Programmatically change input type of the EditText

Question

In my application, I have an EditText whose default input type is set to android:inputType="textPassword" by deault. It has a CheckBox to its right, which is when checked, changes the input type of that EditText to NORMAL PLAIN TEXT. Code for that is

password.setInputType(InputType.TYPE_TEXT_VARIATION_VISIBLE_PASSWORD);

My problem is, when that CheckBox is unchecked it should again set the input type to PASSWORD. I've done it using-

password.setInputType(InputType.TYPE_TEXT_VARIATION_PASSWORD);

But, the text inside that edittext is still visible. And for surprise, when I change the orienatation, it automatically sets the input type to PASSWORD and the text inside is bulleted (shown like a password).

Any way to achieve this?

Answer 1

Since the Support Library v24.2.0. you can achivie this very easy

What you need to do is just:

1. Add the design library to your dependecies

   dependencies {
        compile "com.android.support:design:25.1.0"
   }
   

2. Use TextInputEditText in conjunction with TextInputLayout

   <android.support.design.widget.TextInputLayout
       android:id="@+id/etPasswordLayout"
       android:layout_width="match_parent"
       android:layout_height="wrap_content"
       app:passwordToggleEnabled="true">
   
       <android.support.design.widget.TextInputEditText
           android:id="@+id/etPassword"
           android:layout_width="match_parent"
           android:layout_height="wrap_content"
           android:hint="@string/password_hint"
           android:inputType="textPassword"/>
   </android.support.design.widget.TextInputLayout>
   

passwordToggleEnabled attribute will make the password toggle appear

3. In your root layout don't forget to add xmlns:app="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res-auto"

4. You can customize your password toggle by using:

app:passwordToggleDrawable - Drawable to use as the password input visibility toggle icon.
app:passwordToggleTint - Icon to use for the password input visibility toggle.
app:passwordToggleTintMode - Blending mode used to apply the background tint.

More details in TextInputLayout documentation.

Answer 2

The Password Visibility Toggle feature has been added to support library version 24.2.0 enabling you to toggle the password straight from the EditText without the need for a CheckBox.

You can make that work basically by first updating your support library version to 24.2.0 and then setting an inputType of password on the TextInputEditText. Here's how to do that:

<android.support.design.widget.TextInputLayout
        android:layout_width="match_parent"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content">

        <android.support.design.widget.TextInputEditText
            android:layout_width="match_parent"
            android:layout_height="wrap_content"
            android:hint="@string/password"
            android:inputType="textPassword"/>
</android.support.design.widget.TextInputLayout>

You can get more information about the new feature on the developer documentation for TextInputLayout.

Answer 3

Checkbox.setOnCheckedChangeListener(new OnCheckedChangeListener() {

            public void onCheckedChanged(CompoundButton buttonView, boolean isChecked) {
                // checkbox status is checked.
                if (isChecked) {
                        //password is visible
 PasswordField.setTransformationMethod(HideReturnsTransformationMethod.getInstance());     
                } else {
                        //password gets hided
             passwordField.setTransformationMethod(PasswordTransformationMethod.getInstance());       
                }
            }
        });

Answer 4

I would remove android:inputType="textPassword" from your layout. That is why it is switching back to password when the orientation changes. Because each time the orientation changes the view is being recreated.

As for the first problem try this:

String text = password.getText();
password.setText("");
password.setInputType(InputType.TYPE_TEXT_VARIATION_PASSWORD);
password.setText(text);

basically emptying out the text before you change the input type and then add it back.

Answer 5

Based on answers of neeraj t and Everton Fernandes Rosario I wrote in Kotlin, where password is an id of an EditText in your layout.

// Show passwords' symbols.
private fun showPassword() {
    password.run {
        val cursorPosition = selectionStart
        transformationMethod = HideReturnsTransformationMethod.getInstance()
        setSelection(cursorPosition)
    }
}

// Show asterisks.
private fun hidePassword() {
    password.run {
        val cursorPosition = selectionStart
        transformationMethod = PasswordTransformationMethod.getInstance()
        setSelection(cursorPosition)
    }
}

Answer 6

Ok So after hours of trying finally implemented it. Below is the code ..

  buttons.get(2).setOnClickListener(new OnClickListener() {
    @Override
    public void onClick(View view) {
       if(buttons.get(2).getText().toString().equalsIgnoreCase(getResources().getString(R.string.show))){
           editTexts.get(1).setInputType(InputType.TYPE_CLASS_TEXT);
           editTexts.get(1).setSelection(editTexts.get(1).getText().length());
           buttons.get(2).setText(getResources().getString(R.string.hide));
        }else{
           editTexts.get(1).setInputType(InputType.TYPE_CLASS_TEXT|InputType.TYPE_TEXT_VARIATION_PASSWORD);
           //editTexts.get(1).setTransformationMethod(PasswordTransformationMethod.getInstance());
           editTexts.get(1).setSelection(editTexts.get(1).getText().length());
           buttons.get(2).setText(getResources().getString(R.string.show));
       }

    }
});

---

Explanations:- I have a button with default text as show. After onclick event on it checking if button's text is show. If it is show then changing the input type,adjusting the cursor position and setting new text as hide in it.

When it is hide... doing reverse i.e. hiding the password,adjusting the cursor and setting the text as show. And that's it. It is working like a charm.