Keep Textinputlayout hint always top

Question

Would be possible have my hint text always top, as if it were focusable?

I tried this:

 <android.support.design.widget.TextInputLayout
            android:id="@+id/etSurnameInput"
            android:layout_width="match_parent"
            android:layout_height="wrap_content"
            android:layout_below="@+id/llNameImage"
            android:hint="My Hint Text"
            app:hintEnabled="true"
            app:hintAnimationEnabled="false"
            android:textColorHint="@color/gray_title">

Answer 1

Actually, from com.google.android.material:material:1.3.0-alpha03 or higher, you can simply set app:expandedHintEnabled="false" to make it always float.

Answer 2

Here's a hack - programmatically add a space in the text if it's empty. However, you would then have to remove the space if it's focused, else the user will start typing with a leading whitespace. Another option is to always trim the text typed by user.