Android SharedPreferences not changing

Question

So I am learning about SharedPreferences within Android.

I thought I would quickly try and mock up something simple. When the user selects a particular option from a list of options (3 options in this case) - the layout file will change accordingly. However, it always assumes the default value supplied, hence never changes the layout when another option is selected - so when another option is selected, it is recorded fine, but the layout doesn't change, this leads me to believe that there is perhaps a problem occurring when getting the preferences in the first place, I was wondering if someone could take a quick look and spot something obvious, or not so obvious with their experience/wisdom - here is the code:

MainActivity.java:

package com.example.preferenceslayout;

import android.app.Activity;
import android.content.Intent;
import android.content.SharedPreferences;
import android.content.SharedPreferences.OnSharedPreferenceChangeListener;
import android.os.Bundle;
import android.preference.PreferenceManager;
import android.view.Menu;
import android.view.MenuItem;

public class MainActivity extends Activity
    implements OnSharedPreferenceChangeListener {

    @Override
    protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
        super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
        loadPreferences();
    }

    @Override
    public boolean onCreateOptionsMenu(Menu menu) {
        // Inflate the menu; this adds items to the action bar if it is present.
        getMenuInflater().inflate(R.menu.main, menu);
        return true;
    }

    public boolean onOptionsItemSelected(MenuItem item) {
        switch(item.getItemId()) {
        case R.id.preferences:
            startActivity(new Intent(getApplicationContext(),
                     AppPreferences.class));
            break;
        }
        return false;
    }

    public void loadPreferences() {
        SharedPreferences prefs = getApplicationContext().
            getSharedPreferences("mode", MODE_PRIVATE);
        int layoutPref = prefs.getInt("mode", 10);
        switch(layoutPref) {
        case 10:
            setContentView(R.layout.activity_main);
            break;
        case 20:
            setContentView(R.layout.second_layout);
            break;
        case 30:
            setContentView(R.layout.third_layout);
            break;
        }
        prefs.registerOnSharedPreferenceChangeListener(MainActivity.this);
    }

    @Override
    public void onSharedPreferenceChanged(SharedPreferences arg0, String arg1) {
        loadPreferences();      
    }
}

preference.xml:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<PreferenceScreen xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android" >
    <ListPreference
        android:key="mode"
        android:title="@string/mode"
        android:defaultValue="1"
        android:summary="@string/summary"
        android:entries="@array/listArray"
        android:entryValues="@array/listValues" />
</PreferenceScreen>

AppPreferences.xml:

package com.example.preferenceslayout;

import android.os.Bundle;
import android.preference.PreferenceActivity;

public class AppPreferences extends PreferenceActivity {

    @Override
    protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
        super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
        addPreferencesFromResource(R.xml.preference);
    }
}

main.xml:

<menu xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android" >
    <item
        android:id="@+id/action_settings"
        android:orderInCategory="100"
        android:showAsAction="never"
        android:title="@string/action_settings"/>
    <item
        android:id="@+id/preferences"
        android:title="Preferences" />
</menu>

PreferencesLayoutManifest.xml

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<manifest xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
    package="com.example.preferenceslayout"
    android:versionCode="1"
    android:versionName="1.0" >

    <uses-sdk
        android:minSdkVersion="8"
        android:targetSdkVersion="18" />

    <application
        android:allowBackup="true"
        android:icon="@drawable/ic_launcher"
        android:label="@string/app_name"
        android:theme="@style/AppTheme" >
        <activity
            android:name="com.example.preferenceslayout.MainActivity"
            android:label="@string/app_name" >
            <intent-filter>
                <action android:name="android.intent.action.MAIN" />

                <category android:name="android.intent.category.LAUNCHER" />
            </intent-filter>
        </activity>
        <activity android:name="com.example.preferenceslayout.AppPreferences">
            <intent-filter>
                <action android:name=".AppPreferences" />
            </intent-filter>
        </activity>
    </application>
</manifest>

array.xml

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<resources>
    <string-array name="listArray">
        <item>10</item>
        <item>20</item>
        <item>30</item>
    </string-array>
    <string-array name="listValues">
        <item>1</item>
        <item>2</item>
    </string-array>
</resources>

Answer 1

You never write to your preferences. You need a prefs.putInt("mode", some_int); somewhere. Also your listener serves no purpose whatsoever - drop it.

You are writing to the default shared preferences cause preferences screens write there. The "mode" is just the key - there is one key in the default shared preferences and one in your preference file (named "mode_something.xml") - but you write the one (automatically via the preferences screen) and you read the other (which is never set)