android - How to add a Hint in spinner in XML

Question

I am trying to add a Hint in the spinner widget as there is no option of Hint as in EditText, I want to show Gender as a Hint and when clicked it must show only Male and Female not the hint.

How it can be Done Only Using XML

XML code of spinner.

  <Spinner
      android:layout_width="match_parent"
      android:layout_height="wrap_content"
      android:id="@+id/spinner1"
      android:entries="@array/gender"
      android:layout_marginTop="10dp"
      android:layout_marginLeft="25dp"
      android:layout_marginRight="25dp"
      android:layout_gravity="center_horizontal" />

String Array of the spinner

<string-array name="gender">
     <item>Male</item>
     <item>Female</item>
</string-array>

Answer 1

In the adapter you can set the first item as disabled. Below is the sample code

@Override
public boolean isEnabled(int position) {
    if (position == 0) {
        // Disable the first item from Spinner
        // First item will be use for hint
        return false;
    } else {
        return true;
    }
}

And set the first item to grey color.

@Override
public View getDropDownView(int position, View convertView,
                                    ViewGroup parent) {
    View view = super.getDropDownView(position, convertView, parent);
    TextView tv = (TextView) view;
    if (position == 0) {
        // Set the hint text color gray
        tv.setTextColor(Color.GRAY);
    } else {
        tv.setTextColor(Color.BLACK);
    }
    return view;
}

And if the user selects the first item then do nothing.

@Override
public void onItemSelected(AdapterView<?> parent, View view, int position, long id) {
    String selectedItemText = (String) parent.getItemAtPosition(position);
    // If user change the default selection
    // First item is disable and it is used for hint
    if (position > 0) {
        // Notify the selected item text
        Toast.makeText(getApplicationContext(), "Selected : " + selectedItemText, Toast.LENGTH_SHORT).show();
    }
}

Refer the below link for detail.

How to add a hint to Spinner in Android