25 new Android libraries which you definitely want to try at the beginning of 2017 (original) (raw)

By Michal Bialas

This is a list of 25 best Android libraries released in January and February 2017. All of these are worth trying out — they are not in ranked order. Let’s get started!

1. Lottie
   This is a library that parses Adobe After Effects animations exported as JSON with Bodymovin (After Effects plugin for exporting animations to SVG/Canvas/HTML + JavaScript) and renders them natively on mobile.
   There is also an example app available in the Google Play Store.
   The more than 7,500 Github users who starred this library can not be wrong!

airbnb/lottie-android
_lottie-android - Render After Effects animations natively on Android and iOS_github.com

1. Toasty
   This is a library for creating customized Toasts. As the author described the lib, it is:

“The usual Toast, but with steroids.”

You can find screenshots and the link to the library below.

GrenderG/Toasty
_Toasty - The usual Toast, but with steroids ?g_ithub.com

1. StyleableToast
   This is another library for Toasts customization. It adds:

“variety of styling options that gives your app and user experience that little extra unique feeling! Style your toast either by code or in styles.xml!”

Muddz/StyleableToast
_StyleableToast - A library that takes the standard Android toast to the next level with a variety of styling options…_github.com

1. Store
   Store is a library for Async Data Loading and Caching. According to the documentation:

“Store is a class that simplifies fetching, parsing, storage, and retrieval of data in your application. A Store is similar to the Repository pattern while exposing a Reactive API built with RxJava that adheres to a unidirectional data flow.”

The documentation is really comprehensive and the lib is for sure worth trying. You can check many flows such as data requests, caching and parsing.

NYTimes/Store
_Store - Android Library for Async Data Loading and Caching_github.com

1. PreviewSeekBar
   If you use Google Play Movies, you have probably noticed this great animated SeekBar with a preview of the movie. It turned out that Rúben Sousa implemented that as an open-source library. The gif below gives a good flavor of its functionalities. If your app is for instance a movie player, you should definitely try it!

rubensousa/PreviewSeekBar
_PreviewSeekBar - A SeekBar suited for showing a preview of something. As seen in Google Play Movies._github.com

1. Chuck
   If you use OkHttp, this is the library that helps intercept and persist all HTTP requests and responses inside your application. It also provides a UI for inspecting their content.

jgilfelt/chuck
_chuck - An in-app HTTP inspector for Android OkHttp clients_github.com

1. CoordinatorTabLayout
   CoordinatorTabLayout is a custom composite control that quickly implements the combination of TabLayout and CoordinatorLayout.
   You can check how it works on the gif below:

hugeterry/CoordinatorTabLayout
_CoordinatorTabLayout - Combination of TabLayout and CoordinatorLayout./TabLayout和CoordinatorLayout相结合的折叠控件_github.com

1. boxing
   Boxing is a multimedia selector and by using it you can:
2. do a selection of your images (single or multiple images)
3. preview and crop images.

It also supports gifs, video selection, image compression and custom UI as shown in the screenshot below:

Bilibili/boxing
_boxing - Android multi-media selector based on MVP mode._github.com

1. excelPanel
   This is a two-dimensional RecyclerView. It can not only load historical data, but also load future data.

zhouchaoyuan/excelPanel
_excelPanel - An Android's two-dimensional RecyclerView. Not only can load historical data, but also can load future…_github.com

1. Horizontal Calendar
   Another implementation for RecyclerView is dedicated to show Material horizontal Calendar View.

Mulham-Raee/HorizontalCalendar
_HorizontalCalendar - A material horizontal calendar view for Android based on RecyclerView_github.com

1. CameraFragment
   CameraFragment is an implementation of a Fragment which allows you to easily integrate a camera functionality to your app. According to its README:

“CameraFragment previews directly the camera view, and provides an easy API to capture or manage the device. You can setup your own layout and control the camera using CameraFragment.”

florent37/CameraFragment
_CameraFragment - A simple easy-to-integrate Camera Fragment for Android_github.com

1. AwesomeBar
   This is another great implementation from Florent Champigny. It is new approach to a design of a top bar (which we know from ActionBar/Toolbar implementation), in conjunction with DrawerLayout, inspired by Gmail Mobile from Weekz. You can check, how it works below:

florent37/AwesomeBar
_AwesomeBar - Just beautiful_github.com

1. ArcNavigationView
   This is an implementation of NavigationView from Android Design Support Library which introduces curved edges.

rom4ek/ArcNavigationView
_ArcNavigationView - Another approach to create NavigationDrawer with Material concepts_github.com

1. ShimmerRecyclerView
   It is a custom RecyclerView implementation with shimmer views to indicate that views are loading. The RecyclerView has also a built-in adapter, to control the shimmer appearance.

sharish/ShimmerRecyclerView
_Contribute to ShimmerRecyclerView development by creating an account on GitHub._github.com

1. Android-SwitchIcon

“A Google launcher-style implementation of switch (enable/disable) icon.”

This library extends AppCompatImageView and allows you to set any icon (vector or image), to SwitchIconView using app:srcCompat attribute.

zagum/Android-SwitchIcon
_Android-SwitchIcon - Google launcher-style implementation of switch (enable/disable) icon_github.com

1. CounterFab
   This library is a FloatingActionButton subclass that shows a counter badge in the top right corner. You can download a demo app from Google Play.

andremion/CounterFab
_CounterFab - A FloatingActionButton subclass that shows a counter badge on right top corner_github.com

1. FadingTextView
   This library allows you to make a TextView change its content automatically every few seconds.

rosenpin/FadingTextView
_FadingTextView - A textview that changes its content automatically every few seconds_github.com

1. Bridge

“Bridge is a simple but powerful HTTP networking library for Android. It features a Fluent chainable API, powered by Java/Android’s URLConnection classes for maximum compatibility and speed.”

This library has a really comprehensive documentation and is definitely worth checking out.

afollestad/bridge
_bridge - A simple but powerful HTTP networking library for Android. It features a Fluent chainable API, powered by Java…_github.com

1. Ason
   It is the second library from Aidan Follestad. Its main idea is to simplify an interaction with JSON. The library:

“also makes (de)serialization painless.”

The documentation is also pretty good. You can check it out here:

afollestad/ason
_ason - JSON in Java made easy!_github.com

1. ObjectBox
   I assume that majority of you knows greenrobot. If not, they developed GreenDAO and EventBus. Now, this is time for a new database for objects focused on performance. As greenrobot claims,

“Performance is the number one reason why we created ObjectBox. Previously, we created greenDAO, the fastest Object/Relational Mapper (ORM) for Android and SQLite. Since its first release in 2011, we gained a lot of insight into object persistence — and the performance limitations imposed by SQLite. We realized that in order to improve performance on mobile significantly, we needed to go to the core and build a database designed for objects.”

You can read more about it here. Please take into consideration that ObjectBox is currently in beta (version 0.9.7 ).

greenrobot/ObjectBox
_ObjectBox is a superfast mobile database for objects_github.com

1. FlowLayout
   This library:

“allows child views flow to next row when there is not enough space.
The spacing between child views can be calculated by the FlowLayout so that the views are evenly placed.”

Please note that this is still in its early stages of development.

nex3z/FlowLayout
_FlowLayout - A flow layout for Android with auto-spacing._github.com

1. Unofficial Google Actions Java SDK
   This is a polish accent from Mirek Stanek. Because of the fact that the official Google Actions SDK is written in Node.js, he introduced his unofficial version written natively in Java. According to the README:

“Google Actions Java SDK is built based on official Node.js library, but it’s not a mirror copy of it. The goal is to make it fully compatible with Conversational Protocol of Assistant Platform.”

frogermcs/Google-Actions-Java-SDK
_Google-Actions-Java-SDK - Unofficial Google Actions Java SDK - for Android engineers and all Java lovers_github.com

1. Wearable Reply
   On 9th of February 2017 Google released a new Android Wear 2.0.
   Luke Klinker found a missing API and released the library for this OS. It:

“allows for quick and easy text input, whether that is from your voice, a keyboard, or canned responses. The missing API is now available!”

klinker24/wearable-reply
_wearable-reply - Simplify text input for Android Wear 2.0, by voice, keyboard, or canned response._github.com

1. Shortbread
   This is a library:

“generates app shortcuts for Activities and methods annotated with @Shortcut. No need to touch the manifest, create XML files or use the shortcut manager. Just annotate the code that you want the shortcut to call.”

Currently, it’s at version 1.0.0.

MatthiasRobbers/shortbread
_shortbread - Android library that generates app shortcuts from Shortcut annotations_github.com

1. Material About
   This library helps you to prepare an About Me screen to introduce you to your users.

jrvansuita/MaterialAbout
_MaterialAbout - It's a material-design about screen to use on your Android apps. A developer profile and application…_github.com

That’s it. I hope you enjoyed my list. If you know any great library, which was released in January or February this year and I didn’t mention about it, please let me know in the comments.

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