EditText and TabHost do not like each other

Question

I have a layout with EditText and TabHost containing 2 tabs. Android 1.6.

I use hardware keyboard in following case. Steps to reproduce:

1. When activity i

Answer 1

After digging extensively through the Android source, I found the bug: TabHost registers an OnTouchModeChangeListener in onAttachedToWindow() that steals focus when leaving touch mode (aka when someone presses a key).

I've created a workaround: just place this in src/info/staticfree/workarounds/TabPatchView.java and add this view to your layout where you use tabs. See the Javadoc below for more details.

package info.staticfree.workarounds;

import android.content.Context;
import android.util.AttributeSet;
import android.view.View;
import android.widget.TabHost;

/**
 * 

 * This is a workaround for a bug in Android in which using tabs such that all the content of the
 * layout isn't in the tabs causes the TabHost to steal focus from any views outside the tab
 * content. This is most commonly found with EditTexts.
 * 
 * 

 * To use, simply place this view in your @android:id/tablayout frameview:
 * 
 * 
 * 
 * 
 *             <FrameLayout
 *                 android:id="@android:id/tabcontent"
 *                 android:layout_width="match_parent"
 *                 android:layout_height="match_parent" >
 * 
 *                 <info.staticfree.workarounds.TabPatchView
 *                     android:layout_width="0dip"
 *                     android:layout_height="0dip" />
 *                     
 *                     [your actual content goes here]
 *                     </FrameLayout>
 * 
 * 

 * 
 * 
 * 
 * @author Steve Pomeroy
 * @see issue 2516
 */
public class TabPatchView extends View {

    public TabPatchView(Context context) {
        super(context);
    }

    public TabPatchView(Context context, AttributeSet attrs) {
        super(context, attrs);
    }

    public TabPatchView(Context context, AttributeSet attrs, int defStyle) {
        super(context, attrs, defStyle);
    }

    @Override
    protected void onAttachedToWindow() {
        super.onAttachedToWindow();
        final TabHost tabhost = (TabHost) getRootView().findViewById(android.R.id.tabhost);
        tabhost.getViewTreeObserver().removeOnTouchModeChangeListener(tabhost);
    }
}

If you're targeting SDK 12+, you can use OnAttachStateChangeListener instead. In onCreate(), add:

TabHost mTabHost = (TabHost) findViewById(android.R.id.tabhost);
mTabHost.addOnAttachStateChangeListener(new OnAttachStateChangeListener() {

    @Override
    public void onViewDetachedFromWindow(View v) {}

    @Override
    public void onViewAttachedToWindow(View v) {
        mTabHost.getViewTreeObserver().removeOnTouchModeChangeListener(mTabHost);
    }
});

And that's it!