Android: Create colored TextClock widget

Question

I have been trying to make an Android widget that is simply a TextClock with a user-defined color. However, after a restart of the launcher, the color of the TextClock always reverts to white and does not retain the user-defined color. This is my first time making an Android widget, and I have been pulling my hair out for days trying to figure out why this is happening.

So,

the configuration activity:

public class MainActivity extends Activity {
int mAppWidgetId = AppWidgetManager.INVALID_APPWIDGET_ID;;

@Override
protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
    super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
    setResult(RESULT_CANCELED);
    setContentView(R.layout.main_activity);

    Intent intent = getIntent();
    Bundle extras = intent.getExtras();
    if (extras != null) {
        mAppWidgetId = extras.getInt(
                AppWidgetManager.EXTRA_APPWIDGET_ID, 
                AppWidgetManager.INVALID_APPWIDGET_ID);
    }
    // If they gave us an intent without the widget id, just bail.
    if (mAppWidgetId == AppWidgetManager.INVALID_APPWIDGET_ID) {
        finish();
    }

    OnCancelListener cancelListener = new OnCancelListener()
    {
        @Override
        public void onCancel(DialogInterface dialog)
        {
             MainActivity.this.finish();
        }
    };

    OnColorChangedListener ccListener = new ColorPickerDialog.OnColorChangedListener(){

        @Override
        public void onColorChanged(int color) {
            PreferenceManager.getDefaultSharedPreferences(MainActivity.this).edit().putInt("color", color).apply();
            getSharedPreferences("" + mAppWidgetId, MODE_PRIVATE).edit().putInt("color", color).apply();

            AppWidgetManager appWidgetManager = AppWidgetManager.getInstance(MainActivity.this);
            MyWidget.updateAppWidget(MainActivity.this, appWidgetManager, mAppWidgetId, color);
            Intent resultValue = new Intent();
            resultValue.putExtra(AppWidgetManager.EXTRA_APPWIDGET_ID, mAppWidgetId);
            setResult(RESULT_OK, resultValue);
            finish();
        }

    };

    int initialColor = PreferenceManager.getDefaultSharedPreferences(this).getInt("color", Color.RED);

    ColorPickerDialog cpd = new ColorPickerDialog(this, initialColor);
    cpd.setHexValueEnabled(true);
    cpd.setAlphaSliderVisible(true);
    cpd.setOnColorChangedListener(ccListener);
    cpd.setOnCancelListener(cancelListener);
    cpd.show();


}

}

the AppWidgetProvider:

public class MyWidget extends AppWidgetProvider{

@Override
public void onUpdate(Context context, AppWidgetManager appWidgetManager, int[] appWidgetIds) {
    super.onUpdate(context, appWidgetManager, appWidgetIds);
    Log.d("Hey", "onUpdate");
    final int N = appWidgetIds.length;
    for (int i=0; i<N; i++) {
        int appWidgetId = appWidgetIds[i];
        int color = context.getSharedPreferences("" + appWidgetId, Context.MODE_PRIVATE).getInt("color", Color.RED);
        updateAppWidget(context, appWidgetManager, appWidgetId, color);
    }
}

@Override
public void onDeleted(Context context, int[] appWidgetIds) {
    super.onDeleted(context, appWidgetIds);
    // When the user deletes the widget, delete the preference associated with it.
    final int N = appWidgetIds.length;
    for (int i=0; i<N; i++) {
        int appWidgetId = appWidgetIds[i];
        context.getSharedPreferences("" + appWidgetId, Context.MODE_PRIVATE).edit().clear().apply();
    }
}

@Override
public void  onAppWidgetOptionsChanged (Context context, AppWidgetManager appWidgetManager, int appWidgetId, Bundle newOptions){
    super.onAppWidgetOptionsChanged(context, appWidgetManager, appWidgetId, newOptions);
    Log.d("updating", "updating");
    int nwidth = newOptions.getInt(AppWidgetManager.OPTION_APPWIDGET_MAX_WIDTH) - newOptions.getInt(AppWidgetManager.OPTION_APPWIDGET_MIN_WIDTH);
    int nheight = newOptions.getInt(AppWidgetManager.OPTION_APPWIDGET_MAX_HEIGHT) - newOptions.getInt(AppWidgetManager.OPTION_APPWIDGET_MIN_HEIGHT);
    Log.d("nheight", "" + nheight);
    Log.d("nwidth", "" + nwidth);

    RemoteViews views = new RemoteViews(context.getPackageName(),
            R.layout.activity_main);

    PackageManager packageManager = context.getPackageManager();
    Intent alarmClockIntent = new Intent(Intent.ACTION_MAIN).addCategory(Intent.CATEGORY_LAUNCHER);
    // Verify clock implementation
    String clockImpls[][] = {
            {"HTC Alarm Clock", "com.htc.android.worldclock", "com.htc.android.worldclock.WorldClockTabControl" },
            {"Standard Alarm Clock", "com.android.deskclock", "com.android.deskclock.AlarmClock"},
            {"Froyo Nexus Alarm Clock", "com.google.android.deskclock", "com.android.deskclock.DeskClock"},
            {"Moto Blur Alarm Clock", "com.motorola.blur.alarmclock",  "com.motorola.blur.alarmclock.AlarmClock"},
            {"Samsung Galaxy Clock", "com.sec.android.app.clockpackage","com.sec.android.app.clockpackage.ClockPackage"}
    };
    boolean foundClockImpl = false;
    for(int i=0; i<clockImpls.length; i++) {
        String vendor = clockImpls[i][0];
        String packageName = clockImpls[i][1];
        String className = clockImpls[i][2];
        try {
            ComponentName cn = new ComponentName(packageName, className);
            ActivityInfo aInfo = packageManager.getActivityInfo(cn, PackageManager.GET_META_DATA);
            alarmClockIntent.setComponent(cn);
            Log.d("Clock", "Found " + vendor + " --> " + packageName + "/" + className + ".");
            foundClockImpl = true;
        } catch (NameNotFoundException e) {
            Log.d("Clock", vendor + " does not exists.");
        }
    }
    if (foundClockImpl) {
        PendingIntent pendingIntent = PendingIntent.getActivity(context, 0, alarmClockIntent, 0);
            // add pending intent to your component
            // ....
        views.setOnClickPendingIntent(R.id.textClock, pendingIntent);
    }

    if (nwidth >= 60 || nwidth==0){
        views.setTextViewTextSize(R.id.textClock, TypedValue.COMPLEX_UNIT_SP, 48);
    } else if(nwidth >= 40){
        views.setTextViewTextSize(R.id.textClock, TypedValue.COMPLEX_UNIT_SP, 26);
    } else{
        views.setTextViewTextSize(R.id.textClock, TypedValue.COMPLEX_UNIT_SP, 12);
    }
    appWidgetManager.updateAppWidget(appWidgetId, views);
}


static void updateAppWidget(Context context, AppWidgetManager appWidgetManager,
        int appWidgetId, int color) {

    // Construct the RemoteViews object.  It takes the package name (in our case, it's our
    // package, but it needs this because on the other side it's the widget host inflating
    // the layout from our package).
    RemoteViews views = new RemoteViews(context.getPackageName(), R.layout.activity_main);
    views.setTextColor(R.id.textClock, color);

    // Tell the widget manager
    appWidgetManager.updateAppWidget(appWidgetId, views);
}

}

activity_main.xml (the layout for the widget):

<RelativeLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
xmlns:tools="http://schemas.android.com/tools"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="match_parent"
android:paddingBottom="@dimen/activity_vertical_margin"
android:paddingLeft="@dimen/activity_horizontal_margin"
android:paddingRight="@dimen/activity_horizontal_margin"
android:paddingTop="@dimen/activity_vertical_margin" >

<TextClock
    android:id="@+id/textClock"
    android:layout_width="match_parent"
    android:layout_height="match_parent"
    android:gravity="center"

    android:textSize="26sp"
/>

</RelativeLayout>

the appwidget_info.xml:

<appwidget-provider xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
android:minWidth="80dp"
android:minHeight="40dp"
android:minResizeWidth="20dp"
android:minResizeHeight="20dp"
android:updatePeriodMillis="0"
android:previewImage="@drawable/ic_launcher"
android:initialLayout="@layout/activity_main"
android:configure="com.brianco.colorclock.MainActivity"
android:resizeMode="horizontal|vertical"
android:widgetCategory="home_screen|keyguard"
android:initialKeyguardLayout="@layout/activity_main">
</appwidget-provider>

...and in the AndroidManifest.xml:

<application
    android:allowBackup="true"
    android:icon="@drawable/ic_launcher"
    android:label="@string/app_name" >
    <activity
        android:name="com.brianco.colorclock.MainActivity"
        android:label="@string/app_name"
        android:theme="@android:style/Theme.Translucent.NoTitleBar" >
        <intent-filter>
            <action android:name="android.appwidget.action.APPWIDGET_CONFIGURE" />
        </intent-filter>
    </activity>

    <receiver android:name="com.brianco.colorclock.MyWidget" >
        <intent-filter>
            <action android:name="android.appwidget.action.APPWIDGET_UPDATE" />
        </intent-filter>
        <meta-data android:name="android.appwidget.provider"
                android:resource="@xml/appwidget_info" />
    </receiver>
</application>

Any insight into why the settings from the configuration activity are not "sticking" would be greatly appreciated. I hope to open-source this app if I ever solve this issue, so others can learn.

Answer 1

Okay, I think the problem was calling appWidgetManager.updateAppWidget(appWidgetId, views); when the new RemoteView object (views) did not have .setTextColor(color) called on it. I hope that helps someone. Color Clock app source (GPLv3): https://github.com/NightlyNexus/Color-Clock