Android SimpleCursorAdapter doesn't update when database changes

Call requery() on the Cursor when you change data in the database that you want reflected in that Cursor (or things the Cursor populates, like a ListView via a CursorAdapter).

A Cursor is akin to an ODBC client-side cursor -- it holds all of the data represented by the query result. Hence, just because you change the data in the database, the Cursor will not know about those changes unless you refresh it via requery().

UPDATE: This whole question and set of answers should be deleted due to old age, but that's apparently impossible. Anyone seeking Android answers should bear in mind that the Android is a swiftly-moving target, and answers from 2009 are typically worse than are newer answers.

The current solution is to obtain a fresh Cursor and use either changeCursor() or swapCursor() on the CursorAdapter to affect a data change.

requery is now deprecated. from the documentation:

This method is deprecated. Don't use this. Just request a new cursor, so you can do this asynchronously and update your list view once the new cursor comes back.

after obtaining a new cursor one can use theadapter.changeCursor(cursor). this should update the view.

In case of using loader and automagically generated cursor you can call:

getLoaderManager().restartLoader(0, null, this);

in your activity, just after changing something on a DB, to regenerate new cursor.Don't forget to also have event handlers defined:

@Overridepublic Loader<Cursor> onCreateLoader(int id, Bundle args) {    CursorLoader cursorLoader =            new CursorLoader(this,                    YOUR_URI,                    YOUR_PROJECTION, null, null, null);    return cursorLoader;}@Overridepublic void onLoadFinished(Loader<Cursor> loader, Cursor data) {    adapter.swapCursor(data);}@Overridepublic void onLoaderReset(Loader<Cursor> loader) {    adapter.swapCursor(null);}