RecyclerView and java.lang.IndexOutOfBoundsException: Inconsistency detected. Invalid view holder adapter positionViewHolder in Samsung devices

Question

This problem is caused by RecyclerView Data modified in different thread. The best way is checking all data access. And a workaround is wrapping LinearLayoutManager.

Previous answer

There was actually a bug in RecyclerView and the support 23.1.1 still not fixed.

For a workaround, notice that backtrace stacks, if we can catch this Exception in one of some class it may skip this crash. For me, I create a LinearLayoutManagerWrapper and override the onLayoutChildren:

public class WrapContentLinearLayoutManager extends LinearLayoutManager {
    //... constructor
    @Override
    public void onLayoutChildren(RecyclerView.Recycler recycler, RecyclerView.State state) {
        try {
            super.onLayoutChildren(recycler, state);
        } catch (IndexOutOfBoundsException e) {
            Log.e("TAG", "meet a IOOBE in RecyclerView");
        }
    }
}

Then set it to RecyclerView:

RecyclerView recyclerView = (RecyclerView)findViewById(R.id.recycler_view);

recyclerView.setLayoutManager(new WrapContentLinearLayoutManager(activity, LinearLayoutManager.HORIZONTAL, false));

Actually catch this exception, and seems no any side-effect yet.

Also, if you use GridLayoutManager or StaggeredGridLayoutManager you must create a wrapper for it.

Notice: The RecyclerView may be in a wrong internal state.

This is an example for refreshing data with completely new content. You can easily modify it to fit your needs. I solved this in my case by calling:

notifyItemRangeRemoved(0, previousContentSize);

before:

notifyItemRangeInserted(0, newContentSize);

This is the correct solution and is also mentioned in this post by an AOSP project member.

I faced this issue once, and I solved this by wrapping the LayoutManager and disabling predictive animations.

Here an example:

public class LinearLayoutManagerWrapper extends LinearLayoutManager {

  public LinearLayoutManagerWrapper(Context context) {
    super(context);
  }

  public LinearLayoutManagerWrapper(Context context, int orientation, boolean reverseLayout) {
    super(context, orientation, reverseLayout);
  }

  public LinearLayoutManagerWrapper(Context context, AttributeSet attrs, int defStyleAttr, int defStyleRes) {
    super(context, attrs, defStyleAttr, defStyleRes);
  }

  @Override
  public boolean supportsPredictiveItemAnimations() {
    return false;
  }
}

And set it to RecyclerView:

RecyclerView.LayoutManager mLayoutManager = new LinearLayoutManagerWrapper(context, LinearLayoutManager.VERTICAL, false);

New answer: Use DiffUtil for all RecyclerView updates. This will help with both performance and the bug above. See Here

Previous answer: This worked for me. The key is to not use notifyDataSetChanged() and to do the right things in the correct order:

public void setItems(ArrayList<Article> newArticles) {
    //get the current items
    int currentSize = articles.size();
    //remove the current items
    articles.clear();
    //add all the new items
    articles.addAll(newArticles);
    //tell the recycler view that all the old items are gone
    notifyItemRangeRemoved(0, currentSize);
    //tell the recycler view how many new items we added
    notifyItemRangeInserted(0, newArticles.size());
}

Reasons caused this issue:

1. An internal issue in Recycler when item animations are enabled
2. Modification on Recycler data in another thread
3. Calling notify methods in a wrong way

SOLUTION:

-----------------SOLUTION 1---------------

• Catching the exception (Not recommended especially for reason #3)

Create a custom LinearLayoutManager as the following and set it to the ReyclerView

    public class CustomLinearLayoutManager extends LinearLayoutManager {

            //Generate constructors

            @Override
            public void onLayoutChildren(RecyclerView.Recycler recycler, RecyclerView.State state) {

                try {

                    super.onLayoutChildren(recycler, state);

                } catch (IndexOutOfBoundsException e) {

                    Log.e(TAG, "Inconsistency detected");
                }

            }
        }

Then set RecyclerVIew Layout Manager as follow:

recyclerView.setLayoutManager(new CustomLinearLayoutManager(activity));

-----------------SOLUTION 2---------------

• Disable item animations (fixes the issue if it caused de to reason #1):

Again, create a custom Linear Layout Manager as follow:

    public class CustomLinearLayoutManager extends LinearLayoutManager {

            //Generate constructors

             @Override
             public boolean supportsPredictiveItemAnimations() {
                 return false;
             }
        }

Then set RecyclerVIew Layout Manager as follow:

recyclerView.setLayoutManager(new CustomLinearLayoutManager(activity));

-----------------SOLUTION 3---------------

• This solution fixes the issue if it caused by reason #3. You need to make sure that you are using the notify methods in the correct way. Alternatively, use DiffUtil to handle the change in a smart, easy, and smooth way. Using DiffUtil in Android RecyclerView

-----------------SOLUTION 4---------------

• For reason #2, you need to check all data access to recycler list and make sure that there is no modification on another thread.

I had a similar problem.

Problem in error code below:

int prevSize = messageListHistory.size();
// some insert
adapter.notifyItemRangeInserted(prevSize - 1, messageListHistory.size() -1);

Solution:

int prevSize = messageListHistory.size();
// some insert
adapter.notifyItemRangeInserted(prevSize, messageListHistory.size() -prevSize);