Context Menu in Android with Example

In Android, there are three types of menus available to define a set of options and actions in the Android apps. The lists of menus in Android applications are the following:

• Android options menu
• Android context menu
• Android popup menu

Here in this article let’s discuss the detail of the Context Menu. In Android, the context menu is like a floating menu and arises when the user has long-pressed or clicked on an item and is beneficial for implementing functions that define the specific content or reference frame effect. The Android context menu is alike to the right-click menu in Windows or Linux. In the Android system, the context menu provides actions that change a specific element or context frame in the user interface and one can provide a context menu for any view. The context menu will not support any object shortcuts and object icons. A sample GIF is given below to get an idea about what we are going to do in this article.

Step By Step Implementation

Step 1: Create a New Project in Android Studio

To create a new project in Android Studio please refer to How to Create/Start a New Project in Android Studio. The code for that has been given in both Java and Kotlin Programming Language for Android.

Step 2: Working with the XML Files

Open res -> Layout -> activity_main.xml and write the following code. In this file add only a TextView to display a simple text.

XML

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<!-- Relative Layout to display all the details -->
<RelativeLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
    xmlns:tools="http://schemas.android.com/tools"
    android:id="@+id/relLayout"
    android:layout_width="match_parent"
    android:layout_height="match_parent"
    android:background="#fff"
    android:padding="16dp"
    tools:context=".MainActivity">

    <TextView
        android:id="@+id/textView"
        android:layout_width="wrap_content"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:layout_centerHorizontal="true"
        android:layout_marginTop="20dp"
        android:text="Long press me!"
        android:textColor="#000"
        android:textSize="20sp"
        android:textStyle="bold" />
</RelativeLayout>

Step 3: Working with the MainActivity file

Open the app -> Java -> Package -> Mainactivity.java file. In this step, add the code to show the ContextMenu. Whenever the app will start make a long click on a text and display the number of options to select of them for specific purposes. Comments are added inside the code to understand the code in more detail. 

Java

import android.graphics.Color;
import android.os.Bundle;
import android.view.ContextMenu;
import android.view.MenuItem;
import android.view.View;
import android.widget.RelativeLayout;
import android.widget.TextView;
import androidx.appcompat.app.AppCompatActivity;

public class MainActivity extends AppCompatActivity {
    TextView textView;
    RelativeLayout relativeLayout;

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

        // Link those objects with their respective id's that we have given in .XML file
        textView = (TextView) findViewById(R.id.textView);
        relativeLayout = (RelativeLayout) findViewById(R.id.relLayout);

        // here you have to register a view for context menu you can register any view
          // like listview, image view, textview, button etc
        registerForContextMenu(textView);

    }

    @Override
    public void onCreateContextMenu(ContextMenu menu, View v, ContextMenu.ContextMenuInfo menuInfo) {
        super.onCreateContextMenu(menu, v, menuInfo);
        // you can set menu header with title icon etc
        menu.setHeaderTitle("Choose a color");
        // add menu items
        menu.add(0, v.getId(), 0, "Yellow");
        menu.add(0, v.getId(), 0, "Gray");
        menu.add(0, v.getId(), 0, "Cyan");
    }

    // menu item select listener
    @Override
    public boolean onContextItemSelected(MenuItem item) {
        if (item.getTitle() == "Yellow") {
            relativeLayout.setBackgroundColor(Color.YELLOW);
        } else if (item.getTitle() == "Gray") {
            relativeLayout.setBackgroundColor(Color.GRAY);
        } else if (item.getTitle() == "Cyan") {
            relativeLayout.setBackgroundColor(Color.CYAN);
        }
        return true;
    }
}

Kotlin

import android.graphics.Color
import android.os.Bundle
import android.view.ContextMenu
import android.view.ContextMenu.ContextMenuInfo
import android.view.MenuItem
import android.view.View
import android.widget.RelativeLayout
import android.widget.TextView
import androidx.appcompat.app.AppCompatActivity

class MainActivity : AppCompatActivity() {
    lateinit var textView: TextView
    lateinit var relativeLayout: RelativeLayout

    override fun onCreate(savedInstanceState: Bundle?) {
        super.onCreate(savedInstanceState)
        setContentView(R.layout.activity_main)

        // Link those objects with their respective id's that we have given in .XML file
        textView = findViewById(R.id.textView)
        relativeLayout = findViewById(R.id.relLayout)

        // here you have to register a view for context menu you can register any view
        // like listview, image view, textview, button etc
        registerForContextMenu(textView)
    }

    override fun onCreateContextMenu(menu: ContextMenu, v: View, menuInfo: ContextMenuInfo) {
        super.onCreateContextMenu(menu, v, menuInfo)
        // you can set menu header with title icon etc
        menu.setHeaderTitle("Choose a color")
        // add menu items
        menu.add(0, v.id, 0, "Yellow")
        menu.add(0, v.id, 0, "Gray")
        menu.add(0, v.id, 0, "Cyan")
    }

    // menu item select listener
    override fun onContextItemSelected(item: MenuItem): Boolean {
        if (item.title === "Yellow") {
            relativeLayout.setBackgroundColor(Color.YELLOW)
        } else if (item.title === "Gray") {
            relativeLayout.setBackgroundColor(Color.GRAY)
        } else if (item.title === "Cyan") {
            relativeLayout.setBackgroundColor(Color.CYAN)
        }
        return true
    }
}

Output: Run on Emulator

Now connect the device with a USB cable or in an Emulator and launch the application. The user will see a text. Now long pressing on the text will generate menu options and select one of them to perform specific functionality.