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Editorial Team
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Asked: 2026-05-23T08:30:00+00:00

I am a starter on Android and trying to figure out how do use

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I am a starter on Android and trying to figure out how do use different layout files (main.xml) for portrait and landscape screens.

I tried to put main.xml in both res/layout and res/layout-land, then rebuild the project. However, this doesn’t work for me.

I then added onConfigurationChanged method in the code and setContextView to R.layout.main. This time I got different screen layout in different orientation, but all functionality were lost. Some posting also said using onConfigurationChanged method is not really the best idea.

So can anyone help me with this issue?

Thanks,

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1 Answer

  1. Editorial Team

    Android will automatically use the layout that represents your devices current state. For your specific project, the layout-land xml file should be used when the device rotates. When you override the onConfigurationChanged method and modify your manifest, it tells Android you will handle the configuration change yourself which I do not recommend, especially if you want a new layout to be loaded.

    Here’s what you need to do (to test for the different layouts). Put an xml file called main in your layouts folder. For the layout, just use a LinearLayout that fills the parent with a blue background. Now create an xml layout file called main but put it under the layout-land folder. In this layout, use a red background.

    Start the app, rotate the device, and you should see the background change colors. This is because the activity is being destroyed and restarted with the new layout.

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