Android EditText delete(backspace) key event

Question

NOTE: onKeyListener doesn't work for soft keyboards.

You can set OnKeyListener for you editText so you can detect any key press
EDIT: A common mistake we are checking KeyEvent.KEYCODE_BACK for backspace, but really it is KeyEvent.KEYCODE_DEL (Really that name is very confusing! )

editText.setOnKeyListener(new OnKeyListener() {                 
    @Override
    public boolean onKey(View v, int keyCode, KeyEvent event) {
        //You can identify which key pressed buy checking keyCode value with KeyEvent.KEYCODE_
        if(keyCode == KeyEvent.KEYCODE_DEL) {  
            //this is for backspace
        }
        return false;       
    }
});

It's been a while since you asked but I just had the same issue. As already mentioned by Estel the problem with key listeners is that they only work with hardware keyboards. To do this with an IME (soft keyboard), the solution is a bit more elaborate.

The single method we actually want to override is sendKeyEvent in the EditText's InputConnection class. This method is called when key events occur in an IME. But in order to override this, we need to implement a custom EditText which overrides the onCreateInputConnection method, wrapping the default InputConnection object in a proxy class! :|

Sounds complicated, but here's the simplest example I could contrive:

public class ZanyEditText extends EditText {

    private Random r = new Random();

    public ZanyEditText(Context context, AttributeSet attrs, int defStyle) {
        super(context, attrs, defStyle);
    }

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

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

    public void setRandomBackgroundColor() {
        setBackgroundColor(Color.rgb(r.nextInt(256), r.nextInt(256), r
                .nextInt(256)));
    }

    @Override
    public InputConnection onCreateInputConnection(EditorInfo outAttrs) {
        return new ZanyInputConnection(super.onCreateInputConnection(outAttrs),
                true);
    }

    private class ZanyInputConnection extends InputConnectionWrapper {

        public ZanyInputConnection(InputConnection target, boolean mutable) {
            super(target, mutable);
        }

        @Override
        public boolean sendKeyEvent(KeyEvent event) {
            if (event.getAction() == KeyEvent.ACTION_DOWN
                    && event.getKeyCode() == KeyEvent.KEYCODE_DEL) {
                ZanyEditText.this.setRandomBackgroundColor();
                // Un-comment if you wish to cancel the backspace:
                // return false;
            }
            return super.sendKeyEvent(event);
        }

    }

}

The line with the call to setRandomBackgroundColor is where my special backspace action occurs. In this case, changing the EditText's background colour.

If you're inflating this from XML remember to use the full package name as the tag:

<cc.buttfu.test.ZanyEditText
android:layout_width="fill_parent"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:id="@+id/somefield"
></cc.buttfu.test.ZanyEditText>

This is just an addition to Idris's answer, adding in the override to deleteSurroundingText as well. I found more info on that here: Android: Backspace in WebView/BaseInputConnection

package com.elavon.virtualmerchantmobile.utils;

import java.util.Random;

import android.content.Context;
import android.graphics.Color;
import android.util.AttributeSet;
import android.view.KeyEvent;
import android.view.inputmethod.EditorInfo;
import android.view.inputmethod.InputConnection;
import android.view.inputmethod.InputConnectionWrapper;
import android.widget.EditText;

public class ZanyEditText extends EditText {

    private Random r = new Random();

    public ZanyEditText(Context context, AttributeSet attrs, int defStyle) {
        super(context, attrs, defStyle);
    }

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

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

    public void setRandomBackgroundColor() {
        setBackgroundColor(Color.rgb(r.nextInt(256), r.nextInt(256), r
                .nextInt(256)));
    }

    @Override
    public InputConnection onCreateInputConnection(EditorInfo outAttrs) {
        return new ZanyInputConnection(super.onCreateInputConnection(outAttrs),
                true);
    }

    private class ZanyInputConnection extends InputConnectionWrapper {

        public ZanyInputConnection(InputConnection target, boolean mutable) {
            super(target, mutable);
        }

        @Override
        public boolean sendKeyEvent(KeyEvent event) {
            if (event.getAction() == KeyEvent.ACTION_DOWN
                    && event.getKeyCode() == KeyEvent.KEYCODE_DEL) {
                ZanyEditText.this.setRandomBackgroundColor();
                // Un-comment if you wish to cancel the backspace:
                // return false;
            }
            return super.sendKeyEvent(event);
        }


        @Override
        public boolean deleteSurroundingText(int beforeLength, int afterLength) {       
            // magic: in latest Android, deleteSurroundingText(1, 0) will be called for backspace
            if (beforeLength == 1 && afterLength == 0) {
                // backspace
                return sendKeyEvent(new KeyEvent(KeyEvent.ACTION_DOWN, KeyEvent.KEYCODE_DEL))
                    && sendKeyEvent(new KeyEvent(KeyEvent.ACTION_UP, KeyEvent.KEYCODE_DEL));
            }

            return super.deleteSurroundingText(beforeLength, afterLength);
        }

    }

}

Here is my easy solution, which works for all the API's:

private int previousLength;
private boolean backSpace;

// ...

@Override
public void beforeTextChanged(CharSequence s, int start, int count, int after) {
    previousLength = s.length();
}

@Override
public void onTextChanged(CharSequence s, int start, int before, int count) {
}

@Override
public void afterTextChanged(Editable s) {
    backSpace = previousLength > s.length();

    if (backSpace) {

        // do your stuff ...

    } 
}

UPDATE 17.04.18 .
As pointed out in comments, this solution doesn't track the backspace press if EditText is empty (the same as most of the other solutions).
However, it's enough for most of the use cases.
P.S. If I had to create something similar today, I would do:

public abstract class TextWatcherExtended implements TextWatcher {

    private int lastLength;

    public abstract void afterTextChanged(Editable s, boolean backSpace);

    @Override
    public void beforeTextChanged(CharSequence s, int start, int count, int after) {
        lastLength = s.length();
    }

    @Override
    public void afterTextChanged(Editable s) {
        afterTextChanged(s, lastLength > s.length());
    }  
}

Then just use it as a regular TextWatcher:

 editText.addTextChangedListener(new TextWatcherExtended() {
        @Override
        public void afterTextChanged(Editable s, boolean backSpace) {
           // Here you are! You got missing "backSpace" flag
        }

        @Override
        public void onTextChanged(CharSequence s, int start, int before, int count) {
            // Do something useful if you wish.
            // Or override it in TextWatcherExtended class if want to avoid it here 
        }
    });

I sent 2 days to find a solution and I figured out a working one :) (on soft keys)

public TextWatcher textWatcher = new TextWatcher() {
@Override
    public void beforeTextChanged(CharSequence s, int start, int count, int after) {   } 

@Override
    public void onTextChanged(CharSequence s, int start, int before, int count) {
        if (count == 0) {
        //Put your code here.
        //Runs when delete/backspace pressed on soft key (tested on htc m8)
        //You can use EditText.getText().length() to make if statements here
        }
    }

@Override
    public void afterTextChanged(Editable s) {
    }
}

After add the textwatcher to your EditText:

yourEditText.addTextChangedListener(textWatcher);

I hope it works on another android devices too (samsung, LG, etc).