Android : onRetainNonConfigurationInstance is not called on Screen orientation change

I have implemented onRetainNonConfigurationInstance() on one of my Activity to handle android screen orientation. Here is the code :

  @Override
   public Object onRetainNonConfigurationInstance() {
     Log.d("[DEBUG]", "onRetainNonConfigurationInstance : "
         + this.getClass().getName());
     MyState state = new MyState();
 
     return state;
   }
 

I then installed the app on an android device. Here is the configuration :

Device : Samsung Nexus S
 Android version : 4.0.4
 Kernel version : 3.0.8-g6656123android-build@vpbs1 #1
 

When I debug the app on the phone by changing screen orientation, my onRetainNonConfigurationInstance() method is not called.

Even weird, I have added a log line in the onCreate() method of my Activity. According to the documentation, Android is supposed to re-create the activity when screen orientation happens. So I have something like the following :

public void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
     super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
     setContentView(R.layout.mylist);
     Log.d(Constants.LOG_TAG, "Oncreate : " + this.getClass().getName());
 }
 

But here, the onCreate() method is not called when I change screen orientation on the device.

Have you guyz already experienced this issue ?

In the documentation, they also say that this method is deprecated and that instead I should use something related to Fragments etc. Can it be the reason why I don't have the method called ?

actually, I am implementing for 2.3.3 to 3.0 devices but my test device is 4.0.4 : Can it be the problem ? I thought there were some kind of backward compatibility between Android OS versions.

thanks in advance,

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