I know this is an old question but I want to share my approach. I had long reading times and used a combination of shared preferences and the global application class:
ApplicationClass:
public class ApplicationClass extends Application {
private LocalPreference.Filter filter;
public LocalPreference.Filter getFilter() {
return filter;
}
public void setFilter(LocalPreference.Filter filter) {
this.filter = filter;
}
}
LocalPreference:
public class LocalPreference {
public static void saveLocalPreferences(Activity activity, int maxDistance, int minAge,
int maxAge, boolean showMale, boolean showFemale) {
Filter filter = new Filter();
filter.setMaxDistance(maxDistance);
filter.setMinAge(minAge);
filter.setMaxAge(maxAge);
filter.setShowMale(showMale);
filter.setShowFemale(showFemale);
BabysitApplication babysitApplication = (BabysitApplication) activity.getApplication();
babysitApplication.setFilter(filter);
SecurePreferences securePreferences = new SecurePreferences(activity.getApplicationContext());
securePreferences.edit().putInt(Preference.FILER_MAX_DISTANCE.toString(), maxDistance).apply();
securePreferences.edit().putInt(Preference.FILER_MIN_AGE.toString(), minAge).apply();
securePreferences.edit().putInt(Preference.FILER_MAX_AGE.toString(), maxAge).apply();
securePreferences.edit().putBoolean(Preference.FILER_SHOW_MALE.toString(), showMale).apply();
securePreferences.edit().putBoolean(Preference.FILER_SHOW_FEMALE.toString(), showFemale).apply();
}
public static Filter getLocalPreferences(Activity activity) {
BabysitApplication babysitApplication = (BabysitApplication) activity.getApplication();
Filter applicationFilter = babysitApplication.getFilter();
if (applicationFilter != null) {
return applicationFilter;
} else {
Filter filter = new Filter();
SecurePreferences securePreferences = new SecurePreferences(activity.getApplicationContext());
filter.setMaxDistance(securePreferences.getInt(Preference.FILER_MAX_DISTANCE.toString(), 20));
filter.setMinAge(securePreferences.getInt(Preference.FILER_MIN_AGE.toString(), 15));
filter.setMaxAge(securePreferences.getInt(Preference.FILER_MAX_AGE.toString(), 50));
filter.setShowMale(securePreferences.getBoolean(Preference.FILER_SHOW_MALE.toString(), true));
filter.setShowFemale(securePreferences.getBoolean(Preference.FILER_SHOW_FEMALE.toString(), true));
babysitApplication.setFilter(filter);
return filter;
}
}
public static class Filter {
private int maxDistance;
private int minAge;
private int maxAge;
private boolean showMale;
private boolean showFemale;
public int getMaxDistance() {
return maxDistance;
}
public void setMaxDistance(int maxDistance) {
this.maxDistance = maxDistance;
}
public int getMinAge() {
return minAge;
}
public void setMinAge(int minAge) {
this.minAge = minAge;
}
public int getMaxAge() {
return maxAge;
}
public void setMaxAge(int maxAge) {
this.maxAge = maxAge;
}
public boolean isShowMale() {
return showMale;
}
public void setShowMale(boolean showMale) {
this.showMale = showMale;
}
public boolean isShowFemale() {
return showFemale;
}
public void setShowFemale(boolean showFemale) {
this.showFemale = showFemale;
}
}
}
MainActivity (activity that get called first in your application):
LocalPreference.getLocalPreferences(this);
Steps explained:
- The main activity calls getLocalPreferences(this) -> this will read your preferences, set the filter object in your application class and returns it.
- When you call the getLocalPreferences() function again somewhere else in the application it first checks if it's not available in the application class which is a lot faster.
NOTE: ALWAYS check if an application wide variable is different from NULL, reason -> http://www.developerphil.com/dont-store-data-in-the-application-object/
The application object will not stay in memory forever, it will get killed. Contrary to popular belief, the app won’t be restarted from scratch. Android will create a new Application object and start the activity where the user was before to give the illusion that the application was never killed in the first place.
If I didn't check on null I would allow a nullpointer to be thrown when calling for example getMaxDistance() on the filter object (if the application object was swiped from the memory by Android)