[android] How do I display the current value of an Android Preference in the Preference summary?

This must come up very often.

When the user is editing preferences in an Android app, I'd like them to be able to see the currently set value of the preference in the Preference summary.

Example: if I have a Preference setting for "Discard old messages" that specifies the number of days after which messages need to be cleaned up. In the PreferenceActivity I'd like the user to see:

"Discard old messages" <- title

"Clean up messages after x days" <- summary where x is the current Preference value

Extra credit: make this reusable, so I can easily apply it to all my preferences regardless of their type (so that it work with EditTextPreference, ListPreference etc. with minimal amount of coding).

Actually, CheckBoxPreference does have the ability to specify a different summary based on the checkbox value. See the android:summaryOff and android:summaryOn attributes (as well as the corresponding CheckBoxPreference methods).

FYI:

findPreference(CharSequence key)
This method was deprecated in API level 11. This function is not relevant
for a modern fragment-based PreferenceActivity.

All the more reason to look at the very slick Answer of @ASD above (source found here) saying to use %s in android:summary for each field in preferences.xml. (Current value of preference is substituted for %s.)

<ListPreference
 ...        
 android:summary="Length of longest word to return as match is %s"
 ...
 />

According to Android docs you can use app:useSimpleSummaryProvider="true" in ListPreference and EditTextPreference components.

You can override default Preference classes and implement the feature.

public class MyListPreference extends ListPreference  {
    public MyListPreference(Context context) { super(context); }
    public MyListPreference(Context context, AttributeSet attrs) { super(context, attrs); }
    @Override
    public void setValue(String value) {
        super.setValue(value);
        setSummary(getEntry());
    }
}

Later in you xml you can use custom preference like

<your.package.name.MyListPreference 
    android:key="noteInterval"
    android:defaultValue="60"
    android:title="Notification Interval"
    android:entries="@array/noteInterval"
    android:entryValues="@array/noteIntervalValues"
    />

Here's my solution:

Build a preference type 'getter' method.

protected String getPreference(Preference x) {
    // http://stackoverflow.com/questions/3993982/how-to-check-type-of-variable-in-java
    if (x instanceof CheckBoxPreference)
        return "CheckBoxPreference";
    else if (x instanceof EditTextPreference)
        return "EditTextPreference";
    else if (x instanceof ListPreference)
        return "ListPreference";
    else if (x instanceof MultiSelectListPreference)
        return "MultiSelectListPreference";
    else if (x instanceof RingtonePreference)
        return "RingtonePreference";
    else if (x instanceof SwitchPreference)
        return "SwitchPreference";
    else if (x instanceof TwoStatePreference)
        return "TwoStatePreference";
    else if (x instanceof DialogPreference) // Needs to be after ListPreference
        return "DialogPreference";
    else
        return "undefined";
}

Build a 'setSummaryInit' method.

public void onSharedPreferenceChanged(SharedPreferences prefs, String key) {
        Log.i(TAG, "+ onSharedPreferenceChanged(prefs:" + prefs + ", key:" + key + ")");
        if( key != null ) {
            updatePreference(prefs, key);
            setSummary(key);
        } else {
            Log.e(TAG, "Preference without key!");
        }
        Log.i(TAG, "- onSharedPreferenceChanged()");
    }

    protected boolean setSummary() {
        return _setSummary(null);
    }
    
    protected boolean setSummary(String sKey) {
        return _setSummary(sKey);
    }
    
    private boolean _setSummary(String sKey) {
        if (sKey == null) Log.i(TAG, "Initializing");
        else Log.i(TAG, sKey);
        
        // Get Preferences
        SharedPreferences sharedPrefs = PreferenceManager
                .getDefaultSharedPreferences(this);

        // Iterate through all Shared Preferences
        // http://stackoverflow.com/questions/9310479/how-to-iterate-through-all-keys-of-shared-preferences
        Map<String, ?> keys = sharedPrefs.getAll();
        for (Map.Entry<String, ?> entry : keys.entrySet()) {
            String key = entry.getKey();
            // Do work only if initializing (null) or updating specific preference key
            if ( (sKey == null) || (sKey.equals(key)) ) {
                String value = entry.getValue().toString();
                Preference pref = findPreference(key);
                String preference = getPreference(pref);
                Log.d("map values", key + " | " + value + " | " + preference);
                pref.setSummary(key + " | " + value + " | " + preference);
                if (sKey != null) return true;
            }
        }
        return false;
    }

    private void updatePreference(SharedPreferences prefs, String key) {
        Log.i(TAG, "+ updatePreference(prefs:" + prefs + ", key:" + key + ")");
        Preference pref = findPreference(key);
        String preferenceType = getPreference(pref);
        Log.i(TAG, "preferenceType = " + preferenceType);
        Log.i(TAG, "- updatePreference()");
    }

Initialize

Create public class that PreferenceActivity and implements OnSharedPreferenceChangeListener

protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
    super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
    PreferenceManager.setDefaultValues(this, R.xml.global_preferences,
    false);
    this.addPreferencesFromResource(R.xml.global_preferences);
    this.getPreferenceScreen().getSharedPreferences()
        .registerOnSharedPreferenceChangeListener(this);
}

protected void onResume() {
    super.onResume();
    setSummary();
}

There are ways to make this a more generic solution, if that suits your needs.

For example, if you want to generically have all list preferences show their choice as summary, you could have this for your onSharedPreferenceChanged implementation:

public void onSharedPreferenceChanged(SharedPreferences sharedPreferences, String key) {
    Preference pref = findPreference(key);

    if (pref instanceof ListPreference) {
        ListPreference listPref = (ListPreference) pref;
        pref.setSummary(listPref.getEntry());
    }
}

This is easily extensible to other preference classes.

And by using the getPreferenceCount and getPreference functionality in PreferenceScreen and PreferenceCategory, you could easily write a generic function to walk the preference tree setting the summaries of all preferences of the types you desire to their toString representation

I found this way to make EditTextPreference from support library handle "%s" in summary (as ListPreference already handles):

public class EditTextPreference extends android.support.v7.preference.EditTextPreference {
    public EditTextPreference(Context context, AttributeSet attrs) {
        super(context, attrs);
    }

    @Override
    public void setText(String text) {
        super.setText(text);
        notifyChanged();
    }

    @Override
    public CharSequence getSummary() {
        String text = super.getText();
        String summary = super.getSummary().toString();
        return String.format(summary, text == null ? "" : text);
    }
}

In xml it will look like this:

<com.example.yourapp.EditTextPreference
    android:defaultValue="1"
    android:key="cleanup_period"
    android:summary="Clean up messages after %s days"
    android:title="Clean up period" />

To set the summary of a ListPreference to the value selected in a dialog you could use this code:

package yourpackage;

import android.content.Context;
import android.util.AttributeSet;

public class ListPreference extends android.preference.ListPreference {

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

    protected void onDialogClosed(boolean positiveResult) {
        super.onDialogClosed(positiveResult);
        if (positiveResult) setSummary(getEntry());
    }

    protected void onSetInitialValue(boolean restoreValue, Object defaultValue) {
        super.onSetInitialValue(restoreValue, defaultValue);
        setSummary(getEntry());
    }
}

and reference the yourpackage.ListPreference object in your preferences.xml remembering to specify there your android:defaultValue as this triggers the call to onSetInitialValue().

If you want you can then modify the text before calling setSummary() to whatever suits your application.

Thanks for this tip!

I have one preference screen and want to show the value for each list preference as the summary.

This is my way now:

public class Preferences extends PreferenceActivity implements OnSharedPreferenceChangeListener {

@Override
protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
        super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
        addPreferencesFromResource(R.xml.preferences);
}

@Override
protected void onResume() {
    super.onResume();

    // Set up initial values for all list preferences
    Map<String, ?> sharedPreferencesMap = getPreferenceScreen().getSharedPreferences().getAll();
    Preference pref;
    ListPreference listPref;
    for (Map.Entry<String, ?> entry : sharedPreferencesMap.entrySet()) {
        pref = findPreference(entry.getKey());
        if (pref instanceof ListPreference) {
            listPref = (ListPreference) pref;
            pref.setSummary(listPref.getEntry());
        }
    }

    // Set up a listener whenever a key changes            
    getPreferenceScreen().getSharedPreferences().registerOnSharedPreferenceChangeListener(this);
}

@Override
protected void onPause() {
    super.onPause();

    // Unregister the listener whenever a key changes            
    getPreferenceScreen().getSharedPreferences().unregisterOnSharedPreferenceChangeListener(this);    
}

public void onSharedPreferenceChanged(SharedPreferences sharedPreferences, String key) {
    Preference pref = findPreference(key);

    if (pref instanceof ListPreference) {
        ListPreference listPref = (ListPreference) pref;
        pref.setSummary(listPref.getEntry());
    }
}

This works for me, but I'm wondering what is the best solution (performance, stability, scalibility): the one Koem is showing or this one?

public class ProfileManagement extends PreferenceActivity implements
OnPreferenceChangeListener {
    EditTextPreference screenName;
    ListPreference sex;

    @Override
    protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
            super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
            addPreferencesFromResource(R.layout.profile_management);

            screenName = (EditTextPreference) findPreference("editTextPref");
            sex = (ListPreference) findPreference("sexSelector");

            screenName.setOnPreferenceChangeListener(this);
            sex.setOnPreferenceChangeListener(this);

    }   

    @Override
    public boolean onPreferenceChange(Preference preference, Object newValue) {
        preference.setSummary(newValue.toString());
        return true;
    }
}

Maybe like ListPreference: Modify getSummary to get what you want:

package your.package.preference;

import android.content.Context;
import android.util.AttributeSet;

public class EditTextPreference extends android.preference.EditTextPreference{
        public EditTextPreference(Context context, AttributeSet attrs, int defStyle) {
            super(context, attrs, defStyle);
        }

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

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

        @Override
        public CharSequence getSummary() {
            if(super.getSummary() == null) return null;

            String summary = super.getSummary().toString();
            return String.format(summary, getText());
        }
    }

And use this in your xml:

<your.package.EditTextPreference
                android:key="pref_alpha"
                android:summary="Actual value: %s"
                android:title="Title"
                android:defaultValue="default"
                />

So you are able to write a summary with %s instead of the actual value.

If someone is still looking for answers to this, you should check out thirtythreefortys answer.

<ListPreference
    android:key="pref_list"
    android:title="A list of preferences"
    android:summary="%s"
    android:entries="@array/pref_list_entries"
    android:entryValues="@array/pref_list_entries_values"
    android:defaultValue="0" />

Android will replace %s with the current string value of the preference, as displayed by the ListPreference's picker.

Since in androidx Preference class has the SummaryProvider interface, it can be done without OnSharedPreferenceChangeListener. Simple implementations are provided for EditTextPreference and ListPreference. Building on EddieB's answer it can look like this. Tested on androidx.preference:preference:1.1.0-alpha03.

package com.example.util.timereminder.ui.prefs;

import android.os.Bundle;

import com.example.util.timereminder.R;

import androidx.preference.EditTextPreference;
import androidx.preference.ListPreference;
import androidx.preference.Preference;
import androidx.preference.PreferenceFragmentCompat;
import androidx.preference.PreferenceGroup;

/**
 * Displays different preferences.
 */
public class PrefsFragmentExample extends PreferenceFragmentCompat {

    @Override
    public void onCreatePreferences(Bundle savedInstanceState, String rootKey) {
        addPreferencesFromResource(R.xml.preferences);

        initSummary(getPreferenceScreen());
    }

    /**
     * Walks through all preferences.
     *
     * @param p The starting preference to search from.
     */
    private void initSummary(Preference p) {
        if (p instanceof PreferenceGroup) {
            PreferenceGroup pGrp = (PreferenceGroup) p;
            for (int i = 0; i < pGrp.getPreferenceCount(); i++) {
                initSummary(pGrp.getPreference(i));
            }
        } else {
            setPreferenceSummary(p);
        }
    }

    /**
     * Sets up summary providers for the preferences.
     *
     * @param p The preference to set up summary provider.
     */
    private void setPreferenceSummary(Preference p) {
        // No need to set up preference summaries for checkbox preferences because
        // they can be set up in xml using summaryOff and summary On
        if (p instanceof ListPreference) {
            p.setSummaryProvider(ListPreference.SimpleSummaryProvider.getInstance());
        } else if (p instanceof EditTextPreference) {
            p.setSummaryProvider(EditTextPreference.SimpleSummaryProvider.getInstance());
        }
    }
}

This is the code you need to set the summary to the chosen value. It also sets the values on startup and respects the default values, not only on change. Just change "R.layout.prefs" to your xml-file and extend the setSummary-method to your needs. It actually is only handling ListPreferences, but it is easy to customize to respect other Preferences.

package de.koem.timetunnel;

import android.content.SharedPreferences;
import android.content.SharedPreferences.OnSharedPreferenceChangeListener;
import android.os.Bundle;
import android.preference.ListPreference;
import android.preference.Preference;
import android.preference.PreferenceActivity;
import android.preference.PreferenceGroup;

public class Prefs 
    extends PreferenceActivity 
    implements OnSharedPreferenceChangeListener {

   @Override
   protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
       super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);

       this.addPreferencesFromResource(R.layout.prefs);
       this.initSummaries(this.getPreferenceScreen());

       this.getPreferenceScreen().getSharedPreferences()
           .registerOnSharedPreferenceChangeListener(this);
    }

  /**
    * Set the summaries of all preferences
    */
  private void initSummaries(PreferenceGroup pg) {
      for (int i = 0; i < pg.getPreferenceCount(); ++i) {
          Preference p = pg.getPreference(i);
          if (p instanceof PreferenceGroup)
              this.initSummaries((PreferenceGroup) p); // recursion
          else
              this.setSummary(p);
      }
  }

  /**
    * Set the summaries of the given preference
    */
  private void setSummary(Preference pref) {
      // react on type or key
      if (pref instanceof ListPreference) {
          ListPreference listPref = (ListPreference) pref;
          pref.setSummary(listPref.getEntry());
      }
  }

  /**
    * used to change the summary of a preference
    */
  public void onSharedPreferenceChanged(SharedPreferences sp, String key) {
     Preference pref = findPreference(key);
     this.setSummary(pref);
  }

  // private static final String LOGTAG = "Prefs";
}

koem

For EditTextPreference:

I came to this solution, of course, just if you need particular edittextpreference but you could do this with every Preference:

............

private static final String KEY_EDIT_TEXT_PREFERENCE2 = "on_a1";
public static  String value = "";

............

private void updatePreference(Preference preference, String key) {

            if (key.equals(KEY_EDIT_TEXT_PREFERENCE2)) {
                preference = findPreference(key);
                if (preference instanceof EditTextPreference) {
                    editTextPreference = (EditTextPreference) preference;
                    editTextPreference.setSummary(editTextPreference.getText());
                    value = editTextPreference.getText().toString();
                    return;
                }
                SharedPreferences sharedPrefs = getPreferenceManager().getSharedPreferences();
                preference.setSummary(sharedPrefs.getString(KEY_EDIT_TEXT_PREFERENCE2, ""));

            }
}

Then in onResume();

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

            SharedPreferences etext = getPreferenceManager().getSharedPreferences();
            String str = etext.getString("value", "");
            editTextPreference = (EditTextPreference) findPreference(KEY_EDIT_TEXT_PREFERENCE2);
            editTextPreference.setText(str);
            editTextPreference.setSummary(editTextPreference.getText());

            getPreferenceScreen().getSharedPreferences()
                    .registerOnSharedPreferenceChangeListener(this);
        }

In:

@Override
        public void onSharedPreferenceChanged(SharedPreferences sharedPreferences, String key) {
            updatePreference(findPreference(key), key);
}

Because I'm using a custom PreferenceDataStore, I can't add a listener to some SharedPreference so I've had to write a somewhat hacky solution that listens to each preference:

class SettingsFragment : PreferenceFragmentCompat(), Preference.OnPreferenceChangeListener {
    private val handler: Handler by lazy { Handler(Looper.getMainLooper()) }

    override fun onCreatePreferences(savedInstanceState: Bundle?, rootKey: String?) {
        preferenceManager.preferenceDataStore = prefs
        addPreferencesFromResource(R.xml.app_preferences)
        onPreferenceChange(preferenceScreen, null)
    }

    override fun onPreferenceChange(preference: Preference, newValue: Any?): Boolean {
        preference.onPreferenceChangeListener = this

        when (preference) {
            is PreferenceGroup -> for (i in 0 until preference.preferenceCount) {
                onPreferenceChange(preference.getPreference(i), null)
            }
            is ListPreference -> {
                if (preference.value == null) {
                    preference.isPersistent = false
                    preference.value = Preference::class.java.getDeclaredField("mDefaultValue")
                            .apply { isAccessible = true }
                            .get(preference).toString()
                    preference.isPersistent = true
                }

                postPreferenceUpdate(Runnable { preference.summary = preference.entry })
            }
        }
        return true
    }

    /**
     * We can't directly update the preference summary update because [onPreferenceChange]'s result
     * is used to decide whether or not to update the pref value.
     */
    private fun postPreferenceUpdate(r: Runnable) = handler.post(r)
}

Here is a working solution for all EditTextPreferences inside of a PreferenceFragment based on @tdeveaux answer:

public class SettingsFragment extends PreferenceFragment implements SharedPreferences.OnSharedPreferenceChangeListener {
    private static final String TAG = "SettingsFragment";

    @Override
    public void onCreate (Bundle savedInstanceState) {
        super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
        addPreferencesFromResource(R.xml.preferences);
        getPreferenceScreen().getSharedPreferences().registerOnSharedPreferenceChangeListener(this);
    }

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

        for (int i = 0; i < getPreferenceScreen().getPreferenceCount(); ++i) {
            Preference preference = getPreferenceScreen().getPreference(i);
            updatePreference(preference);
        }
    }

    @Override
    public void onSharedPreferenceChanged (SharedPreferences sharedPreferences, String key) {
        updatePreference(findPreference(key));
    }

    private void updatePreference (Preference preference) {
        if (preference instanceof EditTextPreference) {
            EditTextPreference editTextPreference = (EditTextPreference)preference;
            editTextPreference.setSummary(editTextPreference.getText());
        }
    }
}

In Android Studio, open "root_preferences.xml", select Design mode. Select the desired EditTextPreference preference, and under "All attributes", look for the "useSimpleSummaryProvider" attribute and set it to true. It will then show the current value.

For EditTextPreference:

public class MyEditTextPreference extends EditTextPreference {
    public MyEditTextPreference(Context context, AttributeSet attrs, int defStyle) {
        super(context, attrs, defStyle);
    }

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

    @Override
    public void setText(String text) {
        super.setText(text);
        setSummary(text);
    }
}

Here is my solution... FWIW

package com.example.PrefTest;

import android.content.SharedPreferences;
import android.content.SharedPreferences.OnSharedPreferenceChangeListener;
import android.os.Bundle;
import android.preference.EditTextPreference;
import android.preference.ListPreference;
import android.preference.Preference;
import android.preference.PreferenceActivity;
import android.preference.PreferenceGroup;
import android.preference.PreferenceManager;

public class Preferences extends PreferenceActivity implements
        OnSharedPreferenceChangeListener {

    @Override
    protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
        super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
        addPreferencesFromResource(R.xml.preferences);
        PreferenceManager.setDefaultValues(Preferences.this, R.xml.preferences,
            false);
        initSummary(getPreferenceScreen());
    }

    @Override
    protected void onResume() {
        super.onResume();
        // Set up a listener whenever a key changes
        getPreferenceScreen().getSharedPreferences()
                .registerOnSharedPreferenceChangeListener(this);
    }

    @Override
    protected void onPause() {
        super.onPause();
        // Unregister the listener whenever a key changes
        getPreferenceScreen().getSharedPreferences()
                .unregisterOnSharedPreferenceChangeListener(this);
    }

    public void onSharedPreferenceChanged(SharedPreferences sharedPreferences,
            String key) {
        updatePrefSummary(findPreference(key));
    }

    private void initSummary(Preference p) {
        if (p instanceof PreferenceGroup) {
            PreferenceGroup pGrp = (PreferenceGroup) p;
            for (int i = 0; i < pGrp.getPreferenceCount(); i++) {
                initSummary(pGrp.getPreference(i));
            }
        } else {
            updatePrefSummary(p);
        }
    }

    private void updatePrefSummary(Preference p) {
        if (p instanceof ListPreference) {
            ListPreference listPref = (ListPreference) p;
            p.setSummary(listPref.getEntry());
        }
        if (p instanceof EditTextPreference) {
            EditTextPreference editTextPref = (EditTextPreference) p;
            if (p.getTitle().toString().toLowerCase().contains("password"))
            {
                p.setSummary("******");
            } else {
                p.setSummary(editTextPref.getText());
            }
        }
        if (p instanceof MultiSelectListPreference) {
            EditTextPreference editTextPref = (EditTextPreference) p;
            p.setSummary(editTextPref.getText());
        }
    }
}

Android documentation says one can use a String formatting marker in getSummary():

If the summary has a String formatting marker in it (i.e. "%s" or "%1$s"), then the current entry value will be substituted in its place.

Simply specifying android:summary="Clean up messages after %s days" in ListPreference xml declaration worked for me.

Note: This only works for ListPreference.

I've seen all voted answers show how to set the summary with the exact current value, but the OP wanted also something like:

"Clean up messages after x days"* <- summary where x is the current Preference value

Here is my answer for achieving that

As per the documentation on ListPreference.getSummary():

Returns the summary of this ListPreference. If the summary has a String formatting marker in it (i.e. "%s" or "%1$s"), then the current entry value will be substituted in its place.

However, I tried this on several devices and it doesn't seem to work. With some research, I found a good solution in this answer. It simply consists of extending every Preference you use and override getSummary() to work as specified by Android documentation.

Simply:

listPreference.setSummary("%s");

Here,all these are cut from Eclipse sample SettingsActivity. I have to copy all these too much codes to show how these android developers choose perfectly for more generalized and stable coding style.

I left the codes for adapting the PreferenceActivity to tablet and greater API.

public class SettingsActivity extends PreferenceActivity {

@Override
protected void onPostCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
    super.onPostCreate(savedInstanceState);

    setupSummaryUpdatablePreferencesScreen();
}

private void setupSummaryUpdatablePreferencesScreen() {

    // In the simplified UI, fragments are not used at all and we instead
    // use the older PreferenceActivity APIs.

    // Add 'general' preferences.
    addPreferencesFromResource(R.xml.pref_general);

    // Bind the summaries of EditText/List/Dialog preferences to
    // their values. When their values change, their summaries are updated
    // to reflect the new value, per the Android Design guidelines.
    bindPreferenceSummaryToValue(findPreference("example_text"));
    bindPreferenceSummaryToValue(findPreference("example_list"));
}

/**
 * A preference value change listener that updates the preference's summary
 * to reflect its new value.
 */
private static Preference.OnPreferenceChangeListener sBindPreferenceSummaryToValueListener = new Preference.OnPreferenceChangeListener() {

    private String TAG = SettingsActivity.class.getSimpleName();

    @Override
    public boolean onPreferenceChange(Preference preference, Object value) {
        String stringValue = value.toString();

        if (preference instanceof ListPreference) {
            // For list preferences, look up the correct display value in
            // the preference's 'entries' list.
            ListPreference listPreference = (ListPreference) preference;
            int index = listPreference.findIndexOfValue(stringValue);

            // Set the summary to reflect the new value.
            preference.setSummary(
                index >= 0
                ? listPreference.getEntries()[index]
                : null);
        } else {
            // For all other preferences, set the summary to the value's
            // simple string representation.
            preference.setSummary(stringValue);
        }
        Log.i(TAG, "pref changed : " + preference.getKey() + " " + value);
        return true;
    }
};

/**
 * Binds a preference's summary to its value. More specifically, when the
 * preference's value is changed, its summary (line of text below the
 * preference title) is updated to reflect the value. The summary is also
 * immediately updated upon calling this method. The exact display format is
 * dependent on the type of preference.
 *
 * @see #sBindPreferenceSummaryToValueListener
 */

private static void bindPreferenceSummaryToValue(Preference preference) {
    // Set the listener to watch for value changes.
    preference.setOnPreferenceChangeListener(sBindPreferenceSummaryToValueListener);

    // Trigger the listener immediately with the preference's
    // current value.
    sBindPreferenceSummaryToValueListener.onPreferenceChange(preference,
                                                             PreferenceManager
                                                             .getDefaultSharedPreferences(preference.getContext())
                                                             .getString(preference.getKey(), ""));
}

}

xml/pref_general.xml

<PreferenceScreen xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android" >

<!-- NOTE: EditTextPreference accepts EditText attributes. -->
<!-- NOTE: EditTextPreference's summary should be set to its value by the activity code. -->
<EditTextPreference
android:capitalize="words"
android:defaultValue="@string/pref_default_display_name"
android:inputType="textCapWords"
android:key="example_text"
android:maxLines="1"
android:selectAllOnFocus="true"
android:singleLine="true"
android:title="@string/pref_title_display_name" />

<!-- NOTE: Hide buttons to simplify the UI. Users can touch outside the dialog todismiss it.-->
<!-- NOTE: ListPreference's summary should be set to its value by the activity code. -->
<ListPreference
android:defaultValue="-1"
android:entries="@array/pref_example_list_titles"
android:entryValues="@array/pref_example_list_values"
android:key="example_list"
android:negativeButtonText="@null"
android:positiveButtonText="@null"
android:title="@string/pref_title_add_friends_to_messages" />

</PreferenceScreen>

values/strings_activity_settings.xml

<resources>
<!-- Strings related to Settings -->

<!-- Example General settings -->

<string name="pref_title_display_name">Display name</string>
<string name="pref_default_display_name">John Smith</string>

<string name="pref_title_add_friends_to_messages">Add friends to messages</string>
<string-array name="pref_example_list_titles">
<item>Always</item>
<item>When possible</item>
<item>Never</item>
</string-array>
<string-array name="pref_example_list_values">
<item>1</item>
<item>0</item>
<item>-1</item>
</string-array>
</resources>

NOTE: Actually I just want to comment like "Google's sample for PreferenceActivity is also interesting". But I haven't enough reputation points.So please don't blame me.

(Sorry for bad English)

The concise solution by 1 line of code:

@Override
public void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
    super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
    addPreferencesFromResource(R.xml.preferences);

    bindPreferenceSummaryToValue(findPreference("mySetting"));

    // initialize summary
    sBindPreferenceSummaryToValueListener.onPreferenceChange(findPreference("mySetting"), 
        ((ListPreference) findPreference("mySetting")).getEntry());
}

I solved the issue with the following descendant of ListPreference:

public class EnumPreference extends ListPreference {

    public EnumPreference(Context aContext, AttributeSet attrs) {
        super(aContext,attrs);
    }

    @Override
    protected View onCreateView(ViewGroup parent) {
        setSummary(getEntry());
        return super.onCreateView(parent);
    }

    @Override
    protected boolean persistString(String aNewValue) {
        if (super.persistString(aNewValue)) {
            setSummary(getEntry());
            notifyChanged();
            return true;
        } else {
            return false;
        }
    }
}

Seems to work fine for me in 1.6 up through 4.0.4.

If you are using AndroidX you can use a custom SummaryProvider. This approach can be used for any Preference.

Example from documentation (Java):

EditTextPreference countingPreference = (EditTextPreference) findPreference("counting");

countingPreference.setSummaryProvider(new SummaryProvider<EditTextPreference>() {
    @Override
    public CharSequence provideSummary(EditTextPreference preference) {
        String text = preference.getText();
        if (TextUtils.isEmpty(text)){
            return "Not set";
        }
        return "Length of saved value: " + text.length();
    }
});

Example from documentation (Kotlin):

val countingPreference = findPreference("counting") as EditTextPreference

countingPreference.summaryProvider = SummaryProvider<EditTextPreference> { preference ->
    val text = preference.text
    if (TextUtils.isEmpty(text)) {
        "Not set"
    } else {
        "Length of saved value: " + text.length
    }
}

Thanks, Reto, for the detailed explanation!

In case this is of any help to anyone, I had to change the code proposed by Reto Meier to make it work with the SDK for Android 1.5

@Override
protected void onResume() {
    super.onResume();

    // Setup the initial values
    mListPreference.setSummary("Current value is " + mListPreference.getEntry().toString()); 

    // Set up a listener whenever a key changes            
    ...
}

The same change applies for the callback function onSharedPreferenceChanged(SharedPreferences sharedPreferences, String key)

Cheers,

Chris

My solution is to create a custom EditTextPreference, used in XML like this: <com.example.EditTextPreference android:title="Example Title" />

EditTextPreference.java:-

package com.example;

import android.content.Context;
import android.util.AttributeSet;

public class EditTextPreference extends android.preference.EditTextPreference
{
    public EditTextPreference(Context context, AttributeSet attrs, int defStyle)
    {
        super(context, attrs, defStyle);
    }

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

    public EditTextPreference(Context context)
    {
        super(context, null);
    }

    @Override
    protected void onDialogClosed(boolean positiveResult)
    {
        super.onDialogClosed(positiveResult);

        setSummary(getSummary());
    }

    @Override
    public CharSequence getSummary()
    {
        return getText();
    }
}

After several hours I've been spent to solve such problem I've implemented this code:

[UPDATE: the final version listing]

public class MyPreferencesActivity extends PreferenceActivity {
    ...
    ListPreference m_updateList;
    ...
    @Override
    protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
        super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
        addPreferencesFromResource(R.xml.preferences);

        m_updateList = (ListPreference) findPreference(getString(R.string.pref_update_interval_key));
        String currentValue = m_updateList.getValue();
        if (currentValue == null) {
            m_updateList.setValue((String)m_updateList.getEntryValues()[DEFAULT_UPDATE_TIME_INDEX]);
            currentValue = m_updateList.getValue();
        }
        updateListSummary(currentValue);    

        m_updateList.setOnPreferenceChangeListener(new OnPreferenceChangeListener() {
            @Override
            public boolean onPreferenceChange(Preference preference, Object newValue) {
                updateListSummary(newValue.toString());
                return true;
            }       
        });     
    }

    private void updateListSummary(String newValue) {
        int index = m_updateList.findIndexOfValue(newValue);
        CharSequence entry = m_updateList.getEntries()[index];
        m_updateList.setSummary(entry);
    }
}

That was the only solution that worked for me fine. Before I've tried to subclass from ListPreferences and to implement android:summary="bla bla bla %s". Neither worked.

You have to use bindPreferenceSummaryToValue function on the onCreate method.

Example:

    @Override
    public void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
        super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
        // Add 'general' preferences, defined in the XML file
        addPreferencesFromResource(R.xml.pref_general);

        // For all preferences, attach an OnPreferenceChangeListener so the UI summary can be
        // updated when the preference changes.
        bindPreferenceSummaryToValue(findPreference(getString(R.string.pref_location_key)));
        bindPreferenceSummaryToValue(findPreference(getString(R.string.pref_units_key)));
    }

See lesson 3 on Udacity Android Course: https://www.udacity.com/course/viewer#!/c-ud853/l-1474559101/e-1643578599/m-1643578601

My option is to extend ListPreference and it's clean:

public class ListPreferenceShowSummary extends ListPreference {

    private final static String TAG = ListPreferenceShowSummary.class.getName();

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

    public ListPreferenceShowSummary(Context context) {
        super(context);
        init();
    }

    private void init() {

        setOnPreferenceChangeListener(new OnPreferenceChangeListener() {

            @Override
            public boolean onPreferenceChange(Preference arg0, Object arg1) {
                arg0.setSummary(getEntry());
                return true;
            }
        });
    }

    @Override
    public CharSequence getSummary() {
        return super.getEntry();
    }
}

Then you add in your settings.xml:

<yourpackage.ListPreferenceShowSummary
    android:key="key" android:title="title"
    android:entries="@array/entries" android:entryValues="@array/values"
    android:defaultValue="first value"/>

If you only want to display the plain text value of each field as its summary, the following code should be the easiest to maintain. It requires only two changes (lines 13 and 21, marked with "change here"):

package com.my.package;

import android.content.SharedPreferences;
import android.content.SharedPreferences.OnSharedPreferenceChangeListener;
import android.os.Bundle;
import android.preference.EditTextPreference;
import android.preference.ListPreference;
import android.preference.Preference;
import android.preference.PreferenceActivity;

public class PreferencesActivity extends PreferenceActivity implements OnSharedPreferenceChangeListener {

    private final String[] mAutoSummaryFields = { "pref_key1", "pref_key2", "pref_key3" }; // change here
    private final int mEntryCount = mAutoSummaryFields.length;
    private Preference[] mPreferenceEntries;

    @SuppressWarnings("deprecation")
    @Override
    public void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
        super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
        addPreferencesFromResource(R.xml.preferences_file); // change here
        mPreferenceEntries = new Preference[mEntryCount];
        for (int i = 0; i < mEntryCount; i++) {
            mPreferenceEntries[i] = getPreferenceScreen().findPreference(mAutoSummaryFields[i]);
        }
    }

    @SuppressWarnings("deprecation")
    @Override
    protected void onResume() {
        super.onResume();
        for (int i = 0; i < mEntryCount; i++) {
            updateSummary(mAutoSummaryFields[i]); // initialization
        }
        getPreferenceScreen().getSharedPreferences().registerOnSharedPreferenceChangeListener(this); // register change listener
    }

    @SuppressWarnings("deprecation")
    @Override
    protected void onPause() {
        super.onPause();
        getPreferenceScreen().getSharedPreferences().unregisterOnSharedPreferenceChangeListener(this); // unregister change listener
    }

    private void updateSummary(String key) {
        for (int i = 0; i < mEntryCount; i++) {
            if (key.equals(mAutoSummaryFields[i])) {
                if (mPreferenceEntries[i] instanceof EditTextPreference) {
                    final EditTextPreference currentPreference = (EditTextPreference) mPreferenceEntries[i];
                    mPreferenceEntries[i].setSummary(currentPreference.getText());
                }
                else if (mPreferenceEntries[i] instanceof ListPreference) {
                    final ListPreference currentPreference = (ListPreference) mPreferenceEntries[i];
                    mPreferenceEntries[i].setSummary(currentPreference.getEntry());
                }
                break;
            }
        }
    }

    public void onSharedPreferenceChanged(SharedPreferences sharedPreferences, String key) {
        updateSummary(key);
    }

}

If you use PreferenceFragment, this is how I solved it. It's self explanatory.

public static class SettingsFragment extends PreferenceFragment implements OnSharedPreferenceChangeListener {
    @Override
    public void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
      super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
      addPreferencesFromResource(R.xml.settings);
      getPreferenceScreen().getSharedPreferences().registerOnSharedPreferenceChangeListener(this);
    }

    @Override
    public void onResume() {
      super.onResume();
      for (int i = 0; i < getPreferenceScreen().getPreferenceCount(); ++i) {
        Preference preference = getPreferenceScreen().getPreference(i);
        if (preference instanceof PreferenceGroup) {
          PreferenceGroup preferenceGroup = (PreferenceGroup) preference;
          for (int j = 0; j < preferenceGroup.getPreferenceCount(); ++j) {
            Preference singlePref = preferenceGroup.getPreference(j);
            updatePreference(singlePref, singlePref.getKey());
          }
        } else {
          updatePreference(preference, preference.getKey());
        }
      }
    }

    @Override
    public void onSharedPreferenceChanged(SharedPreferences sharedPreferences, String key) {
      updatePreference(findPreference(key), key);
    }

    private void updatePreference(Preference preference, String key) {
      if (preference == null) return;
      if (preference instanceof ListPreference) {
        ListPreference listPreference = (ListPreference) preference;
        listPreference.setSummary(listPreference.getEntry());
        return;
      }
      SharedPreferences sharedPrefs = getPreferenceManager().getSharedPreferences();
      preference.setSummary(sharedPrefs.getString(key, "Default"));
    }
  }