Input Controls

Input controls are the interactive components in your app's user interface. Android provides a wide variety of controls you can use in your UI, such as buttons, text fields, seek bars, checkboxes, zoom buttons, toggle buttons, and many more.

Adding an input control to your UI is as simple as adding an XML element to your XML layout . For example, here's a layout with a text field and button:

       <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<LinearLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
    android:layout_width="fill_parent"
    android:layout_height="fill_parent"
    android:orientation="horizontal">
    <EditText android:id="@+id/edit_message"
        android:layout_weight="1"
        android:layout_width="0dp"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:hint="@string/edit_message" />
    <Button android:id="@+id/button_send"
        android:layout_width="wrap_content"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:text="@string/button_send"
        android:onClick="sendMessage" />
</LinearLayout>
      

Each input control supports a specific set of input events so you can handle events such as when the user enters text or touches a button.

Common Controls

Here's a list of some common controls that you can use in your app. Follow the links to learn more about using each one.

Note: Android provides several more controls than are listed here. Browse the android.widget package to discover more. If your app requires a specific kind of input control, you can build your own custom components .