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How to display a placeholder image in ImageView until the actual image is loaded in Kotlin Android

How to display a placeholder image in ImageView until the actual image is loaded in Kotlin Android.

Here's a detailed step-by-step tutorial on how to display a placeholder image in an ImageView until the actual image is loaded in Kotlin for Android.

Step 1: Set up the project​

Start by creating a new Android project in Kotlin. Open your project in Android Studio and make sure you have the necessary dependencies added in your build.gradle file.

Step 2: Add placeholder image​

Before writing any code, you need to have a placeholder image ready. You can either create a simple placeholder image using any image editing software or download one from the internet. Save the image in the drawable folder of your project.

Step 3: Design the layout​

Open the activity_main.xml layout file and add an ImageView element to your layout. Set the desired width, height, and other attributes as per your requirements. Assign an ID to the ImageView for easy referencing in code.

<ImageView
    android:id="@+id/imageView"
    android:layout_width="match_parent"
    android:layout_height="wrap_content"
    android:src="@drawable/placeholder_image"
    android:scaleType="centerCrop"
    />

In the above code, we have set the placeholder_image as the source for the ImageView. This will be the image displayed until the actual image is loaded.

Step 4: Load the actual image​

In your Kotlin activity file (MainActivity.kt), you need to load the actual image and set it as the source of the ImageView. You can use any image loading library like Picasso, Glide, or Coil for this purpose. Here, we'll use Glide as an example.

First, make sure you have added the Glide dependency in your build.gradle file.

implementation 'com.github.bumptech.glide:glide:4.12.0'
kapt 'com.github.bumptech.glide:compiler:4.12.0'

Import the necessary Glide classes at the top of your MainActivity.kt file.

import com.bumptech.glide.Glide
import com.bumptech.glide.request.RequestOptions

Inside the onCreate() method of your activity, get a reference to the ImageView and load the actual image using Glide.

val imageView = findViewById<ImageView>(R.id.imageView)
val requestOptions = RequestOptions()
    .placeholder(R.drawable.placeholder_image)
    .error(R.drawable.error_image) // Optional: Set an error image in case the actual image fails to load

Glide.with(this)
    .setDefaultRequestOptions(requestOptions)
    .load("https://example.com/actual_image.jpg")
    .into(imageView)

In the above code, we first get a reference to the ImageView using its ID. Then, we create a RequestOptions object and set the placeholder image using the placeholder() method. You can also set an error image using the error() method if required.

Next, we use Glide to load the actual image from the specified URL using the load() method. Finally, we use the into() method to set the loaded image as the source of the ImageView.

Step 5: Test your app​

Build and run your app on an Android device or emulator. You should see the placeholder image displayed in the ImageView initially. Once the actual image is loaded, it will replace the placeholder image.

That's it! You have successfully implemented the display of a placeholder image in an ImageView until the actual image is loaded in Kotlin for Android. You can customize the placeholder image, error image, and other settings as per your requirements.