How to add floating label on Spinner

After using the Android Design Support Library's TextInputLayout to place a floating label above an EditText component, I was wondering if there is a way to add a floating label to the Spinner component (not necessarily using the Design Library).

By this, I mean something like a TextView placed above the Spinner (obviously no animations like the TextInputLayout), but I want the text size, font and colour to match that of the TextInputLayout's floating label.

For example, it would look something like this (see the labels above the Spinners):

As I mentioned before, my main aim is to have a label above the Spinner, just as in the TextInputLayout - so text size, font, colour, and distances between the label and the component would be the same.

On the Google Design page about floating label text fields, there is a diagram showing dimensions of the label relative to the component, but there is no indication of the label text colour or size:

So, to summarise, I am asking:

• If there is a special component to achieve what I am asking or a custom view I can use, what would it be, and how can I use it.

• If not, what is the floating label text size, colour and font, so that I can place a TextView above my Spinner with the layout dimensions shown in the above image.

---

EDIT:

From the Google Design guidelines for text fields, it has the following for floating labels:

>Hint and input font: Roboto Regular 16sp
>Label font: Roboto Regular 12sp
>Tile height: 72dp
>Text top and bottom padding: 16dp
>Text field divider padding: 8dp

as well as the images shown above.

So the floating label font is: Roboto Regular 12sp. You can therefore use a TextView to display the Spinner label as I do not know of any custom Views or special components you could use.

However, after trying it out, it does not look quite as good as the example shown in the image. A custom view may be better for this, as it could look nicer, but the solution above is just one way of achieving something close to what I originally wanted.

> I want the text size, font and colour to match that of the TextInputLayout's floating label.

This can be achieved easily without any external libraries. After trying to hack the TextInputLayout and even making my own custom view, I realized that using a simple TextView takes much less code and it's probably more efficient.

The text style can be copied from the AppCompat library.

The style

From the Material Design guidelines we get the following information:

• the label should have a bottom margin of 8dp
• the label should be vertically aligned with the input text

Here's what the guidelines do not mention about the Material EditText:

• it has a left padding of 4dp
• its label actually doesn't have any spacing of 16dp above it, this is left to the interface designer: this makes sense because if you place it under another EditText, you will only need an additional 8dp of space

Moreover, the Design Support Library contains this style for the label of a focused element:

<style name="TextAppearance.Design.Hint" parent="TextAppearance.AppCompat.Caption">
    <item name="android:textColor">?attr/colorControlActivated</item>
</style>

Inactive elements simply use TextAppearance.AppCompat.Caption.

Implementation

Add the following to your dimens.xml file:

<dimen name="input_label_vertical_spacing">8dp</dimen>
<dimen name="input_label_horizontal_spacing">4dp</dimen>

Then add this to styles.xml:

<style name="InputLabel" parent="TextAppearance.AppCompat.Caption">
    <item name="android:paddingBottom">@dimen/input_label_vertical_spacing</item>
    <item name="android:paddingLeft">@dimen/input_label_horizontal_spacing</item>
    <item name="android:paddingRight">@dimen/input_label_horizontal_spacing</item>
</style>

If you want the label to always have the highlighted (accent) color, replace TextAppearance.AppCompat.Caption with TextAppearance.Design.Hint from the Google Design Support Library. However, this will probably look a bit weird if you also have labeled EditText views on the same screen.

Finally, you can put a TextView above your Spinner (or any other element) with the style applied:

<TextView
    android:layout_width="match_parent"
    android:layout_height="wrap_content"
    android:text="@string/category"
    style="@style/InputLabel" />

Result

The following screenshot shows a simple example with two normal TextInputLayout views followed by a label and a Spinner. I didn't apply the additional 8dp spacing to separate them further, but this shows you that the size, font and color are reflected.

The elements inside the Spinner have a different padding, however I prefer to keep the vertical alignment with all the other labels to get a more uniform look.

I achieved this by using an AutoCompleteTextView, disabling the keyboard and showing the options on touch.

ArrayAdapter<String> adapter = new ArrayAdapter<String>(this, android.R.layout.simple_spinner_item, getResources().getStringArray(R.array.locations));

AutoCompleteTextView mTextView = (AutoCompleteTextView) findViewById(R.id.location);

mTextView.setAdapter(adapter);
mTextView.setKeyListener(null);
mTextView.setOnTouchListener(new View.OnTouchListener(){
    @Override
    public boolean onTouch(View v, MotionEvent event){
        ((AutoCompleteTextView) v).showDropDown();
        return false;
    }
});

I have a gist made by myself to solve the same problem that you have.

Check It out:

https://gist.github.com/rodrigohenriques/77398a81b5d01ac71c3b

Now I don't need spinners. You will still having floating label effect with animations included.

I have created a compound View component which displays a label above the Spinner. The text for the label can be set using XML or in Java.

The component has the key features of a Spinner (not all of them) as well as looking similar to the TextInputLayout component.

I have named it a LabelledSpinner, and it is available as part of my UsefulViews Android library on GitHub under the Apache 2.0 License.

To use it, add the library dependency in your build.gradle file:

compile 'com.satsuware.lib:usefulviews:+'

Examples of its usage are available at the GitHub repository (both a sample app, and a usage guide).

You can achieve this :

With new Material library styles like this:

<com.google.android.material.textfield.TextInputLayout
        android:id="@+id/fullNameLay"
        style="@style/Widget.MaterialComponents.TextInputLayout.OutlinedBox.ExposedDropdownMenu"
        android:layout_width="wrap_content"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content">

    <androidx.appcompat.widget.AppCompatAutoCompleteTextView
            android:id="@+id/fullNameEt"
            android:layout_width="match_parent"
            android:layout_height="wrap_content"/>
</com.google.android.material.textfield.TextInputLayout>

for more information: https://material.io/develop/android/components/menu/

UPDATE: Non editable variation: Disable the user input in the *AutoCompleteTextView* to have a non editable variation of the menu by setting android:inputType="none" on the AutoCompleteTextView.

I modified Rodrigo's solution to use an adapter, i.e. more like a standard Spinner https://gist.github.com/smithaaron/d2acd57937d7a4201a79

I have an alternative solution that uses the behavior of TextInputLayout and a custom DialogFragment (AlertDialog) to emulate a spinner dialog popup.

layout.xml:

<android.support.design.widget.TextInputLayout
    android:layout_width="match_parent"
    android:layout_height="wrap_content">

    <EditText
        android:id="@+id/your_et"
        android:layout_width="match_parent"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:hint="@string/your_label"
        android:maxLines="1"
        android:inputType="textNoSuggestions"
        android:textAppearance="@style/TextAppearance.AppCompat.Medium"
        android:focusable="false"
        style="@style/Base.Widget.AppCompat.Spinner.Underlined"/>
</android.support.design.widget.TextInputLayout>

Create Custom Spinner via DialogFragment (AlertDialog)

SpinnerFragment.java:

public class SpinnerFragment extends DialogFragment {

private static final String TITLEID = "titleId";
private static final String LISTID = "listId";
private static final String EDITTEXTID = "editTextId";

public static SpinnerFragment newInstance(int titleId, int listId, int editTextId) {
    Bundle bundle = new Bundle();
    bundle.putInt(TITLEID, titleId);
    bundle.putInt(LISTID, listId);
    bundle.putInt(EDITTEXTID, editTextId);
    SpinnerFragment spinnerFragment = new SpinnerFragment();
    spinnerFragment.setArguments(bundle);

    return spinnerFragment;
}

@Override
public Dialog onCreateDialog(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
    final int titleId = getArguments().getInt(TITLEID);
    final int listId = getArguments().getInt(LISTID);
    final int editTextId = getArguments().getInt(EDITTEXTID);
    AlertDialog.Builder builder = new AlertDialog.Builder(getActivity());

    try {
        final String[] items = getResources().getStringArray(listId);

        builder.setTitle(titleId)
                .setItems(listId, new DialogInterface.OnClickListener() {
                    public void onClick(DialogInterface dialog, int pos) {
                        EditText et = (EditText) getActivity().findViewById(editTextId);
                        String selectedText = items[pos];
                        if (!TextUtils.isEmpty(selectedText)) {
                            et.setText(selectedText);
                        } else {
                            et.getText().clear();
                        }
                    }
                });

    } catch (NullPointerException e) {
        Log.e(getClass().toString(), "Failed to select option in " + getActivity().toString() + " as there are no references for passed in resource Ids in Bundle", e);
        Toast.makeText(getActivity(), getString(R.string.error_failed_to_select), Toast.LENGTH_LONG).show();
    }

    return builder.create();
}

}

Activity.java:

private void addCustomSpinner() {
    EditText yourEt = (EditText) findViewById(R.id.your_et);
    yourEt.setOnClickListener(new View.OnClickListener() {
        @Override
        public void onClick(View view) {
            showCustomSpinnerDialog(view);
        }
    });
}

private void showCustomSpinnerDialog(View v) {
    int titleId = R.string.your_label;
    int listId = R.array.spinner_selections;
    int editTextId = R.id.your_et;
    SpinnerFragment spinnerFragment = SpinnerFragment.newInstance(titleId, listId, editTextId);
    spinnerFragment.show(getFragmentManager(), "customSpinner");
}

Result

When you click on the spinner styled TextInputLayout, it will trigger an alert dialog containing your list of selections. Once a selection is chosen, the EditText will be populated with your selection and the label will float like how you want.

Here is my trick,

the good things is that everything will work like you want,

but the bad is that it is increasing layout hierarchy, and you have to handle functionality in code, and it is an ugly solution:

    <RelativeLayout
        android:layout_width="match_parent"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content">

        <android.support.design.widget.TextInputLayout
            android:id="@+id/til"
            android:layout_width="match_parent"
            android:layout_height="wrap_content">

            <EditText
                android:id="@+id/edt"
                android:layout_width="match_parent"
                android:layout_height="@dimen/edt_height"
                android:hint="@string/create_gcc_visa_txt_step" />

        </android.support.design.widget.TextInputLayout>

        <Spinner
            android:id="@+id/spn"
            style="@style/MyAppTheme.Base.Spinner"
            android:layout_height="@dimen/edt_height"
            android:layout_alignBottom="@id/til" />

    </RelativeLayout>

and override adapter for spinner, to make selected values transparent

public class MySpinnerAdapter extends SimpleAdapter {
    Context mContext;

    public MySpinnerAdapter(Context context, List<String> data, int resource, String[] from, int[] to) {
        super(context, data, resource, from, to);
        mContext = context;
    }

    @Override
    public View getView(int position, View convertView, ViewGroup parent) {
        convertView = super.getView(position, convertView, parent);

        TextView tv = (TextView) convertView.findViewById(android.R.id.text1);
            tv.setTextColor(ContextCompat.getColor(mContext, R.color.transparent));
        return convertView;
    }
}

and after selecting in spinner, just get selected text and set it to EditText and it will have the same effect with animation

yourSpinnerView.setOnItemSelectedListener(new AdapterView.OnItemSelectedListener() {
        @Override
        public void onItemSelected(AdapterView<String> adapterView, View view, int i, long l) {
            //get your selected text from adapter or from where you want 
            String selectedText = adapterView.getItemAtPosition(i));

            if (i != 0) { 
                edt.setText(selectedText);
            } else { 
                // if in case your spinner have first empty text, 
                // then when spinner selected, just empty EditText.
                edt.setText("");
            }
        }

        @Override
        public void onNothingSelected(AdapterView<?> adapterView) {

        }
    });

if you have any question Ask me

Here is a library that I use for the Floating label spinner rey5137 Material Library

Also, for future reference, here is a list of some great libraries. UI Libraries Core Libraries

SpinnerCustom.java

package com.pozitron.tfkb.customviews;

import android.content.Context;
import android.content.res.TypedArray;
import android.support.annotation.Nullable;
import android.text.SpannableString;
import android.util.AttributeSet;
import android.view.LayoutInflater;
import android.view.View;
import android.widget.LinearLayout;

import com.pozitron.commons.customviews.TextViewFont;
import com.pozitron.tfkb.R;

import butterknife.BindView;
import butterknife.ButterKnife;

/**
 * Created by so12607 on 31/01/2018.
 */

public class SpinnerCustom extends LinearLayout {

    @BindView(R.id.layoutSpinnerCustomLabel)
    TextViewFont layoutSpinnerCustomLabel;

    @BindView(R.id.layoutSpinnerCustomSpinner)
    TextViewFont layoutSpinnerCustomSpinner;

    @BindView(R.id.layoutSpinner)
    LinearLayout layoutSpinner;

    private View v;

    public SpinnerCustom(Context context) {
        this(context, null);
    }

    public SpinnerCustom(Context context, @Nullable AttributeSet attrs) {
        this(context, attrs, 0);

    }

    public SpinnerCustom(Context context, @Nullable AttributeSet attrs, int defStyleAttr) {
        super(context, attrs, defStyleAttr);

        v = LayoutInflater.from(context).inflate(R.layout.layout_spinner_custom, this, true);
        ButterKnife.bind(this);

        if (!isInEditMode()) {

            TypedArray array = context.obtainStyledAttributes(attrs, R.styleable.SpinnerCustom, 0, 0);
            final String label = array.getString(R.styleable.SpinnerCustom_label);
            final boolean enable = array.getBoolean(R.styleable.SpinnerCustom_enabled, true);
            layoutSpinnerCustomLabel.setText(label);

            layoutSpinnerCustomLabel.setEnabled(enable);
            layoutSpinnerCustomSpinner.setEnabled(enable);
            layoutSpinner.setEnabled(enable);
            layoutSpinner.setClickable(enable);
            v.setEnabled(enable);
            v.setClickable(enable);
            array.recycle();
        }
    }

    public void setText(String text) {
        layoutSpinnerCustomSpinner.setText(text);
    }

    public void setText(SpannableString text) {
        layoutSpinnerCustomSpinner.setText(text);
    }

    public void setText(CharSequence text) {
        layoutSpinnerCustomSpinner.setText(text);
    }

    public void setLabel(String text) {
        layoutSpinnerCustomLabel.setText(text);
    }

    public void setError(SpannableString text) {
        layoutSpinnerCustomSpinner.setError(text);
    }

    public void setEnabled(boolean enable) {
        layoutSpinnerCustomLabel.setEnabled(enable);
        layoutSpinnerCustomSpinner.setEnabled(enable);
        layoutSpinner.setEnabled(!enable);
        layoutSpinner.setClickable(!enable);
    }
}

layout_spinner_custom.xml

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<LinearLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
    xmlns:tools="http://schemas.android.com/tools"
    android:id="@+id/layoutSpinner"
    android:layout_width="match_parent"
    android:layout_height="wrap_content"
    android:orientation="vertical">

    <com.pozitron.commons.customviews.TextViewFont
        android:id="@+id/layoutSpinnerCustomLabel"
        style="@style/TextLabel"
        tools:text="label" />

    <com.pozitron.commons.customviews.TextViewFont
        android:id="@+id/layoutSpinnerCustomSpinner"
        style="@style/SpinnerText"
        android:clickable="false" />

</LinearLayout>

style.xml

<style name="TextLabel" parent="android:Widget.TextView">
    <item name="font">@integer/font_GTEestiDisplay_Regular</item>
    <item name="android:layout_width">match_parent</item>
    <item name="android:textSize">14sp</item>
    <item name="android:layout_height">wrap_content</item>
    <item name="android:gravity">bottom</item>
    <item name="android:textColor">@color/greyLabel</item>
</style>

<style name="SpinnerText" parent="EditText">
    <item name="font">@integer/font_GTEestiDisplay_Medium</item>
    <item name="android:gravity">bottom</item>
    <item name="android:textSize">17sp</item>
    <item name="android:minHeight">35dp</item>
    <item name="android:focusable">false</item>
    <item name="android:background">@drawable/spinner_selector</item>
    <item name="android:text">@string/select</item>
    <item name="android:textColor">@color/selector_spinner_text</item>
</style>