How to properly highlight selected items on Android RecyclerView using Kotlin?

This example demonstrates how to properly highlight selected items on Android RecyclerView using Kotlin.

Step 1 − Create a new project in Android Studio, go to File ⇒ New Project and fill all required details to create a new project.

Step 2 − Add the following code to res/layout/activity_main.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:padding="4dp"
   tools:context=".MainActivity">
   <androidx.recyclerview.widget.RecyclerView
      android:id="@+id/recyclerView"
      android:layout_width="match_parent"
      android:layout_height="match_parent"
      android:paddingBottom="8dp" />
</RelativeLayout>

Step 3 − Add the following code to src/MainActivity.kt

import android.os.Bundle
import androidx.appcompat.app.AppCompatActivity
import androidx.recyclerview.widget.LinearLayoutManager
import androidx.recyclerview.widget.RecyclerView
class MainActivity : AppCompatActivity() {
   override fun onCreate(savedInstanceState: Bundle?) {
      super.onCreate(savedInstanceState)
      setContentView(R.layout.activity_main)
      title = "KotlinApp"
      val recyclerView: RecyclerView = findViewById(R.id.recyclerView)
      recyclerView.addItemDecoration(SimpleItemDecoration(this))
      val layoutManager = LinearLayoutManager(this@MainActivity)
      recyclerView.layoutManager = layoutManager
      val posts = returnListItems()
      val adapter = RecyclerViewAdapter(this@MainActivity, posts)
      recyclerView.adapter = adapter
   }
   private fun returnListItems(): List<ItemObject>? {
      val items: MutableList<ItemObject> = ArrayList()
      items.add(ItemObject("Ballon'd'or", "2007", "Ricardo KaKa"))
      items.add(ItemObject("Ballon'd'or", "2008", "Cristiano Ronaldo"))
      items.add(ItemObject("Ballon'd'or", "2009 - 2012, 2015", "Lionel Messi"))
      items.add(ItemObject("Ballon'd'or", "2013, 2014, 2016, 2017", "Cristiano Ronaldo"))
      items.add(ItemObject("Ballon'd'or", "2018", "Luca Modric"))
      items.add(ItemObject("Ballon'd'or", "2019", "Lionel Messi"))
      return items
   }
}

Step 4 − Create kotlin class files as mentioned below and add the respective codes

ItemObject.kt −

internal class ItemObject(val awardTitle: String, val awardYear: String, val player: String) {
}

RecyclerViewAdapter.kt −

import android.view.LayoutInflater
import android.view.ViewGroup
import androidx.annotation.NonNull
import androidx.recyclerview.widget.RecyclerView
class RecyclerViewAdapter internal constructor(
   context: MainActivity,
   private val itemList: List<ItemObject>?
) : RecyclerView.Adapter<RecyclerViewHolders>() {
   @NonNull
   override fun onCreateViewHolder(parent: ViewGroup, viewType: Int): RecyclerViewHolders {
      val layoutView = LayoutInflater.from(parent.context).inflate(R.layout.list_layout, null)
      return RecyclerViewHolders(layoutView)
   }
   override fun onBindViewHolder(holder: RecyclerViewHolders, position: Int) {
      holder.awardTitle.text = "Award Title: " + itemList!![position].awardTitle
      holder.awardYear.text = "Award Year: " + itemList[position].awardYear
      holder.player.text = "Player Name: " + itemList[position].player
   }
   override fun getItemCount(): Int {
      return this.itemList!!.size
   }
}

RecyclerViewHolders.kt −

import android.util.SparseBooleanArray
import android.view.View
import android.widget.TextView
import androidx.recyclerview.widget.RecyclerView.ViewHolder
class RecyclerViewHolders(itemView: View) : ViewHolder(itemView),
View.OnClickListener {
   var awardTitle: TextView
   var awardYear: TextView
   var player: TextView
   private val selectedItems = SparseBooleanArray()
   override fun onClick(view: View) {
      if (selectedItems[adapterPosition, false]) {
         selectedItems.delete(adapterPosition)
         view.isSelected = false
      }
      else {
         selectedItems.put(adapterPosition, true)
         view.isSelected = true
      }
   }
   init {
      itemView.setOnClickListener(this)
      awardTitle = itemView.findViewById(R.id.awardTitle)
      awardYear = itemView.findViewById(R.id.awardYear)
      player = itemView.findViewById(R.id.playerName)
   }
}

SimpleItemDecoration.kt −

import android.content.Context
import android.graphics.Canvas
import android.graphics.drawable.Drawable
import androidx.annotation.NonNull
import androidx.core.content.ContextCompat
import androidx.recyclerview.widget.RecyclerView
internal class SimpleItemDecoration(context: Context) : RecyclerView.ItemDecoration() {
   private val drawable: Drawable = ContextCompat.getDrawable(context, R.drawable.line_divider)!!
   override fun onDrawOver(
      @NonNull canvas: Canvas,
      parent: RecyclerView,
      @NonNull state: RecyclerView.State
   )
   {
      val left = parent.paddingLeft
      val right = parent.width - parent.paddingRight
      val childCount = parent.childCount
      for (i in 0 until childCount) {
         val child = parent.getChildAt(i)
         val params = child.layoutParams as RecyclerView.LayoutParams
         val top = child.bottom + params.bottomMargin
         val bottom = top + drawable.intrinsicHeight
         drawable.setBounds(left, top, right, bottom)
         drawable.draw(canvas)
      }
   }
}

Step 5 − Create drawable resource files as mentioned below and add the respective codes 

background_selecter.xml

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<selector xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android">
   <item android:drawable="@android:color/holo_green_light" android:state_pressed="false" android:state_selected="true" />
   <item android:drawable="@android:color/holo_purple" android:state_selected="false" />
</selector>

line_divider.xml

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<shape xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
   android:shape="rectangle">
   <size
      android:width="2dp"
      android:height="2dp" />
   <solid android:color="@color/colorPrimaryDark" />
</shape>

Step 6 − Create a layout resource file (list_layout.xml) and add the following code

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<RelativeLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
   android:id="@+id/container"
   android:layout_width="match_parent"
   android:layout_height="match_parent"
   android:background="@drawable/background_selector"
   android:padding="16dp">
   <TextView
      android:id="@+id/awardTitle"
      android:layout_width="wrap_content"
      android:layout_height="wrap_content"
      android:layout_marginTop="10dp"
      android:text="New Text"
      android:textColor="@android:color/background_dark"
      android:textSize="18sp"
      android:textStyle="bold" />
   <TextView
      android:id="@+id/awardYear"
      android:layout_width="wrap_content"
      android:layout_height="wrap_content"
      android:layout_below="@+id/awardTitle"
      android:layout_alignStart="@+id/awardTitle"
      android:layout_marginTop="20dp"
      android:text="New Text"
      android:textColor="@android:color/background_dark" />
   <TextView
      android:layout_marginBottom="10dp"
      android:id="@+id/playerName"
      android:layout_width="wrap_content"
      android:layout_height="wrap_content"
      android:layout_alignParentEnd="true"
      android:text="New Text"
      android:textColor="@android:color/background_dark" />
</RelativeLayout>

Step 7 − Add the following code to androidManifest.xmlv

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<manifest xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
   package="com.example.q11">
   <application
      android:allowBackup="true"
      android:icon="@mipmap/ic_launcher"
      android:label="@string/app_name"
      android:roundIcon="@mipmap/ic_launcher_round"
      android:supportsRtl="true"
      android:theme="@style/AppTheme">
      <activity android:name=".MainActivity">
         <intent-filter>
            <action android:name="android.intent.action.MAIN" />
            <category android:name="android.intent.category.LAUNCHER" />
         </intent-filter>
      </activity>
   </application>
</manifest>

Let's try to run your application. I assume you have connected your actual Android Mobile device with your computer. To run the app from android studio, open one of your project's activity files and click the Run  icon from the toolbar. Select your mobile device as an option and then check your mobile device which will display your default screen