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);
    }
}