Custom CheckBox Android

To facilitate the creation of the CheckBoxes, Android provides the android.widget.CheckBox class. Instead of using the default settings, we can also customize the UI of view elements in Android. Thus, different images of the checkbox can also be added to the layout. The CheckBox in Android can be understood as a type of two-state button. Here, the two-state means that it can be either checked or unchecked. Checkboxes can be used to serve various purposes such as selecting the hobbies of a user and to activate/deactivate a specific action. The CompoundButton class in Android has a subclass named CheckBox class.

Example of Custom CheckBox:

activity_main.xml: (File: activity_main.xml)

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<LinearLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
   android:layout_width="fill_parent"
   android:layout_height="fill_parent"
   android:orientation="vertical" >
   <TextView
       android:layout_width="fill_parent"
       android:layout_height="wrap_content"
       android:textSize="20dip"
       android:gravity="center"
       android:padding="10dip"
       android:text="Hello World!!" />
   <TextView
       android:layout_width="fill_parent"
       android:layout_height="wrap_content"
       android:textSize="16dip"
       android:gravity="center"
       android:padding="10dip"
       android:text="I am the First checkbox." />
   <LinearLayout
       android:layout_width="fill_parent"
       android:layout_height="wrap_content"
       android:gravity="center"
       android:orientation="horizontal">
       <CheckBox
           android:id="@+id/checkbox1"
           android:layout_width="wrap_content"
           android:layout_height="wrap_content"
           android:layout_gravity="center"
           android:button="@xml/custom_checkbox"/>
       <TextView
           android:id="@+id/textview1"
           android:layout_width="wrap_content"
           android:layout_height="wrap_content"
           android:textSize="14dip"
           android:gravity="center"
           android:padding="10dip"
           android:text="(unchecked)" />
   </LinearLayout>
 
   <TextView
       android:layout_width="fill_parent"
       android:layout_height="wrap_content"
       android:textSize="16dip"
       android:gravity="center"
       android:padding="10dip"
       android:text="I am the Second Checkbox." />
 
   <LinearLayout
       android:layout_width="fill_parent"
       android:layout_height="wrap_content"
       android:gravity="center"
       android:orientation="horizontal">
 
       <CheckBox
 
           android:id="@+id/checkbox2"
 
           android:layout_width="wrap_content"
 
           android:layout_height="wrap_content"
 
           android:layout_gravity="center"
 
           android:button="@xml/custom_checkbox"/>
 
       <TextView
 
           android:id="@+id/textview2"
 
           android:layout_width="wrap_content"
 
           android:layout_height="wrap_content"
 
           android:textSize="14dip"
 
           android:gravity="center"
 
           android:padding="10dip"
 
           android:text="(unchecked)" />
 
   </LinearLayout>
 
</LinearLayout>

checked.xml:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<shape xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
 
   android:shape="rectangle">
 
<gradient android:startColor="#ffff0000" android:endColor="#ff000000" android:angle="270"/>
 
<stroke android:width="4px" android:color="#ffc0c0c0" />
 
<size android:height="20dp" android:width="20dp"/>
 
   </shape>

unchecked.xml:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<shape xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
 
   android:shape="rectangle">
 
   <gradient android:startColor="#ff585858" android:endColor="#ff000000" android:angle="270"/>
 
   <stroke android:width="4px" android:color="#ffc0c0c0" />
 
   <size android:height="20dp" android:width="20dp"/>
 
</shape>

custom_checkbox.xml: (File: custom_checkbox.xml)

To customize the checkbox we will implement a selector in the checkbox.xml file under the drawable folder.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<selector xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android">
 
   <item android:state_checked="true"
 
       android:drawable="@xml/checked" />
 
   <item android:state_pressed="true"
 
       android:drawable="@xml/checked" />
 
   <item android:drawable="@xml/unchecked" />
 
</selector>

Activity class: (File: MainActivity.java)

package com.example.radioapp;
 
import android.app.Activity;
import android.os.Bundle;
import android.view.View;
import android.view.View.OnClickListener;
import android.widget.CheckBox;
import android.widget.TextView;
 
public class MainActivity extends Activity implements OnClickListener {
 
   /** Called when the activity is first created. */
 
   @Override
 
   public void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
       super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
 
       setContentView(R.layout.activity_main);
 
       findViewById(R.id.checkbox1).setOnClickListener(this);
       findViewById(R.id.checkbox2).setOnClickListener(this);
   }
 
   @Override
   public void onClick(View v) {
 
       TextView tv;
 
       if (v.getId()==R.id.checkbox1) {
 
           tv = (TextView)findViewById(R.id.textview1);
 
       } else {
 
           tv = (TextView)findViewById(R.id.textview2);
 
       }
 
       if (((CheckBox)v).isChecked()) {
 
           tv.setText("(checked)");
 
       } else {
 
           tv.setText("(unchecked)");
 
       }
 
   }
 
}

Output 1:

Output 2:

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