onUserInteraction not working in DialogPreference

Here is a complete solution for a DialogFragment, which triggers Activity's onUserInteraction() on a touch and preserves default callback's behavior:

public abstract class BaseDialogFragment extends DialogFragment {

    @Override
    public void onActivityCreated(final Bundle savedInstanceState) {
        super.onActivityCreated(savedInstanceState);
        final Window window = getDialog().getWindow();
        if (window != null) {
            window.setCallback(new UserInteractionAwareCallback(window.getCallback(), getActivity()));
        }
    }
}

And here is the Callback itself:

public class UserInteractionAwareCallback implements Window.Callback {

    private final Window.Callback originalCallback;
    private final Activity activity;

    public UserInteractionAwareCallback(final Window.Callback originalCallback, final Activity activity) {
        this.originalCallback = originalCallback;
        this.activity = activity;
    }

    @Override
    public boolean dispatchKeyEvent(final KeyEvent event) {
        return originalCallback.dispatchKeyEvent(event);
    }

    @Override
    public boolean dispatchKeyShortcutEvent(final KeyEvent event) {
        return originalCallback.dispatchKeyShortcutEvent(event);
    }

    @Override
    public boolean dispatchTouchEvent(final MotionEvent event) {
        switch (event.getAction()) {
            case MotionEvent.ACTION_DOWN:
            case MotionEvent.ACTION_MOVE:
            case MotionEvent.ACTION_UP:
                if (activity != null) {
                    activity.onUserInteraction();
                }
                break;
            default:
        }
        return originalCallback.dispatchTouchEvent(event);
    }

    @Override
    public boolean dispatchTrackballEvent(final MotionEvent event) {
        return originalCallback.dispatchTrackballEvent(event);
    }

    @Override
    public boolean dispatchGenericMotionEvent(final MotionEvent event) {
        return originalCallback.dispatchGenericMotionEvent(event);
    }

    @Override
    public boolean dispatchPopulateAccessibilityEvent(final AccessibilityEvent event) {
        return originalCallback.dispatchPopulateAccessibilityEvent(event);
    }

    @Nullable
    @Override
    public View onCreatePanelView(final int featureId) {
        return originalCallback.onCreatePanelView(featureId);
    }

    @Override
    public boolean onCreatePanelMenu(final int featureId, final Menu menu) {
        return originalCallback.onCreatePanelMenu(featureId, menu);
    }

    @Override
    public boolean onPreparePanel(final int featureId, final View view, final Menu menu) {
        return originalCallback.onPreparePanel(featureId, view, menu);
    }

    @Override
    public boolean onMenuOpened(final int featureId, final Menu menu) {
        return originalCallback.onMenuOpened(featureId, menu);
    }

    @Override
    public boolean onMenuItemSelected(final int featureId, final MenuItem item) {
        return originalCallback.onMenuItemSelected(featureId, item);
    }

    @Override
    public void onWindowAttributesChanged(final WindowManager.LayoutParams attrs) {
        originalCallback.onWindowAttributesChanged(attrs);
    }

    @Override
    public void onContentChanged() {
        originalCallback.onContentChanged();
    }

    @Override
    public void onWindowFocusChanged(final boolean hasFocus) {
        originalCallback.onWindowFocusChanged(hasFocus);
    }

    @Override
    public void onAttachedToWindow() {
        originalCallback.onAttachedToWindow();
    }

    @Override
    public void onDetachedFromWindow() {
        originalCallback.onDetachedFromWindow();
    }

    @Override
    public void onPanelClosed(final int featureId, final Menu menu) {
        originalCallback.onPanelClosed(featureId, menu);
    }

    @Override
    public boolean onSearchRequested() {
        return originalCallback.onSearchRequested();
    }

    @TargetApi(Build.VERSION_CODES.M)
    @Override
    public boolean onSearchRequested(final SearchEvent searchEvent) {
        return originalCallback.onSearchRequested(searchEvent);
    }

    @Nullable
    @Override
    public ActionMode onWindowStartingActionMode(final ActionMode.Callback callback) {
        return originalCallback.onWindowStartingActionMode(callback);
    }

    @TargetApi(Build.VERSION_CODES.M)
    @Nullable
    @Override
    public ActionMode onWindowStartingActionMode(final ActionMode.Callback callback, final int type) {
        return originalCallback.onWindowStartingActionMode(callback, type);
    }

    @Override
    public void onActionModeStarted(final ActionMode mode) {
        originalCallback.onActionModeStarted(mode);
    }

    @Override
    public void onActionModeFinished(final ActionMode mode) {
        originalCallback.onActionModeFinished(mode);
    }
}

As far as I know, the onUserInteraction() is simply not called while the user is interacting with a dialog (even started from Activity in which you're monitoring interactions).

Two solutions I know are:

• Subclass Dialog/DialogPreference class and override dispatchTouchEvent().

• Implement Window.Callback interface and set it as Dialogs window callback by issuing:

  dialog.getWindow().setCallback(callbackImplementation);
  

  Note: this implementation should process all received events by calling appropriate dialog methods or handle the events in your own way (e.g. by manually calling onUserInteraction()).

Edit

You have couple of ways to get Activity from the custom PreferenceDialog instance.

1. Call DialogPreference.getPreferenceManager() method which returns PreferenceManager. It has a getActivity() method but it's package-private so you would have to put your custom DialogPreference in android.preference package to access it.

2. In the PreferenceActivity.onCreate(), after inflating the preferences, use findPreference() to find your custom DialogPreference by key. Then cast it to your custom class and set activity to this via an accessor.

I would go with the second option.