Refresh or change the AlertDialog Message

Question

I create an AlertDialog

AlertDialog.Builder builder = new AlertDialog.Builder(this);
...
AlertDialog alert = builder.create();
alert.show();

After a moment I want to change the AlertDialog message without closing it.

Is it possible?

score 16 · Answer 1 · edited May 14 '19 at 15:35

16

Agreed with android developer. You can also use

TextView messageView = (TextView) alert.findViewById(android.R.id.message);

To get the control over the messageTextView of AlertDialog. Then you can set the new text there.

edited May 14 '19 at 15:35

Vadim Kotov

8,084
8
48
62

answered Apr 19 '13 at 13:47

stinepike

54,068
14
92
112

3

This doesn't work. @Danger's answer is the correct one and it's nicer, just use alert.setMessage() instead of builder.setMessage() . – qwlice Jun 21 '17 at 13:04

Danger · Answer 2 · 2018-12-14T09:56:37.303

Use alert.setMessage() instead of builder.setMessage(). Call alert.setMessage() and set message of your dialog anytime you want.

Example:

     AlertDialog.Builder dialogBuilder;
     AlertDialog alertDialog;

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

       dialogBuilder = new AlertDialog.Builder(MainActivity.this);
       alertDialog = dialogBuilder.create();
     }


     public void showAlert(int caller) {
       if(alertDialog != null && !alertDialog.isShowing()) {
        switch (caller){
            case 1:
                alertDialog.setMessage("First method call");
                break;
            case 2:
                alertDialog.setMessage("Second method call");
                break;
            case 3:
                alertDialog.setMessage("Third method call");
                break;
            }
            alertDialog.show();
         }
      }

It is important to note that `alert.setMessage()` **won't work unless** at least you called his `AlertDialog.Builder` `builder.setMessage()` first with `""` input (`null` input won't work also). It is a known issue, see issue at [https://issuetracker.google.com/issues/36913966](https://issuetracker.google.com/issues/36913966) — Eido95, Jul 11 '17 at 18:50
Issue was originally reported before Android 2.3. Because of the many changes that existed in Android 4.x compared to previous versions, it's very likely that this issue doesn't exist in recent versions of Android like 4.2.2 or newer. — Danger, Jul 12 '17 at 06:55

android developer · Accepted Answer · 2015-12-10T19:26:19.160

7

Yes ,you can.

For example, if you create your own dialog, with your own layout, you can set an id for each of the views, and then access each of them (for example the textView) and set its new text whenever you wish to.

edited Dec 10 '15 at 19:26

answered Apr 19 '13 at 13:39

android developer

114,585
152
739
1,270

3

For me it does not work: Using `TextView messageView = (TextView)dialog.findViewById(android.R.id.message); messageView.setText("MyText");` after having called `dialog.show()` does not change the text. – user905686 Dec 10 '15 at 19:24
Again, I wrote "with your own layout". For other solutions, they might not work well. – android developer Dec 10 '15 at 19:27
what if I need to edit the message of AlertDialog while the activity is paused. For example I show dialog asking the user to scan NFC Tag, and I need around 5 seconds to read the tag, how could I update the message from "scan the tag" to "Don't break the connection" – Karam Jul 24 '20 at 16:17

score 3 · Answer 4 · answered Aug 18 '16 at 08:22

Set OnClickListener out of main setter like this:

AlertDialog.Builder alertDialogBuilder = new AlertDialog.Builder(getActivity())
                        .setTitle(getResources().getString(R.string.dialog_title))
                        .setMessage("Waiting ...")
                        .setNeutralButton(R.string.check, null);

AlertDialog alertDialog = alertDialogBuilder.create();
alertDialog.show();

Button b_neutral = alertDialog.getButton(DialogInterface.BUTTON_NEUTRAL);
b_neutral.setOnClickListener(new View.OnClickListener() {
                    @Override
                    public void onClick(View view) {
                        TextView tv_message = (TextView) alertDialog.findViewById(android.R.id.message);
                        tv_message.setText("Works ...");
    }
});

Refresh or change the AlertDialog Message

4 Answers4

Linked