Adjust androidx.preference dialogs to follow Material You

Adjusting androidx.preference Dialogs to Material You

Android’s Material You design language offers a fresh and customizable experience, allowing users to personalize their devices to reflect their unique style. While androidx.preference provides a robust framework for managing app settings, its dialogs might not always align perfectly with the modern Material You aesthetic. This guide outlines strategies to tailor your androidx.preference dialogs to embrace Material You’s visual language, enhancing user experience and app consistency.

Material You Principles

Before delving into adjustments, let’s understand key Material You principles that will guide our modifications:

Color

• Dynamic Color: Material You dynamically generates color palettes based on user-selected wallpapers, providing a cohesive and personalized look.
• Theme Colors: Utilize your app’s theme colors (primary, secondary, etc.) to maintain a consistent visual identity.

Typography

• Roboto: Use the Roboto font family, Material You’s primary typeface, for consistent typography across your app.
• Text Styles: Employ Material You’s text styles (e.g., headline, body1) to ensure appropriate font sizes and weights.

Layout

• Spacing: Utilize Material You’s recommended spacing (padding, margins) for a visually balanced layout.
• Elevated Components: Use elevation to create depth and hierarchy for elements within the dialog.

Applying Material You to androidx.preference Dialogs

Let’s explore practical techniques to integrate Material You principles into your androidx.preference dialogs:

1. Customizing Themes

The most impactful approach is to define custom themes specifically for your preference dialogs. You can either extend existing themes or create new ones.

Customizing Themes – Code Example:

<resources>
<style name="PreferenceThemeOverlay.MyTheme.Dialog" parent="ThemeOverlay.AppCompat.Dialog.Alert">
<item name="android:background">@color/my_dialog_background_color</item>
<item name="android:textColor">@color/my_dialog_text_color</item>
<item name="colorPrimary">@color/my_theme_primary_color</item>
<item name="colorPrimaryDark">@color/my_theme_primary_dark_color</item>
</style>
</resources>

This example defines a custom theme “PreferenceThemeOverlay.MyTheme.Dialog,” inheriting from the base dialog theme. It sets background and text colors, and adjusts primary colors to match your app’s theme.

2. Utilizing Material Components

Material Design components like “TextInputLayout” and “MaterialButton” provide a built-in Material You look and feel. Use these components wherever possible to create a more modern appearance.

Material Components – Code Example:

<Preference
android:key="example_preference"
android:title="Example Preference"
android:layout="@layout/preference_layout"
>
<androidx.appcompat.widget.LinearLayoutCompat
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:orientation="horizontal"
android:padding="16dp"
>
<com.google.android.material.textfield.TextInputLayout
android:layout_width="0dp"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:layout_weight="1"
>
<com.google.android.material.textfield.TextInputEditText
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:hint="Enter Value"
/>
</com.google.android.material.textfield.TextInputLayout>
<com.google.android.material.button.MaterialButton
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:layout_marginStart="16dp"
android:text="Save"
/>
</androidx.appcompat.widget.LinearLayoutCompat>
</Preference>

This example utilizes “TextInputLayout” for input and “MaterialButton” for saving, enhancing the visual consistency of your dialog.

3. Applying Dynamic Colors

Leverage dynamic color capabilities to achieve a personalized color scheme that complements the user’s wallpaper.

Dynamic Colors – Code Example:

<resources>
<style name="PreferenceThemeOverlay.MyTheme.Dialog" parent="ThemeOverlay.AppCompat.Dialog.Alert">
<item name="android:textColor">@color/dynamic_primary_text</item>
<item name="android:background">@color/dynamic_secondary_background</item>
</style>
</resources>

Using “dynamic_primary_text” and “dynamic_secondary_background” allows the dialog to seamlessly adapt to the user’s chosen wallpaper colors.

4. Customizing Dialog Content

For specific preferences that require customization, create custom layouts that reflect Material You guidelines.

Custom Dialog Content – Code Example:

<LinearLayout
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:orientation="vertical"
android:padding="16dp"
>
<TextView
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:text="Preference Title"
android:textAppearance="?android:attr/textAppearanceMedium"
/>
<androidx.appcompat.widget.SwitchCompat
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:layout_marginTop="16dp"
/>
</LinearLayout>

This layout offers more control over the preference’s appearance, allowing you to customize elements to match Material You’s design language.

Comparison Table

Conclusion

By implementing these strategies, you can effectively integrate Material You into your androidx.preference dialogs. The resulting experience will be more visually appealing, cohesive with your app’s theme, and personalized to match the user’s style preferences.