Using a SimpleAdapter

If we want more control over the parts of the data to be rendered and how the data is rendered for each item, we can use a different adapter and different item templates.

How to do it...

List views allow us to entirely customize each item view through item templates. Android has a few predefined templates that we can use:

1. We can make use of the simple, single-line text items using the ArrayAdapter<T> type and a simple string collection:

   var adapter = new ArrayAdapter<string>(
     this, Android.Resource.Layout.SimpleListItem1, data);

2. Android also provides a means to handle more complex data. To do this, we use a collection of the JavaDictionary<string, object> objects:

   var data = new JavaList<IDictionary<string, object>>();

3. We can add items to this list like any other collection using the Add() method:

   data.Add(new JavaDictionary<string, object> {
     { "name", "Bruce Banner" },
     { "status", "Bruce Banner feels like SMASHING!" }
   });

4. With more...