RecyclerView store / restore state between activities

Ok, so to answer my own question. As I understand it, since they've decoupled the layout code and the view recycling code (thus the name), the component responsible one for holding layout state (and restoring it) is now the LayoutManager used in your recyclerview.

Thus, to store state you use same pattern, but on the layout manager and not the recyclerview:

protected void onSaveInstanceState(Bundle state) {
super.onSaveInstanceState(state);


// Save list state
mListState = mLayoutManager.onSaveInstanceState();
state.putParcelable(LIST_STATE_KEY, mListState);
}

Restore state in the onRestoreInstanceState():

protected void onRestoreInstanceState(Bundle state) {
super.onRestoreInstanceState(state);


// Retrieve list state and list/item positions
if(state != null)
mListState = state.getParcelable(LIST_STATE_KEY);
}

Then update the LayoutManager (I do in onResume()):

@Override
protected void onResume() {
super.onResume();


if (mListState != null) {
mLayoutManager.onRestoreInstanceState(mListState);
}
}

Use this code in onPause() and onResume() to save and restore scroll position-

private Parcelable recyclerViewState;
recyclerViewState = mrecyclerView.getLayoutManager().onSaveInstanceState();//save
mrecyclerView.getLayoutManager().onRestoreInstanceState(recyclerViewState);//restore

I found a better solution - this solution has the following benefits :

1. RecyclerView state is saved and restored on rotation of phone
2. RecyclerView state is saved and restored on returning to activity with RecyclerView (which wasn't destroyed whilst the other activity was showing - which means that onRestoreInstanceState() isn't called !!)

CODE

public class ActivityItemList extends AppCompatActivity
{
private final String KEY_RECYCLER_STATE = "recycler_state";
private RecyclerView mRecyclerView;
private static Bundle mBundleRecyclerViewState;


@Override
protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState)
{
super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
setContentView(R.layout.activity_list);//set to whatever layout name you have


mRecyclerView = (RecyclerView) findViewById(R.id.recycler_view);//set to whatever view id you use
// don't forget to set your adapter
}


@Override
protected void onPause()
{
super.onPause();


// save RecyclerView state
mBundleRecyclerViewState = new Bundle();
Parcelable listState = mRecyclerView.getLayoutManager().onSaveInstanceState();
mBundleRecyclerViewState.putParcelable(KEY_RECYCLER_STATE, listState);
}


@Override
protected void onResume()
{
super.onResume();


// restore RecyclerView state
if (mBundleRecyclerViewState != null) {
Parcelable listState = mBundleRecyclerViewState.getParcelable(KEY_RECYCLER_STATE);
mRecyclerView.getLayoutManager().onRestoreInstanceState(listState);
}
}
}

That's my solution, it restores both items and RecyclerView position

1) save recycler view state in onSaveInstanceState method

@Override
protected void onSaveInstanceState(Bundle outState) {
Parcelable listState = myRecyclerView.getLayoutManager().onSaveInstanceState();
// putting recyclerview position
outState.putParcelable(SAVED_RECYCLER_VIEW_STATUS_ID, listState);
// putting recyclerview items
outState.putParcelableArrayList(SAVED_RECYCLER_VIEW_DATASET_ID,mDataset);
super.onSaveInstanceState(outState);
}

2) Check savedInstanceState Bundle in onCreate method

@Override
protected void onCreate(@Nullable Bundle savedInstanceState) {
super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
if (savedInstanceState==null){
getRemoteData(); // No saved data, get data from remote
}else{
restorePreviousState(); // Restore data found in the Bundle
}
}

3) Restore recycler view data if the screen has been rotated

public void restorePreviousState(){
// getting recyclerview position
mListState = mSavedInstanceState.getParcelable(SAVED_RECYCLER_VIEW_STATUS_ID);
// getting recyclerview items
mDataset = mSavedInstanceState.getParcelableArrayList(SAVED_RECYCLER_VIEW_DATASET_ID);
// Restoring adapter items
mAdapter.setItems(mDataset);
// Restoring recycler view position
mRvMedia.getLayoutManager().onRestoreInstanceState(mListState);
}

Considering that you defined a RecyclerView (mRecyclerView) and a LayoutManager (mLayoutManager) in your code and all is working fine so far, the solution on saving the position (mPosition) of your RecyclerView looks like this:

1. Variables and constants used:

   private final String RECYCLER_POSITION_KEY = "recycler_position";
   private int mPosition = RecyclerView.NO_POSITION;
   private RecyclerView mRecyclerView;
   private LinearLayoutManager mLayoutManager;
   private static Bundle mBundleState;
   

2. In onPause method:

   @Override
   protected void onPause()
   {
   super.onPause();
   
   
   // Save RecyclerView state
   mBundleState = new Bundle();
   mPosition = mLayoutManager.findFirstCompletelyVisibleItemPosition();
   mBundleState.putInt(RECYCLER_POSITION_KEY, mPosition);
   }
   

3. In onResume method:

   @Override
   protected void onResume()
   {
   super.onResume();
   
   
   // Restore RecyclerView state
   if (mBundleState != null) {
   mPosition = mBundleState.getInt(RECYCLER_POSITION_KEY);
   if (mPosition == RecyclerView.NO_POSITION) mPosition = 0;
   // Scroll the RecyclerView to mPosition
   mRecyclerView.smoothScrollToPosition(mPosition);
   }
   }
   

4. In onSaveInstanceState method:

   @Override
   public void onSaveInstanceState(Bundle outState) {
   // Save RecyclerView state
   outState.putInt(RECYCLER_POSITION_KEY,  mLayoutManager.findFirstCompletelyVisibleItemPosition());
   
   
   super.onSaveInstanceState(outState);
   }
   

5. In onRestoreInstanceState method:

   @Override
   protected void onRestoreInstanceState(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
   // Restore RecyclerView state
   if (savedInstanceState.containsKey(RECYCLER_POSITION_KEY)) {
   mPosition = savedInstanceState.getInt(RECYCLER_POSITION_KEY);
   if (mPosition == RecyclerView.NO_POSITION) mPosition = 0;
   // Scroll the RecyclerView to mPosition
   mRecyclerView.smoothScrollToPosition(mPosition);
   }
   
   
   super.onRestoreInstanceState(savedInstanceState);
   }
   

When you use recyclerView.getLayoutManager().onSaveInstanceState() don't forget to check for null:

@Override
public void onSaveInstanceState(@NonNull Bundle outState) {
super.onSaveInstanceState(outState);


if (recyclerView != null) {
outState.putParcelable(SCROLL_POSITION, recyclerView.getLayoutManager().onSaveInstanceState());
}
}

public class MainActivity extends AppCompatActivity {
Parcelable recyclerViewState;
.......
@Override
protected void onPause() {
super.onPause();
recyclerViewState = MainAnecdotesView.getLayoutManager().onSaveInstanceState();//save
}
@Override
protected void onResume()
{
super.onResume();
if(recyclerViewState!=null)
MainAnecdotesView.getLayoutManager().onRestoreInstanceState(recyclerViewState);//restore
}
}

You can either use adapter.stateRestorationPolicy = StateRestorationPolicy.PREVENT_WHEN_EMPTY which is introduced in recyclerview:1.2.0-alpha02

https://medium.com/androiddevelopers/restore-recyclerview-scroll-position-a8fbdc9a9334

but it has some issues such as not working with inner RecyclerView, and some other issues you can check out in medium post's comment section.

Or you can use ViewModel with SavedStateHandle which works for inner RecyclerViews, screen rotation and process death.

Create a ViewModel with saveStateHandle

val scrollState=
savedStateHandle.getLiveData<Parcelable?>(KEY_LAYOUT_MANAGER_STATE)

use Parcelable scrollState to save and restore state as answered in other posts or by adding a scroll listener to RecyclerView and

recyclerView.addOnScrollListener(object : RecyclerView.OnScrollListener() {

    override fun onScrollStateChanged(recyclerView: RecyclerView, newState: Int) {
super.onScrollStateChanged(recyclerView, newState)
if (newState == RecyclerView.SCROLL_STATE_IDLE) {
// save here
}
}

I know i am late but still if it helps!!

Storing the recycler view position is lot simpler than what other answers have made it look like

Here's how you can do it

First create a member variable

Parcelable state;

Now,

@Override
protected void onPause() {
super.onPause();
state = recyclerView.getLayoutManager().onSaveInstanceState();
}


@Override
protected void onResume() {
super.onResume();
recyclerView.getLayoutManager().onRestoreInstanceState(state);
}

overide on pause and on resume methods with the above code and you are good to go!!