How to add a fast-scroller to the RecyclerView

Question

Background

On ListView, you could have a fast scroller which allowed you to drag a scrollbar to easily scroll to wherever you wished (using fastScrollEnabled attribute)

Together with "SectionIndexer" class and optionally some attributes, you could have a nice popup that shows as you use this scrollbar (link here).

Such a thing is shown on the contacts app so that you could scroll easily to specific letters.

The problem

RecyclerView doesn't seem to have any of those. Not even a fast-scroll.

The question

How do I add a fast scroller functionality for the RecyclerView?

Answer 1

I stumbled on this question a few days ago when I ran into this situation. Here is my example implementation of FastScroll for RecyclerView:

github.com/danoz73/RecyclerViewFastScroller

Try running the example application, and peruse the code to see a fairly simple usage of a simple RecyclerViewFastScroller widget. There is information on github, but I'll include the basic usage here for a vertical fast scroller.

For a full example, refer to the sample application in the repo.

Basic Usage

In the activity or fragment XML where your RecyclerView resides, include a VerticalRecyclerViewFastScroller object. The following example would be in a relative layout:

...
  <android.support.v7.widget.RecyclerView
      android:id="@+id/recyclerView"
      android:layout_width="match_parent"
      android:layout_height="match_parent"/>


  <xyz.danoz.recyclerviewfastscroller.vertical.VerticalRecyclerViewFastScroller
      android:id="@+id/fast_scroller"
      android:layout_width="@dimen/however_wide_you_want_this"
      android:layout_height="match_parent"
      android:layout_alignParentRight="true"
    />
...

In your fragment or activity where you setup layout programmatically, hook up the fast scroller to the recycler:

...
  public View onCreateView(LayoutInflater inflater, ViewGroup container, Bundle savedInstanceState) {
      View rootView = inflater.inflate(R.layout.recycler_view_frag, container, false);
      ...

      // Grab your RecyclerView and the RecyclerViewFastScroller from the layout
      RecyclerView recyclerView = (RecyclerView) rootView.findViewById(R.id.recyclerView);
      VerticalRecyclerViewFastScroller fastScroller = (VerticalRecyclerViewFastScroller) rootView.findViewById(R.id.fast_scroller);

      // Connect the recycler to the scroller (to let the scroller scroll the list)
      fastScroller.setRecyclerView(recyclerView);

      // Connect the scroller to the recycler (to let the recycler scroll the scroller's handle)
      recyclerView.setOnScrollListener(fastScroller.getOnScrollListener());

      ...
      return rootView;
  }
...

Hope this helps!

EDIT: There is now added support for Android-Lollipop-Contacts-style section indicators! Check out the sample application's implementation for details.

Answer 2

New answer: Over time I've noticed that my original answer had some drawbacks compared to other solutions, especially for fragments within ViewPager.

I suggest to either use the android-x solution in case you don't need a bubble, or a third party library (here is a nice one) in case you do.

---

old answer:

Since all third party libraries had issues, I've decided to gather what I can find (mostly from here), fix everything and publish my own POC of the fast-scroller of the RecyclerView :

https://github.com/AndroidDeveloperLB/LollipopContactsRecyclerViewFastScroller

usage:

1. make a RecyclerView.Adapter that implements BubbleTextGetter, which given a position in the data will return the text to show in the bubble-popup.

2. position the FastScroller inside the layout that container the RecyclerView (probably at the right area).

3. Customize the FastScroller FastScroller

Some disadvantages:

1. doesn't support orientation change, but it's probably easy to fix.
2. doesn't support other layoutManagers. Only LinearLayoutManager
3. Needs API 11 and above.

Code:

BubbleTextGetter

public interface BubbleTextGetter
  {
  String getTextToShowInBubble(int pos);
  }

recycler_view_fast_scroller__fast_scroller.xml

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<merge xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
       xmlns:tools="http://schemas.android.com/tools"
       android:layout_width="wrap_content"
       android:layout_height="match_parent">

  <TextView
    android:id="@+id/fastscroller_bubble"
    android:layout_gravity="right|end"
    android:gravity="center"
    android:textSize="48sp" tools:text="A"
    android:layout_width="wrap_content"
    android:textColor="#FFffffff"
    android:layout_height="wrap_content"
    android:background="@drawable/recycler_view_fast_scroller__bubble"
    android:visibility="visible"/>

  <ImageView
    android:id="@+id/fastscroller_handle"
    android:layout_width="wrap_content"
    android:layout_marginRight="8dp"
    android:layout_marginLeft="8dp"
    android:layout_height="wrap_content"
    android:src="@drawable/recycler_view_fast_scroller__handle"/>

</merge>

MainActivity

...
fastScroller=(FastScroller)findViewById(R.id.fastscroller);
fastScroller.setRecyclerView(recyclerView);

FastScroller

public class FastScroller extends LinearLayout
  {
  private static final int BUBBLE_ANIMATION_DURATION=100;
  private static final int TRACK_SNAP_RANGE=5;

  private TextView bubble;
  private View handle;
  private RecyclerView recyclerView;
  private final ScrollListener scrollListener=new ScrollListener();
  private int height;

  private ObjectAnimator currentAnimator=null;

  public FastScroller(final Context context,final AttributeSet attrs,final int defStyleAttr)
    {
    super(context,attrs,defStyleAttr);
    initialise(context);
    }

  public FastScroller(final Context context)
    {
    super(context);
    initialise(context);
    }

  public FastScroller(final Context context,final AttributeSet attrs)
    {
    super(context,attrs);
    initialise(context);
    }

  private void initialise(Context context)
    {
    setOrientation(HORIZONTAL);
    setClipChildren(false);
    LayoutInflater inflater=LayoutInflater.from(context);
    inflater.inflate(R.layout.recycler_view_fast_scroller__fast_scroller,this,true);
    bubble=(TextView)findViewById(R.id.fastscroller_bubble);
    handle=findViewById(R.id.fastscroller_handle);
    bubble.setVisibility(INVISIBLE);
    }

  @Override
  protected void onSizeChanged(int w,int h,int oldw,int oldh)
    {
    super.onSizeChanged(w,h,oldw,oldh);
    height=h;
    }

  @Override
  public boolean onTouchEvent(@NonNull MotionEvent event)
    {
    final int action=event.getAction();
    switch(action)
      {
      case MotionEvent.ACTION_DOWN:
        if(event.getX()<handle.getX())
          return false;
        if(currentAnimator!=null)
          currentAnimator.cancel();
        if(bubble.getVisibility()==INVISIBLE)
          showBubble();
        handle.setSelected(true);
      case MotionEvent.ACTION_MOVE:
        setPosition(event.getY());
        setRecyclerViewPosition(event.getY());
        return true;
      case MotionEvent.ACTION_UP:
      case MotionEvent.ACTION_CANCEL:
        handle.setSelected(false);
        hideBubble();
        return true;
      }
    return super.onTouchEvent(event);
    }

  public void setRecyclerView(RecyclerView recyclerView)
    {
    this.recyclerView=recyclerView;
    recyclerView.setOnScrollListener(scrollListener);
    }

  private void setRecyclerViewPosition(float y)
    {
    if(recyclerView!=null)
      {
      int itemCount=recyclerView.getAdapter().getItemCount();
      float proportion;
      if(handle.getY()==0)
        proportion=0f;
      else if(handle.getY()+handle.getHeight()>=height-TRACK_SNAP_RANGE)
        proportion=1f;
      else
        proportion=y/(float)height;
      int targetPos=getValueInRange(0,itemCount-1,(int)(proportion*(float)itemCount));
      recyclerView.scrollToPosition(targetPos);
      String bubbleText=((BubbleTextGetter)recyclerView.getAdapter()).getTextToShowInBubble(targetPos);
      bubble.setText(bubbleText);
      }
    }

  private int getValueInRange(int min,int max,int value)
    {
    int minimum=Math.max(min,value);
    return Math.min(minimum,max);
    }

  private void setPosition(float y)
    {
    int bubbleHeight=bubble.getHeight();
    int handleHeight=handle.getHeight();
    handle.setY(getValueInRange(0,height-handleHeight,(int)(y-handleHeight/2)));
    bubble.setY(getValueInRange(0,height-bubbleHeight-handleHeight/2,(int)(y-bubbleHeight)));
    }

  private void showBubble()
    {
    AnimatorSet animatorSet=new AnimatorSet();
    bubble.setVisibility(VISIBLE);
    if(currentAnimator!=null)
      currentAnimator.cancel();
    currentAnimator=ObjectAnimator.ofFloat(bubble,"alpha",0f,1f).setDuration(BUBBLE_ANIMATION_DURATION);
    currentAnimator.start();
    }

  private void hideBubble()
    {
    if(currentAnimator!=null)
      currentAnimator.cancel();
    currentAnimator=ObjectAnimator.ofFloat(bubble,"alpha",1f,0f).setDuration(BUBBLE_ANIMATION_DURATION);
    currentAnimator.addListener(new AnimatorListenerAdapter()
    {
    @Override
    public void onAnimationEnd(Animator animation)
      {
      super.onAnimationEnd(animation);
      bubble.setVisibility(INVISIBLE);
      currentAnimator=null;
      }

    @Override
    public void onAnimationCancel(Animator animation)
      {
      super.onAnimationCancel(animation);
      bubble.setVisibility(INVISIBLE);
      currentAnimator=null;
      }
    });
    currentAnimator.start();
    }

  private class ScrollListener extends OnScrollListener
    {
    @Override
    public void onScrolled(RecyclerView rv,int dx,int dy)
      {
      View firstVisibleView=recyclerView.getChildAt(0);
      int firstVisiblePosition=recyclerView.getChildPosition(firstVisibleView);
      int visibleRange=recyclerView.getChildCount();
      int lastVisiblePosition=firstVisiblePosition+visibleRange;
      int itemCount=recyclerView.getAdapter().getItemCount();
      int position;
      if(firstVisiblePosition==0)
        position=0;
      else if(lastVisiblePosition==itemCount-1)
        position=itemCount-1;
      else
        position=firstVisiblePosition;
      float proportion=(float)position/(float)itemCount;
      setPosition(height*proportion);
      }
    }
  }

Answer 3

The Android Support Library 26.0.0 now supports fastScrollEnabled

New fastScrollEnabled boolean flag for RecyclerView.

If enabled, fastScrollHorizontalThumbDrawable, fastScrollHorizontalTrackDrawable, fastScrollVerticalThumbDrawable, and fastScrollVerticalTrackDrawable must be set.

Sample - https://android.jlelse.eu/fast-scrolling-with-recyclerview-2b89d4574688

Answer 4

There are a lot of unanswered questions about RecyclerView and fast-scroll/section indexer, let's try to regroup and gather our opinions and information here.

The short answer is: NO, you can't enable the fast-scroll because RecyclerView does not contain a FastScroller object and nor any related logical-state variables. This because RecyclerView is not an AbsListView.

On the other hand, it's not impossible to implement a RecyclerView which contains a dumped version of FastScroller and the necessary logic for the fast-scrolling, but I have not seen any implementation of this so far.

Please share your consideration about that or if you think I'm wrong.