Show soft keyboard when Activity starts

Question

I have 2 activities, A and B. When A starts, it checks for a condition and if true, it calls startActivityForResult() to start B. B only takes text input so it makes sense for the soft keyboard to automatically pop up when B start. When the activity starts, the EditText already has focus and it ready for input.

The problem is that the keyboard never shows up, even with windowSoftInputMode="stateAlwaysVisible" set in the manifest under the <activity> tag for B. I also tried with the value set to stateVisible. Since it doesn't show up automatically, I have to tap the EditText to make it show.

Anyone know what the solution might be?

(Shooting in the dark, but) have you tried requestFocus on the text box? — Roy Truelove, Mar 18 '10 at 02:37

score 103 · Answer 1 · edited Dec 24 '22 at 21:56

103

What worked best for me is in Android Manifest for activity B adding

android:windowSoftInputMode="stateVisible"

edited Dec 24 '22 at 21:56

starball

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answered Jan 24 '11 at 19:22

Leo

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I should note that so far, this works well for the Nexus One running 2.2 but some of the Motorola devices such as Milestone with 2.1 seem to ignore this. – Leo Feb 09 '11 at 21:14
Thanks, to do that programmatically check https://stackoverflow.com/questions/5593053/open-soft-keyboard-programmatically – David Magalhães Feb 15 '17 at 16:02
Using `stateVisible` results in the keyboard reappearing when the device orientation changes. If this behaviour is not desired, then `stateVisible` is not the solution. – Alex Peters Jan 04 '18 at 12:48
3

For newbies like me: you must add this line right after – LePatay Jul 09 '18 at 10:21
The problem with this method is that it can't be propagated to many apps using a central library. You need to repeat this behavior in all manifest files. A programmatic solution solves that problem too. – Saeed Neamati Jul 19 '18 at 08:14

score 22 · Answer 2 · answered Sep 23 '15 at 09:12

22

Easiest solution: Put

android:windowSoftInputMode = "stateVisible"

in Activity section of AndroidManifest.xml

answered Sep 23 '15 at 09:12

Uncaught Exception

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For newbies like me: you must add this line right after – LePatay Jul 09 '18 at 10:22

score 14 · Answer 3 · answered Mar 18 '10 at 05:25

14

If requestFocus on an EditText isn't showing it, maybe this'll do it:

InputMethodManager imm = (InputMethodManager)getSystemService(
    Context.INPUT_METHOD_SERVICE);
imm.showSoftInput(mEditText, 0);

Look here for more information.

answered Mar 18 '10 at 05:25

synic

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this should work so long as you're not specifying a different soft input state anywhere else, like in your manifest or in code. i.e this.getWindow().setSoftInputMode(WindowManager.LayoutParams.SOFT_INPUT_STATE_ALWAYS_HIDDEN); – topwik Nov 13 '12 at 14:55

score 11 · Answer 4 · answered Jun 21 '12 at 09:45

11

For me worked only this solutions: add in manifest for that activity:

android:windowSoftInputMode="stateVisible|adjustPan"

answered Jun 21 '12 at 09:45

Paul

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Did it work for devices with hardware keyboard? I'm having a hard time working this in hardware keyboard devices i.e 2.2 devices – NinjaCoder Mar 08 '13 at 15:17
For newbies like me: you must add this line right after – LePatay Jul 09 '18 at 10:22

score 8 · Answer 5 · answered Feb 04 '18 at 19:48

I have got two way.

Method 1. Use the following code inside the OnCreate method

getWindow().setSoftInputMode(WindowManager.LayoutParams.SOFT_INPUT_STATE_ALWAYS_HIDDEN);

It will prevent popping up keyboard unless you click.

or

Method 2 You can move away the focus on other view like TextView by using "requestfocus" in the xml.

<TextView
            android:id="@+id/year_birth_day"
            android:layout_width="match_parent"
            android:layout_height="match_parent"
            android:layout_weight="1"
            android:text="1991">            
           <requestFocus />
           </TextView>

Method 3 ( I think it should be avoidable) Using the following code in the manifest-

android:windowSoftInputMode="stateVisible"

using is the only thing that worked for me. Thank you – jungledev Jan 18 '19 at 13:34 — jungledev, Jan 18 '19 at 13:34

whlk · Answer 6 · 2018-11-26T13:48:39.853

6

Try showing the keyboard with some delay. Something similar to this:

public void onResume() {
    super.onResume();

    TimerTask tt = new TimerTask() {

        @Override
        public void run() {
            InputMethodManager imm = (InputMethodManager) getSystemService(Context.INPUT_METHOD_SERVICE);
            imm.showSoftInput(yourTextBox, InputMethodManager.SHOW_IMPLICIT);
        }
    };

    final Timer timer = new Timer();
    timer.schedule(tt, 200);
}

edited Nov 26 '18 at 13:48

answered Mar 18 '11 at 22:01

whlk

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timer task? for what? – busylee May 20 '15 at 11:35
@busylee you can use a Handler or any other method of executing something in a delay of your choosing. This is only an example. – whlk May 20 '15 at 20:48
There is no reason to use delay – busylee May 21 '15 at 05:04

score 3 · Answer 7 · answered May 13 '20 at 15:12

Major Attention Required!

android:windowSoftInputMode="stateVisible|adjustPan" This alone won't work to show keyboard on activity start.

You also need to explicitly add this into your class

editTextXYZ.requestFocus()
        val imm: InputMethodManager =
            getSystemService(Context.INPUT_METHOD_SERVICE) as InputMethodManager
        imm.showSoftInput(editTextXYZ, InputMethodManager.SHOW_IMPLICIT)

score 1 · Answer 8 · edited Jan 20 '18 at 14:42

1

File : AndroidManifest.xml

<activity android:name=".MainActivity">

Add following property :

android:windowSoftInputMode="stateVisible"

Which worked for me.

edited Jan 20 '18 at 14:42

Paul Roub

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answered Jan 20 '18 at 14:15

Keyur Sureliya

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score 1 · Answer 9 · answered Feb 03 '11 at 10:19

1

If you're using an emulator, you have to turn the hard keyboard off in order for the soft keyboard to show.

answered Feb 03 '11 at 10:19

Chad Hedgcock

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score 0 · Answer 10 · answered Dec 14 '18 at 13:16

0

paste this after setContentView

this.getWindow().setSoftInputMode(WindowManager.LayoutParams.SOFT_INPUT_STATE_ALWAYS_VISIBLE);

answered Dec 14 '18 at 13:16

Ashwini

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Show soft keyboard when Activity starts

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