Adding custom interactivity

This guide explains how to add custom interactivity to Custom Tabs.

# Enable the default share action

If you don't provide a custom share action, it is a good idea to enable the browser's default share action in the overflow menu to make it easier for users to share a link to the content they are seeing:

    CustomTabsIntent.Builder intentBuilder = new CustomTabsIntent.Builder();
    intentBuilder.setShareState(CustomTabsIntent.SHARE_STATE_ON);

# Add a custom action button

For important actions, the Custom Tab toolbar lets you integrate a custom action button, which can either have a text label or a custom icon. The icon should be 24dp in height and 24-48 dp in width.

For example, you can add a custom share action to the toolbar. To do this, create a BroadcastReceiver which gets called when the user clicks on the share action in the Custom Tab.

Register the BroadCastReceiver in the AndroidManifest.xml file:

<application …>
  <receiver android:name=".ShareBroadcastReceiver" />
</application>

Then add a new class, ShareBroadcastReceiver. In the onReceive() method, extract the currently displayed URL from the intent and trigger a send intent.

public class ShareBroadcastReceiver extends BroadcastReceiver {

    @Override
    public void onReceive(Context context, Intent intent) {
        String url = intent.getDataString();
        Intent sendIntent = new Intent();
        sendIntent.setAction(Intent.ACTION_SEND);
        sendIntent.putExtra(Intent.EXTRA_TEXT, url);
        sendIntent.setType("text/plain");
        Intent shareIntent = Intent.createChooser(sendIntent, null);
        context.startActivity(shareIntent);
    }
}

Now, create a PendingIntent for ShareBroadcast and register it via setActionButton(). Pass the pending intent together with the icon and the description.

String shareDescription = getString(R.string.label_action_share);
Bitmap shareIcon = BitmapFactory.decodeResource(getResources(),
       android.R.drawable.ic_menu_share);

// Create a PendingIntent to your BroadCastReceiver implementation
Intent actionIntent = new Intent(
       this.getApplicationContext(), ShareBroadcastReceiver.class);
PendingIntent pendingIntent =
       PendingIntent.getBroadcast(getApplicationContext(), 0 /* request code */, actionIntent, PendingIntent.FLAG_MUTABLE);          

//Set the pendingIntent as the action to be performed when the button is clicked.
CustomTabsIntent intentBuilder = new CustomTabsIntent.Builder()
    …
    .setActionButton(shareIcon, shareDescription, pendingIntent)
    .build();

# Add custom menu items

Custom tabs has as many as five default actions provided by the browser: "Forward", "Page Info", "Refresh", "Find in Page" and "Open in Browser". Additionally, you can add up to five more, which will be inserted between the icon row and the browser-provided items. (See the image below.)

You can access your custom actions via the three dot menu in the top right corner:

To add a menu item, call CustomTabsIntent.Builder.addMenuItem() with title and a PendingIntent. When the user taps on a menu item, the browser will fire the PendingIntent.

CustomTabsIntent intent = new CustomTabsIntent.Builder()
        ...
        .addMenuItem("Menu item 1", pendingIntent)
        .addMenuItem("Menu item 2", pendingIntent)
        .addMenuItem("Menu item 3", pendingIntent)
        .addMenuItem("Menu item 4", pendingIntent)
        .addMenuItem("Menu item 5", pendingIntent)
        .build();

# Customize the close button

To better fit a Custom Tab into the flow of your app, customize the close button. If you want the user to feel like Custom Tabs is a modal dialog, use the default “X” button. If you want the user to feel the Custom Tab is part of the application flow, use the back arrow.

CustomTabsIntent.Builder intentBuilder = new CustomTabsIntent.Builder();
intentBuilder.setCloseButtonIcon(BitmapFactory.decodeResource(
    getResources(), R.drawable.ic_arrow_back));

# Add a bottom toolbar

The bottom toolbar is a very flexible way to add more functionality to a Custom Tab.

By passing a RemoteViews object to CustomTabIntent.Builder.setSecondaryToolbarViews(), the bottom toolbar can be fully customized and dynamically updated.

First, declare a toolbar layout by creating a new layout file, res/layout/custom_tab_toolbar.xml:

<LinearLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
    android:layout_width="match_parent"
    android:layout_height="wrap_content"
    android:orientation="horizontal"
    android:gravity="center">

    <Button xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
        android:id="@+id/ct_toolbar_next"
        android:layout_width="wrap_content"
        android:layout_height="48dp"
        android:layout_margin="8dp"
        android:padding="8dp"
        android:paddingStart="16dp"
        android:paddingEnd="16dp"
        android:text="Next" />

    <Button xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
        android:id="@+id/ct_toolbar_previous"
        android:layout_width="wrap_content"
        android:layout_height="48dp"
        android:layout_margin="8dp"
        android:padding="8dp"
        android:text="Previous" />
</LinearLayout>

The next step is to register a BroadcastReceiver, which handles toolbar interactions, in the AndroidManifest.xml file:

<application …>
  <receiver android:name=".CustomTabBottomToolbarBroadcastReceiver" />
</application>

Then implement the BroadcastReceiver, which will handle all interactions with the bottom toolbar:

public class BottomToolbarBroadcastReceiver extends BroadcastReceiver {

    @Override
    public void onReceive(Context context, Intent intent) {
        String url = intent.getDataString();
        int remoteViewId = intent.getIntExtra(EXTRA_REMOTEVIEWS_CLICKED_ID, -1);
        if (remoteViewId == R.id.ct_toolbar_previous) {
          // handle previous
        } else if (remoteViewId == R.id.ct_toolbar_next) {
          // handle next
        }
    }
}

Finally, register the toolbar:

// Create the pending intent
Intent actionIntent = new Intent(
       this.getApplicationContext(), BottomToolbarBroadcastReceiver.class);

PendingIntent pendingIntent =
       PendingIntent.getBroadcast(getApplicationContext(), 0 /* request code */, actionIntent, PendingIntent.FLAG_MUTABLE);          

// Pass the toolbar layout to the RemoteViews instance
RemoteViews secondaryToolbarViews = new RemoteViews(getPackageName(), R.layout.custom_tab_toolbar);
// All toolbar buttons
int[] clickableIds = {R.id.ct_toolbar_next, R.id.ct_toolbar_previous};

// Register the bottom toolbar when creating a new custom tab intent
CustomTabsIntent intent = new CustomTabsIntent.Builder()
    .setSecondaryToolbarViews(secondaryToolbarViews, clickableIds, toolbarPendingIntent)
    .build();

Next up: Learn how to speed up loading web content in a Custom Tab.