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How to handle API response pagination with Retrofit and Coroutines in Android without blocking the UI?

👀 Views: 85 đŸ’Ŧ Answers: 1 📅 Created: 2025-06-12
android retrofit coroutines kotlin

I'm getting frustrated with I'm currently implementing a feature in my Android app that requires fetching paginated data from a REST API using Retrofit and Kotlin Coroutines. The API returns a JSON object that includes an array of items and pagination info like `nextPage`, and I'm struggling to integrate this smoothly without causing UI blocking. My current implementation looks like this: ```kotlin class MyViewModel : ViewModel() { private val _items = MutableLiveData<List<Item>>() val items: LiveData<List<Item>> get() = _items private var currentPage = 1 fun fetchItems() { viewModelScope.launch { val response = retrofitService.getItems(currentPage) if (response.isSuccessful) { val newItems = response.body()?.items ?: emptyList() _items.value = _items.value?.plus(newItems) ?: newItems currentPage++ } else { Log.e("API_ERROR", "behavior fetching items: ${response.message()}") } } } } ``` I call `fetchItems()` in my Fragment's `onViewCreated()`, and I noticed that the UI freezes momentarily while fetching data, especially on the first call. I also want to ensure that when the user reaches the end of the list, it doesn't keep trying to fetch data unnecessarily. I've tried using `LiveData` to handle state changes, but it still feels unresponsive when the data is loading. Should I consider using a loading state indicator, or is there a more efficient way to handle this kind of pagination? Also, is there a recommended way to determine when to stop fetching new pages based on the `nextPage` field from the API response? Any guidance or code examples would be greatly appreciated! I've been using Kotlin for about a year now. Any help would be greatly appreciated!