Question

when switching between two activities, screen slides between right to left. When I press back key, screen slides from right to left. Is it a way that when I press back key from an activity to change screen sliding direction?

Answer 1

Danny’s solution could be made to work but it is overly complicated. The key method you want to learn about is overridePendingTransition().

Here is main activity that I mocked up to use it. I made it transition vertically just to show that you can make transformations in any direction you like:

package com.superliminal.test;

import android.app.Activity;
import android.content.Intent;
import android.os.Bundle;
import android.view.View;
import android.widget.Button;

public class ScreenTransitionTest extends Activity {
    @Override
    public void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
        super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
        setContentView(R.layout.main);
        Button btnForwards = (Button) findViewById(R.id.btnForwards);
        btnForwards.setOnClickListener(new View.OnClickListener() {
            @Override
            public void onClick(View v) {
                Activity currentActivity = (Activity) v.getContext();
                Intent i = new Intent(currentActivity, NewScreen.class);
                // Tell the new activity how return when finished.
                i.putExtra("anim id in", R.anim.down_in);
                i.putExtra("anim id out", R.anim.down_out);
                currentActivity.startActivity(i);
                // This makes the new screen slide up as it fades in
                // while the current screen slides up as it fades out.
                overridePendingTransition(R.anim.up_in, R.anim.up_out);
            }
        });
    }
}

Here is the implementation of the new screen:

package com.superliminal.test;

import android.app.Activity;
import android.os.Bundle;

public class NewScreen extends Activity {

    @Override
    public void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
        super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
        setContentView(R.layout.new_screen);
    }

    @Override
    public void onBackPressed() {
        this.finish();
        // Use exiting animations specified by the parent activity if given
        // Translate left if not specified.
        overridePendingTransition(
            getIntent().getIntExtra("anim id in", R.anim.left_in),
            getIntent().getIntExtra("anim id out", R.anim.left_out));
    }
}

Your layout files can be anything you like. You don’t need a wrapper layer. Here is my main.xml:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<LinearLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
    android:orientation="vertical"
    android:layout_width="fill_parent"
    android:layout_height="fill_parent"
    android:background="#990000" >
    <TextView
        android:layout_width="fill_parent"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:text="Main Activity" />
    <Button
        android:layout_width="fill_parent"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:id="@+id/btnForwards"
        android:text="Forward" />
</LinearLayout>

And here is my new_screen.xml:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<RelativeLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
    android:orientation="vertical"
    android:layout_width="fill_parent"
    android:layout_height="fill_parent"
    android:background="#009900" >
    <TextView
        android:layout_width="fill_parent"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:layout_centerInParent="true"
        android:text="New Screen. Use back button to return." />
</RelativeLayout>

The only other things you need are animation XML files that you put in the res/anim folder.

up_in.xml:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<set xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android">
    <translate android:fromYDelta="-100%p" android:toYDelta="0" android:duration="1000"/>
    <alpha android:fromAlpha="0.0" android:toAlpha="1.0" android:duration="1000" />
</set>

up_out.xml:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<set xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android">
    <translate android:fromYDelta="0" android:toYDelta="100%p" android:duration="1000"/>
    <alpha android:fromAlpha="1.0" android:toAlpha="0.0" android:duration="1000" />
</set>

down_in.xml:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<set xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android">
    <translate android:fromYDelta="100%p" android:toYDelta="0" android:duration="1000"/>
    <alpha android:fromAlpha="0.0" android:toAlpha="1.0" android:duration="1000" />
</set>

down_out.xml:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<set xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android">
    <translate android:fromYDelta="0" android:toYDelta="-100%p" android:duration="1000"/>
    <alpha android:fromAlpha="1.0" android:toAlpha="0.0" android:duration="1000" />
</set>