Android toolbar elevation when scrolling

Question

I try to implement a search bar like in google maps android app:

When the recycler view is in its initial state, the toolbar has no elevation. Only when the users starts scrolling the elevation becomes visible. And the search bar (toolbar) never collapses. Here is what I tried to replicate this:

<android.support.design.widget.CoordinatorLayout 
    android:layout_width="match_parent"
    android:layout_height="match_parent"
    android:fitsSystemWindows="true">

    <android.support.v7.widget.RecyclerView
        android:id="@+id/recyclerView"
        android:layout_width="match_parent"
        android:layout_height="match_parent" />

    <android.support.design.widget.AppBarLayout
        android:id="@+id/appBarLayout"
        android:layout_width="match_parent"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content">

        <android.support.v7.widget.Toolbar
            android:id="@+id/toolbar"
            android:layout_width="match_parent"
            android:layout_height="64dp">

            <!-- content -->

        </android.support.v7.widget.Toolbar>

    </android.support.design.widget.AppBarLayout>

</android.support.design.widget.CoordinatorLayout>

And here you can see the result:

So the problem with my solution is, that the elevation of the toolbar is always visible. But I want it to appear only when the recycler view scrolls behind it. Is there anything from the design support library that enables such behavior as seen in the google maps app?

I am using

com.android.support:appcompat-v7:23.2.0
com.android.support:design:23.2.0

Answer 1

Whether you are using a CoordinatorLayout or not, a RecyclerView.OnScrollListener seems like the right way to go as far as the elevation is concerned. However, from my experience recyclerview.getChild(0).getTop() is not reliable and should not be used for determining the scrolling state. Instead, this is what's working:

private static final int SCROLL_DIRECTION_UP = -1;
// ...
// Put this into your RecyclerView.OnScrollListener > onScrolled() method
if (recyclerview.canScrollVertically(SCROLL_DIRECTION_UP)) {
   // Remove elevation
   toolbar.setElevation(0f);
} else {
   // Show elevation
   toolbar.setElevation(50f);
}

Be sure to assign a LayoutManager to your RecyclerView or the call of canScrollVertically may cause a crash!