Where to place an “add new record” item for a listview?

Question

I'm working on an app that has a listview, and I need a way to add rows to the listview. The code is not a problem, but I'm just wondering if there is a convention or consistent android UI design for that?

I'm unsure if I should use a row at index 0 that when longclicked could add a new record, or if generally an "add new record" button is added as a context item, or what.

Does anyone know what is usually done, or have any great ideas for how to handle this?

Answer 1

The Android design resources are a pretty good resource to look through.

If a frequent or important action within the context of that screen is to add a row then you should consider putting it in the main action bar. From the Android guide:

Show the most important actions of your app in the actions section. Actions that don't fit in the action bar are moved automatically to the action overflow.

Example action bar and list:

In this context your 'Add row' button is comparable to the New tweet button (if it is a main action)

The image below is an example of a contextual or overflow action menu (therefore at the bottom). The 'add' action is presented in the middle. Whether this is appropriate depends on context.

This is a similar pattern to what is being used frequently in iOS apps (see example below). Notice the emphasised main action.

A more unique approach has been employed by the Clear task app (see below). In this example the user pinches apart to create a new row. This works beautifully but is not that prevalent yet.

My final example is the Wunderlist andoid app. In my experience this works well. One thing that might impact this is whether you are adding a new row at the bottom or top.

Answer 2

How about adding a generic row at the bottom of the table with text something like "tap here to add new row" or just "add new row"?

Answer 3

The UX for this has been innovated in many ways from many designers. But from a designer's perspective I would suggest a "+" icon on the header - on Action Bar (not on the scrolling list). Considering is so simple to understand and effective. Also the user is able to relate it clearly on what he is adding to, because if you are following the latest android design guidelines, you wold be having a action bar on top, and to the left will be its title. So the user is able to relate easily.

But i would recommend you to innovate more on this, because, considering mobile as a platform the possibilities are endless. Search out dribbble with tag "add new" you can see lot of new ideas coming it. Hope it helps...