Android: How to handle right to left swipe gestures

Question

I want my app to recognize when a user swipes from right to left on the phone screen.

How to do this?

Answer 1

OnSwipeTouchListener.java:

import android.content.Context;
import android.view.GestureDetector;
import android.view.GestureDetector.SimpleOnGestureListener;
import android.view.MotionEvent;
import android.view.View;
import android.view.View.OnTouchListener;

public class OnSwipeTouchListener implements OnTouchListener {

    private final GestureDetector gestureDetector;

    public OnSwipeTouchListener (Context ctx){
        gestureDetector = new GestureDetector(ctx, new GestureListener());
    }

    @Override
    public boolean onTouch(View v, MotionEvent event) {
        return gestureDetector.onTouchEvent(event);
    }

    private final class GestureListener extends SimpleOnGestureListener {

        private static final int SWIPE_THRESHOLD = 100;
        private static final int SWIPE_VELOCITY_THRESHOLD = 100;

        @Override
        public boolean onDown(MotionEvent e) {
            return true;
        }

        @Override
        public boolean onFling(MotionEvent e1, MotionEvent e2, float velocityX, float velocityY) {
            boolean result = false;
            try {
                float diffY = e2.getY() - e1.getY();
                float diffX = e2.getX() - e1.getX();
                if (Math.abs(diffX) > Math.abs(diffY)) {
                    if (Math.abs(diffX) > SWIPE_THRESHOLD && Math.abs(velocityX) > SWIPE_VELOCITY_THRESHOLD) {
                        if (diffX > 0) {
                            onSwipeRight();
                        } else {
                            onSwipeLeft();
                        }
                        result = true;
                    }
                }
                else if (Math.abs(diffY) > SWIPE_THRESHOLD && Math.abs(velocityY) > SWIPE_VELOCITY_THRESHOLD) {
                    if (diffY > 0) {
                        onSwipeBottom();
                    } else {
                        onSwipeTop();
                    }
                    result = true;
                }
            } catch (Exception exception) {
                exception.printStackTrace();
            }
            return result;
        }
    }

    public void onSwipeRight() {
    }

    public void onSwipeLeft() {
    }

    public void onSwipeTop() {
    }

    public void onSwipeBottom() {
    }
}

Usage:

imageView.setOnTouchListener(new OnSwipeTouchListener(MyActivity.this) {
    public void onSwipeTop() {
        Toast.makeText(MyActivity.this, "top", Toast.LENGTH_SHORT).show();
    }
    public void onSwipeRight() {
        Toast.makeText(MyActivity.this, "right", Toast.LENGTH_SHORT).show();
    }
    public void onSwipeLeft() {
        Toast.makeText(MyActivity.this, "left", Toast.LENGTH_SHORT).show();
    }
    public void onSwipeBottom() {
        Toast.makeText(MyActivity.this, "bottom", Toast.LENGTH_SHORT).show();
    }

});

Answer 2

This code detects left and right swipes, avoids deprecated API calls, and has other miscellaneous improvements over earlier answers.

/**
 * Detects left and right swipes across a view.
 */
public class OnSwipeTouchListener implements OnTouchListener {

    private final GestureDetector gestureDetector;

    public OnSwipeTouchListener(Context context) {
        gestureDetector = new GestureDetector(context, new GestureListener());
    }

    public void onSwipeLeft() {
    }

    public void onSwipeRight() {
    }

    public boolean onTouch(View v, MotionEvent event) {
        return gestureDetector.onTouchEvent(event);
    }

    private final class GestureListener extends SimpleOnGestureListener {

        private static final int SWIPE_DISTANCE_THRESHOLD = 100;
        private static final int SWIPE_VELOCITY_THRESHOLD = 100;

        @Override
        public boolean onDown(MotionEvent e) {
            return true;
        }

        @Override
        public boolean onFling(MotionEvent e1, MotionEvent e2, float velocityX, float velocityY) {
            float distanceX = e2.getX() - e1.getX();
            float distanceY = e2.getY() - e1.getY();
            if (Math.abs(distanceX) > Math.abs(distanceY) && Math.abs(distanceX) > SWIPE_DISTANCE_THRESHOLD && Math.abs(velocityX) > SWIPE_VELOCITY_THRESHOLD) {
                if (distanceX > 0)
                    onSwipeRight();
                else
                    onSwipeLeft();
                return true;
            }
            return false;
        }
    }
}

Use it like this:

view.setOnTouchListener(new OnSwipeTouchListener(context) {
    @Override
    public void onSwipeLeft() {
        // Whatever
    }
});

Answer 3

If you also need to process click events here some modifications:

public class OnSwipeTouchListener implements OnTouchListener {

    private final GestureDetector gestureDetector = new GestureDetector(new GestureListener());

    public boolean onTouch(final View v, final MotionEvent event) {
        return gestureDetector.onTouchEvent(event);
    }

    private final class GestureListener extends SimpleOnGestureListener {

        private static final int SWIPE_THRESHOLD = 100;
        private static final int SWIPE_VELOCITY_THRESHOLD = 100;


        @Override
        public boolean onFling(MotionEvent e1, MotionEvent e2, float velocityX, float velocityY) {
            boolean result = false;
            try {
                float diffY = e2.getY() - e1.getY();
                float diffX = e2.getX() - e1.getX();
                if (Math.abs(diffX) > Math.abs(diffY)) {
                    if (Math.abs(diffX) > SWIPE_THRESHOLD && Math.abs(velocityX) > SWIPE_VELOCITY_THRESHOLD) {
                        if (diffX > 0) {
                            result = onSwipeRight();
                        } else {
                            result = onSwipeLeft();
                        }
                    }
                } else {
                    if (Math.abs(diffY) > SWIPE_THRESHOLD && Math.abs(velocityY) > SWIPE_VELOCITY_THRESHOLD) {
                        if (diffY > 0) {
                            result = onSwipeBottom();
                        } else {
                            result = onSwipeTop();
                        }
                    }
                }
            } catch (Exception exception) {
                exception.printStackTrace();
            }
            return result;
        }
    }

    public boolean onSwipeRight() {
        return false;
    }

    public boolean onSwipeLeft() {
        return false;
    }

    public boolean onSwipeTop() {
        return false;
    }

    public boolean onSwipeBottom() {
        return false;
    }
}

And sample usage:

    background.setOnClickListener(new View.OnClickListener() {
        @Override
        public void onClick(View arg0) {
            toggleSomething();
        }
    });
    background.setOnTouchListener(new OnSwipeTouchListener() {
        public boolean onSwipeTop() {
            Toast.makeText(MainActivity.this, "top", Toast.LENGTH_SHORT).show();
            return true;
        }
        public boolean onSwipeRight() {
            Toast.makeText(MainActivity.this, "right", Toast.LENGTH_SHORT).show();
            return true;
        }
        public boolean onSwipeLeft() {
            Toast.makeText(MainActivity.this, "left", Toast.LENGTH_SHORT).show();
            return true;
        }
        public boolean onSwipeBottom() {
            Toast.makeText(MainActivity.this, "bottom", Toast.LENGTH_SHORT).show();
            return true;
        }
    });

Answer 4

Expanding on Mirek's answer, for the case when you want to use the swipe gestures inside a scroll view. By default the touch listener for the scroll view get disabled and therefore scroll action does not happen. In order to fix this you need to override the dispatchTouchEvent method of the Activity and return the inherited version of this method after you're done with your own listener.

In order to do a few modifications to Mirek's code: I add a getter for the gestureDetector in the OnSwipeTouchListener.

public GestureDetector getGestureDetector(){
    return  gestureDetector;
}

Declare the OnSwipeTouchListener inside the Activity as a class-wide field.

OnSwipeTouchListener onSwipeTouchListener;

Modify the usage code accordingly:

onSwipeTouchListener = new OnSwipeTouchListener(MyActivity.this) {
    public void onSwipeTop() {
        Toast.makeText(MyActivity.this, "top", Toast.LENGTH_SHORT).show();
    }
    public void onSwipeRight() {
        Toast.makeText(MyActivity.this, "right", Toast.LENGTH_SHORT).show();
    }
    public void onSwipeLeft() {
        Toast.makeText(MyActivity.this, "left", Toast.LENGTH_SHORT).show();
    }
    public void onSwipeBottom() {
        Toast.makeText(MyActivity.this, "bottom", Toast.LENGTH_SHORT).show();
    }
});

imageView.setOnTouchListener(onSwipeTouchListener);

And override the dispatchTouchEvent method inside Activity:

@Override
    public boolean dispatchTouchEvent(MotionEvent ev){
        swipeListener.getGestureDetector().onTouchEvent(ev); 
            return super.dispatchTouchEvent(ev);   
    }

Now both scroll and swipe actions should work.

Answer 5

In order to have Click Listener, DoubleClick Listener, OnLongPress Listener, Swipe Left, Swipe Right, Swipe Up, Swipe Down on Single View you need to setOnTouchListener. i.e,

view.setOnTouchListener(new OnSwipeTouchListener(MainActivity.this) {

            @Override
            public void onClick() {
                super.onClick();
                // your on click here
            }

            @Override
            public void onDoubleClick() {
                super.onDoubleClick();
                // your on onDoubleClick here
            }

            @Override
            public void onLongClick() {
                super.onLongClick();
                // your on onLongClick here
            }

            @Override
            public void onSwipeUp() {
                super.onSwipeUp();
                // your swipe up here
            }

            @Override
            public void onSwipeDown() {
                super.onSwipeDown();
                // your swipe down here.
            }

            @Override
            public void onSwipeLeft() {
                super.onSwipeLeft();
                // your swipe left here.
            }

            @Override
            public void onSwipeRight() {
                super.onSwipeRight();
                // your swipe right here.
            }
        });

}

For this you need OnSwipeTouchListener class that implements OnTouchListener.

public class OnSwipeTouchListener implements View.OnTouchListener {

private GestureDetector gestureDetector;

public OnSwipeTouchListener(Context c) {
    gestureDetector = new GestureDetector(c, new GestureListener());
}

public boolean onTouch(final View view, final MotionEvent motionEvent) {
    return gestureDetector.onTouchEvent(motionEvent);
}

private final class GestureListener extends GestureDetector.SimpleOnGestureListener {

    private static final int SWIPE_THRESHOLD = 100;
    private static final int SWIPE_VELOCITY_THRESHOLD = 100;

    @Override
    public boolean onDown(MotionEvent e) {
        return true;
    }

    @Override
    public boolean onSingleTapUp(MotionEvent e) {
        onClick();
        return super.onSingleTapUp(e);
    }

    @Override
    public boolean onDoubleTap(MotionEvent e) {
        onDoubleClick();
        return super.onDoubleTap(e);
    }

    @Override
    public void onLongPress(MotionEvent e) {
        onLongClick();
        super.onLongPress(e);
    }

    // Determines the fling velocity and then fires the appropriate swipe event accordingly
    @Override
    public boolean onFling(MotionEvent e1, MotionEvent e2, float velocityX, float velocityY) {
        boolean result = false;
        try {
            float diffY = e2.getY() - e1.getY();
            float diffX = e2.getX() - e1.getX();
            if (Math.abs(diffX) > Math.abs(diffY)) {
                if (Math.abs(diffX) > SWIPE_THRESHOLD && Math.abs(velocityX) > SWIPE_VELOCITY_THRESHOLD) {
                    if (diffX > 0) {
                        onSwipeRight();
                    } else {
                        onSwipeLeft();
                    }
                }
            } else {
                if (Math.abs(diffY) > SWIPE_THRESHOLD && Math.abs(velocityY) > SWIPE_VELOCITY_THRESHOLD) {
                    if (diffY > 0) {
                        onSwipeDown();
                    } else {
                        onSwipeUp();
                    }
                }
            }
        } catch (Exception exception) {
            exception.printStackTrace();
        }
        return result;
    }
}

public void onSwipeRight() {
}

public void onSwipeLeft() {
}

public void onSwipeUp() {
}

public void onSwipeDown() {
}

public void onClick() {

}

public void onDoubleClick() {

}

public void onLongClick() {

}
}

Answer 6

Kotlin version of @Mirek Rusin is here:

OnSwipeTouchListener.kt :

open class OnSwipeTouchListener(ctx: Context) : OnTouchListener {

    private val gestureDetector: GestureDetector

    companion object {

        private val SWIPE_THRESHOLD = 100
        private val SWIPE_VELOCITY_THRESHOLD = 100
    }

    init {
        gestureDetector = GestureDetector(ctx, GestureListener())
    }

    override fun onTouch(v: View, event: MotionEvent): Boolean {
        return gestureDetector.onTouchEvent(event)
    }

    private inner class GestureListener : SimpleOnGestureListener() {


        override fun onDown(e: MotionEvent): Boolean {
            return true
        }

        override fun onFling(e1: MotionEvent, e2: MotionEvent, velocityX: Float, velocityY: Float): Boolean {
            var result = false
            try {
                val diffY = e2.y - e1.y
                val diffX = e2.x - e1.x
                if (Math.abs(diffX) > Math.abs(diffY)) {
                    if (Math.abs(diffX) > SWIPE_THRESHOLD && Math.abs(velocityX) > SWIPE_VELOCITY_THRESHOLD) {
                        if (diffX > 0) {
                            onSwipeRight()
                        } else {
                            onSwipeLeft()
                        }
                        result = true
                    }
                } else if (Math.abs(diffY) > SWIPE_THRESHOLD && Math.abs(velocityY) > SWIPE_VELOCITY_THRESHOLD) {
                    if (diffY > 0) {
                        onSwipeBottom()
                    } else {
                        onSwipeTop()
                    }
                    result = true
                }
            } catch (exception: Exception) {
                exception.printStackTrace()
            }

            return result
        }


    }

    open fun onSwipeRight() {}

    open fun onSwipeLeft() {}

    open fun onSwipeTop() {}

    open fun onSwipeBottom() {}
}

Usage:

view.setOnTouchListener(object : OnSwipeTouchListener(context) {

    override fun onSwipeTop() {
        super.onSwipeTop()
    }

    override fun onSwipeBottom() {
        super.onSwipeBottom()
    }

    override fun onSwipeLeft() {
        super.onSwipeLeft()
    }

    override fun onSwipeRight() {
        super.onSwipeRight()
    }
})

the open keyword was the point for me...

Answer 7

You don't need complicated calculations. It can be done just by using OnGestureListener interface from GestureDetector class.

Inside onFling method you can detect all four directions like this:

MyGestureListener.java:

import android.util.Log;
import android.view.GestureDetector;
import android.view.MotionEvent;

public class MyGestureListener implements GestureDetector.OnGestureListener{

    private static final long VELOCITY_THRESHOLD = 3000;

    @Override
    public boolean onDown(final MotionEvent e){ return false; }

    @Override
    public void onShowPress(final MotionEvent e){ }

    @Override
    public boolean onSingleTapUp(final MotionEvent e){ return false; }

    @Override
    public boolean onScroll(final MotionEvent e1, final MotionEvent e2, final float distanceX,
                        final float distanceY){ return false; }

    @Override
    public void onLongPress(final MotionEvent e){ }

    @Override
    public boolean onFling(final MotionEvent e1, final MotionEvent e2,
                       final float velocityX,
                       final float velocityY){

        if(Math.abs(velocityX) < VELOCITY_THRESHOLD 
                    && Math.abs(velocityY) < VELOCITY_THRESHOLD){
            return false;//if the fling is not fast enough then it's just like drag
        }

        //if velocity in X direction is higher than velocity in Y direction,
        //then the fling is horizontal, else->vertical
        if(Math.abs(velocityX) > Math.abs(velocityY)){
            if(velocityX >= 0){
                Log.i("TAG", "swipe right");
            }else{//if velocityX is negative, then it's towards left
                Log.i("TAG", "swipe left");
            }
        }else{
            if(velocityY >= 0){
                Log.i("TAG", "swipe down");
            }else{
                Log.i("TAG", "swipe up");
            }
        }

        return true;
    }
}

usage:

GestureDetector mDetector = new GestureDetector(MainActivity.this, new MyGestureListener());

view.setOnTouchListener(new View.OnTouchListener(){
    @Override
    public boolean onTouch(final View v, final MotionEvent event){
        return mDetector.onTouchEvent(event);
    }
});

Answer 8

Use SwipeListView and let it handle the gesture detection for you.

Answer 9

To add an onClick as well, here's what I did.

....
// in OnSwipeTouchListener class

private final class GestureListener extends SimpleOnGestureListener {

    .... // normal GestureListener  code

   @Override
    public boolean onSingleTapConfirmed(MotionEvent e) {
        onClick(); // my method
        return super.onSingleTapConfirmed(e);
    }

} // end GestureListener class

    public void onSwipeRight() {
    }

    public void onSwipeLeft() {
    }

    public void onSwipeTop() {
    }

    public void onSwipeBottom() {
    }

    public void onClick(){ 
    }


    // as normal
    @Override
    public boolean onTouch(View v, MotionEvent event) {
        return gestureDetector.onTouchEvent(event);
}

} // end OnSwipeTouchListener class

---

I'm using Fragments, so using getActivity() for context. This is how I implemented it - and it works.

---

myLayout.setOnTouchListener(new OnSwipeTouchListener(getActivity()) {
            public void onSwipeTop() {
                Toast.makeText(getActivity(), "top", Toast.LENGTH_SHORT).show();
            }
            public void onSwipeRight() {
                Toast.makeText(getActivity(), "right", Toast.LENGTH_SHORT).show();
            }
            public void onSwipeLeft() {
                Toast.makeText(getActivity(), "left", Toast.LENGTH_SHORT).show();
            }
            public void onSwipeBottom() {
                Toast.makeText(getActivity(), "bottom", Toast.LENGTH_SHORT).show();
            }

            public void onClick(){
                Toast.makeText(getActivity(), "clicked", Toast.LENGTH_SHORT).show();
            }
        });

Answer 10

@Edward Brey's method works great. If someone would also like to copy & paste the imports for the OnSwipeTouchListener, here they are:

 import android.content.Context;
 import android.view.GestureDetector;
 import android.view.GestureDetector.SimpleOnGestureListener;
 import android.view.MotionEvent;
 import android.view.View;
 import android.view.View.OnTouchListener;

Answer 11

My solution is similar to those above but I have abstracted the gesture handling into an abstract class OnGestureRegisterListener.java, which includes swipe, click and long click gestures.

OnGestureRegisterListener.java

public abstract class OnGestureRegisterListener implements View.OnTouchListener {

    private final GestureDetector gestureDetector;
    private View view;

    public OnGestureRegisterListener(Context context) {
        gestureDetector = new GestureDetector(context, new GestureListener());
    }

    @Override
    public boolean onTouch(View view, MotionEvent event) {
        this.view = view;
        return gestureDetector.onTouchEvent(event);
    }

    public abstract void onSwipeRight(View view);
    public abstract void onSwipeLeft(View view);
    public abstract void onSwipeBottom(View view);
    public abstract void onSwipeTop(View view);
    public abstract void onClick(View view);
    public abstract boolean onLongClick(View view);

    private final class GestureListener extends GestureDetector.SimpleOnGestureListener {

        private static final int SWIPE_THRESHOLD = 100;
        private static final int SWIPE_VELOCITY_THRESHOLD = 100;

        @Override
        public boolean onDown(MotionEvent e) {
            return true;
        }

        @Override
        public void onLongPress(MotionEvent e) {
            onLongClick(view);
            super.onLongPress(e);
        }

        @Override
        public boolean onSingleTapUp(MotionEvent e) {
            onClick(view);
            return super.onSingleTapUp(e);
        }

        @Override
        public boolean onFling(MotionEvent e1, MotionEvent e2, float velocityX, float velocityY) {
            boolean result = false;
            try {
                float diffY = e2.getY() - e1.getY();
                float diffX = e2.getX() - e1.getX();
                if (Math.abs(diffX) > Math.abs(diffY)) {
                    if (Math.abs(diffX) > SWIPE_THRESHOLD && Math.abs(velocityX) > SWIPE_VELOCITY_THRESHOLD) {
                        if (diffX > 0) {
                            onSwipeRight(view);
                        } else {
                            onSwipeLeft(view);
                        }
                        result = true;
                    }
                }
                else if (Math.abs(diffY) > SWIPE_THRESHOLD && Math.abs(velocityY) > SWIPE_VELOCITY_THRESHOLD) {
                    if (diffY > 0) {
                        onSwipeBottom(view);
                    } else {
                        onSwipeTop(view);
                    }
                    result = true;
                }
            } catch (Exception exception) {
                exception.printStackTrace();
            }
            return result;
        }

    }
}

And use it like so. Note that you can also easily pass in your View parameter.

OnGestureRegisterListener onGestureRegisterListener = new OnGestureRegisterListener(this) {
    public void onSwipeRight(View view) {
        // Do something
    }
    public void onSwipeLeft(View view) {
        // Do something
    }
    public void onSwipeBottom(View view) {
        // Do something
    }
    public void onSwipeTop(View view) {
        // Do something
    }
    public void onClick(View view) {
        // Do something
    }
    public boolean onLongClick(View view) { 
        // Do something
        return true;
    }
};

Button button = findViewById(R.id.my_button);
button.setOnTouchListener(onGestureRegisterListener);

Answer 12

A little modification of @Mirek Rusin answer and now you can detect multitouch swipes. This code is on Kotlin:

class OnSwipeTouchListener(ctx: Context, val onGesture: (gestureCode: Int) -> Unit) : OnTouchListener {

private val SWIPE_THRESHOLD = 200
private val SWIPE_VELOCITY_THRESHOLD = 200

private val gestureDetector: GestureDetector

var fingersCount = 0

fun resetFingers() {
    fingersCount = 0
}

init {
    gestureDetector = GestureDetector(ctx, GestureListener())
}

override fun onTouch(v: View, event: MotionEvent): Boolean {
    if (event.pointerCount > fingersCount) {
        fingersCount = event.pointerCount
    }
    return gestureDetector.onTouchEvent(event)
}

private inner class GestureListener : SimpleOnGestureListener() {

    override fun onDown(e: MotionEvent): Boolean {
        return true
    }

    override fun onFling(e1: MotionEvent, e2: MotionEvent, velocityX: Float, velocityY: Float): Boolean {
        var result = false
        try {
            val diffY = e2.y - e1.y
            val diffX = e2.x - e1.x
            if (Math.abs(diffX) > Math.abs(diffY)) {
                if (Math.abs(diffX) > SWIPE_THRESHOLD && Math.abs(velocityX) > SWIPE_VELOCITY_THRESHOLD) {
                    if (diffX > 0) {
                        val gesture = when (fingersCount) {
                            1 -> Gesture.SWIPE_RIGHT
                            2 -> Gesture.TWO_FINGER_SWIPE_RIGHT
                            3 -> Gesture.THREE_FINGER_SWIPE_RIGHT
                            else -> -1
                        }
                        if (gesture > 0) {
                            onGesture.invoke(gesture)
                        }
                    } else {
                        val gesture = when (fingersCount) {
                            1 -> Gesture.SWIPE_LEFT
                            2 -> Gesture.TWO_FINGER_SWIPE_LEFT
                            3 -> Gesture.THREE_FINGER_SWIPE_LEFT
                            else -> -1
                        }
                        if (gesture > 0) {
                            onGesture.invoke(gesture)
                        }
                    }
                    resetFingers()
                }
            } else if (Math.abs(diffY) > SWIPE_THRESHOLD && Math.abs(velocityY) > SWIPE_VELOCITY_THRESHOLD) {
                if (diffY > 0) {
                    val gesture = when (fingersCount) {
                        1 ->  Gesture.SWIPE_DOWN
                        2 -> Gesture.TWO_FINGER_SWIPE_DOWN
                        3 -> Gesture.THREE_FINGER_SWIPE_DOWN
                        else -> -1
                    }
                    if (gesture > 0) {
                        onGesture.invoke(gesture)
                    }
                } else {
                    val gesture = when (fingersCount) {
                        1 ->  Gesture.SWIPE_UP
                        2 -> Gesture.TWO_FINGER_SWIPE_UP
                        3 -> Gesture.THREE_FINGER_SWIPE_UP
                        else -> -1
                    }
                    if (gesture > 0) {
                        onGesture.invoke(gesture)
                    }
                }
                resetFingers()
            }
            result = true

        } catch (exception: Exception) {
            exception.printStackTrace()
        }

        return result
    }
}}

Where Gesture.SWIPE_RIGHT and others are unique integer indentificator of gesture that I`m using to detect kind of gesture later in my activity:

rootView?.setOnTouchListener(OnSwipeTouchListener(this, {
    gesture -> log(Gesture.parseName(this, gesture))
}))

So you see gesture here is an integer variable that holds value I have passed before.

Answer 13

I've been doing similar things, but for horizontal swipes only

import android.content.Context
import android.view.GestureDetector
import android.view.MotionEvent
import android.view.View

abstract class OnHorizontalSwipeListener(val context: Context) : View.OnTouchListener {    

    companion object {
         const val SWIPE_MIN = 50
         const val SWIPE_VELOCITY_MIN = 100
    }

    private val detector = GestureDetector(context, GestureListener())

    override fun onTouch(view: View, event: MotionEvent) = detector.onTouchEvent(event)    

    abstract fun onRightSwipe()

    abstract fun onLeftSwipe()

    private inner class GestureListener : GestureDetector.SimpleOnGestureListener() {    

        override fun onDown(e: MotionEvent) = true

        override fun onFling(e1: MotionEvent, e2: MotionEvent, velocityX: Float, velocityY: Float)
            : Boolean {

            val deltaY = e2.y - e1.y
            val deltaX = e2.x - e1.x

            if (Math.abs(deltaX) < Math.abs(deltaY)) return false

            if (Math.abs(deltaX) < SWIPE_MIN
                    && Math.abs(velocityX) < SWIPE_VELOCITY_MIN) return false

            if (deltaX > 0) onRightSwipe() else onLeftSwipe()

            return true
        }
    }
}

And then it can be used for view components

private fun listenHorizontalSwipe(view: View) {
    view.setOnTouchListener(object : OnHorizontalSwipeListener(context!!) {
            override fun onRightSwipe() {
                Log.d(TAG, "Swipe right")
            }

            override fun onLeftSwipe() {
                Log.d(TAG, "Swipe left")
            }

        }
    )
}

Answer 14

This question was asked many years ago. Now, there is a better solution: SmartSwipe: https://github.com/luckybilly/SmartSwipe

code looks like this:

SmartSwipe.wrap(contentView)
        .addConsumer(new StayConsumer()) //contentView stay while swiping with StayConsumer
        .enableAllDirections() //enable directions as needed
        .addListener(new SimpleSwipeListener() {
            @Override
            public void onSwipeOpened(SmartSwipeWrapper wrapper, SwipeConsumer consumer, int direction) {
                //direction: 
                //  1: left
                //  2: right
                //  4: top
                //  8: bottom
            }
        })
;

Answer 15

@Mirek Rusin answeir is very good. But, there is small bug, and fix is requried -

public boolean onFling(MotionEvent e1, MotionEvent e2, float velocityX, float velocityY) {
            boolean result = false;
            try {
                float diffY = e2.getY() - e1.getY();
                float diffX = e2.getX() - e1.getX();
                if (Math.abs(diffX) > Math.abs(diffY)) {
                    if (Math.abs(diffX) > SWIPE_THRESHOLD && Math.abs(velocityX) > SWIPE_VELOCITY_THRESHOLD) {
                        if (diffX > 0) {
                            if (getOnSwipeListener() != null) {
                                getOnSwipeListener().onSwipeRight();
                            }
                        } else {
                            if (getOnSwipeListener() != null) {
                                getOnSwipeListener().onSwipeLeft();
                            }
                        }
                        result = true;
                    }
                }
                else if (Math.abs(diffY) > SWIPE_THRESHOLD && Math.abs(velocityY) > SWIPE_VELOCITY_THRESHOLD) {
                    if (diffY > 0) {
                        if (getOnSwipeListener() != null) {
                            getOnSwipeListener().onSwipeBottom();
                        }
                    } else {
                        if (getOnSwipeListener() != null) {
                            getOnSwipeListener().onSwipeTop();
                        }
                    }
                    result = true;
                }

What the difference? We set result = true, only if we have checked that all requrinments (both SWIPE_THRESHOLD and SWIPE_VELOCITY_THRESHOLD are Ok ). This is important if we discard swipe if some of requrinments are not achieved, and we have to do smth in onTouchEvent method of OnSwipeTouchListener!

Answer 16

Here is simple Android Code for detecting gesture direction

In MainActivity.java and activity_main.xml, write the following code:

MainActivity.java

import java.util.ArrayList;

import android.app.Activity;
import android.gesture.Gesture;
import android.gesture.GestureLibraries;
import android.gesture.GestureLibrary;
import android.gesture.GestureOverlayView;
import android.gesture.GestureOverlayView.OnGesturePerformedListener;
import android.gesture.GestureStroke;
import android.gesture.Prediction;
import android.os.Bundle;
import android.widget.Toast;

public class MainActivity extends Activity implements
        OnGesturePerformedListener {

    GestureOverlayView gesture;
    GestureLibrary lib;
    ArrayList<Prediction> prediction;

    @Override
    protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
        super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
        setContentView(R.layout.activity_main);

        lib = GestureLibraries.fromRawResource(MainActivity.this,
                R.id.gestureOverlayView1);
        gesture = (GestureOverlayView) findViewById(R.id.gestureOverlayView1);
        gesture.addOnGesturePerformedListener(this);
    }

    @Override
    public void onGesturePerformed(GestureOverlayView overlay, Gesture gesture) {
        ArrayList<GestureStroke> strokeList = gesture.getStrokes();
        // prediction = lib.recognize(gesture);
        float f[] = strokeList.get(0).points;
        String str = "";

        if (f[0] < f[f.length - 2]) {
            str = "Right gesture";
        } else if (f[0] > f[f.length - 2]) {
            str = "Left gesture";
        } else {
            str = "no direction";
        }
        Toast.makeText(getApplicationContext(), str, Toast.LENGTH_LONG).show();

    }

}

activity_main.xml

<android.gesture.GestureOverlayView xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
    xmlns:tools="http://schemas.android.com/tools"
    xmlns:android1="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
    xmlns:android2="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
    android:id="@+id/gestureOverlayView1"
    android:layout_width="match_parent"
    android:layout_height="match_parent"
    android1:orientation="vertical" >

    <TextView
        android:id="@+id/textView1"
        android:layout_width="wrap_content"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:text="Draw gesture"
        android:textAppearance="?android:attr/textAppearanceMedium" />

</android.gesture.GestureOverlayView>

Answer 17

import android.content.Context
import android.view.GestureDetector
import android.view.GestureDetector.SimpleOnGestureListener
import android.view.MotionEvent
import android.view.View
import android.view.View.OnTouchListener

/**
 * Detects left and right swipes across a view.
 */
class OnSwipeTouchListener(context: Context, onSwipeCallBack: OnSwipeCallBack?) : OnTouchListener {

    private var gestureDetector : GestureDetector
    private var onSwipeCallBack: OnSwipeCallBack?=null

    init {

        gestureDetector = GestureDetector(context, GestureListener())
        this.onSwipeCallBack = onSwipeCallBack!!
    }
    companion object {

        private val SWIPE_DISTANCE_THRESHOLD = 100
        private val SWIPE_VELOCITY_THRESHOLD = 100
    }

   /* fun onSwipeLeft() {}

    fun onSwipeRight() {}*/

    override fun onTouch(v: View, event: MotionEvent): Boolean {


        return gestureDetector.onTouchEvent(event)
    }

    private inner class GestureListener : SimpleOnGestureListener() {

        override fun onDown(e: MotionEvent): Boolean {
            return true
        }

        override fun onFling(eve1: MotionEvent?, eve2: MotionEvent?, velocityX: Float, velocityY: Float): Boolean {
            try {
                if(eve1 != null&& eve2!= null) {
                    val distanceX = eve2?.x - eve1?.x
                    val distanceY = eve2?.y - eve1?.y
                    if (Math.abs(distanceX) > Math.abs(distanceY) && Math.abs(distanceX) > SWIPE_DISTANCE_THRESHOLD && Math.abs(velocityX) > SWIPE_VELOCITY_THRESHOLD) {
                        if (distanceX > 0)
                            onSwipeCallBack!!.onSwipeLeftCallback()
                        else
                            onSwipeCallBack!!.onSwipeRightCallback()
                        return true
                    }
                }
            }catch (exception:Exception){
                exception.printStackTrace()
            }

            return false
        }


    }
}

Answer 18

This issue still exists. Add the following classes:

private class SwipeFirstTouchListener implements View.OnTouchListener {

    private final DirtyOnSwipeTouchListener swipe;
    private final View.OnTouchListener delegate;

    private SwipeFirstTouchListener(DirtyOnSwipeTouchListener swipe, View.OnTouchListener delegate) {
        this.swipe = swipe;
        this.delegate = delegate;
    }

    @Override
    public boolean onTouch(View v, MotionEvent event) {
        if (!swipe.onTouch(v, event)) {
            // no a swipe, so lets try with the rest of the events
            return delegate.onTouch(v, event);
        }
        return false;
    }
}

and

private class DirtyOnSwipeTouchListener extends OnSwipeTouchListener {
    private boolean dirty = false;
    private OnSwipeTouchListener delegate;

    public DirtyOnSwipeTouchListener(Context ctx, OnSwipeTouchListener delegate) {
        super(ctx);

        this.delegate = delegate;
    }

    private void reset() {
        dirty = false;
    }

    public void onSwipeTop() {
        dirty = true;

        delegate.onSwipeTop();
    }

    public void onSwipeRight() {
        dirty = true;
        delegate.onSwipeRight();
    }

    public void onSwipeLeft() {
        dirty = true;
        delegate.onSwipeLeft();
    }

    public void onSwipeBottom() {
        dirty = true;
        delegate.onSwipeBottom();
    }

    @Override
    public boolean onTouch(View v, MotionEvent event) {
        try {
            super.onTouch(v, event);

            return dirty;
        } finally {
            dirty = false;
        }

    }
};

and a class found on the internet:

public class OnSwipeTouchListener implements OnTouchListener {
    
    private static final String TAG = OnSwipeTouchListener.class.getName();

    private final GestureDetector gestureDetector;

    public OnSwipeTouchListener(Context ctx) {
        gestureDetector = new GestureDetector(ctx, new GestureListener());
    }

    @Override
    public boolean onTouch(View v, MotionEvent event) {
        return gestureDetector.onTouchEvent(event);
    }

    private final class GestureListener extends GestureDetector.SimpleOnGestureListener {

        private static final int SWIPE_THRESHOLD = 100;
        private static final int SWIPE_VELOCITY_THRESHOLD = 100;

        @Override
        public boolean onDown(MotionEvent e) {
            return true;
        }

        @Override
        public boolean onFling(MotionEvent e1, MotionEvent e2, float velocityX, float velocityY) {
            boolean result = false;
            try {
                float diffY = e2.getY() - e1.getY();
                float diffX = e2.getX() - e1.getX();
                if (Math.abs(diffX) > Math.abs(diffY)) {
                    if (Math.abs(diffX) > SWIPE_THRESHOLD && Math.abs(velocityX) > SWIPE_VELOCITY_THRESHOLD) {
                        if (diffX > 0) {
                            onSwipeRight();
                        } else {
                            onSwipeLeft();
                        }
                        result = true;
                    }
                } else if (Math.abs(diffY) > SWIPE_THRESHOLD && Math.abs(velocityY) > SWIPE_VELOCITY_THRESHOLD) {
                    if (diffY > 0) {
                        onSwipeBottom();
                    } else {
                        onSwipeTop();
                    }
                    result = true;
                }
            } catch (Exception exception) {
                Log.d(TAG, "Unexpected problem handling swipes, ignoring.", exception);
            }
            return result;
        }
    }

    public void onSwipeRight() {
        // Do nothing
    }

    public void onSwipeLeft() {
        // Do nothing
    }

    public void onSwipeTop() {
        // Do nothing
    }

    public void onSwipeBottom() {
        // Do nothing
    }
}

then add your own OnTouchListener and OnSwipeTouchListener like so:

    DirtyOnSwipeTouchListener swipe = new DirtyOnSwipeTouchListener(this, new OnSwipeTouchListener(this) {
        public void onSwipeTop() {
            // your code here
        }

        public void onSwipeRight() {
            // your code here
        }

        public void onSwipeLeft() {
            // your code here
        }

        public void onSwipeBottom() {
            // your code here
        }
    });


    View.OnTouchListener toggleListener = new View.OnTouchListener() {
        public boolean onTouch(View v, MotionEvent event) {
            if (event.getAction() == MotionEvent.ACTION_UP) {
                // your code here

                return true;
            } else if (event.getAction() == MotionEvent.ACTION_DOWN) {
                // your code here

                return true;
            }
            return false;
        }
    };

    SwipeFirstTouchListener swipeFirstTouchListener = new SwipeFirstTouchListener(swipe, toggleListener);

    myView.setOnTouchListener(swipeFirstTouchListener);

Answer 19

If you want to display some buttons with actions when an list item is swipe are a lot of libraries on the internet that have this behavior. I implemented the library that I found on the internet and I am very satisfied. It is very simple to use and very quick. I improved the original library and I added a new click listener for item click. Also I added font awesome library (http://fortawesome.github.io/Font-Awesome/) and now you can simply add a new item title and specify the icon name from font awesome.

Here is the github link

Answer 20

public class TranslatorSwipeTouch implements OnTouchListener
{
   private String TAG="TranslatorSwipeTouch";

   @SuppressWarnings("deprecation")
   private GestureDetector detector=new GestureDetector(new TranslatorGestureListener());

   @Override
   public boolean onTouch(View view, MotionEvent event)
   {
     return detector.onTouchEvent(event);
   }

private class TranslatorGestureListener extends SimpleOnGestureListener 
{
    private final int GESTURE_THRESHOULD=100;
    private final int GESTURE_VELOCITY_THRESHOULD=100;

    @Override
    public boolean onDown(MotionEvent e) {
        return true;
    }

    @Override
    public boolean onFling(MotionEvent event1,MotionEvent event2,float velocityx,float velocityy)
    {
        try
        {
            float diffx=event2.getX()-event1.getX();
            float diffy=event2.getY()-event1.getY();

            if(Math.abs(diffx)>Math.abs(diffy))
            {
                if(Math.abs(diffx)>GESTURE_THRESHOULD && Math.abs(velocityx)>GESTURE_VELOCITY_THRESHOULD)
                {
                    if(diffx>0)
                    {
                        onSwipeRight();
                    }
                    else
                    {
                        onSwipeLeft();
                    }
                }
            }
            else
            {
                if(Math.abs(diffy)>GESTURE_THRESHOULD && Math.abs(velocityy)>GESTURE_VELOCITY_THRESHOULD)
                {
                    if(diffy>0)
                    {
                         onSwipeBottom();
                    }
                    else
                    {
                        onSwipeTop();
                    }
                }
            }
        }
        catch(Exception e)
        {
            Log.d(TAG, ""+e.getMessage());
        }
        return false;           
    }

    public void onSwipeRight()
    {
        //Toast.makeText(this.getClass().get, "swipe right", Toast.LENGTH_SHORT).show();
        Log.i(TAG, "Right");
    }
    public void onSwipeLeft()
    {
        Log.i(TAG, "Left");
        //Toast.makeText(MyActivity.this, "swipe left", Toast.LENGTH_SHORT).show();
    }

    public void onSwipeTop()
    {
        Log.i(TAG, "Top");
        //Toast.makeText(MyActivity.this, "swipe top", Toast.LENGTH_SHORT).show();
    }

    public void onSwipeBottom()
    {
        Log.i(TAG, "Bottom");
        //Toast.makeText(MyActivity.this, "swipe bottom", Toast.LENGTH_SHORT).show();
    }   

  }

 }

Answer 21

the usage of Edward Brey's answer in Kotlin

 view.setOnTouchListener(object: OnSwipeTouchListener(this) {
      override fun onSwipeLeft() {
        super.onSwipeLeft()
      }
      override fun onSwipeRight() {
        super.onSwipeRight()
      }
    }
 )

Answer 22

I know its a bit late since 2012 but I hope it will help someone since I think it's a shorter and cleaner code than most of the answers:

view.setOnTouchListener((v, event) -> {
        
int action = MotionEventCompat.getActionMasked(event);

switch(action) {
    case (MotionEvent.ACTION_DOWN) :
        Log.d(DEBUG_TAG,"Action was DOWN");
        return true;

    case (MotionEvent.ACTION_MOVE) :
        Log.d(DEBUG_TAG,"Action was MOVE");
        return true;

    case (MotionEvent.ACTION_UP) :
        Log.d(DEBUG_TAG,"Action was UP");
        return true;

    case (MotionEvent.ACTION_CANCEL) :
        Log.d(DEBUG_TAG,"Action was CANCEL");
        return true;

    case (MotionEvent.ACTION_OUTSIDE) :
        Log.d(DEBUG_TAG,"Movement occurred outside bounds " +
                "of current screen element");
        return true;

    default :
        return super.onTouchEvent(event);
}
    });

of course you can leave only the relevant gestures to you.

src: https://developer.android.com/training/gestures/detector