Indicate long click option to user on Android

Background:

Android has the feature of pop up menus (sort of like right click) that happen when a long click is done. This is typically done on list view but could be done anywhere. And even on list views it is not consistently done.

Question:

Since a lot of users are not aware of this long click metaphor (yet?) is there an agreed best practice to indicate that there are long click options available that is smaller than a full on button that bring the same menu up?

Update 2011-12: With the latest apps from Google like Music and many more in Honeycomb, ICS and also lower OS versions it seems that the long click option has gone the way of the Dodo and been replaced by an icon on the right in the list row (most often a little triangle).

Answer

One way to do this is to use a transition or animation, like ListView does with its orange-to-white color ramp. For an idea on how to do this look at TransitionDrawable. You can also look at the relevant sources here:

Quick update: The reason for using the transition is that a user will immediately get the feedback that this item is 'active' — interact with it for just a little longer and something will happen. This fits in nicely with the 'show proper feedback' Android UI design tip.

Another option is to begin using the Quick Actions pattern instead of long-press as described in the resources below:

Note, however, that Quick Actions aren't in the Android framework at this time.