Show ActionMode over ActionMode

Question

I have a list activity in which the user can do open action modes A and B. The user can also open action mode A then B on top of it.

The problem is that when action mode A is shown and action mode B is shown on top of it, A gets closed automatically when B is shown. The user can't navigate back from B to A.

I thought I could take note of action mode A visibility when action mode B is opened then restore it when action mode B is closed, but that doesn't work. It seems that it's not possible to immediately show another action mode after closing one. However this issue only happens if the action mode A is closed with the back arrow. When closed by code (ActionMode.finish()), action mode B can be shown, but the closing animation doesn't make it look like user is navigating back from B to A. So this solution is out of question.

So is there a way to open an action mode on top of another, or at least replace the menu layout of an action mode programatically then change it back?

Action mode A is actually the search action mode, from which the user can select results which opens action mode B if that can help to understand.

Answer 1

I think I reached desired behavior through postDelayed() from onDestroyActionMode of action mode B. This is not very elegant solution, but it works.

My code snippet:

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

        listView.onItemClickListener = AdapterView.OnItemClickListener { adapterView, view, p2, p3 ->
            startActionModeA()
            true
        }
    }

    var actionModeA: ActionMode? = null

    val actionModeCallbackA = object : ActionMode.Callback {
        override fun onActionItemClicked(mode: ActionMode?, p1: MenuItem?): Boolean {
            Log.wtf("ACTION MODE", "onActionItemClicked")
            actionModeB = startActionMode(actionModeCallbackB)
            return true
        }

        override fun onCreateActionMode(mode: ActionMode?, menu: Menu?): Boolean {
            Log.wtf("ACTION MODE", "onCreateActionMode")
            val inflater = mode?.getMenuInflater()
            inflater?.inflate(R.menu.context_menu, menu)
            return true
        }

        override fun onPrepareActionMode(p0: ActionMode?, p1: Menu?): Boolean {
            Log.wtf("ACTION MODE", "onPrepareActionMode")
            return false
        }

        override fun onDestroyActionMode(p0: ActionMode?) {
            Log.wtf("ACTION MODE", "onDestroyActionMode")
            actionModeA = null
        }


    }
    var actionModeB: ActionMode? = null

    val actionModeCallbackB = object : ActionMode.Callback {
        override fun onActionItemClicked(mode: ActionMode?, p1: MenuItem?): Boolean {
            Log.wtf("ACTION MODE 2", "onActionItemClicked")
            return true
        }

        override fun onCreateActionMode(mode: ActionMode?, menu: Menu?): Boolean {
            Log.wtf("ACTION MODE 2", "onCreateActionMode")
            val inflater = mode?.getMenuInflater()
            inflater?.inflate(R.menu.context_menu2, menu)
            return true
        }

        override fun onPrepareActionMode(p0: ActionMode?, p1: Menu?): Boolean {
            Log.wtf("ACTION MODE 2", "onPrepareActionMode")
            return false
        }

        override fun onDestroyActionMode(mode: ActionMode?) {
            Log.wtf("ACTION MODE 2", "onDestroyActionMode")
            actionModeB = null
            listView.postDelayed({
                startActionModeA()
            }, 100)
        }
    }

    private fun startActionModeA() {
        actionModeA = startActionMode(actionModeCallbackA)
    }