Pull-to-refresh in Android Kotlin

Introduction

Pull-to-refresh lets users update content by pulling down on the screen. It feels natural and quick, like refreshing a page in a browser.

When showing a list of news articles that can update with new stories.

In a chat app to load new messages by pulling down.

On a weather app to refresh the latest forecast.

In a social media feed to get new posts without restarting the app.

Syntax

Android Kotlin

SwipeRefreshLayout {
    setOnRefreshListener {
        // Code to refresh data
        isRefreshing = false
    }
    RecyclerView {
        // Your list content
    }
}

Use SwipeRefreshLayout as a container for scrollable views like RecyclerView.

Call isRefreshing = false to stop the loading spinner after refresh.

Examples

Basic setup in Kotlin to listen for pull-to-refresh and stop the spinner.

Android Kotlin

val swipeRefreshLayout = findViewById<SwipeRefreshLayout>(R.id.swipeRefreshLayout)
swipeRefreshLayout.setOnRefreshListener {
    // Refresh data here
    swipeRefreshLayout.isRefreshing = false
}

XML layout wrapping a RecyclerView inside SwipeRefreshLayout for pull-to-refresh.

Android Kotlin

<SwipeRefreshLayout
    android:id="@+id/swipeRefreshLayout"
    android:layout_width="match_parent"
    android:layout_height="match_parent">

    <RecyclerView
        android:id="@+id/recyclerView"
        android:layout_width="match_parent"
        android:layout_height="match_parent" />

</SwipeRefreshLayout>

Sample App

This app shows a list of fruits. Pulling down adds a new fruit at the top and stops the refresh spinner.

Android Kotlin

class MainActivity : AppCompatActivity() {
    private lateinit var swipeRefreshLayout: SwipeRefreshLayout
    private lateinit var recyclerView: RecyclerView
    private val items = mutableListOf("Apple", "Banana", "Cherry")

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

        swipeRefreshLayout = findViewById(R.id.swipeRefreshLayout)
        recyclerView = findViewById(R.id.recyclerView)

        recyclerView.layoutManager = LinearLayoutManager(this)
        recyclerView.adapter = object : RecyclerView.Adapter<RecyclerView.ViewHolder>() {
            override fun onCreateViewHolder(parent: ViewGroup, viewType: Int): RecyclerView.ViewHolder {
                val view = LayoutInflater.from(parent.context).inflate(android.R.layout.simple_list_item_1, parent, false)
                return object : RecyclerView.ViewHolder(view) {}
            }

            override fun onBindViewHolder(holder: RecyclerView.ViewHolder, position: Int) {
                (holder.itemView as TextView).text = items[position]
            }

            override fun getItemCount() = items.size
        }

        swipeRefreshLayout.setOnRefreshListener {
            // Simulate refreshing data
            items.add(0, "New Fruit ${items.size + 1}")
            recyclerView.adapter?.notifyDataSetChanged()
            swipeRefreshLayout.isRefreshing = false
        }
    }
}

Important Notes

Make sure your scrollable view supports scrolling to enable pull-to-refresh.

Always stop the refresh animation by setting isRefreshing = false after data loads.

Pull-to-refresh improves user experience by giving a quick way to update content.

Summary

Pull-to-refresh lets users update content by pulling down on a list or scrollable view.

Wrap your scrollable view inside SwipeRefreshLayout and set a refresh listener.

Stop the spinner by setting isRefreshing to false after refreshing.