Settings option in android

Настройки в Android-приложениях

Интересуюсь темой разработки под Android. Пишу небольшое приложение. Столкнулся с тем, что не до конца понимаю как правильно делать настройки для приложения. Немного погуглил, нашел статью, которая помогла разобраться. Решил перевести статью для русскоязычного сообщества, включив некоторые комментарии к оригиналу.

Настройки являются важной частью приложений на Android (и не только на Android — здесь и далее примечание переводчика). Это очень важно — позволять пользователям изменять настройки приложения, в зависимости от их предпочтений.

Существует два пути работы с настройками в Android — можно создать файл preferences.xml в директории res/xml, либо работать с настройками из кода. В данной статье я покажу как работать с настройками, используя preferences.xml файл.

Элементы настроек имеют следующие атрибуты:

• android:key — имя настройки, по поторому в дальнейшем можно получить ее значение
• android:title — заголовок элемента настройки
• android:summary — краткое описание элемента настройки
• android:defaultValue — значение по умолчанию

В настоящее время доступны следующие типы элементов настроек:

• CheckBoxPreference — простой чекбокс, который возвращает значения true или false.
• ListPreference — группа переключателей (radioGroup), из которых может быть выбран только один элемент. Атрибут android:entries указывает на массив со значениями в res/values/arrays.xml, а android:entryValues на массив с подписями.
• EditTextPreference — показывает диалоговое окно с полем ввода. Возвращает строку в качестве значения.
• RingtonePreference — группа переключателей с выбором рингтона.
• Preference — настройка, работающая как кнопка.
• PreferenceScreen — экран с настройками. Когда один PreferenceScreen вложен в другой, то открывается новый экран с настройками.
• PreferenceCategory — категория настроек.

Экран с настройками	EditTextPreference
ListPreference	RingtonePreference
PreferenceScreen

Скриншоты выше были сгенерированы при помощи следующего preferences.xml:

Атрибуты android:entries и android:entryValues у ListPreference ссылаются на @array/listArray и @array/listValues соответственно. Значения берутся из res/values/arrays.xml, который в нашем случае выглядит следующим образом:

Для того, чтобы показать пользователю экран с настройками, небходимо создать активити, унаследованное от PreferenceActivity. Пример активити:

А вызвать активити с настройками можно, нажав на кнопку на нашем главном активити:

Для того, чтобы использовать выставленными в настройках значениями, добавим метод getPrefs() в главное активити, который нужно вызывать на событии onStart(). Нужно использовать именно onStart(), а не onCreate(), для того, чтобы быть уверенным в том, что используются актуальные настройки, а не те, что были во время создания гланого активити. Наш метод getPrefs() может выглядеть примерно вот так:

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How to get developer options on Android

There’s a hidden set of developer options on Android devices that you can access if you know how. Whether you want to enable USB debugging, unlock your bootloader so you can root your Android phone, or change the animation draw speed to give your phone a slicker feel, this is where you can do that and a lot more. Whatever your reason for wanting to access the hidden options, you have to unlock them first. Our guide below gives you the basics on how to get to the developer options.

By default, the developer options in Android phones are hidden. This is because they’re designed for use by developers who want to test various functionalities and make changes that may impact the phone’s performance. It’s not smart to go tinkering with the developer options without a specific purpose and an understanding of what each option refers to. But now that you’ve been warned, here’s how you can get developer options on Android.

How to access developer options in Android

You can unlock the developer options on any Android smartphone or tablet by locating the build number in your Settings menu and tapping it multiple times. However, the exact location of the aforementioned build number may differ depending on your phone’s manufacturer. The following example uses a Samsung Galaxy S20 FE running Android 11.

• Go to Settings >About Phone.
• Tap Software Info >Build Number.
• Tap Build Number seven times. After the first few taps, you should see the steps counting down until you unlock the developer options. You may also have to tap in your PIN for verification. Once developer options are activated, you will see a message that reads, You are now a developer.
• Go back to the Settings pane, where you will now find Developer options as an entry.
• Tap it and toggle the switch on if it is not already, and from there, you can proceed to make adjustments to your phone.

On phones running Android 10, you’ll usually find the About Phone menu under Settings > System > About Phone — all the other steps above are the same.

It’s simple to deactivate developer options straight from your Settings if you don’t need to access them anymore. The first step to do this is to head over to Settings, click Developer Options, and hit Off. And, you’re done. Yes, really. That’s all there is to it. After you’ve completed this step, you will no longer be able to access Developer Options from the Settings menu. But, you can still modify these settings later if you change your mind and want to return them to their initial state. Simply follow the directions mentioned above.

You can also investigate other more advanced settings using Android’s developer options. Remember that developer mode was initially intended for app debugging and manipulating system responses and functionality. The selections within developer mode typically include debugging, networking, input, hardware-accelerated rendering, media, monitoring, and applications. It’s up to you how you want to customize the settings, as you can categorize them according to your specific preferences.

We recommend visiting the official Android Developer website to get more insight on this subject and examine the developer options’ full list. Know that these options may be different depending on the device you’re using. Typically, the choices depend on the type and model of the device you are working with.

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How to Enable Developer Options on Android 11

If you have been following the news, you would know that Google has released its latest Android 11 update to all users with a compatible device. This time around, the rollout was wider than before since not just the Pixel device but OnePlus and other Android manufacturers also received the update. The search engine giant brought forward a plethora of new additions to the table while also tweaking the interface for better utility. Today, let’s dive in to see how you can enable Developer Options in Android 11 for enhanced controls and features.

Here Are a Few Simple Steps to Enable Developer Options on Android 11 — Allows You to Enhance Your Control Over Your Device

If you’re tech-savvy enough and want to take advantage of enhanced controls and features, the first thing that you have to do is enable Developer Options. Developer Options is not just visible to everyone by default. In fact, you have to dig into the Settings and unlock it. If you’re unfamiliar with the technique, we have prepared a set of step by step instructions that you can follow to enable Developer Option in Android 11.

1. The first thing that you have to do is launch the Settings app and head over to About Phone.

2. This step is important — scroll down and look for the option Build Number and tap on it 7 times.

3. Put in your device Password or PIN.

4. Once you do that, you will get a popup saying that You are now a developer.

This is how you enable Developer Options in Android 11. However, Developer Options can be accessed inside your Settings. Here’s what you have to do to access them.

1. To access Developer Options in Android 11, head over to Settings and tap on System.

2. Tap on Advanced to expand the list and then tap on Developer Options.

3. You will see the entire list of Developer Options that you can play around with. You can also turn them off from the same page using a toggle.

That’s all that you have to do in order to enable Developer Options in Android 11. There are a bunch of new options available as well which will allow you for enhanced controls over your device. take note that developer options are oriented towards developers so don’t do anything that you’re not sure of.

We will share more Android 11 guides in the future, so be sure to check it out.

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Implementing Preferences Settings Screen in Android

There are certain situations when you want to have some kind of Settings in your application apart from the Android default Settings. For example, if you want to increase the text size of the text present in your application and not to increase the text size of all the applications present in the mobile device. Other examples include taking the current address of the user or setting the notification sound to a particular ringtone of your own choice. In order to use this functionality in our application, we can use the feature of Settings which is a part of Android Jetpack.

Settings allow the users to change the behavior and functionality of a particular application instead of changing the behavior and functionality of all the applications present in the mobile device. Also, the users don’t access the Settings frequently, because they change the Settings once and they rarely need to go back and change it again.

Also, the user prefers to change the settings of the application by clicking on the Settings present inside navigation or is present in the menu item like below:

Image Courtesy: Android Codelabs

If you are putting this Setting option anywhere in the application apart from the above mentioned two places, then it will result in bad user experience.

In this blog, we will learn how to implement Preference Settings in our application to change the behavior of our application. So, let’s get started.

Creating a project with the Settings option

Android Studio provides a shortcut for using the Settings feature in the menu item of your application. All you have to do is create a new project in Android Studio with Basic Activity template (not Empty Activity). The Basic Activity template includes a Setting option in the menu and a floating action button as shown below:

Another way of creating a Setting Activity is to go to your Java/Kotlin code folder in your Android project and then right click > new > Activity > Settings Activity. By adding a Settings Activity, you will be given three options as below:

Here you will get options like:

• General: You can change the Display name. Other options available here are: Enable social recommendations and Add friends to messages.
• Notification: Here you will we give with options to change the Ringtone of the notification along with vibrate option.
• Data & sync: Here you will find an option to set the sync frequency of your application.

If your application needs one or all the above three mentioned features, then you can add a Settings Activity, but if you want some customized settings in your application, then you should be using the first option of using the Settings option in your application by creating a Basic Activity. In this blog, we will look at how to implement the Settings by using the Basic Activity.

Adding xml for Settings

Till now, we have added the Settings options in our application by using the Basic Activity. You can manually add the Settings option in the menu item in your application. Now, our next step is to add the UI for the Settings i.e. the UI of the page that will be opened after clicking on the Settings option.

Navigate to the res folder and add an XML directory if not present with name xml. Now, in the res/xml folder, create an xml file named preference_main.xml. Here in the preference_main.xml, we will add the options that will be shown to us when we click on the Settings option.

In the preference_main.xml file, we can add the below properties:

• EditTextPreference: This is same as a normal EditText that can be used to collect some data from the user. It can be the name of the user or the name of the directory of the application where the user is storing some data of the app.
• CheckBoxPreference: This is used to select more than one option at a time. One example of this can be checking the option of file uploading using wifi as well as the cellular data.
• RingtonePreference: This can be used to change the ringtone of the notification that comes from the application. This option is also present in the default Settings Activity.
• SwitchPreference: This is used to turn on or turn off a certain service in the application. One example of this can be turning the vibration on and off.
• Preference: To add some TextView that is not clickable or to use the TextView to open into the browser, then you can use preference.
• List Preference: This can be used to display a list of items and you can choose one of them.

Before moving on to the xml code, you should know the concept of PreferenceScreen and PreferenceCategory.

In the PreferenceScreen tag, all the preferences will be present i.e. it holds all the preferences that you are having in your application.

In the PrefernceCategory tag, you divide your preferences in a certain category and then display them together. For example, you can put the preferences for altering the media of an application in one category and about section in another category. This is the same as using categories in Navigation Drawer. This will help the user to have a clear vision of the functionality of the application.

In the above image, the Screen related settings are put in one category and the System Font and System are put into some other category.

Now, let’s add the Preferences in our application:

In order to add the ListPrefernce in your activity, you have to declare an array that can be displayed in the list.

Now to have the same UI for devices of different screen size and to have proper functioning of Settings in our application, make a class called AppCompatPreference.kt:

Now we have to write the code to handle all the activities of Settings activity. Write the below code that corresponds to various activities of teh Settings Activity:

Finally connect your Settings Activity with the Settings option present in the menu item of MainActivity. Use the below code:

Run the application and try to explore the various options present on the Settings options. Also, try to add some more functionalities to the Settings Activity.

To learn more about the Settings Preferences in Android, go to the official website of Android Developer.

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