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Unexpected UI Lag When Updating RecyclerView with DiffUtil on Android 14 Using Flow

👀 Views: 1 đŸ’Ŧ Answers: 1 📅 Created: 2025-06-06
android recyclerview kotlin-flow diffutil kotlin

I'm stuck on something that should probably be simple. I'm relatively new to this, so bear with me... After trying multiple solutions online, I still can't figure this out. I'm experiencing important UI lag when I update my `RecyclerView` with `DiffUtil` while using Kotlin Flows in Android 14. My implementation seems correct, but the lag occurs during data emission from the flow, leading to a noticeable delay in UI updates. Here's a simplified version of my code: In my ViewModel, I'm collecting a flow of data like this: ```kotlin private val _itemsFlow = MutableStateFlow<List<MyItem>>(emptyList()) val itemsFlow: StateFlow<List<MyItem>> = _itemsFlow fun fetchData() { viewModelScope.launch { repository.getItems() .collect { items -> _itemsFlow.emit(items) } } } ``` In my Fragment or Activity, I'm observing the flow: ```kotlin viewLifecycleOwner.lifecycleScope.launch { viewModel.itemsFlow.collect { newItems -> val diffResult = DiffUtil.calculateDiff(MyDiffUtilCallback(currentItems, newItems)) currentItems.clear() currentItems.addAll(newItems) diffResult.dispatchUpdatesTo(adapter) } } ``` The `DiffUtil.Callback` is implemented correctly, and I'm using `notifyDataSetChanged` as a last resort in debugging. However, the UI becomes unresponsive for a second whenever new data is emitted. I've tried optimizing my adapter and making sure that `getItemCount()` and `getItemViewType()` are efficient, but the question continues. Is there a known scenario with collecting flows on the main thread in Android 14, or could there be something specific in my implementation causing this lag? Any help or suggestions would be appreciated! This is part of a larger service I'm building. What am I doing wrong? My development environment is Linux. I'm open to any suggestions.