Bypassing the Activity Destruction Process

Suppose you don't want Android to go through the normal activity destroy-and-recreate process; instead, you want to handle recreating the views yourself. In this case, you can use the android:configChanges attributes on the <activity> element in AndroidManifest.xml:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<manifest xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
package="net.learn2develop.UIExample"
android:versionCode="1"
android:versionName="1.0.0">
<application android:icon="@drawable/icon"
android:label="@string/app_name">
<activity android:name=".UIActivity"
android:configChanges="orientation|keyboardHidden"
android:label="@string/app_name">
<intent-filter>
<action android:name="android.intent.action.MAIN" />
<category android:name="android.intent.category.LAUNCHER" />
</intent-filter&glt;
</activity>
</application>
</manifest>

The above attribute indicates that you want to handle the flipping of the keyboard and the changes in the accelerometer (sensor) yourself. When a change in orientation occurs, the onConfigurationChanged event will be fired, which you can override to redraw your activity:

@Override
public void onConfigurationChanged(Configuration newConfig) {
super.onConfigurationChanged(newConfig);
//---code to redraw your activity here---
//...
}

Changing the Screen Orientation Based on the Accelerometer

If you want to change the screen orientation automatically based on the positioning of the device, you can use the android:screenOrientation attribute in the AndroidManifest.xml file:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<manifest xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
package="net.leanr2develop.OrientationAware"
android:versionCode="1"
android:versionName="1.0.0">
<application android:icon="@drawable/icon"
android:label="@string/app_name">
<activity android:name=".Orientation"
android:screenOrientation="sensor"
android:label="@string/app_name">
<intent-filter>
<action android:name="android.intent.action.MAIN" />
<category android:name="android.intent.category.LAUNCHER" />
</intent-filter>
</activity>
</application>
</manifest>

The above specifies that the screen orientation for the Orientation activity is based on the sensor (accelerometer) of the device. If you hold the device upright, the screen will be displayed in portrait mode; if you hold it sideways, it will change to landscape mode.

Changing the Screen Orientation Programmatically

There are times where you need to ensure that your application is displayed only in a certain orientation. For example, suppose you are writing a game that should only be viewed in landscape mode. In this case, you can programmatically force a change in orientation using the setRequestOrientation() method of the Activity class:

package net.learn2develop.OrientationAware;
import android.app.Activity;
import android.content.pm.ActivityInfo;
import android.os.Bundle;
public class Orientation extends Activity {
/** Called when the activity is first created. */
@Override
public void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
setContentView(R.layout.main);
//---change to landscape mode---
setRequestedOrientation(ActivityInfo.SCREEN_ORIENTATION_LANDSCAPE);
}
}

To change to portrait mode, use the ActivityInfo.SCREEN_ORIENTATION_PORTRAIT constant:

setRequestedOrientation(ActivityInfo.SCREEN_ORIENTATION_PORTRAIT);

Besides using the setRequestOrientation() method, you can also use the android:screenOrientation attribute on the <activity> element in AndroidManifest.xml as follows to fix the activity to a certain orientation:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<manifest xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
package="net.learn2develop.UIExample"
android:versionCode="1"
android:versionName="1.0.0">
<application android:icon="@drawable/icon"
android:label="@string/app_name">
<activity android:name=".UIActivity"
android:screenOrientation="landscape"
android:label="@string/app_name">
<intent-filter>
<action android:name="android.intent.action.MAIN" />
<category android:name="android.intent.category.LAUNCHER" />
</intent-filter>
</activity>
</application>
</manifest>

The above example fixes the activity to a certain orientation (landscape in this case) and prevents the activity from being destroyed; that is, the activity will not be destroyed and the onCreate event will not be fired again when the orientation changes.

Now, you've seen the various ways to handle screen orientation changes in Android and how an activity gets recreated when an activity changes orientation. You should be able to use these methods to persist your state during transition.