put tabs in the bottom of screen

Question

I want to put tabs at the bottom part of my screen . For this purpose I have the following code :

package info.androidhive.tabsswipe;

import info.androidhive.tabsswipe.adapter.TabsPagerAdapter;
import android.app.ActionBar;
import android.app.ActionBar.Tab;
import android.app.FragmentTransaction;
import android.os.Bundle;
import android.support.v4.app.FragmentActivity;
import android.support.v4.view.ViewPager;

public class MainActivity extends FragmentActivity implements
        ActionBar.TabListener {

    private ViewPager viewPager;
    private TabsPagerAdapter mAdapter;
    private ActionBar actionBar;
    // Tab titles
    private String[] tabs = { "Top Rated", "Games", "Movies" };

    @Override
    protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
        super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
        setContentView(R.layout.activity_main);

        // Initilization
        viewPager = (ViewPager) findViewById(R.id.pager);
        actionBar = getActionBar(); 
        mAdapter = new TabsPagerAdapter(getSupportFragmentManager());

        viewPager.setAdapter(mAdapter) ;
        actionBar.setNavigationMode(ActionBar.NAVIGATION_MODE_TABS);
        actionBar.setDisplayShowHomeEnabled(false);
        actionBar.setDisplayShowTitleEnabled(false);

        // Adding Tabs
        for (String tab_name : tabs) {
            actionBar.addTab(actionBar.newTab().setText(tab_name)
                    .setTabListener(this));
        }

        /**
         * on swiping the viewpager make respective tab selected
         * */
        viewPager.setOnPageChangeListener(new ViewPager.OnPageChangeListener() {

            @Override
            public void onPageSelected(int position) {
                // on changing the page
                // make respected tab selected
                actionBar.setSelectedNavigationItem(position);
            }

            @Override
            public void onPageScrolled(int arg0, float arg1, int arg2) {
            }

            @Override
            public void onPageScrollStateChanged(int arg0) {
            }
        });
    }

    @Override
    public void onTabReselected(Tab tab, FragmentTransaction ft) {
    }

    @Override
    public void onTabSelected(Tab tab, FragmentTransaction ft) {
        // on tab selected
        // show respected fragment view
        viewPager.setCurrentItem(tab.getPosition());
    }

    @Override
    public void onTabUnselected(Tab tab, FragmentTransaction ft) {
    }

}

By this code , I have the following layout :

package info.androidhive.tabsswipe;

import info.androidhive.tabsswipe.adapter.TabsPagerAdapter;
import android.app.ActionBar;
import android.app.ActionBar.Tab;
import android.app.FragmentTransaction;
import android.os.Bundle;
import android.support.v4.app.FragmentActivity;
import android.support.v4.view.ViewPager;

public class MainActivity extends FragmentActivity implements
        ActionBar.TabListener {

    private ViewPager viewPager;
    private TabsPagerAdapter mAdapter;
    private ActionBar actionBar;
    // Tab titles
    private String[] tabs = { "Top Rated", "Games", "Movies" };

    @Override
    protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
        super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
        setContentView(R.layout.activity_main);

        // Initilization
        viewPager = (ViewPager) findViewById(R.id.pager);
        actionBar = getActionBar(); 
        mAdapter = new TabsPagerAdapter(getSupportFragmentManager());

        viewPager.setAdapter(mAdapter) ;
        actionBar.setNavigationMode(ActionBar.NAVIGATION_MODE_TABS);
        actionBar.setDisplayShowHomeEnabled(false);
        actionBar.setDisplayShowTitleEnabled(false);

        // Adding Tabs
        for (String tab_name : tabs) {
            actionBar.addTab(actionBar.newTab().setText(tab_name)
                    .setTabListener(this));
        }

        /**
         * on swiping the viewpager make respective tab selected
         * */
        viewPager.setOnPageChangeListener(new ViewPager.OnPageChangeListener() {

            @Override
            public void onPageSelected(int position) {
                // on changing the page
                // make respected tab selected
                actionBar.setSelectedNavigationItem(position);
            }

            @Override
            public void onPageScrolled(int arg0, float arg1, int arg2) {
            }

            @Override
            public void onPageScrollStateChanged(int arg0) {
            }
        });
    }

    @Override
    public void onTabReselected(Tab tab, FragmentTransaction ft) {
    }

    @Override
    public void onTabSelected(Tab tab, FragmentTransaction ft) {
        // on tab selected
        // show respected fragment view
        viewPager.setCurrentItem(tab.getPosition());
    }

    @Override
    public void onTabUnselected(Tab tab, FragmentTransaction ft) {
    }

}

By this code , This is how the screen looks after compilation :

How can I put tabs at the bottom of the screen ?

Answer 1

Actually it's against Android Design Guideline since at bottom there are soft/hard buttons like back button home button etc.

http://developer.android.com/design/patterns/pure-android.html

But if you insist on to put them at the bottom, you can implement it like GitHub example consists tabs in bottom, using FragmentTabHost.

https://github.com/rameshkec85/BottomTabsFragmentTabHost

Answer 2

These sample xml code defines move tab to bottom of the screen:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<LinearLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
    android:layout_width="fill_parent"
    android:layout_height="fill_parent"
    android:orientation="vertical" >

    <TabHost
        android:id="@android:id/tabhost"
        android:layout_width="fill_parent"
        android:layout_height="fill_parent" >

        <RelativeLayout
            android:layout_width="fill_parent"
            android:layout_height="fill_parent" >

            <FrameLayout
                android:id="@android:id/tabcontent"
                android:layout_width="fill_parent"
                android:layout_height="fill_parent"
                android:layout_below="@android:id/tabs" >

                <FrameLayout
                    android:id="@+id/tab_home"
                    android:layout_width="fill_parent"
                    android:layout_height="fill_parent" />

                <FrameLayout
                    android:id="@+id/tab_video"
                    android:layout_width="fill_parent"
                    android:layout_height="fill_parent" />

                <FrameLayout
                    android:id="@+id/tab_audio"
                    android:layout_width="fill_parent"
                    android:layout_height="fill_parent" >
                </FrameLayout>

                <FrameLayout
                    android:id="@+id/tab_blog"
                    android:layout_width="fill_parent"
                    android:layout_height="fill_parent" >
                </FrameLayout>

                <FrameLayout
                    android:id="@+id/tab_gal"
                    android:layout_width="fill_parent"
                    android:layout_height="fill_parent" >
                </FrameLayout>

                <FrameLayout
                    android:id="@+id/tab_more"
                    android:layout_width="fill_parent"
                    android:layout_height="fill_parent" >
                </FrameLayout>
            </FrameLayout>

            <TabWidget
                android:id="@android:id/tabs"
                android:layout_width="fill_parent"
                android:layout_height="wrap_content"
                android:layout_alignParentBottom="true"  //align parent bottom mainly used for move the tab to bottom of the screen.
                android:background="@drawable/ic_launcher"
                android:divider="@null" />

            <!-- android:background="#d8e49c" -->
        </RelativeLayout>
    </TabHost>

</LinearLayout>

Answer 3

with an action bar you will only be able to add tabs at the top, since that is the way android apps should look like. Having tabs at the bottom is purely ios style. and if you still wish to achieve the same look at :

this. Github source can be found here