Nestedscrollview |best| < 2025-2026 >
In the modern Android ecosystem, user interfaces are rarely simple. They often consist of complex hybrids: a collapsing toolbar, a tab layout, a view pager, and within each tab, a RecyclerView or ListView . When you put scrolling containers inside other scrolling containers, you encounter the infamous scroll conflict .
By attaching the appbar_scrolling_view_behavior to the NestedScrollView , the scroll events automatically trigger the AppBarLayout to expand or collapse. If you are using Jetpack Compose, the equivalent is Modifier.nestedScroll . The same principles apply:
</LinearLayout> </androidx.core.widget.NestedScrollView> For the magic to work, the inner scrollable view (e.g., RecyclerView ) must have nested scrolling enabled. In modern AndroidX versions, this is true by default, but you can explicitly set it: nestedscrollview
<TextView ... /> <androidx.recyclerview.widget.RecyclerView android:id="@+id/recyclerView" android:layout_width="match_parent" android:layout_height="wrap_content" android:nestedScrollingEnabled="true" /> <!-- Note this -->
Box(modifier = Modifier.nestedScroll(rememberNestedScrollInteropConnection())) // LazyColumn inside a vertical scroll In the modern Android ecosystem, user interfaces are
recyclerView.isNestedScrollingEnabled = true If you set it to false , RecyclerView will handle its own scrolling independently, breaking the coordinated behavior. Here lies the most frequent mistake developers make: Putting a RecyclerView inside a NestedScrollView and setting its height to wrap_content .
| Do | Don't | |----|-------| | Use NestedScrollView with CoordinatorLayout for collapsing toolbars. | Put a RecyclerView with wrap_content inside it for long lists. | | Enable fillViewport to fill the screen when content is short. | Nest NestedScrollView inside another NestedScrollView . | | Keep inner lists small (< 10 items) or use multiple view types in a single RecyclerView . | Assume NestedScrollView is a drop-in performance upgrade – it has overhead. | | Test scroll fling behavior – physics can feel different. | Forget to handle keyboard visibility if the view contains EditText fields. | Final Take NestedScrollView is not a magic bullet, but it is an indispensable tool for modern, material-design-compliant Android apps. Use it when you need coordination , avoid it when you simply need containment . Respect the recycling system, and your scrolling will be buttery smooth. In modern AndroidX versions, this is true by
<androidx.core.widget.NestedScrollView android:layout_width="match_parent" android:layout_height="match_parent" android:fillViewport="true"> <LinearLayout android:layout_width="match_parent" android:layout_height="wrap_content" android:orientation="vertical">