Develop Reference

LinearLayout expanding elements

I have a imageView and a linear layout inside a linear layout. It looks like this:
What I want to happen is have the second linear layout with all of the buttons and params be a fixed height, and then have the image view height be dynamic depending on whatever the size of the screen is. So if there is a large screen then the image will be large and the button and sliders will always be the same.
Here is a snippet of what I have:
<LinearLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
android:orientation="vertical"
android:layout_width="fill_parent"
android:layout_height="fill_parent"
android:layout_alignParentLeft="true"
android:layout_alignParentStart="true"
>
<ImageView
android:id="#+id/imgPreview"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="400dp"
android:visibility="visible"
android:layout_gravity="center_vertical|right"
android:layout_alignParentTop="true"
android:layout_alignParentLeft="true"
android:layout_alignParentStart="true"
android:layout_alignParentRight="true"
android:layout_alignParentEnd="true"
android:scaleType="centerCrop"
/>
<LinearLayout
android:orientation="vertical"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="fill_parent">
Is there an easy way to do this?

You can do this by giving the ImageView a layout_height of 0dp and setting its layout_weight to 1. The inner LinearLayout will have its layout_height set to wrap_content.
<LinearLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
android:orientation="vertical"
android:layout_width="fill_parent"
android:layout_height="fill_parent"
android:layout_alignParentLeft="true"
android:layout_alignParentStart="true" >
<ImageView
android:id="#+id/imgPreview"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="0dp"
android:layout_weight="1"
android:visibility="visible"
android:scaleType="centerCrop" />
<LinearLayout
android:orientation="horizontal"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="wrap_content" >
<Your button and slider content here>
</LinearLayout>
</LinearLayout>

Yes, you can do this using:
android:layout_height="0dp"
android:layout_weight="YOUR VALUE"

Android layout with 2 images leaving whitespace at the bottom

I am trying to create a layout that would always display 2 images, splitting the screen length equally into half, leaving no whitespace on screen (even if the images are center cropped).
So far I have the following code, but this leaves a lot of empty white space at the bottom of the screen. The reason I use "RelativeLayout" within the "LinearLayout" is because I want my text1 view to come at the lower portion of my image 1 (overlapping the image1).
<LinearLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
android:layout_width="fill_parent"
android:layout_height="fill_parent"
android:orientation="vertical" >
<RelativeLayout
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="230dp"
android:layout_marginBottom="3dp" >
<ImageView
android:id="#+id/img1"
android:layout_width="fill_parent"
android:layout_height="fill_parent"
android:clickable="true"
android:contentDescription="#string/picture"
android:scaleType="centerCrop" />
<TextView
android:id="#+id/text1"
android:layout_width="fill_parent"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:layout_alignParentBottom="true"
android:gravity="center"
android:padding="5dp"
android:textColor="#fff" />
</RelativeLayout>
<RelativeLayout
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="230dp"
android:layout_marginBottom="3dp" >
<ImageView
android:id="#+id/img2"
android:layout_width="fill_parent"
android:layout_height="fill_parent"
android:clickable="true"
android:contentDescription="#string/picture"
android:scaleType="centerCrop" />
</RelativeLayout>

You are hardcoding the height to 230dp for each layout which could be causing the problem. In the Linear layout you should use weights to distribute the screen area equally.
Use android:layout_weight="1" in both the relative layouts
Check here for more information
Android: 2 relative layout divided in half screen

The layout you are describing is a simple, weighted LinearLayout. Simply add the following attribute to your LinearLayout:
android:weightSum="2"
Then for each RelativeLayout, change the height attribute to:
android:layout_height="0px"
And add the following attribute to the same RelativeLayouts:
android:layout_weight="1"

try to use the frame layout if you want to overlap the textview on image view and use layout weight on the frame layout
Sample code for layout xml
<LinearLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
android:layout_width="fill_parent"
android:layout_height="fill_parent"
android:orientation="vertical" >
<FrameLayout
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="0dp"
android:layout_marginBottom="3dp"
android:layout_weight="0.5" >
<ImageView
android:id="#+id/img1"
android:layout_width="fill_parent"
android:layout_height="fill_parent"
android:clickable="true"
android:scaleType="centerCrop" />
<TextView
android:id="#+id/text1"
android:layout_width="fill_parent"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:text="Test"
android:gravity="center"
android:layout_gravity="center_vertical|bottom"
android:padding="5dp"
android:textColor="#android:color/black" />
</FrameLayout>
<FrameLayout
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="0dp"
android:layout_marginBottom="3dp"
android:layout_weight="0.5" >
<ImageView
android:id="#+id/img2"
android:layout_width="fill_parent"
android:layout_height="fill_parent"
android:clickable="true"
android:scaleType="centerCrop" />
</FrameLayout>

Android: Correctly position buttons inside layout

I have a following layout :
<LinearLayout //container, should adjust height based on CONTENT view height
android:orientation="horizontal"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:baselineAligned="false"
android:clickable="false"
android:padding="20dp">
<RelativeLayout //this is the CONTENT view height
android:layout_width="0dp"
android:layout_height="fill_parent"
android:layout_weight="5">....</RelativeLayout>
...
<RelativeLayout //this is the button layout
android:layout_width="0dp"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:layout_weight="2">
<Button android:layout_width="40sp" android:layout_height="40sp"/>
<Button android:layout_width="40sp" android:layout_height="40sp"/>
</RelativeLayout>
</LinearLayout>
I want the height of the container (LinearLayout) to be adjusted to contain all the views in the RelativeLayout (shown on the left, let's call it CONTAINER).
Then, there are two buttons in the RelativeLayout (shown on the right). I need to align them on top and bottom borders of RelativeLayot, correspondingly. What's really important, is that the height of the buttons' container should be the same (should correspond) to the height of the CONTAINER.
The problem is, if I try to use android:layout_alignParentBottom="true" and android:layout_alignParentTop="true" attributes for the buttons, they will stretch the container height, and it will take the whole screen height.
So, what magic should I use to do the trick? :)

Try to align your right relative layout top and bottom to the left one.
Try something like this:
<RelativeLayout //container, should adjust height based on CONTENT view height
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:baselineAligned="false"
android:clickable="false"
android:padding="20dp">
<RelativeLayout //this is the CONTENT view height
android:id="#+id/contentRL"
android:layout_width="0dp"
android:layout_height="fill_parent"
android:layout_weight="5"
android:layout_alignParentLeft="true">....</RelativeLayout>
...
<RelativeLayout //this is the button layout
android:layout_width="0dp"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:layout_weight="2"
android:layout_alignTop="#id/contentRL"
android:layout_alignBottom="#id/contentRL"
android:layout_alignParentRight="true">
<Button android:layout_width="40sp"
android:layout_height="40sp"
android:layout_alignParentTop="true"/>
<Button android:layout_width="40sp"
android:layout_height="40sp"
android:layout_alignParentBottom="true"/>
</RelativeLayout>

Use this
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<LinearLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
android:orientation="horizontal"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="match_parent"
android:baselineAligned="false"
android:clickable="false"
android:padding="20dp">
<RelativeLayout
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="fill_parent"
android:layout_weight="5"></RelativeLayout>
<RelativeLayout
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="match_parent"
android:layout_weight="2">
<Button android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:layout_alignParentTop="true"/>
<Button android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:layout_alignParentBottom="true"/>
</RelativeLayout>
</LinearLayout>

Ok, based on a hint provided by Damien R. above I successfully accomplished the task by doing following:
Use RelativeLayout as a root with paramters layout_width="wrap_content", layout_height="wrap_content"
Use LinearLayout as a "wrapper" around container RelativeLayouts. This is because I need to lay out these containers using layout_weight attribute.
RelativeLayout layout_height should be fill_parent. No need to use android:layout_alignBottom="#id/..." and android:layout_alignBottom="#id/..." in the RelativeLayout attributes. This will only work if RelativeLayout is a child View of another RelativeLayout, and that's not the case, because I need to use LinearLayout's weight
The code is:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<RelativeLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:baselineAligned="false"
android:clickable="false"
android:padding="10dp">
<LinearLayout
android:layout_width="fill_parent"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:background="#drawable/ticketbackground"
android:id="#+id/ticket_layout"
>
<RelativeLayout
android:id="#+id/contentRL"
android:layout_width="0dp"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:layout_weight="5"
android:layout_alignParentLeft="true">
</RelativeLayout>
<!--second column-->
<RelativeLayout
android:layout_width="0dp"
android:layout_height="fill_parent"
android:layout_weight="3">
...
</RelativeLayout>
<!--third column with buttons-->
<RelativeLayout
android:id="#+id/sdfsdf"
android:layout_width="0dp"
android:layout_height="fill_parent"
android:layout_weight="2">
<Button...
android:layout_alignParentTop="true" />
<Button...
android:layout_alignParentBottom="true" />
</RelativeLayout>
</LinearLayout>
</RelativeLayout>

vertical layout little issue

I have a LinearLayout (vertical) and it should contain 3 elements in the following order: textview, listview and button. The listview could be really high so in order to keep all the 3 elements visible I put the 3 elements each one inside another layout. So my structure is like:
linear layout (vertical)
linear layout (horizontal)
textview
linear layout (vertial) *
listview
relative layout
button
In order to get it working I set a fixed height to the vertical linearlayout which only contains the listview (*) but I know it is a bad choice because on bigger devices there will be a lot of empty space. How can I fix it?
thanks

User percentage values for the LinearLayout(*), so they take up a percentage of the parent's height,
and for the rest, if you want them to take up remaining space, add attribute: android:layout_weight:1;

Implement your layout this way :
<RelativeLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
xmlns:tools="http://schemas.android.com/tools"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="match_parent" >
<TextView
android:id="#+id/mTextView"
android:layout_width="fill_parent"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:layout_alignParentTop="true"
android:gravity="center"
android:padding="10dp"
android:text="Header Text" />
<ListView
android:id="#+id/mListView"
android:layout_width="fill_parent"
android:layout_height="fill_parent"
android:layout_above="#+id/mButton"
android:layout_below="#+id/mTextView" >
</ListView>
<Button
android:id="#+id/mButton"
android:layout_width="fill_parent"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:layout_alignParentBottom="true"
android:text="Button1" />
</RelativeLayout>

// try this
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<LinearLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="match_parent"
android:padding="5dp"
android:orientation="vertical">
<LinearLayout
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:layout_width="match_parent">
<TextView
android:id="#+id/textview"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:text="textview"/>
</LinearLayout>
<LinearLayout
android:layout_height="0dp"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_marginTop="5dp"
android:layout_weight="1">
<ListView
android:layout_height="match_parent"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:cacheColorHint="#00000000"
android:divider="#null"
android:dividerHeight="0dp"
android:smoothScrollbar="true"
android:id="#+id/listview"/>
</LinearLayout>
<LinearLayout
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_marginTop="5dp"
android:gravity="center">
<Button
android:id="#+id/button"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:text="button"/>
</LinearLayout>
</LinearLayout>

How do I align views at the bottom of the screen?

Here's my layout code;
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<LinearLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
android:orientation="vertical"
android:layout_width="fill_parent"
android:layout_height="fill_parent">
<TextView android:text="#string/welcome"
android:id="#+id/TextView"
android:layout_width="fill_parent"
android:layout_height="wrap_content">
</TextView>
<LinearLayout android:id="#+id/LinearLayout"
android:orientation="horizontal"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:gravity="bottom">
<EditText android:id="#+id/EditText"
android:layout_width="fill_parent"
android:layout_height="wrap_content">
</EditText>
<Button android:text="#string/label_submit_button"
android:id="#+id/Button"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content">
</Button>
</LinearLayout>
</LinearLayout>
What this looks like is on the left and what I want it to look like is on the right.
The obvious answer is to set the TextView to fill_parent on height, but this causes no room to be left for the button or entry field.
Essentially the issue is that I want the submit button and the text entry to be a fixed height at the bottom and the text view to fill the rest of the space. Similarly, in the horizontal linear layout I want the submit button to wrap its content and for the text entry to fill the rest of the space.
If the first item in a linear layout is told to fill_parent it does exactly that, leaving no room for other items. How do I get an item which is first in a linear layout to fill all space apart from the minimum required by the rest of the items in the layout?
Relative layouts were indeed the answer:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<RelativeLayout
xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
android:layout_width="fill_parent"
android:layout_height="fill_parent">
<TextView
android:text="#string/welcome"
android:id="#+id/TextView"
android:layout_width="fill_parent"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:layout_alignParentTop="true">
</TextView>
<RelativeLayout
android:id="#+id/InnerRelativeLayout"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:layout_alignParentBottom="true" >
<Button
android:text="#string/label_submit_button"
android:id="#+id/Button"
android:layout_alignParentRight="true"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content">
</Button>
<EditText
android:id="#+id/EditText"
android:layout_width="fill_parent"
android:layout_toLeftOf="#id/Button"
android:layout_height="wrap_content">
</EditText>
</RelativeLayout>
</RelativeLayout>

The modern way to do this is to have a ConstraintLayout and constrain the bottom of the view to the bottom of the ConstraintLayout with app:layout_constraintBottom_toBottomOf="parent"
The example below creates a FloatingActionButton that will be aligned to the end and the bottom of the screen.
<android.support.constraint.ConstraintLayout
xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
xmlns:app="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res-auto"
xmlns:tools="http://schemas.android.com/tools"
android:layout_height="match_parent"
android:layout_width="match_parent">
<android.support.design.widget.FloatingActionButton
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
app:layout_constraintBottom_toBottomOf="parent"
app:layout_constraintEnd_toEndOf="parent" />
</android.support.constraint.ConstraintLayout>
For reference, I will keep my old answer.
Before the introduction of ConstraintLayout the answer was a relative layout.
If you have a relative layout that fills the whole screen you should be able to use android:layout_alignParentBottom to move the button to the bottom of the screen.
If your views at the bottom are not shown in a relative layout then maybe the layout above it takes all the space. In this case you can put the view, that should be at the bottom, first in your layout file and position the rest of the layout above the views with android:layout_above. This enables the bottom view to take as much space as it needs, and the rest of the layout can fill all the rest of the screen.

In a ScrollView this doesn't work, as the RelativeLayout would then overlap whatever is in the ScrollView at the bottom of the page.
I fixed it using a dynamically stretching FrameLayout :
<ScrollView
xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
android:layout_height="match_parent"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:fillViewport="true">
<LinearLayout
android:id="#+id/LinearLayout01"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="match_parent"
xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
android:orientation="vertical">
<!-- content goes here -->
<!-- stretching frame layout, using layout_weight -->
<FrameLayout
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="0dp"
android:layout_weight="1">
</FrameLayout>
<!-- content fixated to the bottom of the screen -->
<LinearLayout
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:orientation="horizontal">
<!-- your bottom content -->
</LinearLayout>
</LinearLayout>
</ScrollView>

You can keep your initial linear layout by nesting the relative layout within the linear layout:
<LinearLayout
android:orientation="vertical"
android:layout_width="fill_parent"
android:layout_height="fill_parent">
<TextView android:text="welcome"
android:id="#+id/TextView"
android:layout_width="fill_parent"
android:layout_height="wrap_content">
</TextView>
<RelativeLayout
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="match_parent">
<Button android:text="submit"
android:id="#+id/Button"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:layout_alignParentBottom="true"
android:layout_alignParentRight="true">
</Button>
<EditText android:id="#+id/EditText"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:layout_toLeftOf="#id/Button"
android:layout_alignParentBottom="true">
</EditText>
</RelativeLayout>
</LinearLayout>

The answer above (by Janusz) is quite correct, but I personnally don't feel 100% confortable with RelativeLayouts, so I prefer to introduce a 'filler', empty TextView, like this:
<!-- filler -->
<TextView android:layout_height="0dip"
android:layout_width="fill_parent"
android:layout_weight="1" />
before the element that should be at the bottom of the screen.

You can do this with a LinearLayout or a ScrollView, too. Sometimes it is easier to implement than a RelativeLayout. The only thing you need to do is to add the following view before the Views you want to align to the bottom of the screen:
<View
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="0dp"
android:layout_weight="1" />
This creates an empty view, filling the empty space and pushing the next views to the bottom of the screen.

1. Use ConstraintLayout in your root Layout
And set app:layout_constraintBottom_toBottomOf="parent" to let the Layout on the bottom of the screen:
<LinearLayout
android:id="#+id/LinearLayout"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:orientation="horizontal"
app:layout_constraintBottom_toBottomOf="parent">
</LinearLayout>
2. Use FrameLayout in your root Layout
Just set android:layout_gravity="bottom" in your layout
<LinearLayout
android:id="#+id/LinearLayout"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:layout_gravity="bottom"
android:orientation="horizontal">
</LinearLayout>
3. Use LinearLayout in your root Layout (android:orientation="vertical")
(1) Set a layout android:layout_weight="1" on the top of the your Layout
<TextView
android:id="#+id/TextView"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="0dp"
android:layout_weight="1"
android:text="welcome" />
(2) Set the child LinearLayout for android:layout_width="match_parent" android:layout_height="match_parent" android:gravity="bottom"
The main attribute is ndroid:gravity="bottom", let the child View on the bottom of Layout.
<LinearLayout
android:id="#+id/LinearLayout"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="match_parent"
android:gravity="bottom"
android:orientation="horizontal">
</LinearLayout>
4. Use RelativeLayout in the root Layout
And set android:layout_alignParentBottom="true" to let the Layout on the bottom of the screen
<LinearLayout
android:id="#+id/LinearLayout"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:layout_alignParentBottom="true"
android:orientation="horizontal">
</LinearLayout>
Output

This also works.
<LinearLayout
android:id="#+id/linearLayout4"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="fill_parent"
android:layout_below="#+id/linearLayout3"
android:layout_centerHorizontal="true"
android:orientation="horizontal"
android:gravity="bottom"
android:layout_alignParentBottom="true"
android:layout_marginTop="20dp"
>
<Button
android:id="#+id/button1"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:text="Button"
/>
<Button
android:id="#+id/button2"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:text="Button"
/>
</LinearLayout>

Following up on Timores's elegant solution, I have found that the following creates a vertical fill in a vertical LinearLayout and a horizontal fill in a horizontal LinearLayout:
<Space
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="match_parent"
android:layout_weight="1" />

You don't even need to nest the second relative layout inside the first one. Simply use the android:layout_alignParentBottom="true" in the Button and EditText.

If you don't wish to make many changes, then you could just put:
android:layout_weight="1"
for the TextView having ID as #+id/TextView i.e
<TextView android:text="#string/welcome"
android:id="#+id/TextView"
android:layout_width="fill_parent"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:layout_weight="1">
</TextView>

Creating both header and footer, here is an example:
Layout XML
<RelativeLayout
xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
xmlns:tools="http://schemas.android.com/tools"
android:layout_width="fill_parent"
android:layout_height="fill_parent"
android:background="#color/backgroundcolor"
tools:context=".MainActivity">
<RelativeLayout
android:layout_width="fill_parent"
android:layout_height="40dp"
android:background="#FF0000">
</RelativeLayout>
<RelativeLayout
android:layout_width="fill_parent"
android:layout_height="40dp"
android:layout_alignParentBottom="true"
android:background="#FFFF00">
</RelativeLayout>
</RelativeLayout>
Screenshot

For a case like this, always use RelativeLayouts. A LinearLayout is not intended for such a usage.
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<RelativeLayout
xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
android:id="#+id/db1_root"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="match_parent"
android:orientation="vertical" >
<LinearLayout
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="match_parent"
android:orientation="vertical">
<!-- Place your layout here -->
</LinearLayout>
<LinearLayout
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:layout_alignParentBottom="true"
android:layout_gravity="bottom"
android:orientation="horizontal"
android:paddingLeft="20dp"
android:paddingRight="20dp" >
<Button
android:id="#+id/setup_macroSavebtn"
android:layout_width="0dp"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:layout_weight="1"
android:text="Save" />
<Button
android:id="#+id/setup_macroCancelbtn"
android:layout_width="0dp"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:layout_weight="1"
android:text="Cancel" />
</LinearLayout>
</RelativeLayout>

Use the below code. Align the button to buttom. It's working.
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<LinearLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="match_parent"
android:orientation="vertical" >
<Button
android:id="#+id/btn_back"
android:layout_width="100dp"
android:layout_height="80dp"
android:text="Back" />
<TextView
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="0dp"
android:layout_weight="0.97"
android:gravity="center"
android:text="Payment Page" />
<LinearLayout
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="wrap_content" >
<EditText
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:layout_weight="1"/>
<Button
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:text="Submit"/>
</LinearLayout>
</LinearLayout>

Use android:layout_alignParentBottom="true" in your <RelativeLayout>.
This will definitely help.

In case you have a hierarchy like this:
<ScrollView>
|-- <RelativeLayout>
|-- <LinearLayout>
First, apply android:fillViewport="true" to the ScrollView and then apply android:layout_alignParentBottom="true" to the LinearLayout.
This worked for me perfectly.
<ScrollView
android:layout_height="match_parent"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:scrollbars="none"
android:fillViewport="true">
<RelativeLayout
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="wrap_content">
<LinearLayout
android:orientation="horizontal"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:gravity="center"
android:id="#+id/linearLayoutHorizontal"
android:layout_alignParentBottom="true">
</LinearLayout>
</RelativeLayout>
</ScrollView>

You can just give your top child view (the TextView #+id/TextView) an attribute:
android:layout_weight="1".
This will force all other elements below it to the bottom.

This can be done with a linear layout too.
Just provide Height = 0dp and weight = 1 to the layout above and the one you want in the bottom. Just write height = wrap content and no weight.
It provides wrap content for the layout (the one that contains your edit text and button) and then the one that has weight occupies the rest of the layout.
I discovered this by accident.

I used the solution Janusz posted, but I added padding to the last View since the top part of my layout was a ScrollView.
The ScrollView will be partly hidden as it grows with content. Using android:paddingBottom on the last View helps show all the content in the ScrollView.