How to use View.OnTouchListener instead of onClick

Presumably, if one wants to use an OnTouchListener rather than an OnClickListener, then the extra functionality of the OnTouchListener is needed. This is a supplemental answer to show more detail of how an OnTouchListener can be used.

Define the listener

Put this somewhere in your activity or fragment.

private View.OnTouchListener handleTouch = new View.OnTouchListener() {

    @Override
    public boolean onTouch(View v, MotionEvent event) {

        int x = (int) event.getX();
        int y = (int) event.getY();

        switch (event.getAction()) {
            case MotionEvent.ACTION_DOWN:
                Log.i("TAG", "touched down");
                break;
            case MotionEvent.ACTION_MOVE:
                Log.i("TAG", "moving: (" + x + ", " + y + ")");
                break;
            case MotionEvent.ACTION_UP:
                Log.i("TAG", "touched up");
                break;
        }

        return true;
    }
};

Set the listener

Set the listener in onCreate (for an Activity) or onCreateView (for a Fragment).

myView.setOnTouchListener(handleTouch);

Notes

  • getX and getY give you the coordinates relative to the view (that is, the top left corner of the view). They will be negative when moving above or to the left of your view. Use getRawX and getRawY if you want the absolute screen coordinates.
  • You can use the x and y values to determine things like swipe direction.

The event when user releases his finger is MotionEvent.ACTION_UP. I'm not aware if there are any guidelines which prohibit using View.OnTouchListener instead of onClick(), most probably it depends of situation.

Here's a sample code:

imageButton.setOnTouchListener(new OnTouchListener() {
    @Override
    public boolean onTouch(View v, MotionEvent event) {
        if(event.getAction() == MotionEvent.ACTION_UP){

            // Do what you want
            return true;
        }
        return false;
    }
});