How can I get onTouchEvent in Jetpack Compose?

Question

In normal view, we can have onTouchEvent

    override fun onTouchEvent(event: MotionEvent?): Boolean {
        when (event?.action) {
            MotionEvent.ACTION_DOWN -> {}
            MotionEvent.ACTION_MOVE -> {}
            MotionEvent.ACTION_UP -> {}
            else -> return false
        }
        invalidate()
        return true
    }

In Jetpack Compose, I can only find we have the tapGestureFilter in the modifier, which only takes the action from the ACTION_UP only.

Modifier
    .tapGestureFilter { Log.d("Track", "Tap ${it.x} | ${it.y}") }
    .doubleTapGestureFilter { Log.d("Track", "DoubleTap ${it.x} | ${it.y}") }

Is there an equivalent onTouchEvent for Jetpack Compose?

Answer 1

We have a separate package for that, which is pretty useful. There are two main extension functions that would be suitable for you:

• pointerInput - docs
• pointerInteropFilter - docs

If you want to handle and process the event I recommend using pointerInteropFilter which is the analogue of View.onTouchEvent. It's used along with modifier:

Column(modifier = Modifier.pointerInteropFilter {
    when (it.action) {
        MotionEvent.ACTION_DOWN -> {}
        MotionEvent.ACTION_MOVE -> {}
        MotionEvent.ACTION_UP -> {}
        else ->  false
    }
     true
})

That will be Compose adjusted code to your specified View.onTouchEvent sample.

P.S. Don't forget about @ExperimentalPointerInput annotation.

Answer 2

pointerInteropFilter is not described as preferred way to use if you are not using touch api with interoperation with existing View code.

A special PointerInputModifier that provides access to the underlying MotionEvents originally dispatched to Compose. Prefer pointerInput and use this only for interoperation with existing code that consumes MotionEvents. While the main intent of this Modifier is to allow arbitrary code to access the original MotionEvent dispatched to Compose, for completeness, analogs are provided to allow arbitrary code to interact with the system as if it were an Android View.

You can use pointerInput , awaitTouchDown for MotionEvent.ACTION_DOWN, and awaitPointerEvent for MotionEvent.ACTION_MOVE and MotionEvent.ACTION_UP

val pointerModifier = Modifier
    .pointerInput(Unit) {
        forEachGesture {

            awaitPointerEventScope {
                
                awaitFirstDown()
               // ACTION_DOWN here
               
                do {
                    
                    //This PointerEvent contains details including
                    // event, id, position and more
                    val event: PointerEvent = awaitPointerEvent()
                    // ACTION_MOVE loop

                    // Consuming event prevents other gestures or scroll to intercept
                    event.changes.forEach { pointerInputChange: PointerInputChange ->
                        pointerInputChange.consumePositionChange()
                    }
                } while (event.changes.any { it.pressed })

                // ACTION_UP is here
            }
        }
}

Some key notes about gestures

1. pointerInput propagation is when you have more than one goes from bottom one to top one.
2. If children and parent are listening for input changes it propagates from inner children to outer then parent. Unlike touch events from parent to children
3. If you don't consume events other events like scroll drag can interfere or consume events, most of the events check if it's consumed before propagating to them

detectDragGestures source code for instance

val down = awaitFirstDown(requireUnconsumed = false)
    var drag: PointerInputChange?
    var overSlop = Offset.Zero
    do {
        drag = awaitPointerSlopOrCancellation(
            down.id,
            down.type
        ) { change, over ->
            change.consumePositionChange()
            overSlop = over
        }
    } while (drag != null && !drag.positionChangeConsumed())

4. So when you need to prevent other events to intercept

   call pointerInputChange.consumeDown() after awaitFirstDown, call pointerInputChange.consumePositionChange() after awaitPointerEvent

   and awaitFirstDown() has requireUnconsumed parameter which is true by default. If you set it to false even if a pointerInput consumes down before your gesture you still get it. This is also how events like drag use it to get first down no matter what.

5. Every available event you see detectDragGestures, detectTapGestures even awaitFirstDown use awaitPointerEvent for implementation, so using awaitFirstDown, awaitPointerEvent and consuming changes you can configure your own gestures.

For instance, this is a function i customized from original detectTransformGestures only to be invoked with specific number of pointers down.

suspend fun PointerInputScope.detectMultiplePointerTransformGestures(
    panZoomLock: Boolean = false,
    numberOfPointersRequired: Int = 2,
    onGesture: (centroid: Offset, pan: Offset, zoom: Float, rotation: Float) -> Unit,

    ) {
    forEachGesture {
        awaitPointerEventScope {
            var rotation = 0f
            var zoom = 1f
            var pan = Offset.Zero
            var pastTouchSlop = false
            val touchSlop = viewConfiguration.touchSlop
            var lockedToPanZoom = false

            awaitFirstDown(requireUnconsumed = false)

            do {
                val event = awaitPointerEvent()

                val downPointerCount = event.changes.size

                // If any position change is consumed from another pointer or pointer
                // count that is pressed is not equal to pointerCount cancel this gesture
                val canceled = event.changes.any { it.positionChangeConsumed() } || (
                        downPointerCount != numberOfPointersRequired)

                if (!canceled) {
                    val zoomChange = event.calculateZoom()
                    val rotationChange = event.calculateRotation()
                    val panChange = event.calculatePan()

                    if (!pastTouchSlop) {
                        zoom *= zoomChange
                        rotation += rotationChange
                        pan += panChange

                        val centroidSize = event.calculateCentroidSize(useCurrent = false)
                        val zoomMotion = abs(1 - zoom) * centroidSize
                        val rotationMotion =
                            abs(rotation * PI.toFloat() * centroidSize / 180f)
                        val panMotion = pan.getDistance()

                        if (zoomMotion > touchSlop ||
                            rotationMotion > touchSlop ||
                            panMotion > touchSlop
                        ) {
                            pastTouchSlop = true
                            lockedToPanZoom = panZoomLock && rotationMotion < touchSlop
                        }
                    }

                    if (pastTouchSlop) {
                        val centroid = event.calculateCentroid(useCurrent = false)
                        val effectiveRotation = if (lockedToPanZoom) 0f else rotationChange
                        if (effectiveRotation != 0f ||
                            zoomChange != 1f ||
                            panChange != Offset.Zero
                        ) {
                            onGesture(centroid, panChange, zoomChange, effectiveRotation)
                        }
                        event.changes.forEach {
                            if (it.positionChanged()) {
                                it.consumeAllChanges()
                            }
                        }
                    }
                }
            } while (!canceled && event.changes.any { it.pressed })
        }
    }
}

Edit

As of 1.2.0-beta01, partial consumes like PointerInputChange.consemePositionChange(), PointerInputChange.consumeDownChange(), and one for consuming all changes PointerInputChange.consumeAllChanges() are deprecated

PointerInputChange.consume()

is the only one to be used preventing other gestures/event.

Also i have a tutorial here that covers gestures in detail

Answer 3

Maybe a bit late, but since compose is constantly updating, this is how I do it as of today:

Modifier
    .pointerInput(Unit) {
        detectTapGestures {...}
     }
    .pointerInput(Unit) {
        detectDragGestures { change, dragAmount ->  ...}
    })

We also have detectHorizontalDragGestures and detectVerticalDragGestures among others to help us.

ps: 1.0.0-beta03