App widgets can be configurable. For example, a clock widget can let users
configure which time zone to display.

If you want to let users configure your widget's settings, create a widget
configuration [`Activity`](https://developer.android.com/reference/android/app/Activity). This activity is
automatically launched by the app widget host either when the widget is created
or later, depending on the [configuration options](https://developer.android.com/develop/ui/views/appwidgets/configuration#widget-config-options) you
specify.

## Declare the configuration activity

Declare the configuration activity as a normal activity in the Android manifest
file. The app widget host launches it with the
[`ACTION_APPWIDGET_CONFIGURE`](https://developer.android.com/reference/android/appwidget/AppWidgetManager#ACTION_APPWIDGET_CONFIGURE)
action, so the activity needs to accept this intent. For example:  

    <activity android:name=".ExampleAppWidgetConfigurationActivity">
        <intent-filter>
            <action android:name="android.appwidget.action.APPWIDGET_CONFIGURE"/>
        </intent-filter>
    </activity>

Declare the activity in the `AppWidgetProviderInfo.xml` file with the
`android:configure` attribute. See more information about
[declaring this file](https://developer.android.com/guide/topics/appwidgets#AppWidgetProviderInfo). Here's an example of
how to declare the configuration activity:  

    <appwidget-provider xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
        ...
        android:configure="com.example.android.ExampleAppWidgetConfigurationActivity"
        ... >
    </appwidget-provider>

The activity is declared with a fully qualified namespace, because the launcher
references it from outside your package scope.

That's all you need to start a configuration activity. Next, you need to
implement the actual activity.

## Implement the configuration activity

There are two important points to remember when you implement the activity:

- The app widget host calls the configuration activity, and the configuration activity must always return a result. The result must include the App Widget ID passed by the intent that launched the activity---saved in the intent extras as [`EXTRA_APPWIDGET_ID`](https://developer.android.com/reference/android/appwidget/AppWidgetManager#EXTRA_APPWIDGET_ID).
- The system doesn't send the [`ACTION_APPWIDGET_UPDATE`](https://developer.android.com/reference/android/appwidget/AppWidgetManager#ACTION_APPWIDGET_UPDATE) broadcast when a configuration activity is launched, which means it doesn't call the [`onUpdate()`](https://developer.android.com/reference/android/appwidget/AppWidgetProvider#onUpdate(android.content.Context,%20android.appwidget.AppWidgetManager,%20int[])) method when the widget is created. It's the responsibility of the configuration activity to request an update from the `AppWidgetManager` when creating the widget for the first time. However, `onUpdate()` is called for subsequent updates---it is only skipped the first time.

See the code snippets in the following section for an example of how to return a
result from the configuration and update the widget.

### Update the widget from the configuration activity

When a widget uses a configuration activity, it's the responsibility of
the activity to update the widget when configuration is complete. You can do so
by requesting an update directly from the
[`AppWidgetManager`](https://developer.android.com/reference/android/appwidget/AppWidgetManager).

Here's a summary of the procedure to properly update the widget and close the
configuration activity:

1. Get the App Widget ID from the intent that launched the activity:

   ### Kotlin

   ```kotlin
   val appWidgetId = intent?.extras?.getInt(
           AppWidgetManager.EXTRA_APPWIDGET_ID,
           AppWidgetManager.INVALID_APPWIDGET_ID
   ) ?: AppWidgetManager.INVALID_APPWIDGET_ID
   ```

   ### Java

   ```java
   Intent intent = getIntent();
   Bundle extras = intent.getExtras();
   int appWidgetId = AppWidgetManager.INVALID_APPWIDGET_ID;
   if (extras != null) {
       appWidgetId = extras.getInt(
               AppWidgetManager.EXTRA_APPWIDGET_ID,
               AppWidgetManager.INVALID_APPWIDGET_ID);
   }
   ```
2. Set the activity result to `RESULT_CANCELED`.

   This way, if the user backs out of the activity before reaching the end, the
   system notifies the app widget host that the configuration is canceled and
   the host doesn't add the widget:  

   ### Kotlin

   ```kotlin
   val resultValue = Intent().putExtra(AppWidgetManager.EXTRA_APPWIDGET_ID, appWidgetId)
   setResult(Activity.RESULT_CANCELED, resultValue)
   ```

   ### Java

   ```java
   int resultValue = new Intent().putExtra(AppWidgetManager.EXTRA_APPWIDGET_ID, appWidgetId);
   setResult(Activity.RESULT_CANCELED, resultValue);
   ```
3. Configure the widget according to the user's preferences.

4. When the configuration is complete, get an instance of the
   `AppWidgetManager` by calling [`getInstance(Context)`](https://developer.android.com/reference/android/appwidget/AppWidgetManager#getInstance(android.content.Context)):

   ### Kotlin

   ```kotlin
   val appWidgetManager = AppWidgetManager.getInstance(context)
   ```

   ### Java

   ```java
   AppWidgetManager appWidgetManager = AppWidgetManager.getInstance(context);
   ```
5. Update the widget with a
   [`RemoteViews`](https://developer.android.com/reference/android/widget/RemoteViews) layout by calling
   [`updateAppWidget(int,RemoteViews)`](https://developer.android.com/reference/android/appwidget/AppWidgetManager#updateAppWidget(int,%20android.widget.RemoteViews)):

   ### Kotlin

   ```kotlin
   val views = RemoteViews(context.packageName, R.layout.example_appwidget)
   appWidgetManager.updateAppWidget(appWidgetId, views)
   ```

   ### Java

   ```java
   RemoteViews views = new RemoteViews(context.getPackageName(), R.layout.example_appwidget);
   appWidgetManager.updateAppWidget(appWidgetId, views);
   ```
6. Create the return intent, set it with the activity result, and
   finish the activity:

   ### Kotlin

   ```kotlin
   val resultValue = Intent().putExtra(AppWidgetManager.EXTRA_APPWIDGET_ID, appWidgetId)
   setResult(Activity.RESULT_OK, resultValue)
   finish()
   ```

   ### Java

   ```java
   Intent resultValue = new Intent().putExtra(AppWidgetManager.EXTRA_APPWIDGET_ID, appWidgetId);
   setResult(RESULT_OK, resultValue);
   finish();
   ```

See the
[`ListWidgetConfigureActivity.kt`](https://github.com/android/user-interface-samples/blob/main/AppWidget/app/src/main/java/com/example/android/appwidget/rv/list/ListWidgetConfigureActivity.kt)
sample class on GitHub for an example.

## Widget configuration options

By default, the app widget host only launches the configuration activity once,
immediately after the user adds the widget to their home screen. However, you
can specify options that let you enable users to reconfigure existing widgets or
skip initial widget configuration by providing a default widget configuration.
| **Note:** These options are only available starting in Android 12 (API level 31). You can specify them for previous versions of Android, but the system ignores them and follows the default behavior.

### Enable users to reconfigure placed widgets

To let users reconfigure existing widgets, specify the
[`reconfigurable`](https://developer.android.com/reference/android/appwidget/AppWidgetProviderInfo#WIDGET_FEATURE_RECONFIGURABLE)
flag in the
[`widgetFeatures`](https://developer.android.com/reference/android/appwidget/AppWidgetProviderInfo#widgetFeatures)
attribute of `appwidget-provider`. See the guide to [declaring the
`AppWidgetProviderInfo.xml` file](https://developer.android.com/guide/topics/appwidgets#AppWidgetProviderInfo) for more
information. For example:  

    <appwidget-provider
        android:configure="com.myapp.ExampleAppWidgetConfigurationActivity"
        android:widgetFeatures="reconfigurable">
    </appwidget-provider>

Users can reconfigure their widget by touching \& holding the widget and tapping
the **Reconfigure** button, which is labeled
1 in figure 1.
![Button appears in bottom-right corner](https://developer.android.com/static/images/appwidgets/widget-reconfigure-button.png) **Figure 1.** Widget **Reconfigure** button. **Note:** The `reconfigurable` flag was introduced in Android 9 (API level 28), but it was not widely supported until Android 12.

### Use the widget's default configuration

You can provide a more seamless widget experience by letting users skip the
initial configuration step. To do this, specify both the
[`configuration_optional`](https://developer.android.com/reference/android/appwidget/AppWidgetProviderInfo#WIDGET_FEATURE_CONFIGURATION_OPTIONAL)
and `reconfigurable` flags in the `widgetFeatures` field. This bypasses
launching the configuration activity after a user adds the widget. As mentioned
previously, the user can still [reconfigure the widget](https://developer.android.com/develop/ui/views/appwidgets/configuration#reconfigure-widgets)
afterward. For example, a clock widget can bypass the initial configuration and
show the device time zone by default.

Here is an example of how to mark your configuration activity as both
reconfigurable and optional:  

    <appwidget-provider
        android:configure="com.myapp.ExampleAppWidgetConfigurationActivity"
        android:widgetFeatures="reconfigurable|configuration_optional">
    </appwidget-provider>