course on Kotlin Android App Development, View Pager 2 – Screen Composition with Swipe Navigation

When developing Android apps, a feature that allows users to swipe through multiple pages is very useful.
To facilitate this, Google provides a component called ViewPager2.
In this tutorial, we will implement a simple app using ViewPager2 and explain the basic concepts and code in detail.

1. What is ViewPager2?

ViewPager2 is a UI component that allows users to swipe through multiple pages.
The main features of ViewPager2 are as follows:

  • Support for vertical and horizontal swiping
  • Support for Fragment and RecyclerView
  • Ability to set page transition effects

2. Setting up ViewPager2

To use ViewPager2, you need to add a dependency to your Gradle file.
Add the following line to your build.gradle file:

        dependencies {
            implementation "androidx.viewpager2:viewpager2:1.1.0"
        }
    

Let’s write the XML layout file needed to use ViewPager2.

2.1. XML Layout

Below is an example of a basic layout that includes ViewPager2.

        <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
        <androidx.constraintlayout.widget.ConstraintLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
            xmlns:app="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res-auto"
            xmlns:tools="http://schemas.android.com/tools"
            android:layout_width="match_parent"
            android:layout_height="match_parent"
            tools:context=".MainActivity">

            <androidx.viewpager2.widget.ViewPager2
                android:id="@+id/viewPager"
                android:layout_width="match_parent"
                android:layout_height="match_parent"
                app:layout_constraintTop_toTopOf="parent"
                app:layout_constraintBottom_toBottomOf="parent"
                app:layout_constraintStart_toStartOf="parent"
                app:layout_constraintEnd_toEndOf="parent"/>
        </androidx.constraintlayout.widget.ConstraintLayout>
    

3. Implementing ViewPager2 Adapter

ViewPager2 requires an adapter to display pages.
Below is a simple example of adapter implementation. This adapter uses custom Fragments to create each page.

3.1. Creating Fragment

First, create a Fragment class that represents each page.

        class CustomFragment : Fragment() {

            override fun onCreateView(
                inflater: LayoutInflater, container: ViewGroup?,
                savedInstanceState: Bundle?
            ): View? {
                val view = inflater.inflate(R.layout.fragment_custom, container, false)
                return view
            }
        }
    

3.2. Implementing Fragment Adapter

Next, implement the adapter by inheriting from FragmentStateAdapter.

        class ViewPagerAdapter(fragmentActivity: FragmentActivity) : FragmentStateAdapter(fragmentActivity) {

            override fun getItemCount(): Int {
                return 3 // Number of pages
            }

            override fun createFragment(position: Int): Fragment {
                return CustomFragment() // Return a different Fragment for each page
            }
        }
    

4. Setting up MainActivity

Now, let’s connect ViewPager2 and the adapter in MainActivity.

        class MainActivity : AppCompatActivity() {

            private lateinit var viewPager: ViewPager2

            override fun onCreate(savedInstanceState: Bundle?) {
                super.onCreate(savedInstanceState)
                setContentView(R.layout.activity_main)

                viewPager = findViewById(R.id.viewPager)
                viewPager.adapter = ViewPagerAdapter(this)
            }
        }
    

5. Configuring Fragment Layout

Now, let’s configure the layout to be used in each Fragment.
In this example, we will simply display text.

        <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
        <LinearLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
            android:layout_width="match_parent"
            android:layout_height="match_parent"
            android:orientation="vertical"
            android:gravity="center">

            <TextView
                android:id="@+id/textView"
                android:layout_width="wrap_content"
                android:layout_height="wrap_content"
                android:text="Hello, ViewPager2!"
                android:textSize="24sp"/>

        </LinearLayout>
    

6. Adding Swipe Page Transition Effects

ViewPager2 applies swipe animations by default, but you can customize it to apply various page transition effects.

        class ViewPagerAdapter(fragmentActivity: FragmentActivity) : FragmentStateAdapter(fragmentActivity) {

            // ... existing code ...

            override fun createFragment(position: Int): Fragment {
                // You can return a different Fragment based on position to vary page content
                return when (position) {
                    0 -> FirstFragment()
                    1 -> SecondFragment()
                    else -> ThirdFragment()
                }
            }
        }
    

Here, you can define your desired page transition effect and apply it using ViewPager2’s
setPageTransformer method.

        viewPager.setPageTransformer { page, position ->
            page.alpha = 0f
            if (position >= -1 && position <= 1) { // [-1,1]
                page.alpha = 1 - Math.abs(position)
            }
        }
    

7. Conclusion

In this tutorial, we learned how to configure multiple swipable pages using ViewPager2.
You can enhance user experience by utilizing various page transition effects.
You can develop a richer app by adding additional features or integrating with other UI components.

Enjoy the joy of Android development!