Question

In the Android docs for a FragmentTransaction I noticed two very similar methods: detach and remove. The descriptions over there don’t seem to provide much insight about when to use each, and from what I can tell they appear to be the same.

So: what are the differences between these two methods?

Answer 1

The detach method removes the fragment from the UI, but its state is maintained by the Fragment Manager. This means you can reuse this fragment by calling the attach method, with a modified ViewHierarchy

Remove means the fragment instance cannot be re-attached. You will have to add it again to the fragment transaction.

Source Comment

You’ll notice that when a Fragment is detached, its onPause, onStop and onDestroyView methods are called only (in that order). On the other hand, when a Fragment is removed, its onPause, onStop, onDestroyView, onDestroy and onDetach methods are called (in that order). Similarly, when attaching, the Fragment’s onCreateView, onStart and onResume methods are called only; and when adding, the Fragment’s onAttach, onCreate, onCreateView, onStart and onResume methods are called (in that order). – Adil Hussain