Android: screen rotation, on destroy and services connundrum

Question

I\'ve modified the bluetooth chat example from the SDK demos to be able to control an arduino powered bluetooth LED matrix. Using the chat program, I can send messages to the

Answer 1

The recommended way to do this is to have a TaskFragment handling your logic, and then some callbacks to your activity to sync with your UI.

See the following site for more detailed explanation: http://www.androiddesignpatterns.com/2013/04/retaining-objects-across-config-changes.html

Answer 2

to add to @alex.veprix to the point (and correct I must mention) answer, if you're building for devices with API level 13 or higher, don't forget to add ScreenSize attribute in the following way: android:configChanges="orientation|screenSize"

Details here: http://developer.android.com/guide/topics/manifest/activity-element.html

Answer 3

If you add "android:configChanges="orientation"" into your Manifest to prevent the activity from being destroyed and re-created, you might want to implement the method:

public void onConfigurationChanged(Configuration newConfig)

This method is executed every time the system configuration is changed, i.e. when you rotate the phone and orientation is changed. Inside this method you can re-apply a new layout for your activity:

public void onConfigurationChanged(Configuration newConfig) {
    super.onConfigurationChanged(newConfig);

    if (newConfig.orientation == Configuration.ORIENTATION_LANDSCAPE) {
        Log.e(TAG, "ORIENTATION_LANDSCAPE");
    } else if (newConfig.orientation == Configuration.ORIENTATION_PORTRAIT) {
        Log.e(TAG, "ORIENTATION_PORTRAIT");
    }
}