How to Implement Custom Searchable Spinner in Android?

28 Feb, 2022
Android Spinner is a view similar to the dropdown list which is used to select one option from the list of options. It provides an easy way to select one item from the list of items and it shows a dropdown list of all values when we click on it. The default value of the android spinner will be the currently selected value and by using an Adapter we can easily bind the items to the spinner objects. In this article, we are going to implement a custom searchable spinner in the Android Studio so that we can provide a better user experience to the user and make it convenient for them to search and select an item in a list of items. Advantages of a searchable spinner:
It provides an edge over the normal listview as here the user can directly search an item rather than scrolling the whole list.
Searching makes users’ work easier so, many items can be inserted into a single list.
Here we are going to take an array list and then insert different items into that list and then using a dialog and adapter we are going to make that list searchable and selectable. Below is a sample video of a custom searchable spinner that we are going to build in this article. Note that we are going to implement this project using the Java language. 
Step 1: Create a new project
Open a new project.
We will be working on Empty Activity with language as Java. Leave all other options unchanged.
You can change the name of the project at your convenience.
There will be two default files named activity_main.xml and MainActivity.java.
If you don’t know how to create a new project in Android Studio then you can refer to How to Create/Start a New Project in Android Studio?  
Step 2: Add a new vector asset in drawable
Navigate to drawable > right-click > new > vector asset and then select the following drop-down asset from clip art.
Step 3: Working with the activity_main.xml file
Navigate to the app > res > layout > activity_main.xml and add the below code to that file. Below is the code for the activity_main.xml file. 
XML
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?><!-- Relative layout as parent layout --><RelativeLayout    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"    android:padding="16dp"    android:gravity="center"    tools:context=".MainActivity">   <!-- text view to show the selected item-->    <TextView        android:layout_width="match_parent"        android:layout_height="wrap_content"        android:id="@+id/testView"        android:hint="Select course"        android:padding="12dp"        android:gravity="center_vertical"        android:drawableEnd="@drawable/ic_arrow"        android:background="@android:drawable/editbox_background"        /> </RelativeLayout>
  
Step 4: Creating a new resource file
 
Navigate to the app > res > layout > right click > New  > Layout Resource File and then name it as dialog_searchable_spinner.
 
 
Use the below code in the dialog_searchable_spinner.xml file
 
XML
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?> <!-- Linear layout as parent layout--><LinearLayout    xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"    android:layout_width="match_parent"    android:layout_height="wrap_content"    android:orientation="vertical"    android:padding="16dp"    android:background="@android:color/white"    >       <!-- Text view to show the text Select course-->    <TextView        android:layout_width="wrap_content"        android:layout_height="wrap_content"        android:text="Select Course"        android:textSize="20sp"        android:textStyle="bold"        />       <!-- Edit text to allow user to type name           of item he/she wants to search-->    <EditText        android:layout_width="match_parent"        android:layout_height="wrap_content"        android:id="@+id/edit_text"        android:hint="Search..."        android:padding="12dp"        android:singleLine="true"        android:layout_marginTop="8dp"        android:layout_marginBottom="8dp"        android:background="@android:drawable/editbox_background"        />         <!-- List view to insert list of items-->    <ListView        android:layout_width="match_parent"        android:layout_height="match_parent"        android:id="@+id/list_view"        /> </LinearLayout>
  
Step 5: Working with the MainActivity.java file
 
Go to the MainActivity.java file and refer to the following code. Below is the code for the MainActivity.java file. Comments are added inside the code to understand the code in more detail.
 
Java
package com.example.custom_searchable_spinner; import androidx.appcompat.app.AppCompatActivity; import android.app.Dialog;import android.graphics.Color;import android.graphics.drawable.ColorDrawable;import android.os.Bundle;import android.text.Editable;import android.text.TextWatcher;import android.view.View;import android.widget.AdapterView;import android.widget.ArrayAdapter;import android.widget.EditText;import android.widget.ListView;import android.widget.TextView; import java.util.ArrayList; public class MainActivity extends AppCompatActivity {     // Initialize variable    TextView textview;    ArrayList<String> arrayList;    Dialog dialog;    @Override    protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {        super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);        setContentView(R.layout.activity_main);         // assign variable        textview=findViewById(R.id.testView);         // initialize array list        arrayList=new ArrayList<>();         // set value in array list        arrayList.add("DSA Self Paced");        arrayList.add("Complete Interview Prep");        arrayList.add("Amazon SDE Test Series");        arrayList.add("Compiler Design");        arrayList.add("Git & Github");        arrayList.add("Python foundation");        arrayList.add("Operating systems");        arrayList.add("Theory of Computation");         textview.setOnClickListener(new View.OnClickListener() {            @Override            public void onClick(View v) {                // Initialize dialog                dialog=new Dialog(MainActivity.this);                 // set custom dialog                dialog.setContentView(R.layout.dialog_searchable_spinner);                 // set custom height and width                dialog.getWindow().setLayout(650,800);                 // set transparent background                dialog.getWindow().setBackgroundDrawable(new ColorDrawable(Color.TRANSPARENT));                 // show dialog                dialog.show();                 // Initialize and assign variable                EditText editText=dialog.findViewById(R.id.edit_text);                ListView listView=dialog.findViewById(R.id.list_view);                 // Initialize array adapter                ArrayAdapter<String> adapter=new ArrayAdapter<>(MainActivity.this, android.R.layout.simple_list_item_1,arrayList);                 // set adapter                listView.setAdapter(adapter);                editText.addTextChangedListener(new TextWatcher() {                    @Override                    public void beforeTextChanged(CharSequence s, int start, int count, int after) {                     }                     @Override                    public void onTextChanged(CharSequence s, int start, int before, int count) {                        adapter.getFilter().filter(s);                    }                     @Override                    public void afterTextChanged(Editable s) {                     }                });                 listView.setOnItemClickListener(new AdapterView.OnItemClickListener() {                    @Override                    public void onItemClick(AdapterView<?> parent, View view, int position, long id) {                        // when item selected from list                        // set selected item on textView                        textview.setText(adapter.getItem(position));                         // Dismiss dialog                        dialog.dismiss();                    }                });            }        });    }}
  
We have successfully made the Custom Searchable Spinner for our application. The final output is shown below.
 
 
sumitgumber28
nikhatkhan11
Android
Android
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