Display a String letter by letter in a TextView -Android

Question

I have this code:

public void setText(String s){
    TextView tv= (TextView)HomeActivity.tf.getView().findViewById(R.id.textViewFragment);


    char c;
    for(int i=0; i< s.length(); i++){
        c= s.charAt(i);

        tv.append(String.valueOf(c));

        try{
            Thread.sleep(100);
        }catch(Exception e){}
    }
}

The problem is that i cant get the TextView to display the letters one-by-one. After the loop is completed and everything is executed, thats when the text shows up.

I want to have it show up letter by letter, to give an animation effect to the TextView.

That will not work for me. Im using append() because I want the previous characters to stay there. I want to refresh the screen between each append. — Plasius, Jan 02 '16 at 19:17
then get the previous text and append it like `tv.setText(tv.getText().toString()+String.valueOf(c))` — GIRIDHARAN, Jan 02 '16 at 19:19
I already found an answer to this question here . [Found solution here](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/6700374/android-character-by-character-display-text-animation) — Krishna Satwaji Khandagale, Jan 02 '16 at 21:00
I found answer to your question here. [Found on this link](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/6700374/android-character-by-character-display-text-animation) — Krishna Satwaji Khandagale, Jan 02 '16 at 21:02

score 6 · Accepted Answer · answered Jan 02 '16 at 21:42

This code works,

    public void setText(final String s)
    {
    TextView tv= (TextView)HomeActivity.tf.getView().findViewById(R.id.textViewFragment);
    final int[] i = new int[1];
    i[0] = 0;
    final int length = s.length();
    final Handler handler = new Handler()
    {
        @Override
        public void handleMessage(Message msg) {
            super.handleMessage(msg);
            char c= s.charAt(i[0]);
            Log.d("Strange",""+c);
            tv.append(String.valueOf(c));
            i[0]++;
        }
    };

    final Timer timer = new Timer();
    TimerTask taskEverySplitSecond = new TimerTask() {
        @Override
        public void run() {
            handler.sendEmptyMessage(0);
            if (i[0] == length - 1) {
                timer.cancel();
            }
        }
    };
    timer.schedule(taskEverySplitSecond, 1, 500);
}

Use this method as it is. Just call it from your `onCreate()` . — Parag Kadam, Jan 02 '16 at 21:44

score 1 · Answer 2 · answered May 19 '18 at 10:17

Just in case someone's still looking for a better solution (with animating letters), try out Fade-In TextView.

This TextView library inherits its properties directly from the native TextView class, which means that all the native TextView methods are supported. There are practically no limitations including multiline support. It also has some of its own methods and attributes which offer full control over the View.

score 1 · Answer 3 · edited Mar 23 '19 at 22:56

More simple

Thread thread = new Thread() {
    int i;

    @Override
    public void run() {
        try {
            for (i = 0; i < text.length(); i++) { // use your variable text.leght()
                Thread.sleep(1000);
                runOnUiThread(new Runnable() {
                    @Override
                    public void run() {
                        textView.setText(text.substring(0, i));
                    }
                });
            }
        } catch (InterruptedException e) {
        }
    }
};

thread.start();

Display a String letter by letter in a TextView -Android

3 Answers3