How to make a simple settings page in android?

Issue

I'm new in the "Android-App-Dev"-Scene and got one question:

How do I easily make a good clean looking settings page for my app?

There are some kind of headlines and some kind of big buttons on you can tab to go to a new page.

I'm using Android Studio and know how to create a new page, class etc..

Solution

Use PreferenceActivity

sample code from the developer site:

public class PreferenceWithHeaders extends PreferenceActivity {
    @Override
    protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
        super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);

        // Add a button to the header list.
        if (hasHeaders()) {
            Button button = new Button(this);
            button.setText("Some action");
            setListFooter(button);
        }
    }

    /**
     * Populate the activity with the top-level headers.
     */
    @Override
    public void onBuildHeaders(List<Header> target) {
        loadHeadersFromResource(R.xml.preference_headers, target);
    }

    /**
     * This fragment shows the preferences for the first header.
     */
    public static class Prefs1Fragment extends PreferenceFragment {
        @Override
        public void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
            super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);

            // Make sure default values are applied.  In a real app, you would
            // want this in a shared function that is used to retrieve the
            // SharedPreferences wherever they are needed.
            PreferenceManager.setDefaultValues(getActivity(),
                    R.xml.advanced_preferences, false);

            // Load the preferences from an XML resource
            addPreferencesFromResource(R.xml.fragmented_preferences);
        }
    }

    /**
     * This fragment contains a second-level set of preference that you
     * can get to by tapping an item in the first preferences fragment.
     */
    public static class Prefs1FragmentInner extends PreferenceFragment {
        @Override
        public void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
            super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);

            // Can retrieve arguments from preference XML.
            Log.i("args", "Arguments: " + getArguments());

            // Load the preferences from an XML resource
            addPreferencesFromResource(R.xml.fragmented_preferences_inner);
        }
    }

    /**
     * This fragment shows the preferences for the second header.
     */
    public static class Prefs2Fragment extends PreferenceFragment {
        @Override
        public void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
            super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);

            // Can retrieve arguments from headers XML.
            Log.i("args", "Arguments: " + getArguments());

            // Load the preferences from an XML resource
            addPreferencesFromResource(R.xml.preference_dependencies);
        }
    }
}

The preference_headers resource describes the headers to be displayed and the fragments associated with them. It is:

<header android:fragment="com.example.android.apis.preference.PreferenceWithHeaders$Prefs1Fragment"
        android:icon="@drawable/ic_settings_applications"
        android:title="Prefs 1"
        android:summary="An example of some preferences." />

<header android:fragment="com.example.android.apis.preference.PreferenceWithHeaders$Prefs2Fragment"
        android:icon="@drawable/ic_settings_display"
        android:title="Prefs 2"
        android:summary="Some other preferences you can see.">
    <!-- Arbitrary key/value pairs can be included with a header as
         arguments to its fragment. -->
    <extra android:name="someKey" android:value="someHeaderValue" />
</header>

<header android:icon="@drawable/ic_settings_display"
        android:title="Intent"
        android:summary="Launches an Intent.">
    <intent android:action="android.intent.action.VIEW"
            android:data="http://www.android.com" />
</header>

The first header is shown by Prefs1Fragment, which populates itself from the following XML resource:

<PreferenceCategory
        android:title="@string/inline_preferences">

    <CheckBoxPreference
            android:key="checkbox_preference"
            android:title="@string/title_checkbox_preference"
            android:summary="@string/summary_checkbox_preference" />

</PreferenceCategory>

<PreferenceCategory
        android:title="@string/dialog_based_preferences">

    <EditTextPreference
            android:key="edittext_preference"
            android:title="@string/title_edittext_preference"
            android:summary="@string/summary_edittext_preference"
            android:dialogTitle="@string/dialog_title_edittext_preference" />

    <ListPreference
            android:key="list_preference"
            android:title="@string/title_list_preference"
            android:summary="@string/summary_list_preference"
            android:entries="@array/entries_list_preference"
            android:entryValues="@array/entryvalues_list_preference"
            android:dialogTitle="@string/dialog_title_list_preference" />

</PreferenceCategory>

<PreferenceCategory
        android:title="@string/launch_preferences">

    <!-- This PreferenceScreen tag sends the user to a new fragment of
         preferences.  If running in a large screen, they can be embedded
         inside of the overall preferences UI. -->
    <PreferenceScreen
            android:fragment="com.example.android.apis.preference.PreferenceWithHeaders$Prefs1FragmentInner"
            android:title="@string/title_fragment_preference"
            android:summary="@string/summary_fragment_preference">
        <!-- Arbitrary key/value pairs can be included for fragment arguments -->
        <extra android:name="someKey" android:value="somePrefValue" />
    </PreferenceScreen>

    <!-- This PreferenceScreen tag sends the user to a completely different
         activity, switching out of the current preferences UI. -->
    <PreferenceScreen
            android:title="@string/title_intent_preference"
            android:summary="@string/summary_intent_preference">

        <intent android:action="android.intent.action.VIEW"
                android:data="http://www.android.com" />

    </PreferenceScreen>

</PreferenceCategory>

<PreferenceCategory
        android:title="@string/preference_attributes">

    <CheckBoxPreference
            android:key="parent_checkbox_preference"
            android:title="@string/title_parent_preference"
            android:summary="@string/summary_parent_preference" />

    <!-- The visual style of a child is defined by this styled theme attribute. -->
    <CheckBoxPreference
            android:key="child_checkbox_preference"
            android:dependency="parent_checkbox_preference"
            android:layout="?android:attr/preferenceLayoutChild"
            android:title="@string/title_child_preference"
            android:summary="@string/summary_child_preference" />

</PreferenceCategory>

Note that this XML resource contains a preference screen holding another fragment, the Prefs1FragmentInner implemented here. This allows the user to traverse down a hierarchy of preferences; pressing back will pop each fragment off the stack to return to the previous preferences.

See PreferenceFragment for information on implementing the fragments themselves.

Answered By - rupesh jain