Tabs.md

Tabs

Tabs organize content across different screens, data sets, and other interactions.

Contents

• Design and API Documentation
• Using tabs
• Fixed tabs
• Scrollable tabs
• Theming tabs

Design and API Documentation

• Google Material3 Spec
• API Reference

Using tabs

Before you can use Material tabs, you need to add a dependency to the Material Components for Android library. For more information, go to the Getting started page.

Basic usage

A TabLayout can be added to a layout:

<com.google.android.material.tabs.TabLayout
    android:layout_width="match_parent"
    android:layout_height="wrap_content">

    ...

</com.google.android.material.tabs.TabLayout>

TabItems can then be added as children of the TabLayout and adjusted as needed:

<com.google.android.material.tabs.TabLayout
    ...>

    <com.google.android.material.tabs.TabItem
        android:layout_width="wrap_content"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:text="@string/text_label_1"
        />

    <com.google.android.material.tabs.TabItem
        android:layout_width="wrap_content"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:text="@string/text_label_2"
        />

    ...

</com.google.android.material.tabs.TabLayout>

Observe changes to tab selections:

tabLayout.addOnTabSelectedListener(object : TabLayout.OnTabSelectedListener {

    override fun onTabSelected(tab: TabLayout.Tab?) {
        // Handle tab select
    }

    override fun onTabReselected(tab: TabLayout.Tab?) {
        // Handle tab reselect
    }

    override fun onTabUnselected(tab: TabLayout.Tab?) {
        // Handle tab unselect
    }
})

API and source code:

• TabLayout
  • Class definition
  • Class source
• TabItem
  • Class definition
  • Class source

Making tabs accessible

The Android tab components support screen reader descriptions for tabs and badges. While optional, we strongly encourage their use.

Content descriptions

Adding a content description to the entire TabLayout can be done in XML with the android:contentDescription attribute or programmatically:

tabLayout.contentDescription = contentDescription

Content descriptions can also be added to individual tabs:

val tab = tabLayout.getTabAt(index)
tab?.contentDescription = contentDescription

BadgeDrawable also has a number of content description setters for different badge states:

val badge = tab.getOrCreateBadge()

// For badges with a number
badge.setContentDescriptionNumberless(contentDescription)
badge.setContentDescriptionQuantityStringsResource(R.string.content_description)
badge.setContentDescriptionExceedsMaxBadgeNumberStringResource(R.string.content_description)

// For badges with a text
badge.setContentDescriptionForText(contentDescription)

Using tabs with ViewPager

A TabLayout can be set up with a ViewPager in order to:

• Dynamically create TabItems based on the number of pages, their titles, etc.
• Synchronize the selected tab and tab indicator position with page swipes

First, your PagerAdapter (or subclass) needs to override the getPageTitle function in order to set the tab text label:

class Adapter : PagerAdapter() {

    ...

    override fun getPageTitle(position: Int): CharSequence? {
        // Return tab text label for position
    }
}

After the adapter has been set on the ViewPager, synchronize the TabLayout:

tabLayout.setupWithViewPager(viewPager)

Further customization of the dynamically-created TabItems (such as setting icons) needs to be done separately:

val tab = tabLayout.getTabAt(index)
tab?.icon = drawable

Using tabs with ViewPager2

Setting up a TabLayout with a ViewPager2 relies on the same concepts as doing so with a ViewPager, but the implementation is different. Everything is handled by the TabLayoutMediator class:

TabLayoutMediator(tabLayout, viewPager2) { tab, position ->
    when (position) {
        0 -> {
            tab.text = textLabel1
            tab.icon = drawable1
        }
        1 -> {
            tab.text = textLabel2
            tab.icon = drawable2
        }
        ...
    }
}.attach()

Adding badges to tabs

Tabs support badging with the BadgeDrawable class:

// Get badge from tab (or create one if none exists)
val badge = tab.getOrCreateBadge()
// Customize badge
badge.number = number
// Remove badge from tab
tab.removeBadge()

Types

There are two types of tabs: 1. Fixed tabs, 2. Scrollable tabs

Fixed tabs

Fixed tabs display all tabs on one screen, with each tab at a fixed width. The width of each tab is determined by dividing the number of tabs by the screen width. They don’t scroll to reveal more tabs; the visible tab set represents the only tabs available.

Fixed tabs example

The following example shows a row of fixed tabs.

In the layout:

<com.google.android.material.tabs.TabLayout
    android:layout_width="match_parent"
    android:layout_height="wrap_content"
    app:tabMode="fixed">

    <com.google.android.material.tabs.TabItem
        android:layout_width="wrap_content"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:text="@string/tab_1"
        android:icon="@drawable/ic_favorite_24dp"
        />

    <com.google.android.material.tabs.TabItem
        android:layout_width="wrap_content"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:text="@string/tab_2"
        android:icon="@drawable/ic_music_24dp"
        />

    <com.google.android.material.tabs.TabItem
        android:layout_width="wrap_content"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:text="@string/tab_3"
        android:icon="@drawable/ic_search_24dp"
        />

</com.google.android.material.tabs.TabLayout>

Scrollable tabs

Scrollable tabs are displayed without fixed widths. They are scrollable, such that some tabs will remain off-screen until scrolled.

Scrollable tabs example

The following example shows a row of scrollable tabs.

In the layout:

<com.google.android.material.tabs.TabLayout
    android:layout_width="match_parent"
    android:layout_height="wrap_content"
    app:tabMode="scrollable"
    app:tabContentStart="56dp">

    <com.google.android.material.tabs.TabItem
        android:layout_width="wrap_content"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:text="@string/tab_1"
        />

    <com.google.android.material.tabs.TabItem
        android:layout_width="wrap_content"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:text="@string/tab_2"
        />

    <com.google.android.material.tabs.TabItem
        android:layout_width="wrap_content"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:text="@string/tab_3"
        />

    <com.google.android.material.tabs.TabItem
        android:layout_width="wrap_content"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:text="@string/tab_4"
        />

    <com.google.android.material.tabs.TabItem
        android:layout_width="wrap_content"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:text="@string/tab_5"
        />
    ...
</com.google.android.material.tabs.TabLayout>

Anatomy and key properties

Tabs have a container and each tab item has an optional icon and text label. Tab items can be in an active or inactive state. The tab indicator is shown below the active tab item.

1. Container
2. Active icon (optional if there’s a label)
3. Active text label (optional if there’s an icon)
4. Active tab indicator
5. Inactive icon (optional if there’s a label)
6. Inactive text label (optional if there’s an icon)
7. Tab item

Container attributes

Element	Attribute	Related method(s)	Default value
Color	android:background	setBackground getBackground	?attr/colorOnSurfaceVariant
Elevation	android:elevation	setElevation	0dp
Height	N/A	N/A	48dp (inline text) or 72dp (non-inline text and icon)
Tab mode	tabMode	setTabMode getTabMode	fixed

Tab item icon attributes

Element	Attribute	Related method(s)	Default value
Icon	android:icon	setIcon getIcon	null
Color	tabIconTint	setTabIconTint setTabIconTintResource getTabIconTint	colorOnSurfaceVariant and colorPrimary (activated) (see all states)

Tab item text label attributes

Element	Attribute	Related method(s)	Default value
Text	android:text	setText getText	null
Color	tabTextColor	setTabTextColors getTabTextColors	colorOnSurfaceVariant and colorPrimary (activated) (see all states)
Typography	tabTextAppearance	N/A	?attr/textAppearanceTitleSmall
Active tab typography	tabSelectedTextAppearance	N/A	None; will use tabTextAppearance instead
Inline label	tabInlineLabel	setInlineLabel setInlineLabelResource isInlineLabel	false

Note: When using tabSelectedTextAppearance, you must have matching text attributes in tabTextAppearance to avoid unintended behavior.

Tab item container attributes

Element	Attribute	Related method(s)	Default value
Ripple color	tabRippleColor	setTabRippleColor setTabRippleColorResource getTabRippleColor	colorOnSurfaceVariant at 16% opacity and colorPrimary at 16% opacity (activated) (see all states)
Unbounded ripple	tabUnboundedRipple	setUnboundedRipple setUnboundedRippleResource hasUnboundedRipple	true
Gravity	tabGravity	setTabGravity getTabGravity	fill
Min width	tabMinWidth	N/A	72dp (scrollable) or wrap_content
Max width	tabMaxWidth	N/A	264dp
Padding	tabPaddingStart tabPaddingEnd tabPaddingTop tabPaddingBottom tabPadding	N/A	12dp 12dp 0dp 0dp 0dp

Tab indicator attributes

Element	Attribute	Related method(s)	Default value
Color	tabIndicatorColor	setSelectedTabIndicatorColor	colorPrimary
Drawable	tabIndicator	setSelectedTabIndicator getSelectedTabIndicator	m3_tabs_rounded_line_indicator
Height	tabIndicatorHeight	setSelectedTabIndicatorHeight	2dp
Full width	tabIndicatorFullWidth	setTabIndicatorFullWidth isTabIndicatorFullWidth	false
Animation mode	tabIndicatorAnimationMode	setTabIndicatorAnimationMode getTabIndicatorAnimationMode	elastic
Gravity	tabIndicatorGravity	setSelectedTabIndicatorGravity getTabIndicatorGravity	bottom
Animation duration	tabIndicatorAnimationDuration	N/A	250

Styles

Element	Style
Default style	Widget.Material3.TabLayout
Style for elevateable surfaces	Widget.Material3.TabLayout.OnSurface
Primary secondary color style	Widget.Material3.TabLayout.Secondary

Default style theme attribute: ?attr/tabStyle

Additional style theme attributes: ?attr/tabSecondaryStyle

See the full list of styles and attrs.

Theming tabs

Tabs support Material Theming which can customize color and typography.

Tabs theming example

API and source code:

• TabLayout
  • Class definition
  • Class source
• TabItem
  • Class definition
  • Class source

The following example shows a row of scrollable tabs with Material Theming.

Implementing tabs theming

Use theme attributes and styles in res/values/styles.xml which applies to all tabs and affects other components:

<style name="Theme.App" parent="Theme.Material3.*">
    ...
    <item name="colorPrimary">@color/shrine_pink_900</item>
    <item name="colorSurface">@color/shrine_pink_light</item>
    <item name="colorOnSurface">@color/shrine_pink_900</item>
    <item name="textAppearanceLabelLarge">@style/TextAppearance.App.LabelLarge</item>
</style>

<style name="TextAppearance.App.LabelLarge" parent="TextAppearance.Material3.LabelLarge">
    <item name="fontFamily">@font/rubik</item>
    <item name="android:fontFamily">@font/rubik</item>
</style>

Use default style theme attributes, styles and theme overlays, which apply to all tabs but do not affect other components:

<style name="Theme.App" parent="Theme.Material3.*">
    ...
    <item name="tabStyle">@style/Widget.App.LabelLarge</item>
</style>

<style name="Widget.App.TabLayout" parent="Widget.Material3.TabLayout">
    <item name="materialThemeOverlay">@style/ThemeOverlay.App.TabLayout</item>
    <item name="tabTextAppearance">@style/TextAppearance.App.LabelLarge</item>
</style>

<style name="ThemeOverlay.App.TabLayout" parent="">
    <item name="colorPrimary">@color/shrine_pink_900</item>
    <item name="colorSurface">@color/shrine_pink_light</item>
    <item name="colorOnSurface">@color/shrine_pink_900</item>
</style>

Use the style in the layout, which affects only these tabs:

<com.google.android.material.tabs.TabLayout
    ...
    style="@style/Widget.App.TabLayout"
    />