Shimmer Effect to Image in Android

Last Updated : 23 Feb, 2021

Shimmer Effect is one of the most popular features that we see in most Android apps. We can get to see this Shimmer Effect while loading the screen in animated form. Using Shimmer Effect in the Android app makes a good User Experience. In this article, we are going to see how to implement the Shimmer Effect in the Android app. A sample GIF is given below to get an idea about what we are going to do in this article. Note that we are going to implement this project using the Java language.

Applications of Shimmer Effect

Shimmer Effect is mostly used for loading the screen in an attractive form.
Shimmer Effect gives a good appearance to Images in the Android app.
Using Shimmer Effect in our app gives an Animated view of the image.

Step by Step Implementation

Step 1: Create a New Project

To create a new project in Android Studio please refer to How to Create/Start a New Project in Android Studio. Note that select Java as the programming language.

Step 2: Add dependency of Shimmer Effect library in build.gradle file

Then Navigate to gradle scripts and then to build.gradle(Module) level. Add below line in build.gradle file in the dependencies section.

implementation 'com.facebook.shimmer:shimmer:0.5.0'

now click on Sync now it will sync your all files in build.gradle().

Step 3: Create a new Shimmer Effect in your 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"?> <RelativeLayout      xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"     xmlns:tools="http://schemas.android.com/tools"     android:layout_width="match_parent"     android:layout_height="match_parent"     android:background="@color/black"     android:paddingLeft="16dp"     android:paddingTop="16dp"     android:paddingRight="16dp"     android:paddingBottom="16dp"     tools:context=".MainActivity">      <!--Shimmer Effect-->     <com.facebook.shimmer.ShimmerFrameLayout         android:id="@+id/shimmer_view_container"         android:layout_width="wrap_content"         android:layout_height="wrap_content"         android:layout_centerInParent="true">          <LinearLayout             android:layout_width="wrap_content"             android:layout_height="wrap_content"             android:gravity="center"             android:orientation="vertical">              <!--Image-->             <ImageView                 android:layout_width="150dp"                 android:layout_height="150dp"                 android:src="@drawable/ic_baseline_account_balance_24" />              <!--Text given to Image-->             <TextView                 android:layout_width="wrap_content"                 android:layout_height="wrap_content"                 android:layout_marginTop="35dp"                 android:text="Bank"                 android:textColor="@color/purple_200"                 android:textSize="24dp"                 android:textStyle="bold" />                      </LinearLayout>      </com.facebook.shimmer.ShimmerFrameLayout>      <!--Button1 to start Shimmer Effect-->     <Button         android:id="@+id/button"         android:layout_width="wrap_content"         android:layout_height="wrap_content"         android:layout_alignParentStart="true"         android:layout_alignParentLeft="true"         android:layout_alignParentBottom="true"         android:paddingLeft="20dp"         android:text="Start" />      <!--Button2 to stop Shimmer Effect-->     <Button         android:id="@+id/button2"         android:layout_width="wrap_content"         android:layout_height="wrap_content"         android:layout_alignParentEnd="true"         android:layout_alignParentRight="true"         android:layout_alignParentBottom="true"         android:paddingRight="20dp"         android:text="Stop" />      </RelativeLayout>

Step 4: 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

import android.os.Bundle; import android.view.View; import android.widget.Button;  import androidx.appcompat.app.AppCompatActivity;  import com.facebook.shimmer.ShimmerFrameLayout;  public class MainActivity extends AppCompatActivity {      // Variables created for buttons and Shimmer     Button button1, button2;     ShimmerFrameLayout container;      @Override     protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {         super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);         setContentView(R.layout.activity_main);          button1 = findViewById(R.id.button);         button2 = findViewById(R.id.button2);          // Button 1 to start Shimmer Effect         button1.setOnClickListener(new View.OnClickListener() {             @Override             public void onClick(View v) {                 // If auto-start is set to false                 container.startShimmer();              }         });          // Button 2 to stop Shimmer Effect         button2.setOnClickListener(new View.OnClickListener() {             @Override             public void onClick(View v) {                 // If auto-start is set to false                 container.stopShimmer();              }         });          // Shimmer effect         container = (ShimmerFrameLayout) findViewById(R.id.shimmer_view_container);     } }