Settings

Settings is a place in your app where users indicate their preferences for how your app should behave. This benefits users because:

• You don't need to interrupt them with the same questions over and over when certain situations arise. The settings predetermine what will always happen in those situations (see design principle: Decide for me but let me have the final say).
• You help them feel at home and in control (see design principle: Let me make it mine).

Flow and Structure

Provide access to Settings in the action overflow

Settings is given low prominence in the UI because it's not frequently needed. Even if there's room in the action bar, never make Settings an action button. Always keep it in the action overflow and label it "Settings". Place it below all other items except "Help".

Avoid the temptation to make everything a setting

Because Settings is a few navigational steps away, no matter how many items you have, they'll never clutter up the core part of your UI. This may seem like good news, but it also poses a challenge.

Settings can be a tempting place to keep a lot of stuff—like a hall closet where things get stashed when you tidy up before company comes over. It's not a place where you spend lots of time, so it's easy to rationalize and ignore its cluttered condition. But when users visit Settings—however infrequently—they'll have the same expectations for the experience as they do everywhere else in your app. More settings means more choices to make, and too many are overwhelming.

So don't punt on the difficult product decisions and debates that can bring on the urge to "just make it a setting". For each control you're considering adding to Settings, make sure it meets the bar:

Grouping settings is not an exact science, but here's some advice for how to approach it, based on the total number of settings in your app.

Design Patterns

Defaults

Take great care in choosing default values for each of your settings. Because settings determine app behavior, your choices will contribute to users' first impressions of your app. Even though users can change settings, they'll expect the initial states to be sensible. The following questions (when applicable) may help inform your decisions:

• Which choice would most users be likely to choose on their own if there were no default?
• Which choice is the most neutral or middle-of-the-road?
• Which choice is the least risky, controversial, or over-the-top?
• Which choice uses the least amount of battery or mobile data?
• Which choice best supports the design principle Never lose my stuff?
• Which choice best supports the design principle Only interrupt me if it's important?

Writing Guidelines

Label clearly and concisely

Writing a good label for a setting can be challenging because space is very limited. You only get one line, and it's incredibly short on the smallest of devices. Follow these guidelines to make your labels brief, meaningful, and scannable:

• Write each label in sentence case (i.e. only the first word and proper nouns are capitalized).
• Don't start a label with an instructional verb like "Set", "Change", "Edit", "Modify", "Manage", "Use", "Select", or "Choose". Users already understand that they can do these things to settings.
• Likewise, don't end a label with a word like "setting" or "settings". It's already implied.
• If the setting is part of a grouping, don't repeat the word(s) used in the section divider or subscreen title.
• Avoid starting a label with a negative word like "Don't" or "Never". For example, "Don't allow" could be rephrased to "Block".
• Steer clear of technical jargon as much as possible, unless it's a term widely understood by your target users. Use common verbs and nouns to convey the setting's purpose rather than its underlying technology.
• Don't refer to the user. For example, for a setting allowing the user to turn notifications on or off, label it "Notifications" instead of "Notify me".

Once you've decided on labels for your settings, be sure to preview them on an LDPI handset in portrait to make sure they'll fit everywhere.

Secondary text below is for status, not description…

Before Ice Cream Sandwich, we often displayed secondary text below a label to further describe it or provide instructions. Starting in Ice Cream Sandwich, we're using secondary text for status.

Status in secondary text has the following benefits:

• Users can see at a glance what the current value of a setting is without having to navigate any further.
• It applies the design principle Keep it brief, which users greatly appreciate.

…unless it's a checkbox setting

There's one important exception to the using secondary text for status: checkbox settings. Here, use secondary text for description, not status. Status below a checkbox is unnecessary because the checkbox already indicates it. The reason why it's appropriate to have a description below a checkbox setting is because—unlike other controls—it doesn't display a dialog or navigate to another screen where additional information can be provided.

That said, if a checkbox setting's label is clear enough on its own, there's no need to also provide a description. Only include one if necessary.

Follow these guidelines to write checkbox setting descriptions:

• Keep it to one sentence and don't use ending punctuation.
• Convey what happens when the setting is checked, phrased in the form of a command. Example: "Allow data exchange", not "Allows data exchange".
• Avoid repetition by choosing words that don't already appear in the label.
• Don't refer to the user unless it's necessary for understanding the setting.
• If you must refer to the user, do so in the second person ("you") rather than the first person ("I"). Android speaks to users, not on behalf of them.

Writing examples

The following are examples of changes we made to labels and secondary text in the Settings app in Ice Cream Sandwich.

Checklist

• Make sure each item in Settings meets the criteria for belonging there.

• If you have more than 7 items, explore ways to group related settings.

• Use design patterns wherever applicable so users don't face a learning curve.

• Choose defaults that are safe, neutral, and fit the majority of users.

• Give each setting a clear, concise label and use secondary text appropriately.