Prevent the keyboard from displaying on activity start

Digging deeper: Additional techniques and scenarios

Keyboard manifestation: Who's in control?

Moving beyond the stateHidden, we can use SOFT_INPUT_STATE_ALWAYS_HIDDEN to keep the keyboard hidden until an explicit interaction with an input field. It's like telling the keyboard, "Wait your turn patiently."

When controlling keyboard visibility across all activities, you can define a custom theme in styles.xml to globally apply these rules.

<style name="MyTheme" parent="AppTheme">
    // Keyboard's audition for an unwanted solo denied!
    <item name="android:windowSoftInputMode">stateHidden</item>
</style>
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And apply it to the activity in AndroidManifest.xml:

<activity android:name=".YourActivity"
    android:theme="@style/MyTheme" ... />
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Focus: Keyboard's attention seeker

In Android, the keyboard appears when an input field gains focus. You can curb this preference by:

• Defining parent layout with android:focusable and android:focusableInTouchMode set to true:

<LinearLayout ... 
    // Not today, keyboard. Focus stays with the layout!
    android:focusable="true"
    android:focusableInTouchMode="true">
    ...
</LinearLayout>
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This will shift the attention from input fields to the layout, keeping the keyboard backstage.

Mixing and matching for precision control

You might want to combine different soft input flags in your manifest to customize the behavior. For instance:

• stateHidden|adjustPan: The keyboard stays hidden initially. Once shown, it does not resize your activity's window. Instead, it pans the content to keep the focus visible. It's like saying, "You can come, but don't mess with the furniture!"

Prime-time scenarios & hurdles in the limelight

Witnessing dynamic transitions

Anticipate that certain dynamic adjustments in your UI may trigger the keyboard to appear. Examples:

• Addition of fragments featuring input fields
• Changing visibility of input fields from GONE or INVISIBLE to VISIBLE

In such events, you might need to reapply the soft input mode or manage focus accordingly in code.

Ensuring immersive experiences go undisturbed

For full-screen or immersive applications, take extra measures to ensure the keyboard remains hidden:

• Override the onWindowFocusChanged(boolean hasFocus) method to re-state "stay hidden" rule when the activity attains focus.

Keeping surprise appearances at bay

In spite of setting all constraints, unexpected appearances can be caused by:

• Third-party keyboards with diva tendencies.
• Certain OS-level bugs or quirks having their own spotlight moments.

Stay prepared to roll out updates or workarounds after extensive testing, particularly when your app is released on a variety of devices.