChangeListener(
	   new SharedPreferences.OnSharedPreferenceChangeListener() {
		   public void onSharedPreferenceChanged(
		     SharedPreferences prefs, String key) {
			
			 System.out.println(key);
		   }
	});

The trouble is, the listener is not always called. It works for the first few times a preference is changed, and then it is no longer called until I uninstall and reinstall the app. No amount of restarting the application seems to fix it.

I found a mailing list [thread][1] reporting the same problem, but no one really answered him. What am I doing wrong?

  [1]: http://www.mail-archive.com/android-developers@googlegroups.com/msg43834.html

SharedPreferences.onSharedPreferenceChangeListener not being called consistently

What is the difference between `getDefaultSharedPreferences` and `getSharedPreferences` in Android? Can anyone please explain?

Difference between getDefaultSharedPreferences and getSharedPreferences

I&#39;m quite new to Android Development and just came across Preferences.
I found `PreferenceScreen` and wanted to create a login functionality with it. The only problem I have is that I don&#39;t know how I could add a &quot;Login&quot; button to the `PreferenceScreen`.

Here&#39;s what my `PreferenceScreen` looks like:


    &lt;PreferenceScreen xmlns:android=&quot;http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android&quot;&gt;
    ...
        &lt;PreferenceScreen android:title=&quot;@string/login&quot; android:key=&quot;Login&quot;&gt;
            &lt;EditTextPreference android:persistent=&quot;true&quot; android:title=&quot;@string/username&quot; android:key=&quot;Username&quot;&gt;&lt;/EditTextPreference&gt;
            &lt;EditTextPreference android:title=&quot;@string/password&quot; android:persistent=&quot;true&quot; android:password=&quot;true&quot; android:key=&quot;Password&quot;&gt;&lt;/EditTextPreference&gt;
        &lt;/PreferenceScreen&gt;
    ...
    &lt;/PreferenceScreen&gt;

The Button should be right under the two `EditTextPreference`s.

Is there a simple solution for this problem? The one solution I found was not working because I use sub `PreferenceScreen`s.

### Update:

I figured out that i can add buttons this way:

    &lt;PreferenceScreen android:title=&quot;@string/login&quot; android:key=&quot;Login&quot;&gt;
            &lt;EditTextPreference android:persistent=&quot;true&quot; android:title=&quot;@string/username&quot; android:key=&quot;Username&quot;&gt;&lt;/EditTextPreference&gt;
            &lt;EditTextPreference android:title=&quot;@string/password&quot; android:persistent=&quot;true&quot; android:password=&quot;true&quot; android:key=&quot;Password&quot;&gt;&lt;/EditTextPreference&gt;
            &lt;Preference android:layout=&quot;@layout/loginButtons&quot; android:key=&quot;loginButtons&quot;&gt;&lt;/Preference&gt;
    &lt;/PreferenceScreen&gt;

and the layout file (`loginButtons.xml`) looks that way:

    &lt;?xml version=&quot;1.0&quot; encoding=&quot;utf-8&quot;?&gt;
    &lt;LinearLayout xmlns:android=&quot;http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android&quot;
        android:layout_height=&quot;wrap_content&quot;
        android:layout_width=&quot;fill_parent&quot;
        android:weightSum=&quot;10&quot; 
        android:baselineAligned=&quot;false&quot; android:orientation=&quot;horizontal&quot;&gt;
        &lt;Button android:text=&quot;Login&quot; android:layout_width=&quot;fill_parent&quot;
            android:layout_weight=&quot;5&quot; android:layout_height=&quot;wrap_content&quot;
            android:id=&quot;@+id/loginButton&quot; android:layout_gravity=&quot;left&quot;&gt;&lt;/Button&gt;
        &lt;Button android:text=&quot;Password?&quot; android:layout_width=&quot;fill_parent&quot;
            android:layout_weight=&quot;5&quot; android:layout_height=&quot;wrap_content&quot;
            android:id=&quot;@+id/forgottenPasswordButton&quot;&gt;&lt;/Button&gt;
    &lt;/LinearLayout&gt;

So now the buttons appear but I can&#39;t access them in code.
I tried it with `findViewById()` but this is returning null. Any ideas how I could access these buttons?

How to add a button to a PreferenceScreen?

In my preferences.xml I have a preference element like this:

    &lt;Preference android:title=&quot;About&quot; /&gt;

I want to assign `onClick` event, so if user would click on it, I would be able to do open new `Intent` or browser. I tried to do it like I do with buttons, but this not seem to work.

Android preferences onclick event

How can I implement a Preference that displays a simple yes/no confirmation dialog?

For an example, see `Browser-&gt;Setting-&gt;Clear Cache`.

How to implement a confirmation (yes/no) DialogPreference?

I have an android application to save the login details such as user name and password via `SharedPreferences` thats works fine, but i need to remove all my used `SharedPreferences` while my application uninstall. How to do it?

    SavePreferences(&quot;one &quot;, &quot;&quot;);
    SavePreferences(&quot;two&quot;, &quot;&quot;);
    LoadPreferences();

     private void SavePreferences(String key, String value){
        sharedPreferences = getSharedPreferences(&quot;TEST&quot;, MODE_PRIVATE);
        SharedPreferences.Editor editor = sharedPreferences.edit();
        editor.putString(key, value);
        editor.commit();
       }

     private void LoadPreferences(){
        sharedPreferences = getSharedPreferences(&quot;TEST&quot;, MODE_PRIVATE);
        String strSavedMem1 = sharedPreferences.getString(&quot;MEM1&quot;, &quot;&quot;);
        String strSavedMem2 = sharedPreferences.getString(&quot;MEM2&quot;, &quot;&quot;);   
       } 

I want to remove this `SharedPreferences` when my application uninstall.



how to remove shared preference while application uninstall in android

Is there any way to add a button to the bottom of preferences screen and make them work correct when scrolling?

How to add a button to PreferenceScreen

As described [here](http://developer.android.com/guide/topics/ui/settings.html#Fragment), I am subclassing PreferenceFragment and displaying it inside an Activity. That document explains how to listen for preference changes [here](http://developer.android.com/guide/topics/ui/settings.html#Listening), but only if you subclass PreferenceActivity. Since I&#39;m not doing that, how do I listen for preference changes?

I&#39;ve tried implementing OnSharedPreferenceChangeListener in my PreferenceFragment but it does not seem to work (`onSharedPreferenceChanged` never seems to get called).

This is my code so far:

**SettingsActivity.java**

    public class SettingsActivity extends Activity
    {
        @Override
        protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState)
        {
            super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
    
            // Display the fragment as the main content.
            getFragmentManager().beginTransaction().replace(android.R.id.content, new SettingsFragment()).commit();
        }
    }

**SettingsFragment.java**

    public class SettingsFragment extends PreferenceFragment implements OnSharedPreferenceChangeListener
    {
        public static final String KEY_PREF_EXERCISES = &quot;pref_number_of_exercises&quot;;
    
        @Override
        public void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState)
        {
            super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
    
            // Load the preferences from an XML resource
            addPreferencesFromResource(R.xml.preferences);
        }
    
        @Override
        public void onSharedPreferenceChanged(SharedPreferences sharedPreferences, String key)
        {
            //IT NEVER GETS IN HERE!
            if (key.equals(KEY_PREF_EXERCISES))
            {
                // Set summary to be the user-description for the selected value
                Preference exercisesPref = findPreference(key);
                exercisesPref.setSummary(sharedPreferences.getString(key, &quot;&quot;));
            }
        }
    }

**preferences.xml**

    &lt;?xml version=&quot;1.0&quot; encoding=&quot;utf-8&quot;?&gt;
    &lt;PreferenceScreen xmlns:android=&quot;http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android&quot; &gt;
    
        &lt;EditTextPreference
            android:defaultValue=&quot;15&quot;
            android:enabled=&quot;true&quot;
            android:key=&quot;pref_number_of_exercises&quot;
            android:numeric=&quot;integer&quot;
            android:title=&quot;Number of exercises&quot; /&gt;
    
    &lt;/PreferenceScreen&gt;

Also, is the PreferenceFragment even the right place to listen for preference changes or should I do it within the Activity?

How to listen for preference changes within a PreferenceFragment?

I have an `ArrayList` of objects that have a name and an icon pointer and I want to save it in `SharedPreferences`. How can I do?

**NOTE: I don&#39;t want to use Database**

Is it possible to add an array or object to SharedPreferences on Android

I have an application in which I have to implement a &quot;Login&quot; activity. I have these components:

1. EditText username
2. EditText password
3. Button Login
4. Button Cancel
 
I want that my application to remember the login details of the user once the user has logged in until the user would press the &quot;log out&quot; button. I&#39;m not using preferences in my xml.

How do I get the getSharedPreferences(String name, int mode) to work in my application?

how to use getSharedPreferences in android

How to get all keys in `SharedPreferences`, not the value of the preference just key only?


    prefA = getSharedPreferences(&quot;MyAttack&quot;, MODE_PRIVATE);
    prefB= getSharedPreferences(&quot;MySkill&quot;, MODE_PRIVATE);




How to get all keys of SharedPreferences programmatically in Android?

I&#39;d like to create a preference field called `Interval` and I want to be able to popup a `TimePicker` and set a `mm:ss` formated value with minimal value `00:30` and step 30 seconds.

Is it possible to use `TimePicker` in `PreferenceScreen` ?


TimePicker in PreferenceScreen

I have a class that extends PreferenceActivity and shows the preference screen of my app. Is it possible to check if any changes were made to the preferences?

This helps...

http://developer.android.com/reference/android/content/SharedPreferences.OnSharedPreferenceChangeListener.html

Other related post:
[SharedPreferences.onSharedPreferenceChangeListener not being called consistently](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/2542938/sharedpreferences-onsharedpreferencechangelistener-not-being-called-consistently)
_____
    public class PreferenceClass extends PreferenceActivity {

    	OnSharedPreferenceChangeListener listener;

    	public void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
    		SharedPreferences prefs = this.getSharedPreferences(&quot;settings&quot;, 0);
    		listener = new SharedPreferences.OnSharedPreferenceChangeListener() {

    			public void onSharedPreferenceChanged(SharedPreferences prefs, String key) {
    				int flag = 1;
    			}
    		};
    		prefs.registerOnSharedPreferenceChangeListener(listener);
    		super.onCreate(null);
    		addPreferencesFromResource(R.xml.settings);
    	}
    }
    

How to detect if changes were made in the preferences?

I&#39;m trying to store a set of strings using the [`SharedPreferences` API][1].

    Set&lt;String&gt; s = sharedPrefs.getStringSet(&quot;key&quot;, new HashSet&lt;String&gt;());
    s.add(new_element);
    
    SharedPreferences.Editor editor = sharedPrefs.edit();
    editor.putStringSet(s);
    edit.commit()

The first time I execute the code above, `s` is set to the default value (the just created end empty `HashSet`) and it is stored without problems.

The second and next times I execute this code, a `s` object is returned with the first element added. I can add the element, and during the program execution, it is apparently stored in the `SharedPreferences`, but when the program is killed, the `SharedPreferences` read again from its persistent storage and the newer values are lost.

How can the second, and elements after that, be stored so they won&#39;t get lost?

  [1]: http://developer.android.com/reference/android/content/SharedPreferences.html
  [2]: http://developer.android.com/reference/android/content/SharedPreferences.html#getStringSet%28java.lang.String,%20java.util.Set%3Cjava.lang.String%3E%29

Misbehavior when trying to store a string set using SharedPreferences

When I create preference activity I define all preferences in xml file. Every preference has a key defined in this xml. But when I access preference I write: 

    SharedPreferences appPreferences = PreferenceManager.getDefaultSharedPreferences(this);
    boolean foo_value = appPreferences.getBoolean(&quot;foo_key_defined_in_xml&quot;, false);

Is there any way to avoid referencing &quot;foo_key_defined_in_xml&quot; in hard-coded way?
Maybe there is a possibility to reference it in R style way (not to refer to string)?

Where to store Android preference keys?

I&#39;m trying to accomplish something that I think is quite easy, but I&#39;m baffled on how to accomplish it using the PreferenceActivity class and the xml preference-header tag.

When the user taps the app settings icon I would like them to be presented with a small list of checkboxes and lists.  I have only a single preference fragment.  So far I can set up the PreferenceActivity xml files (preferences.xml, and preference fragments xmls) to show the single header for the preference fragment.  When the user selects that header the preferences screen is exactly how I want it, however, I cannot figure out a way to skip showing the first header screen.

It seems a waste to have to tap the settings/preferences icon, show a single header that is then tapped to get to the actual settings/preferences.

I understand how this can be very helpful if you want to categorize your preferences, but for something simple, this adds overhead and seems rather clunky.

I hope that I was clear.  In short here&#39;s my question:

What is the new preferred way to use the PreferenceActivity class and preference-header tag to simply show a single screen of options with no header? 

After looking around some more it looks like I am trying to do what the older methods did in a straight-forward manner.  I&#39;m trying to do this with without using any of the deprecated functions.

Thanks in advance,
B.

Single page PreferenceActivity w/no headers/fragments?

Is it possible to create an individual preference in an `PreferenceScreen`? 

I would like to code color settings like that:

![Color Preference][1]

I know that choosing the color is easy realizable with the `ListPreference`, but it would be awesome with that kind of &quot;checkboxes&quot;.

  [1]: http://i.stack.imgur.com/q4WLi.jpg

Android: Creating custom preference

i need to set the defult value for a ListPreference when the Activity starts.
I&#39;ve tried with `ListPreference.setDefaultvalue(&quot;value&quot;);` but it makes the firts Entry of the List as default. I need it because i must check a condition and set as default the value which satisfies that condition, so I think it can&#39;t be done from the xml file (with `android:defaultValue`)

For example, suppose I have this array of values in the arrays.xml:

    &lt;string-array name=&quot;opts&quot;&gt;
        &lt;item&gt;red&lt;/item&gt;
        &lt;item&gt;green&lt;/item&gt;
        &lt;item&gt;blue&lt;/item&gt;
    &lt;/string-array&gt;
    
    &lt;string-array name=&quot;opts_values&quot;&gt;
        &lt;item&gt;1&lt;/item&gt;
        &lt;item&gt;2&lt;/item&gt;
        &lt;item&gt;3&lt;/item&gt;
    &lt;/string-array&gt;

In the PreferenceScreen xml:

    &lt;ListPreference
        android:title=&quot;Colour select&quot;
        android:summary=&quot;Select your favourite&quot;
        android:key=&quot;colour&quot;
        android:entries=&quot;@array/opts&quot;
        android:entryValues=&quot;@array/opts_values&quot; /&gt;

In the Activity I&#39;d like to do something like this:

    String mycolour;
    if (something) {
        mycolour=&quot;1&quot;;
    } else {
        mycolour=&quot;2&quot;;
    }
    ListPreference colour = (ListPreference) findPreference (&quot;colour&quot;);
    colour.setDefaultValue(mycolour);

But it doesn&#39;t work, because it makes the first choice as default. Could you explain me how to make another one as default? Thanks.

How to set the Default Value of a ListPreference

My problem is that when I start application and user didn&#39;t open my `PreferenceActivity` so when I retrieve them don&#39;t get any default values defined in my preference.xml file.

preference.xml file:

    &lt;?xml version=&quot;1.0&quot; encoding=&quot;utf-8&quot;?&gt;
    &lt;PreferenceScreen xmlns:android=&quot;http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android&quot;
        android:key=&quot;applicationPreference&quot; android:title=&quot;@string/config&quot;
        &gt;
        &lt;ListPreference
                android:key=&quot;pref1&quot;
                android:defaultValue=&quot;default&quot;
                android:title=&quot;Title&quot;
                android:summary=&quot;Summary&quot;
                android:entries=&quot;@array/entry_names&quot;
                android:entryValues=&quot;@array/entry_values&quot;
                android:dialogTitle=&quot;@string/dialog_title&quot;
        /&gt;                  
    &lt;/PreferenceScreen&gt;

Snippet from my main Activity (`onCreate` method):

        SharedPreferences appPreferences = PreferenceManager.getDefaultSharedPreferences(this);        
        String pref1 = appPreferences.getString(&quot;pref1&quot;, null);

In result I end up with a `null` value.

All Android Preferences Solutions on Gang of Coders

Total of 20 Android Preferences Solutions