How to Snap Recyclerview Items So That Every X Items Would Be Considered Like a Single Unit to Snap To

How to snap RecyclerView items so that every X items would be considered like a single unit to snap to?

SnapHelper supplies the necessary framework for what you are attempting, but it needs to be extended to handle blocks of views. The class SnapToBlock below extends SnapHelper to snap to blocks of views. In the example, I have used four views to a block but it can be more or less.

Update: The code has been change to accommodate GridLayoutManager as well as LinearLayoutManager. Flinging is now inhibited so the snapping works more list a ViewPager. Horizontal and vertical scrolling is now supported as well as LTR and RTL layouts.

Update: Changed smooth scroll interpolator to be more like ViewPager.

Update: Adding callbacks for pre/post snapping.

Update: Adding support for RTL layouts.

Here is a quick video of the sample app:

Set up the layout manager as follows:

// For LinearLayoutManager horizontal orientation
recyclerView.setLayoutManager(new LinearLayoutManager(this, RecyclerView.HORIZONTAL, false));

// For GridLayoutManager vertical orientation
recyclerView.setLayoutManager(new GridLayoutManager(this, SPAN_COUNT, RecyclerView.VERTICAL, false));

Add the following to attach the SnapToBlock to the RecyclerView.

SnapToBlock snapToBlock = new SnapToBlock(mMaxFlingPages);
snapToBlock.attachToRecyclerView(recyclerView);

mMaxFlingPages is the maximum number of blocks (rowsCols * spans) to allow to be flung at one time.

For call backs when a snap is about to be made and has been completed, add the following:

snapToBlock.setSnapBlockCallback(new SnapToBlock.SnapBlockCallback() {
    @Override
    public void onBlockSnap(int snapPosition) {
        ...
    }

    @Override
    public void onBlockSnapped(int snapPosition) {
        ...
    }
});

SnapToBlock.java

/*  The number of items in the RecyclerView should be a multiple of block size; otherwise, the
    extra item views will not be positioned on a block boundary when the end of the data is reached.
    Pad out with empty item views if needed.

    Updated to accommodate RTL layouts.
 */

public class SnapToBlock extends SnapHelper {
    private RecyclerView mRecyclerView;

    // Total number of items in a block of view in the RecyclerView
    private int mBlocksize;

    // Maximum number of positions to move on a fling.
    private int mMaxPositionsToMove;

    // Width of a RecyclerView item if orientation is horizonal; height of the item if vertical
    private int mItemDimension;

    // Maxim blocks to move during most vigorous fling.
    private final int mMaxFlingBlocks;

    // Callback interface when blocks are snapped.
    private SnapBlockCallback mSnapBlockCallback;

    // When snapping, used to determine direction of snap.
    private int mPriorFirstPosition = RecyclerView.NO_POSITION;

    // Our private scroller
    private Scroller mScroller;

    // Horizontal/vertical layout helper
    private OrientationHelper mOrientationHelper;

    // LTR/RTL helper
    private LayoutDirectionHelper mLayoutDirectionHelper;

    // Borrowed from ViewPager.java
    private static final Interpolator sInterpolator = new Interpolator() {
        public float getInterpolation(float t) {
            // _o(t) = t * t * ((tension + 1) * t + tension)
            // o(t) = _o(t - 1) + 1
            t -= 1.0f;
            return t * t * t + 1.0f;
        }
    };

    SnapToBlock(int maxFlingBlocks) {
        super();
        mMaxFlingBlocks = maxFlingBlocks;
    }

    @Override
    public void attachToRecyclerView(@Nullable final RecyclerView recyclerView)
        throws IllegalStateException {

        if (recyclerView != null) {
            mRecyclerView = recyclerView;
            final LinearLayoutManager layoutManager =
                (LinearLayoutManager) recyclerView.getLayoutManager();
            if (layoutManager.canScrollHorizontally()) {
                mOrientationHelper = OrientationHelper.createHorizontalHelper(layoutManager);
                mLayoutDirectionHelper =
                    new LayoutDirectionHelper(ViewCompat.getLayoutDirection(mRecyclerView));
            } else if (layoutManager.canScrollVertically()) {
                mOrientationHelper = OrientationHelper.createVerticalHelper(layoutManager);
                // RTL doesn't matter for vertical scrolling for this class.
                mLayoutDirectionHelper = new LayoutDirectionHelper(RecyclerView.LAYOUT_DIRECTION_LTR);
            } else {
                throw new IllegalStateException("RecyclerView must be scrollable");
            }
            mScroller = new Scroller(mRecyclerView.getContext(), sInterpolator);
            initItemDimensionIfNeeded(layoutManager);
        }
        super.attachToRecyclerView(recyclerView);
    }

    // Called when the target view is available and we need to know how much more
    // to scroll to get it lined up with the side of the RecyclerView.
    @NonNull
    @Override
    public int[] calculateDistanceToFinalSnap(@NonNull RecyclerView.LayoutManager layoutManager,
                                              @NonNull View targetView) {
        int[] out = new int[2];

        if (layoutManager.canScrollHorizontally()) {
            out[0] = mLayoutDirectionHelper.getScrollToAlignView(targetView);
        }
        if (layoutManager.canScrollVertically()) {
            out[1] = mLayoutDirectionHelper.getScrollToAlignView(targetView);
        }
        if (mSnapBlockCallback != null) {
            if (out[0] == 0 && out[1] == 0) {
                mSnapBlockCallback.onBlockSnapped(layoutManager.getPosition(targetView));
            } else {
                mSnapBlockCallback.onBlockSnap(layoutManager.getPosition(targetView));
            }
        }
        return out;
    }

    // We are flinging and need to know where we are heading.
    @Override
    public int findTargetSnapPosition(RecyclerView.LayoutManager layoutManager,
                                      int velocityX, int velocityY) {
        LinearLayoutManager lm = (LinearLayoutManager) layoutManager;

        initItemDimensionIfNeeded(layoutManager);
        mScroller.fling(0, 0, velocityX, velocityY, Integer.MIN_VALUE, Integer.MAX_VALUE,
                        Integer.MIN_VALUE, Integer.MAX_VALUE);

        if (velocityX != 0) {
            return mLayoutDirectionHelper
                .getPositionsToMove(lm, mScroller.getFinalX(), mItemDimension);
        }

        if (velocityY != 0) {
            return mLayoutDirectionHelper
                .getPositionsToMove(lm, mScroller.getFinalY(), mItemDimension);
        }

        return RecyclerView.NO_POSITION;
    }

    // We have scrolled to the neighborhood where we will snap. Determine the snap position.
    @Override
    public View findSnapView(RecyclerView.LayoutManager layoutManager) {
        // Snap to a view that is either 1) toward the bottom of the data and therefore on screen,
        // or, 2) toward the top of the data and may be off-screen.
        int snapPos = calcTargetPosition((LinearLayoutManager) layoutManager);
        View snapView = (snapPos == RecyclerView.NO_POSITION)
            ? null : layoutManager.findViewByPosition(snapPos);

        if (snapView == null) {
            Log.d(TAG, "<<<<findSnapView is returning null!");
        }
        Log.d(TAG, "<<<<findSnapView snapos=" + snapPos);
        return snapView;
    }

    // Does the heavy lifting for findSnapView.
    private int calcTargetPosition(LinearLayoutManager layoutManager) {
        int snapPos;
        int firstVisiblePos = layoutManager.findFirstVisibleItemPosition();

        if (firstVisiblePos == RecyclerView.NO_POSITION) {
            return RecyclerView.NO_POSITION;
        }
        initItemDimensionIfNeeded(layoutManager);
        if (firstVisiblePos >= mPriorFirstPosition) {
            // Scrolling toward bottom of data
            int firstCompletePosition = layoutManager.findFirstCompletelyVisibleItemPosition();
            if (firstCompletePosition != RecyclerView.NO_POSITION
                && firstCompletePosition % mBlocksize == 0) {
                snapPos = firstCompletePosition;
            } else {
                snapPos = roundDownToBlockSize(firstVisiblePos + mBlocksize);
            }
        } else {
            // Scrolling toward top of data
            snapPos = roundDownToBlockSize(firstVisiblePos);
            // Check to see if target view exists. If it doesn't, force a smooth scroll.
            // SnapHelper only snaps to existing views and will not scroll to a non-existant one.
            // If limiting fling to single block, then the following is not needed since the
            // views are likely to be in the RecyclerView pool.
            if (layoutManager.findViewByPosition(snapPos) == null) {
                int[] toScroll = mLayoutDirectionHelper.calculateDistanceToScroll(layoutManager, snapPos);
                mRecyclerView.smoothScrollBy(toScroll[0], toScroll[1], sInterpolator);
            }
        }
        mPriorFirstPosition = firstVisiblePos;

        return snapPos;
    }

    private void initItemDimensionIfNeeded(final RecyclerView.LayoutManager layoutManager) {
        if (mItemDimension != 0) {
            return;
        }

        View child;
        if ((child = layoutManager.getChildAt(0)) == null) {
            return;
        }

        if (layoutManager.canScrollHorizontally()) {
            mItemDimension = child.getWidth();
            mBlocksize = getSpanCount(layoutManager) * (mRecyclerView.getWidth() / mItemDimension);
        } else if (layoutManager.canScrollVertically()) {
            mItemDimension = child.getHeight();
            mBlocksize = getSpanCount(layoutManager) * (mRecyclerView.getHeight() / mItemDimension);
        }
        mMaxPositionsToMove = mBlocksize * mMaxFlingBlocks;
    }

    private int getSpanCount(RecyclerView.LayoutManager layoutManager) {
        return (layoutManager instanceof GridLayoutManager)
            ? ((GridLayoutManager) layoutManager).getSpanCount()
            : 1;
    }

    private int roundDownToBlockSize(int trialPosition) {
        return trialPosition - trialPosition % mBlocksize;
    }

    private int roundUpToBlockSize(int trialPosition) {
        return roundDownToBlockSize(trialPosition + mBlocksize - 1);
    }

    @Nullable
    protected LinearSmoothScroller createScroller(RecyclerView.LayoutManager layoutManager) {
        if (!(layoutManager instanceof RecyclerView.SmoothScroller.ScrollVectorProvider)) {
            return null;
        }
        return new LinearSmoothScroller(mRecyclerView.getContext()) {
            @Override
            protected void onTargetFound(View targetView, RecyclerView.State state, Action action) {
                int[] snapDistances = calculateDistanceToFinalSnap(mRecyclerView.getLayoutManager(),
                                                                   targetView);
                final int dx = snapDistances[0];
                final int dy = snapDistances[1];
                final int time = calculateTimeForDeceleration(Math.max(Math.abs(dx), Math.abs(dy)));
                if (time > 0) {
                    action.update(dx, dy, time, sInterpolator);
                }
            }

            @Override
            protected float calculateSpeedPerPixel(DisplayMetrics displayMetrics) {
                return MILLISECONDS_PER_INCH / displayMetrics.densityDpi;
            }
        };
    }

    public void setSnapBlockCallback(@Nullable SnapBlockCallback callback) {
        mSnapBlockCallback = callback;
    }

    /*
        Helper class that handles calculations for LTR and RTL layouts.
     */
    private class LayoutDirectionHelper {

        // Is the layout an RTL one?
        private final boolean mIsRTL;

        @TargetApi(Build.VERSION_CODES.JELLY_BEAN_MR1)
        LayoutDirectionHelper(int direction) {
            mIsRTL = direction == View.LAYOUT_DIRECTION_RTL;
        }

        /*
            Calculate the amount of scroll needed to align the target view with the layout edge.
         */
        int getScrollToAlignView(View targetView) {
            return (mIsRTL)
                ? mOrientationHelper.getDecoratedEnd(targetView) - mRecyclerView.getWidth()
                : mOrientationHelper.getDecoratedStart(targetView);
        }

        /**
         * Calculate the distance to final snap position when the view corresponding to the snap
         * position is not currently available.
         *
         * @param layoutManager LinearLayoutManager or descendent class
         * @param targetPos     - Adapter position to snap to
         * @return int[2] {x-distance in pixels, y-distance in pixels}
         */
        int[] calculateDistanceToScroll(LinearLayoutManager layoutManager, int targetPos) {
            int[] out = new int[2];

            int firstVisiblePos;

            firstVisiblePos = layoutManager.findFirstVisibleItemPosition();
            if (layoutManager.canScrollHorizontally()) {
                if (targetPos <= firstVisiblePos) { // scrolling toward top of data
                    if (mIsRTL) {
                        View lastView = layoutManager.findViewByPosition(layoutManager.findLastVisibleItemPosition());
                        out[0] = mOrientationHelper.getDecoratedEnd(lastView)
                            + (firstVisiblePos - targetPos) * mItemDimension;
                    } else {
                        View firstView = layoutManager.findViewByPosition(firstVisiblePos);
                        out[0] = mOrientationHelper.getDecoratedStart(firstView)
                            - (firstVisiblePos - targetPos) * mItemDimension;
                    }
                }
            }
            if (layoutManager.canScrollVertically()) {
                if (targetPos <= firstVisiblePos) { // scrolling toward top of data
                    View firstView = layoutManager.findViewByPosition(firstVisiblePos);
                    out[1] = firstView.getTop() - (firstVisiblePos - targetPos) * mItemDimension;
                }
            }

            return out;
        }

        /*
            Calculate the number of positions to move in the RecyclerView given a scroll amount
            and the size of the items to be scrolled. Return integral multiple of mBlockSize not
            equal to zero.
         */
        int getPositionsToMove(LinearLayoutManager llm, int scroll, int itemSize) {
            int positionsToMove;

            positionsToMove = roundUpToBlockSize(Math.abs(scroll) / itemSize);

            if (positionsToMove < mBlocksize) {
                // Must move at least one block
                positionsToMove = mBlocksize;
            } else if (positionsToMove > mMaxPositionsToMove) {
                // Clamp number of positions to move so we don't get wild flinging.
                positionsToMove = mMaxPositionsToMove;
            }

            if (scroll < 0) {
                positionsToMove *= -1;
            }
            if (mIsRTL) {
                positionsToMove *= -1;
            }

            if (mLayoutDirectionHelper.isDirectionToBottom(scroll < 0)) {
                // Scrolling toward the bottom of data.
                return roundDownToBlockSize(llm.findFirstVisibleItemPosition()) + positionsToMove;
            }
            // Scrolling toward the top of the data.
            return roundDownToBlockSize(llm.findLastVisibleItemPosition()) + positionsToMove;
        }

        boolean isDirectionToBottom(boolean velocityNegative) {
            //noinspection SimplifiableConditionalExpression
            return mIsRTL ? velocityNegative : !velocityNegative;
        }
    }

    public interface SnapBlockCallback {
        void onBlockSnap(int snapPosition);

        void onBlockSnapped(int snapPosition);

    }

    private static final float MILLISECONDS_PER_INCH = 100f;
    @SuppressWarnings("unused")
    private static final String TAG = "SnapToBlock";
}

The SnapBlockCallback interface defined above can be used to report the adapter position of the view at the start of the block to be snapped. The view associated with that position may not be instantiated when the call is made if the view is off screen.

How to get soon-to-be-selected page while settling snapping feature on RecyclerView and ViewPager

Seems that for ViewPager, I could use the onPageSelected callback to get which item it's about to settle on.

So here's the solution for ViewPager (using the library I used) :

    val inflater = LayoutInflater.from(this)
    val viewPagerHolders = HashMap<Int, ViewPagerViewHolder>()
    viewPager.adapter = object : RecyclerPagerAdapter<ViewPagerViewHolder>() {

        override fun onCreateViewHolder(parent: ViewGroup, viewType: Int): ViewPagerViewHolder {
            return ViewPagerViewHolder(inflater.inflate(R.layout.cell, parent, false))
        }

        override fun getItemCount(): Int = 100

        override fun onBindViewHolder(holder: ViewPagerViewHolder, position: Int) {
            holder.textView.text = position.toString()
            viewPagerHolders.remove(holder.adapterPosition)
            holder.adapterPosition = position
            viewPagerHolders[position] = holder

        }
    }
    viewPager.addOnPageChangeListener(object : ViewPager.OnPageChangeListener {
        var selectedHolder: ViewPagerViewHolder? = null

        override fun onPageScrollStateChanged(state: Int) {}
        override fun onPageScrolled(position: Int, positionOffset: Float, positionOffsetPixels: Int) {}

        override fun onPageSelected(position: Int) {
            val holder = viewPagerHolders[position]
            if (holder != null) {
                if (selectedHolder != null && selectedHolder != holder)
                    selectedHolder!!.textView.text = selectedHolder!!.adapterPosition.toString()
                holder.textView.text = "selected:${position.toString()}"
                selectedHolder = holder
            }
        }
    })

And a ViewHolder class that just remembers which adapter position is associated with it (because this is missing for some reason) :

class ViewPagerViewHolder(itemView: View) : RecyclerPagerAdapter.ViewHolder(itemView) {
    val textView: TextView = itemView.findViewById(android.R.id.text1)
    var adapterPosition: Int = Int.MIN_VALUE
}

Since it works so well, I decided I will use it, even without blocking touch events functionality.

Still could be nice to know how to do it for RecyclerView.

EDIT: for RecyclerView, this can be done: https://stackoverflow.com/a/47580753/878126

Nudge a paged recyclerview to hint at next page without switching

recyclerView.smoothScrollBy(nudgeDistanceInPx, 0);

This will smooth scroll to show the next page a little before the PagerSnapHelper kicks in and returns it to it's starting position

Scroll fixed number of items on fling/scroll to recyclerview

It turns out I had to use Snaphelper for custom scroll behavior in case wherein I need control over programmatic scroll and user-scroll(fling).

This was exactly what I was looking for:
How to snap RecyclerView items so that every X items would be considered like a single unit to snap to?

I hope it will be helpful :)

How to implement 'Snap to center' feature for lists in Jetpack Compose?

If you use Compose 1.3 you can check the SnapFlingBehavior here

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