LiveData with shared preferences

Assuming your network request is already providing you a LiveData class. For example with Retrofit and a CallAdapter like LiveDataCallAdapter.

Once you have the last observed value by either:

• Applying a listener for shared preferences OnSharedPreferenceChangeListener, as you already mentioned, to update a MutableLiveData
• Or using a SharedPreferences LiveData like rharter/SharedPreferenceLiveData.kt

Then you can apply the previous LiveData to either:

• A Transformations.switchMap as in UserViewModel.kt (related part quoted below)
• Or as parameter for MediatorLiveData addSource method.

This is the related example for the Transformations.switchMap in UserViewModel.kt:

private val _login = MutableLiveData<String>()
val login: LiveData<String>
    get() = _login
val repositories: LiveData<Resource<List<Repo>>> = Transformations
    .switchMap(_login) { login ->
        if (login == null) {
            AbsentLiveData.create()
        } else {
            repoRepository.loadRepos(login)
        }
    }

Android recently released DataStore which is:

Jetpack DataStore is a data storage solution that allows you to store key-value pairs or typed objects with protocol buffers. DataStore uses Kotlin coroutines and Flow to store data asynchronously, consistently, and transactionally.

If you're currently using SharedPreferences to store data, consider migrating to DataStore instead.

So here is the breakdown:

In the build.gradle of the project:

android {
    compileOptions {
        sourceCompatibility JavaVersion.VERSION_1_8
        targetCompatibility JavaVersion.VERSION_1_8
    }
    
    kotlinOptions {
        jvmTarget = JavaVersion.VERSION_1_8.toString()
    }
}

dependencies {
    ...
    implementation "androidx.datastore:datastore-preferences:1.0.0-alpha04"
}

The database class would look like:

class SettingsSharedPreference private constructor(context: Context) {

    private val dataStore = context.createDataStore(name = "settings")

    companion object {

        val SCREEN_ORIENTATION = preferencesKey<String>("screen_orientation")

        @Volatile
        private var instance: SettingsSharedPreference? = null

        private val lock = Any()

        operator fun invoke(context: Context) = instance ?: synchronized(lock) {
            instance ?: SettingsSharedPreference(context).also { instance = it }
        }
    }

    val screenOrientationFlow: Flow<String> = dataStore.data
        .map { preferences ->
            preferences[SCREEN_ORIENTATION] ?: "landscape"
        }

    //TODO: You should use enum for screenOrientation, this is just an example
    suspend fun setScreenOrientation(screenOrientation: String) {
        dataStore.edit { preferences ->
            preferences[SCREEN_ORIENTATION] = screenOrientation
        }
    }
}

In the Activity:

val settingsSharedPreference by lazy {
    SettingsSharedPreference.invoke(this)
}
...
settingsSharedPreference.setScreenOrientation("portrait")    
...
settingsSharedPreference.screenOrientationFlow.asLiveData().observe(this) { screenOrientation ->
    ...
}

The following awesome piece of code is LiveData Implementation of SharedPreference. It works perfectly.

package com.chargingwatts.chargingalarm.util.preference;

import android.arch.lifecycle.LiveData
import android.content.SharedPreferences

abstract class SharedPreferenceLiveData<T>(val sharedPrefs: SharedPreferences,
                                           val key: String,
                                           val defValue: T) : LiveData<T>() {

    private val preferenceChangeListener = SharedPreferences.OnSharedPreferenceChangeListener { sharedPreferences, key ->
        if (key == this.key) {
            value = getValueFromPreferences(key, defValue)
        }
    }

    abstract fun getValueFromPreferences(key: String, defValue: T): T

    override fun onActive() {
        super.onActive()
        value = getValueFromPreferences(key, defValue)
        sharedPrefs.registerOnSharedPreferenceChangeListener(preferenceChangeListener)
    }

    override fun onInactive() {
        sharedPrefs.unregisterOnSharedPreferenceChangeListener(preferenceChangeListener)
        super.onInactive()
    }
}

class SharedPreferenceIntLiveData(sharedPrefs: SharedPreferences, key: String, defValue: Int) :
        SharedPreferenceLiveData<Int>(sharedPrefs, key, defValue) {
    override fun getValueFromPreferences(key: String, defValue: Int): Int = sharedPrefs.getInt(key, defValue)
}

class SharedPreferenceStringLiveData(sharedPrefs: SharedPreferences, key: String, defValue: String) :
        SharedPreferenceLiveData<String>(sharedPrefs, key, defValue) {
    override fun getValueFromPreferences(key: String, defValue: String): String = sharedPrefs.getString(key, defValue)
}

class SharedPreferenceBooleanLiveData(sharedPrefs: SharedPreferences, key: String, defValue: Boolean) :
        SharedPreferenceLiveData<Boolean>(sharedPrefs, key, defValue) {
    override fun getValueFromPreferences(key: String, defValue: Boolean): Boolean = sharedPrefs.getBoolean(key, defValue)
}

class SharedPreferenceFloatLiveData(sharedPrefs: SharedPreferences, key: String, defValue: Float) :
        SharedPreferenceLiveData<Float>(sharedPrefs, key, defValue) {
    override fun getValueFromPreferences(key: String, defValue: Float): Float = sharedPrefs.getFloat(key, defValue)
}

class SharedPreferenceLongLiveData(sharedPrefs: SharedPreferences, key: String, defValue: Long) :
        SharedPreferenceLiveData<Long>(sharedPrefs, key, defValue) {
    override fun getValueFromPreferences(key: String, defValue: Long): Long = sharedPrefs.getLong(key, defValue)
}

class SharedPreferenceStringSetLiveData(sharedPrefs: SharedPreferences, key: String, defValue: Set<String>) :
        SharedPreferenceLiveData<Set<String>>(sharedPrefs, key, defValue) {
    override fun getValueFromPreferences(key: String, defValue: Set<String>): Set<String> = sharedPrefs.getStringSet(key, defValue)
}

fun SharedPreferences.intLiveData(key: String, defValue: Int): SharedPreferenceLiveData<Int> {
    return SharedPreferenceIntLiveData(this, key, defValue)
}

fun SharedPreferences.stringLiveData(key: String, defValue: String): SharedPreferenceLiveData<String> {
    return SharedPreferenceStringLiveData(this, key, defValue)
}

fun SharedPreferences.booleanLiveData(key: String, defValue: Boolean): SharedPreferenceLiveData<Boolean> {
    return SharedPreferenceBooleanLiveData(this, key, defValue)
}

fun SharedPreferences.floatLiveData(key: String, defValue: Float): SharedPreferenceLiveData<Float> {
    return SharedPreferenceFloatLiveData(this, key, defValue)
}

fun SharedPreferences.longLiveData(key: String, defValue: Long): SharedPreferenceLiveData<Long> {
    return SharedPreferenceLongLiveData(this, key, defValue)
}

fun SharedPreferences.stringSetLiveData(key: String, defValue: Set<String>): SharedPreferenceLiveData<Set<String>> {
    return SharedPreferenceStringSetLiveData(this, key, defValue)
}

Java Code by Idish, though he commented here, but not sure, why he didn't add it as answer.

Pasting the same code below:

public abstract class SharedPreferenceLiveData<T> extends LiveData<T> {

SharedPreferences sharedPrefs;
String key;
public T defValue;

public SharedPreferenceLiveData(SharedPreferences prefs, String key, T defValue) {
    this.sharedPrefs = prefs;
    this.key = key;
    this.defValue = defValue;
}

private SharedPreferences.OnSharedPreferenceChangeListener preferenceChangeListener = new SharedPreferences.OnSharedPreferenceChangeListener() {
    @Override
    public void onSharedPreferenceChanged(SharedPreferences sharedPreferences, String key) {
        if (SharedPreferenceLiveData.this.key.equals(key)) {
            setValue(getValueFromPreferences(key, defValue));
        }
    }
};
abstract T getValueFromPreferences(String key, T defValue);

@Override
protected void onActive() {
    super.onActive();
    setValue(getValueFromPreferences(key, defValue));
    sharedPrefs.registerOnSharedPreferenceChangeListener(preferenceChangeListener);
}

@Override
protected void onInactive() {
    sharedPrefs.unregisterOnSharedPreferenceChangeListener(preferenceChangeListener);
    super.onInactive();
}
public SharedPreferenceLiveData<Boolean> getBooleanLiveData(String key, Boolean defaultValue) {
    return new SharedPreferenceBooleanLiveData(sharedPrefs,key, defaultValue);
}
}

SharedPreferenceBooleanLiveData class

public class SharedPreferenceBooleanLiveData extends SharedPreferenceLiveData<Boolean>{

public SharedPreferenceBooleanLiveData(SharedPreferences prefs, String key, Boolean defValue) {
    super(prefs, key, defValue);
}

@Override
Boolean getValueFromPreferences(String key, Boolean defValue) {
    return sharedPrefs.getBoolean(key, defValue);
}

}

Calling this like the below code mentioned in this link:

 SharedPreferences preferences = PreferenceManager.getDefaultSharedPreferences(this);
 SharedPreferenceStringLiveData sharedPreferenceStringLiveData = new SharedPreferenceStringLiveData(preferences, "cid", "");
 sharedPreferenceStringLiveData.getStringLiveData("cid", "").observe(this, cid -> {
            Toast.makeText(this, "Change in CID "+cid, Toast.LENGTH_SHORT).show();
 });

Again if using a Preference Helper class, the class can be called as below: Just a sample:

public class PreferenceManager {
private SharedPreferenceBooleanLiveData sharedPreferenceLiveData;

public SharedPreferenceBooleanLiveData getSharedPrefs(){
        return sharedPreferenceLiveData;
    }

public void setSharedPreferences(String key, boolean value) {

        SharedPreferences userDetails = context.getSharedPreferences(APP_PREFERENCE,
            Context.MODE_PRIVATE);
        SharedPreferences.Editor editor = userDetails.edit();
        editor.putBoolean(key, value);
        editor.apply();
        sharedPreferenceLiveData = new SharedPreferenceBooleanLiveData(userDetails,key,value);
    }
}

And in the activity class call it as below: Create an object:

SharedPreferenceBooleanLiveData sharedPreferenceLiveData;
@Override
public void onActivityCreated(@Nullable Bundle savedInstanceState) {
    super.onActivityCreated(savedInstanceState);
    sharedPreferenceLiveData = preferenceManager.getSharedPrefs();
}

And observe it as follows:

sharedPreferenceLiveData.getBooleanLiveData(PreferenceKey.KEY_LOCATION_PERMISSION,false).observe(this,check->{
        if(check){
            setPermissionGranted(check);
        }
    });