How to display a one time welcome screen?

In my android app, I need to design a Welcome Screen which will be shown to the user only once after the app is installed and opened. The app in question is a database driven app and I would love to include some 3 - 4 screens to help the user create re-usable resources for use within the app and a few tips. They would be Dialog Alerts with the last welcome screen showing the "Do Not Show Again" checkbox.

The problem really is, how to show the welcome screen just once. Any help or pointers to that effect are much appreciated.

Solution 1:

Here's some code from my application which does just that.

In your activity:

SharedPreferences mPrefs;
final String welcomeScreenShownPref = "welcomeScreenShown";

/** Called when the activity is first created. */
@Override
public void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
    super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
    setContentView(R.layout.main);

    mPrefs = PreferenceManager.getDefaultSharedPreferences(this);

    // second argument is the default to use if the preference can't be found
    Boolean welcomeScreenShown = mPrefs.getBoolean(welcomeScreenShownPref, false);

    if (!welcomeScreenShown) {
        // here you can launch another activity if you like
        // the code below will display a popup

        String whatsNewTitle = getResources().getString(R.string.whatsNewTitle);
        String whatsNewText = getResources().getString(R.string.whatsNewText);
        new AlertDialog.Builder(this).setIcon(android.R.drawable.ic_dialog_alert).setTitle(whatsNewTitle).setMessage(whatsNewText).setPositiveButton(
                R.string.ok, new DialogInterface.OnClickListener() {
                    public void onClick(DialogInterface dialog, int which) {
                        dialog.dismiss();
                    }
                }).show();
        SharedPreferences.Editor editor = mPrefs.edit();
        editor.putBoolean(welcomeScreenShownPref, true);
        editor.commit(); // Very important to save the preference
    }

}

Solution 2:

Save a flag in the Preferences when you start up the application, after you've done the welcome screen stuff. Check for this flag before you show the welcome screen. If the flag is present (in other words, if it's not the first time), don't show it.

Solution 3:

I created a SplashScreen with this:

package com.olidroide;


import android.app.Activity;
import android.app.ProgressDialog;
import android.content.Intent;
import android.os.Bundle;
import android.os.Handler;
import android.os.Message;


public class SplashScreen extends Activity{
/** Called when the activity is first created. */
     public ProgressDialog myDialog; 

    @Override
    public void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {

        super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
        setContentView(R.layout.splashscreen);

        new Handler().postDelayed(new Runnable() {

            public void run() { 
                myDialog = ProgressDialog.show(SplashScreen.this,"", "Loading", true);

                Intent intent=new Intent(SplashScreen.this,OtherActivity.class);
                SplashScreen.this.startActivity(intent);
                myDialog.dismiss();
                SplashScreen.this.finish();     
            }

        }, 3000);// 3 Seconds
    }
};