Hello Readers! In this post, we are going to learn about how to use android TabHost widget in any android application. We will also go through different attributes of TabHost widget that can be used to customise it.

Output

Tutorialwing Android TabHost Output

Getting Started

TabHost widget can be defined as below –

TabHost is a container for the tabbed window view.

TabHost contains two children. They are –
(a) A set of tab labels that user clicks to select a specific tab.
(b) A FrameLayout object that displays the selected tab views.

Attributes of Android TabHost Widget

Some of the popular attributes of android TabHost widget inherited from FrameLayout are –

Some of the popular attributes of android TabHost widget inherited from ViewGroup are –

Some of the popular attributes of android TabHost widget inherited from View are –

Example of Android TabHost Widget

At first, we will create android application. Then, we will use TabHost widget in this application.

1. Creating New Project

Follow steps below to create new project. Please ignore the steps if you have already created a new application.

2. Modify Values folder

Open res/values/strings.xml file. Then, add below code into it.

<resources>
	<string name="app_name">TabHost</string>
	<string name="presented_by">Presented by Tutorialwing.com</string>
	<string name="no_image">No Image</string>
	<string name="profile">Profile</string>
	<string name="recent">Recent</string>
	<string name="home">Home</string>
</resources>

3. Create Pages for Each Tab in TabHost

Now, we will create tab pages that will be shown when any tab label is clicked. In this application, we are going to implement three tabs. We will create three activity that represents three pages. Follow the steps below to create pages (Home, Profile and Recent Pages) –
(a) HomeActivity.java and xml file (activity_main.xml)
(b) RecentActivity.java and xml file (activity_recent.xml)
(c) ProfileActivity.java and xml file (activity_profile.xml)

3.1 Create First Page(Home Page) of TabHost

Create a new java file in main/java/com.tutorialwing.tabhost folder and name it HomeActivity.java. Then, add below code into it.

package com.tutorialwing.tabhost;

import android.os.Bundle;
import android.support.v7.app.AppCompatActivity;

public class HomeActivity extends AppCompatActivity {

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

Now, create xml file for this activity class in res/layout folder and name it activity_home.xml. Then, add below code into it.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<LinearLayout
	xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
	android:layout_width="match_parent"
	android:layout_height="match_parent"
	android:background="@android:color/holo_blue_dark"
	android:gravity="center"
	android:orientation="vertical">

	<TextView
		android:layout_width="wrap_content"
		android:layout_height="wrap_content"
		android:layout_marginBottom="20dp"
		android:text="@string/presented_by"
		android:textColor="@android:color/white"
		android:textSize="18sp"
		android:textStyle="bold"/>

	<ImageView
		android:layout_width="wrap_content"
		android:layout_height="wrap_content"
		android:layout_marginBottom="20dp"
		android:contentDescription="@string/no_image"
		android:src="@mipmap/ic_launcher"/>

	<TextView
		android:layout_width="wrap_content"
		android:layout_height="wrap_content"
		android:text="@string/home"
		android:textColor="@android:color/white"
		android:textSize="17sp"/>

</LinearLayout>

3.2 Create Second Page(Recent Page) Of TabHost

Create a new java file in main/java/com.tutorialwing.tabhost folder and name it RecentActivity.java. Then, add below code into it.

package com.tutorialwing.tabhost;

import android.os.Bundle;
import android.support.v7.app.AppCompatActivity;

public class RecentActivity extends AppCompatActivity {

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

Now, create xml file for this activity class in res/layout folder and name it activity_recent.xml. Then, add below code into it.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<LinearLayout
	xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
	android:layout_width="match_parent"
	android:layout_height="match_parent"
	android:background="@android:color/holo_red_dark"
	android:gravity="center"
	android:orientation="vertical">

	<TextView
		android:layout_width="wrap_content"
		android:layout_height="wrap_content"
		android:layout_marginBottom="20dp"
		android:text="@string/presented_by"
		android:textColor="@android:color/white"
		android:textSize="18sp"
		android:textStyle="bold"/>

	<ImageView
		android:id="@+id/imageView"
		android:layout_width="wrap_content"
		android:layout_height="wrap_content"
		android:layout_marginBottom="20dp"
		android:contentDescription="@string/no_image"
		android:src="@mipmap/ic_launcher"/>

	<TextView
		android:id="@+id/txtMain"
		android:layout_width="wrap_content"
		android:layout_height="wrap_content"
		android:text="@string/recent"
		android:textColor="@android:color/white"
		android:textSize="17sp"/>

</LinearLayout>

3.3 Create Third Page(Profile Page) Of TabHost

Create a new java file in main/java/com.tutorialwing.tabhost folder and name it ProfileActivity.java. Then, add below code into it.

package com.tutorialwing.tabhost;

import android.os.Bundle;
import android.support.v7.app.AppCompatActivity;

public class ProfileActivity extends AppCompatActivity {

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

Now, create xml file for this activity class in res/layout folder and name it activity_profile.xml. Then, add below code into it.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<LinearLayout
	xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
	android:layout_width="match_parent"
	android:layout_height="match_parent"
	android:background="@android:color/holo_green_dark"
	android:gravity="center"
	android:orientation="vertical">

	<TextView
		android:layout_width="wrap_content"
		android:layout_height="wrap_content"
		android:layout_marginBottom="20dp"
		android:text="@string/presented_by"
		android:textColor="@android:color/white"
		android:textSize="18sp"
		android:textStyle="bold"/>

	<ImageView
		android:layout_width="wrap_content"
		android:layout_height="wrap_content"
		android:layout_marginBottom="20dp"
		android:contentDescription="@string/no_image"
		android:src="@mipmap/ic_launcher"/>

	<TextView
		android:layout_width="wrap_content"
		android:layout_height="wrap_content"
		android:text="@string/profile"
		android:textColor="@android:color/white"
		android:textSize="17sp"/>

</LinearLayout>

4. Use TabHost Widget in xml file

Open res/layout/activity_main.xml file. Then, add below code into it.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<TabHost
	android:id="@android:id/tabhost"
	xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
	android:layout_width="match_parent"
	android:layout_height="match_parent">

	<RelativeLayout
		android:layout_width="match_parent"
		android:layout_height="match_parent"
		android:orientation="vertical">

		<TabWidget
			android:id="@android:id/tabs"
			android:layout_width="match_parent"
			android:layout_height="wrap_content"
			android:layout_alignParentBottom="true">

		</TabWidget>

		<FrameLayout
			android:id="@android:id/tabcontent"
			android:layout_width="match_parent"
			android:layout_height="match_parent"
			android:layout_above="@android:id/tabs">

		</FrameLayout>

	</RelativeLayout>

</TabHost>

In activity_main.xml file, we have defined TabHost Layout. TabWidget contains the tab labels which displays page of selected tab in frameLayout when clicked.

5. Access TabHost Widget in java file

Open src/main/java/com.tutorialwing.tabhost/MainActivity.java file. Then, add below code into it.

package com.tutorialwing.tabhost;

import android.app.TabActivity;
import android.content.Intent;
import android.os.Bundle;
import android.widget.TabHost;
import android.widget.Toast;

public class MainActivity extends TabActivity {

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

		TabHost tabHost = findViewById(android.R.id.tabhost);
		if (tabHost != null) {
			addTab(tabHost, getString(R.string.home), getString(R.string.home), HomeActivity.class);
			addTab(tabHost, getString(R.string.recent), getString(R.string.recent), RecentActivity.class);
			addTab(tabHost, getString(R.string.profile), getString(R.string.profile), ProfileActivity.class);

			tabHost.setCurrentTab(1);
			tabHost.setOnTabChangedListener(new TabHost.OnTabChangeListener() {
				@Override
				public void onTabChanged(String tabId) {
					Toast.makeText(getApplicationContext(), tabId, Toast.LENGTH_SHORT).show();
				}
			});
		}
	}

	private void addTab(TabHost tabHost, String name, String indicator, Class<?> className) {
		TabHost.TabSpec tabSpec = tabHost.newTabSpec(name);
		tabSpec.setIndicator(indicator);
		Intent intent = new Intent(this, className);
		tabSpec.setContent(intent);
		tabHost.addTab(tabSpec);
	}
}

In MainActivity.java file, we have accessed tabHost. Then, we have added three tabs(Home, Profile and Recent) in it. After that, we have set tab change listener to show a toast message that displays current selected tab.

Since AndroidManifest.xml file is very important in any android application, we are also going to see the content inside this file.

AndroidManifest.xml

Code inside src/main/AndroidManifest.xml file is as below –

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<manifest package="com.tutorialwing.tabhost"
		  xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android">

	<application
		android:allowBackup="true"
		android:icon="@mipmap/ic_launcher"
		android:label="@string/app_name"
		android:roundIcon="@mipmap/ic_launcher_round"
		android:supportsRtl="true"
		android:theme="@style/AppTheme">
		<activity android:name=".MainActivity">
			<intent-filter>
				<action android:name="android.intent.action.MAIN"/>

				<category android:name="android.intent.category.LAUNCHER"/>
			</intent-filter>
		</activity>
		<activity
			android:name=".RecentActivity"
			android:label="@string/recent">
		</activity>
		<activity
			android:name=".HomeActivity"
			android:label="@string/home">
		</activity>
		<activity
			android:name=".ProfileActivity"
			android:label="@string/profile">
		</activity>
	</application>

</manifest>

When we run the program, we will get output as shown above.

That’s end of tutorial on Android TabHost widget.