CursorLoader usage without ContentProvider

Write your own loader that uses your database class instead of a content provider. The easiest way is just to take the source of the CursorLoader class from the compatibility library, and replace provider queries with queries to your own db helper class.

I wrote a simple CursorLoader that does not need a content provider:

import android.content.Context;
import android.database.Cursor;
import android.support.v4.content.AsyncTaskLoader;

/**
 * Used to write apps that run on platforms prior to Android 3.0. When running
 * on Android 3.0 or above, this implementation is still used; it does not try
 * to switch to the framework's implementation. See the framework SDK
 * documentation for a class overview.
 *
 * This was based on the CursorLoader class
 */
public abstract class SimpleCursorLoader extends AsyncTaskLoader<Cursor> {
    private Cursor mCursor;

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

    /* Runs on a worker thread */
    @Override
    public abstract Cursor loadInBackground();

    /* Runs on the UI thread */
    @Override
    public void deliverResult(Cursor cursor) {
        if (isReset()) {
            // An async query came in while the loader is stopped
            if (cursor != null) {
                cursor.close();
            }
            return;
        }
        Cursor oldCursor = mCursor;
        mCursor = cursor;

        if (isStarted()) {
            super.deliverResult(cursor);
        }

        if (oldCursor != null && oldCursor != cursor && !oldCursor.isClosed()) {
            oldCursor.close();
        }
    }

    /**
     * Starts an asynchronous load of the contacts list data. When the result is ready the callbacks
     * will be called on the UI thread. If a previous load has been completed and is still valid
     * the result may be passed to the callbacks immediately.
     * <p/>
     * Must be called from the UI thread
     */
    @Override
    protected void onStartLoading() {
        if (mCursor != null) {
            deliverResult(mCursor);
        }
        if (takeContentChanged() || mCursor == null) {
            forceLoad();
        }
    }

    /**
     * Must be called from the UI thread
     */
    @Override
    protected void onStopLoading() {
        // Attempt to cancel the current load task if possible.
        cancelLoad();
    }

    @Override
    public void onCanceled(Cursor cursor) {
        if (cursor != null && !cursor.isClosed()) {
            cursor.close();
        }
    }

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

        // Ensure the loader is stopped
        onStopLoading();

        if (mCursor != null && !mCursor.isClosed()) {
            mCursor.close();
        }
        mCursor = null;
    }
}

It only needs the AsyncTaskLoader class. Either the one in Android 3.0 or higher, or the one that comes with the compatibility package.

I also wrote a ListLoader which is compatible with the LoadManager and is used to retrieve a generic java.util.List collection.