How to add Action Bar from support library into PreferenceActivity?

android android-actionbar preferenceactivity android-support-library

39,098

Solution 1

EDIT: In appcompat-v7 22.1.0 Google added the AppCompatDelegate abstract class as a delegate you can use to extend AppCompat's support to any activity.

Use it like this:

...
import android.support.v7.app.ActionBar;
import android.support.v7.app.AppCompatDelegate;
import android.support.v7.widget.Toolbar;
...

public class SettingsActivity extends PreferenceActivity {

    private AppCompatDelegate mDelegate;

    @Override
    protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
        getDelegate().installViewFactory();
        getDelegate().onCreate(savedInstanceState);
        super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
    }

    @Override
    protected void onPostCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
        super.onPostCreate(savedInstanceState);
        getDelegate().onPostCreate(savedInstanceState);
    }

    public ActionBar getSupportActionBar() {
        return getDelegate().getSupportActionBar();
    }

    public void setSupportActionBar(@Nullable Toolbar toolbar) {
        getDelegate().setSupportActionBar(toolbar);
    }

    @Override
    public MenuInflater getMenuInflater() {
        return getDelegate().getMenuInflater();
    }

    @Override
    public void setContentView(@LayoutRes int layoutResID) {
        getDelegate().setContentView(layoutResID);
    }

    @Override
    public void setContentView(View view) {
        getDelegate().setContentView(view);
    }

    @Override
    public void setContentView(View view, ViewGroup.LayoutParams params) {
        getDelegate().setContentView(view, params);
    }

    @Override
    public void addContentView(View view, ViewGroup.LayoutParams params) {
        getDelegate().addContentView(view, params);
    }

    @Override
    protected void onPostResume() {
        super.onPostResume();
        getDelegate().onPostResume();
    }

    @Override
    protected void onTitleChanged(CharSequence title, int color) {
        super.onTitleChanged(title, color);
        getDelegate().setTitle(title);
    }

    @Override
    public void onConfigurationChanged(Configuration newConfig) {
        super.onConfigurationChanged(newConfig);
        getDelegate().onConfigurationChanged(newConfig);
    }

    @Override
    protected void onStop() {
        super.onStop();
        getDelegate().onStop();
    }

    @Override
    protected void onDestroy() {
        super.onDestroy();
        getDelegate().onDestroy();
    }

    public void invalidateOptionsMenu() {
        getDelegate().invalidateOptionsMenu();
    }

    private AppCompatDelegate getDelegate() {
        if (mDelegate == null) {
            mDelegate = AppCompatDelegate.create(this, null);
        }
        return mDelegate;
    }
}

No more hacking. Code taken from AppCompatPreferenceActivity.java.

Solution 2

There is currently no way to achieve with AppCompat. I've opened a bug internally.

Solution 3

I have managed to create a workaround similar to what the Google Play Store uses. Link to Original Answer

Please find the GitHub Repo: Here

Very Similar to your own code but added xml to allow for set title:

Continuing to use PreferenceActivity:

settings_toolbar.xml :

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<android.support.v7.widget.Toolbar
    xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
    xmlns:app="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res-auto"
    android:id="@+id/toolbar"
    app:theme="@style/ThemeOverlay.AppCompat.Dark.ActionBar"
    android:layout_width="match_parent"
    android:layout_height="wrap_content"
    android:minHeight="?attr/actionBarSize"
    app:navigationContentDescription="@string/abc_action_bar_up_description"
    android:background="?attr/colorPrimary"
    app:navigationIcon="?attr/homeAsUpIndicator"
    app:title="@string/action_settings"
    />

SettingsActivity.java :

public class SettingsActivity extends PreferenceActivity {

    @Override
    protected void onPostCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
        super.onPostCreate(savedInstanceState);

        LinearLayout root = (LinearLayout)findViewById(android.R.id.list).getParent().getParent().getParent();
        Toolbar bar = (Toolbar) LayoutInflater.from(this).inflate(R.layout.settings_toolbar, root, false);
        root.addView(bar, 0); // insert at top
        bar.setNavigationOnClickListener(new View.OnClickListener() {
            @Override
            public void onClick(View v) {
                finish();
            }
        });
    }

}

Result :

example

UPDATE (Gingerbread Compatibility) :

As pointed out here, Gingerbread Devices are returning NullPointerException on this line:

LinearLayout root = (LinearLayout)findViewById(android.R.id.list).getParent().getParent().getParent();

FIX:

SettingsActivity.java :

public class SettingsActivity extends PreferenceActivity {

    @Override
    protected void onPostCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
        super.onPostCreate(savedInstanceState);
        Toolbar bar;

        if (Build.VERSION.SDK_INT >= Build.VERSION_CODES.ICE_CREAM_SANDWICH) {
            LinearLayout root = (LinearLayout) findViewById(android.R.id.list).getParent().getParent().getParent();
            bar = (Toolbar) LayoutInflater.from(this).inflate(R.layout.settings_toolbar, root, false);
            root.addView(bar, 0); // insert at top
        } else {
            ViewGroup root = (ViewGroup) findViewById(android.R.id.content);
            ListView content = (ListView) root.getChildAt(0);

            root.removeAllViews();

            bar = (Toolbar) LayoutInflater.from(this).inflate(R.layout.settings_toolbar, root, false);
            

            int height;
            TypedValue tv = new TypedValue();
            if (getTheme().resolveAttribute(R.attr.actionBarSize, tv, true)) {
                height = TypedValue.complexToDimensionPixelSize(tv.data, getResources().getDisplayMetrics());
            }else{
                height = bar.getHeight();
            }

            content.setPadding(0, height, 0, 0);

            root.addView(content);
            root.addView(bar);
        }

        bar.setNavigationOnClickListener(new View.OnClickListener() {
            @Override
            public void onClick(View v) {
                finish();
            }
        });
    }
}

Any issues with the above let me know!

UPDATE 2: TINTING WORKAROUND

As pointed out in many dev notes PreferenceActivity does not support tinting of elements, however by utilising a few internal classes you CAN achieve this. That is until these classes are removed. (Works using appCompat support-v7 v21.0.3).

Add the following imports:

import android.support.v7.internal.widget.TintCheckBox;
import android.support.v7.internal.widget.TintCheckedTextView;
import android.support.v7.internal.widget.TintEditText;
import android.support.v7.internal.widget.TintRadioButton;
import android.support.v7.internal.widget.TintSpinner;

Then override the onCreateView method:

@Override
public View onCreateView(String name, Context context, AttributeSet attrs) {
    // Allow super to try and create a view first
    final View result = super.onCreateView(name, context, attrs);
    if (result != null) {
        return result;
    }

    if (Build.VERSION.SDK_INT < Build.VERSION_CODES.LOLLIPOP) {
        // If we're running pre-L, we need to 'inject' our tint aware Views in place of the
        // standard framework versions
        switch (name) {
            case "EditText":
                return new TintEditText(this, attrs);
            case "Spinner":
                return new TintSpinner(this, attrs);
            case "CheckBox":
                return new TintCheckBox(this, attrs);
            case "RadioButton":
                return new TintRadioButton(this, attrs);
            case "CheckedTextView":
                return new TintCheckedTextView(this, attrs);
        }
    }

    return null;
}

Result:

example 2

AppCompat 22.1

AppCompat 22.1 introduced new tinted elements, meaning that there is no longer a need to utilise the internal classes to achieve the same effect as the last update. Instead follow this (still overriding onCreateView):

@Override
public View onCreateView(String name, Context context, AttributeSet attrs) {
    // Allow super to try and create a view first
    final View result = super.onCreateView(name, context, attrs);
    if (result != null) {
        return result;
    }

    if (Build.VERSION.SDK_INT < Build.VERSION_CODES.LOLLIPOP) {
        // If we're running pre-L, we need to 'inject' our tint aware Views in place of the
        // standard framework versions
        switch (name) {
            case "EditText":
                return new AppCompatEditText(this, attrs);
            case "Spinner":
                return new AppCompatSpinner(this, attrs);
            case "CheckBox":
                return new AppCompatCheckBox(this, attrs);
            case "RadioButton":
                return new AppCompatRadioButton(this, attrs);
            case "CheckedTextView":
                return new AppCompatCheckedTextView(this, attrs);
        }
    }

    return null;
}

NESTED PREFERENCE SCREENS

A lot of people are experiencing issues with including the Toolbar in nested <PreferenceScreen />s however, I have found a solution!! - After a lot of trial and error!

Add the following to your SettingsActivity:

@SuppressWarnings("deprecation")
@Override
public boolean onPreferenceTreeClick(PreferenceScreen preferenceScreen, Preference preference) {
    super.onPreferenceTreeClick(preferenceScreen, preference);

    // If the user has clicked on a preference screen, set up the screen
    if (preference instanceof PreferenceScreen) {
        setUpNestedScreen((PreferenceScreen) preference);
    }

    return false;
}

public void setUpNestedScreen(PreferenceScreen preferenceScreen) {
    final Dialog dialog = preferenceScreen.getDialog();

    Toolbar bar;

    if (Build.VERSION.SDK_INT >= Build.VERSION_CODES.ICE_CREAM_SANDWICH) {
        LinearLayout root = (LinearLayout) dialog.findViewById(android.R.id.list).getParent();
        bar = (Toolbar) LayoutInflater.from(this).inflate(R.layout.settings_toolbar, root, false);
        root.addView(bar, 0); // insert at top
    } else {
        ViewGroup root = (ViewGroup) dialog.findViewById(android.R.id.content);
        ListView content = (ListView) root.getChildAt(0);

        root.removeAllViews();

        bar = (Toolbar) LayoutInflater.from(this).inflate(R.layout.settings_toolbar, root, false);

        int height;
        TypedValue tv = new TypedValue();
        if (getTheme().resolveAttribute(R.attr.actionBarSize, tv, true)) {
            height = TypedValue.complexToDimensionPixelSize(tv.data, getResources().getDisplayMetrics());
        }else{
            height = bar.getHeight();
        }

        content.setPadding(0, height, 0, 0);

        root.addView(content);
        root.addView(bar);
    }

    bar.setTitle(preferenceScreen.getTitle());

    bar.setNavigationOnClickListener(new View.OnClickListener() {
        @Override
        public void onClick(View v) {
            dialog.dismiss();
        }
    });
}

The reason that PreferenceScreen's are such a pain is because they are based as a wrapper dialog, so we need to capture the dialog layout to add the toolbar to it.

Toolbar Shadow

By design importing the Toolbar does not allow for elevation and shadowing in pre-v21 devices, so if you would like to have elevation on your Toolbar you need to wrap it in a AppBarLayout:

`settings_toolbar.xml :

<android.support.design.widget.AppBarLayout
    android:layout_width="match_parent"
    android:layout_height="wrap_content">

   <android.support.v7.widget.Toolbar
       .../>

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

Not forgetting to add the add the Design Support library as a dependency in build.gradle file:

compile 'com.android.support:support-v4:22.2.0'
compile 'com.android.support:appcompat-v7:22.2.0'
compile 'com.android.support:design:22.2.0'

Android 6.0

I have investigated the reported overlapping issue and I cannot reproduce the issue.

The full code in use as above produces the following:

If I am missing something please let me know via this repo and I will investigate.

Solution 4

Found a PreferenceFragment implementation based on support-v4 Fragment:

https://github.com/kolavar/android-support-v4-preferencefragment

Edit: I just tested it and its working great!

Solution 5

Integrating PreferenceActivity with ABC is not possible, at least for me. I tried the two possibilities I could find but none worked:

Option 1:

ActionBarPreferenceActivity extends PreferenceActivity. When you do this you get restricted by ActionBarActivityDelegate.createDelegate(ActionBarActivity activity). Also you need to implement ActionBar.Callbacks which is not accessible

Option 2:

ActionBarPreferenceActivity extends ActionBarActivity. This approach requires rewriting a whole new PreferenceActivity, PreferenceManager and may be PreferenceFragment which means you need access to hidden classes like com.android.internal.util.XmlUtils The solution to this can only come from Google devs implementing an ActionBarWrapper that can be added to any activity.

If you really need a preference activity, my advice for now is ActionBarSherlock.

However, I managed to implement it here.

View more solutions

39,098

Author by

Roman

I am learning. Right now.

Updated on January 12, 2020

Comments

Roman over 4 years

Action Bar compatibility has been added into support library, revision 18. It now has ActionBarActivity class for creating activities with Action Bar on older versions of Android.

Is there any way to add Action Bar from support library into PreferenceActivity?

Previously I used ActionBarSherlock and it has SherlockPreferenceActivity.
Pablo almost 11 years

Thanks @Chris. Will be nice to have this feature.
imbryk almost 11 years

@Maarten the link doesn't work with current support library, there would be probably much more work involved to make your own.
imbryk almost 11 years

@Chris, do you have any idea when we could expect PreferenceActivity to be added to ActionBarCompat?
davidcesarino over 10 years

@nsL I still remember that being a problem, and how ABS solved it neatly. But I wouldn't get my hopes up, as some important issues were declined back then. Disappointment.
Roman over 10 years

I think it is very unlikely that this feature is going to be implemented. Number of devices running older versions of Android (< 4.0) is less than 30% at this point, and this number is going down every month.
Martin Rajniak over 10 years

@Chris can you provide a bug id, so I can follow progress on that thing?
Someone Somewhere about 10 years

This was entered almost a year ago and no resolution??
Broak about 10 years

w.t.f still waiting??
TeeTracker almost 10 years

Per4.0 brings crash. I've forked it and improved . gist.github.com/0e9fe2119b901921b160
Gavriel almost 10 years

@Konstantin, can you add some code example? I downloaded it, changed the import from android.preference.PreferenceFragment to android.support.v4.preference.PreferenceFragment, and I see it added some headers in the middle of the screen, but not the ActionBar on the top
Ostkontentitan almost 10 years

It doesnt add the actionbar thats the activity's job. Unfortunally i have no samplecode at hand but it should work similar to: developer.android.com/reference/android/preference/…
Sufian almost 10 years

Here's a simpler solution, one which doesn't uses any workarounds stackoverflow.com/a/25603448/1276636
Sufian almost 10 years

Check my solution. It doesn't use any workaround stackoverflow.com/a/25603448/1276636
Sufian almost 10 years

It wasn't probably possible at that time but now I got it to work without any 'workarounds'. See my answer stackoverflow.com/a/25603448/1276636
Frozen Crayon over 9 years

How does this help get the action bar in Preference activity?
Sufian over 9 years

@ArjunU. easy solution - try it and figure it out.
Sufian over 9 years

@ArjunU. The problem was that the PreferencesActivity wouldn't have any way to put items to ActionBar, especially the back button. My answer is a good fix for that.
Yohanes Khosiawan 许先汉 over 9 years

please put your essential code snippets in your answer. to avoid potential broken link issue.
Gavriel over 9 years

This answer is outdated, today there is a solution, see @Ľubomír Kučera 's answer
ahmedre over 9 years

thanks, this works for me - i'd change new LinearLayout in the first inflate call to: (ViewGroup) getWindow().getDecorView().getRootView()
3c71 over 9 years

Works for me too and helped me recover the settings title which got lost when upgrading to release 21.
Maxwell Weru over 9 years

It does not solve anything! Hope you understand the issue at hand
Sufian over 9 years

Thanks for the downvote. Any explanation how I could improve my answer or what was wrong?
Sufian over 9 years

@ArjunU. I have updated my answer. Kindly remove your down vote.
hfann over 9 years

This works for me to bring the ActionBar back into preference activity after upgrading to release 21. I use mActionBar.setLogo(R.drawable.icon); to show my app icon instead of the app name.
petrsyn over 9 years

This doesn't work with nested <PreferenceScreen> elements. Nested preference screens have no Toolbar.
Ľubomír Kučera over 9 years

@petrsyn It actually works. Look here and here to find out how you should do it.
petrsyn over 9 years

@Ľubomír Kučera Thanks for answering. Your solution creates nested PreferenceScreen manually in the onCreate() method of the PreferenceActivity child class. My comment was about using <PreferenceScreen> nested under another <PreferenceScreen> in the prefs.xml. This stopped working in AppCompat v21. This used to work in older versions of AppCompat lib and also in the ActionBarSherlock lib. Anyway, thanks for responding.
swooby over 9 years

If I use <style name="Theme.Application" parent="@style/Theme.AppCompat.Light.DarkActionBar" /> then my Settings text is black on dark gray. What is the simplest way to fix this?
Ľubomír Kučera over 9 years

@swooby You might suffer from this bug.
David Passmore about 9 years

@Sufian Thanks for linking to my answer, glad it's helping everyone :)
Tobi about 9 years

Great! Works like a charm :)
Tobi about 9 years

Why does this not work for the nested PreferenceScreen, but only for the main PreferenceScreen?
David Passmore about 9 years

@Tobi I have updated my answer to solve the nested issue, and explained why. :)
David Passmore about 9 years

@petrsyn I have solved the nesting problem here stackoverflow.com/a/27455363/566127
Martin Pfeffer about 9 years

Thanks! Your advice "AppCompat 22.1" did the trick for me :) Very useful!
Jemshit Iskenderov almost 9 years

@DavidPassmore why i cant see shadow on api 10 when i wrap toolbar with appbarlayout ?
Jemshit Iskenderov almost 9 years

@DavidPassmore why wrap it inside AppBarLayout for shadow if it works v21+ ? why not Just use "elevation"?
Someone Somewhere almost 9 years

why is PreferenceActivity such a pain in the ass to use ??? it's supposed to save time. I might as well make a regular activity and manually lay out all the settings in a linear layout myself. Fuuuuck !
southerton over 8 years

Any idea why ListPreferences radio button stop working after applying this approach? (android 4.0.3).
southerton over 8 years

When I commented out the //getDelegate().installViewFactory(); ListPreference started to work. Strange behaviour.
f470071 over 8 years

@ĽubomírKučera This gives me almost completely 2.x look. Ok, checkboxes are material style but everything else is old. What is the point of this then?
powder366 over 8 years

One of the thousands of bugs;-)
S.P. almost 8 years

In Android API 24, in NESTED PREFERENCE SCREENS, in this line ( LinearLayout root = (LinearLayout) dialog.findViewById(android.R.id.list).getParent(); ) I'm getting this error: java.lang.ClassCastException: android.widget.FrameLayout cannot be cast to android.widget.LinearLayout. Is any solution for this???
David Passmore almost 8 years

Hi @D.O. can you raise this on the GitHub so I can track the errors :)
S.P. almost 8 years

Hi @David, you mean in this github link, isn't it? github.com/davcpas1234/MaterialSettings
S.P. almost 8 years

Done! raise in GitHub
Phan Sinh almost 8 years

@petrsyn: I have problem like you. How can i fix it? I tried in the way of Ľubomír Kučerabut, but it did not work.
Martin Erlic over 7 years

Okay so where do I put the toolbar in the xml? I'm getting a NullPointerException