How to Implement Swipe Down to Refresh in Android
Last Updated : 07 Apr, 2025
Certain applications show real-time data to the users, such as stock prices, availability of a product on online stores, etc. Showing real-time data requires continuous syncing of the application, and could be possible by implementing a program such as a thread. A Thread could be initiated by the application and update the real-time information implicitly or explicitly. The deal here is continuously updating the data (maybe from the servers) at the cost of additional RAM, Cache, and Battery of the device resulting in low-performance, as a Thread that runs forever occupies some space and requires power. To avoid using such programs, developers explicitly developed a feature for refreshing the application, so that the user can perform it whenever necessary. This brings us to conclude that manual refreshing has advantages such as:
- RAM Optimization
- Cache Memory Optimization
- Battery Life Optimization
- Avoiding Unnecessary Callbacks.
For example in the following image when the user will swipe down the screen then the string “Swipe to refresh” will be changed to “Refreshed”.
Step by Step Implementation
Step 1: Create a New Project
To create a new project in the Android Studio, please refer to How to Create/Start a New Project in Android Studio?
Step 2: Adding dependencies
Before start writing the code it is essential to add a Swipe Refresh Layout dependency into the build.Gradle.kts of the application to enable swipe layouts. Navigate to Gradle Scripts > build.gradle.kts (Module :app) and add the following dependency under the dependencies{} scope.
dependencies {
...
implementation ("androidx.swiperefreshlayout:swiperefreshlayout:1.1.0")
}
Step 3: Working with activity_main.xml
It is important to start with the Front-End “activity_main.xml“. Create a SwipeRefreshLayout to refresh the Layout and add a TextView to display the string on the screen and provide them with certain IDs.
activity_main.xml:
XML <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?> <LinearLayout 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"> <!--Swipe Refresh Layout --> <androidx.swiperefreshlayout.widget.SwipeRefreshLayout android:id="@+id/refreshLayout" android:layout_width="match_parent" android:layout_height="match_parent"> <!--TextView --> <TextView android:id="@+id/tv1" android:layout_width="match_parent" android:layout_height="match_parent" android:gravity="center" android:textSize="32sp" android:text="Swipe to refresh"/> </androidx.swiperefreshlayout.widget.SwipeRefreshLayout> </LinearLayout>
Step 4: Working with MainActivity file
Coming to the “MainActivity” file, a preview of the same is provided below. In this file connect the swipeRefreshLayout and textView to its XML file by using the findViewById() method. And also call the setOnRefreshListener() to change the text after the user swipe down the screen. The users can also write the required codes as their needs inside this method.
MainActivity File:
MainActivity.java package org.geeksforgeeks.demo; import android.os.Bundle; import android.widget.TextView; import androidx.appcompat.app.AppCompatActivity; import androidx.swiperefreshlayout.widget.SwipeRefreshLayout; public class MainActivity extends AppCompatActivity { @Override protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) { super.onCreate(savedInstanceState); setContentView(R.layout.activity_main); // Initialize views SwipeRefreshLayout swipeRefreshLayout = findViewById(R.id.refreshLayout); TextView textView = findViewById(R.id.tv1); // Trigger on refresh swipeRefreshLayout.setOnRefreshListener(() -> { // Update text after refresh textView.setText("Refreshed"); // Stop refreshing after one refresh cycle swipeRefreshLayout.setRefreshing(false); }); } } package org.geeksforgeeks.demo import android.os.Bundle import android.widget.TextView import androidx.appcompat.app.AppCompatActivity import androidx.swiperefreshlayout.widget.SwipeRefreshLayout class MainActivity : AppCompatActivity() { override fun onCreate(savedInstanceState: Bundle?) { super.onCreate(savedInstanceState) setContentView(R.layout.activity_main) // Initialize views val swipeRefreshLayout = findViewById<SwipeRefreshLayout>(R.id.refreshLayout) val textView = findViewById<TextView>(R.id.tv1) // trigger on refresh swipeRefreshLayout.setOnRefreshListener{ // implement logic for after refresh textView.text = "Refreshed" // This line is important as it explicitly refreshes only once // If "true" it implicitly refreshes forever swipeRefreshLayout.isRefreshing = false } } } Output:
Advantages
Of course, it’s not just the users who benefit. Assuming an application, where the information is fetched directly from a cloud repository. For every callback request (towards the cloud), the developer who owns such a repository pays a minimal amount towards the service, may it be Google Cloud Platform (GCP), Amazon Web Services (AWS), or any other thing.
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