Introduction

An endless RecyclerView loads the next page of data when the user scrolls near the end of the current list. The basic implementation is simple: track loading state, listen for scroll position, request the next page only once, and append the new items into the adapter.

Detect When the User Is Near the End

With a LinearLayoutManager, you can watch the last visible item and trigger loading when it approaches the current item count.

1val layoutManager = LinearLayoutManager(this)
2recyclerView.layoutManager = layoutManager
3recyclerView.adapter = adapter
4
5var isLoading = false
6var hasMore = true
7
8recyclerView.addOnScrollListener(object : RecyclerView.OnScrollListener() {
9    override fun onScrolled(recyclerView: RecyclerView, dx: Int, dy: Int) {
10        super.onScrolled(recyclerView, dx, dy)
11
12        if (dy <= 0 || isLoading || !hasMore) return
13
14        val total = layoutManager.itemCount
15        val lastVisible = layoutManager.findLastVisibleItemPosition()
16        val threshold = 5
17
18        if (lastVisible >= total - threshold) {
19            loadNextPage()
20        }
21    }
22})

The threshold avoids waiting until the user reaches the exact last row. That gives the app time to fetch the next page before the list visibly runs out.

Append New Items Safely

Your paging callback should update the adapter only after the request finishes and must reset isLoading in both success and failure cases.

1fun loadNextPage() {
2    isLoading = true
3
4    repository.fetchPage(
5        onSuccess = { items, moreAvailable ->
6            adapter.appendItems(items)
7            hasMore = moreAvailable
8            isLoading = false
9        },
10        onError = {
11            isLoading = false
12        }
13    )
14}

And the adapter can expose an append method:

1class ItemAdapter : RecyclerView.Adapter<ItemViewHolder>() {
2    private val items = mutableListOf<String>()
3
4    fun appendItems(newItems: List<String>) {
5        val start = items.size
6        items.addAll(newItems)
7        notifyItemRangeInserted(start, newItems.size)
8    }
9
10    override fun getItemCount(): Int = items.size
11    // remaining adapter methods omitted for brevity
12}

That incremental update is much better than resetting the whole dataset after every page.

Handle Loading, Empty, and Error States

An endless list is not only about scroll detection. It also needs user-visible state management:

• loading indicator for the first page
• footer spinner or placeholder for next-page loads
• retry UI if a page request fails
• explicit "no more items" behavior if pagination ends

Without those states, users often interpret a slow page fetch as a broken list.

If you are building a new Android app today, the Paging 3 library is usually the preferred solution because it formalizes these concerns. Manual endless scrolling is still useful when the data source is simple or when you need full custom control.

Another practical detail is preserving scroll position across configuration changes. If the list reloads from scratch on rotation, the endless-scroll logic may be correct but the user experience still feels broken.

Common Pitfalls

• Triggering multiple simultaneous page requests because isLoading is not enforced strictly.
• Waiting until the exact last item is visible, which makes loading feel late.
• Replacing the whole adapter dataset on every page instead of appending incrementally.
• Ignoring error and retry states, leaving the list stuck after one failed request.
• Forgetting about configuration changes and process recreation when the loaded pages need to survive view recreation.

Summary

• Endless scrolling with RecyclerView is built from scroll detection plus page loading state.
• Trigger the next load when the user approaches the end, not only when the end is reached.
• Guard requests with isLoading and hasMore.
• Append new items incrementally so the list stays smooth.
• For larger apps, consider Paging 3 instead of maintaining the whole mechanism manually.