How to use the SwipeRefreshLayout?

MainActivity.java

public class MainActivity extends ActionBarActivity {
    TextView textView;
    private SwipeRefreshLayout mSwipeRefreshLayout;
    static int count = 0;

@Override
protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
    super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
    setContentView(R.layout.activity_main);
    textView = (TextView) findViewById(R.id.scrollTextView);

    // /You will setup the action bar with pull to refresh layout
    mSwipeRefreshLayout = (SwipeRefreshLayout) findViewById(R.id.container);

     mSwipeRefreshLayout.setColorScheme(R.color.blue,
     R.color.green, R.color.orange, R.color.purple);
    mSwipeRefreshLayout.setOnRefreshListener(new OnRefreshListener() {
        @Override
        public void onRefresh() {
            Log.e(getClass().getSimpleName(), "refresh");
            new GetLinks().execute();
        }
    });
}

@Override
public boolean onCreateOptionsMenu(Menu menu) {

    // Inflate the menu; this adds items to the action bar if it is present.
    getMenuInflater().inflate(R.menu.main, menu);
    return true;
}

@Override
public boolean onOptionsItemSelected(MenuItem item) {
    // Handle action bar item clicks here. The action bar will
    // automatically handle clicks on the Home/Up button, so long
    // as you specify a parent activity in AndroidManifest.xml.
    int id = item.getItemId();
    if (id == R.id.action_settings) {
        return true;
    }
    return super.onOptionsItemSelected(item);
}

public class GetLinks extends AsyncTask<Void, Void, Void> {
    @Override
    protected void onPreExecute() {
        super.onPreExecute();

    }

    @Override
    protected Void doInBackground(Void... params) {

        try {
            Thread.sleep(5000);
        } catch (InterruptedException e) {

            e.printStackTrace();

        }
        return null;
    }

    @Override
    protected void onPostExecute(Void result) {
        super.onPostExecute(result);
         //Here you can update the view
        textView.setText(textView.getText().toString()+"--New Content Added" + ++count);

        // Notify swipeRefreshLayout that the refresh has finished
        mSwipeRefreshLayout.setRefreshing(false);
    }

}

}

activity_main.xml

<android.support.v4.widget.SwipeRefreshLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
    xmlns:tools="http://schemas.android.com/tools"
    android:id="@+id/container"
    android:layout_width="match_parent"
    android:layout_height="match_parent" >

    <ScrollView
        android:layout_width="match_parent"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content" >
            <TextView
                android:layout_width="match_parent"
                android:layout_height="wrap_content"
                android:id="@+id/scrollTextView"
                android:text="TTT"
                android:textSize="40sp" />
    </ScrollView>

</android.support.v4.widget.SwipeRefreshLayout>

colors.xml

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<resources>

    <item name="blue" type="color">#FF33B5E5</item>
    <item name="purple" type="color">#FFAA66CC</item>
    <item name="green" type="color">#FF99CC00</item>
    <item name="orange" type="color">#FFFFBB33</item>

</resources>

I don't know what that ActionBarActivity class you're extending is, but I got it working just fine using a FragmentActivity

public class ActivityMain extends FragmentActivity implements OnRefreshListener {
    
    private SwipeRefreshLayout mSwipeRefreshLayout;

    @Override
    protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
        setContentView(R.layout.activity_main);
        mSwipeRefreshLayout = (SwipeRefreshLayout) findViewById(R.id.container);
        mSwipeRefreshLayout.setOnRefreshListener(this);
        
        super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
    }

    @Override
    public void onRefresh() {
        Toast.makeText(this, "Refresh", Toast.LENGTH_SHORT).show();
        new Handler().postDelayed(new Runnable() {
            @Override
            public void run() {
                mSwipeRefreshLayout.setRefreshing(false);
            }
        }, 2000);
    }
}

Worth Pointing out I copy pasted your xml layout exactly as it is

In terms of customization, there's really not much you can do other than change the color of the colored bar by calling setColorScheme(int colorResId, int colorResId, int colorResId, int colorResId);

e.g.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<resources>
    
    <color name="blue">#0099CC</color>
    <color name="purple">#9933CC</color>
    <color name="green">#669900</color>
    <color name="orange">#FF8800</color>
    
</resources>

mSwipeRefreshLayout.setColorScheme(R.color.blue, R.color.purple, R.color.green, R.color.orange);

It's kind of a disappointing addition really. The sensitivity on the refresh is fairly high and there is no setting to change it

Edit

I wrote this when this class (and the ActionBarActivity class) had just been added to the sdk. As such, some things have changed from when I wrote this answer. Furthermore, the type of Activity you use should not affect this solution.

setColorScheme is now deprecated, setColorSchemeResources(int... colorResIds) should be used instead. (you can put as many color ids in there as you like).

setDistanceToTriggerSync(int distance) can also be used to set how far down a user needs to swipe in order to trigger a refresh.

I recommend checking out the official documentation to see what else the class has to offer.

SwipeRefreshLayout with Kotlin

Xml file code

 <androidx.swiperefreshlayout.widget.SwipeRefreshLayout
        android:layout_width="0dp"
        android:layout_height="0dp" app:layout_constraintTop_toTopOf="parent"
        android:layout_marginTop="90dp" app:layout_constraintStart_toStartOf="parent"
        app:layout_constraintBottom_toBottomOf="parent"
        android:layout_marginBottom="93dp" app:layout_constraintEnd_toEndOf="parent"
        android:id="@+id/swipe_refresh_layout"
>
    <androidx.recyclerview.widget.RecyclerView
            android:layout_width="0dp"
            android:layout_height="0dp" app:layout_constraintTop_toTopOf="parent"
            android:layout_marginTop="90dp" app:layout_constraintStart_toStartOf="parent"
            app:layout_constraintBottom_toBottomOf="parent"
            android:layout_marginBottom="93dp" app:layout_constraintEnd_toEndOf="parent"
            android:id="@+id/recyclerView"
    />
</androidx.swiperefreshlayout.widget.SwipeRefreshLayout>

Activity Code

Declare the following code above the oncreate method

    var mSwipeRefreshLayout: SwipeRefreshLayout? = null

Declare the following code inside the oncreate method after setContentView line

mSwipeRefreshLayout= findViewById<SwipeRefreshLayout>(R.id.swipe_refresh_layout)
mSwipeRefreshLayout!!.setOnRefreshListener {
   //API Calls
}

On success API Call or failure API calls

                mSwipeRefreshLayout!!.isRefreshing = false