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Unexpected behavior with LiveData and RecyclerView in Android when updating data source

๐Ÿ‘€ Views: 1 ๐Ÿ’ฌ Answers: 1 ๐Ÿ“… Created: 2025-06-04
android recyclerview livedata kotlin

I've spent hours debugging this and I'm trying to configure I'm converting an old project and I've been researching this but I am experiencing an issue where my `RecyclerView` is not properly updating when the underlying `LiveData` changes... I have a `ViewModel` that provides a `LiveData<List<Item>>` to my activity, and when I modify the list in the database, the UI does not reflect these changes unless I explicitly call `notifyDataSetChanged()` on the adapter. Hereโ€™s a simplified version of my code: ```kotlin class MyViewModel : ViewModel() { private val _items = MutableLiveData<List<Item>>() val items: LiveData<List<Item>> get() = _items fun loadItems() { viewModelScope.launch { _items.value = repository.getItems() // Assume this fetches data from Room } } fun addItem(newItem: Item) { viewModelScope.launch { repository.insertItem(newItem) loadItems() // Reloading items after adding } } } ``` In my Fragment, I observe the `LiveData` like this: ```kotlin class MyFragment : Fragment() { private lateinit var viewModel: MyViewModel private lateinit var adapter: MyAdapter override fun onCreateView(inflater: LayoutInflater, container: ViewGroup?, savedInstanceState: Bundle?): View { val view = inflater.inflate(R.layout.fragment_my, container, false) adapter = MyAdapter() view.recyclerView.adapter = adapter viewModel = ViewModelProvider(this).get(MyViewModel::class.java) viewModel.items.observe(viewLifecycleOwner, Observer { items -> adapter.submitList(items) // Using ListAdapter }) return view } } ``` Everything looks good, but the `submitList` method seems to not trigger a UI update as expected. I tried different approaches, including using `notifyDataSetChanged()`, but that feels wrong since I'm relying on `LiveData`. The `ListAdapter` should handle the updates automatically with `submitList()`, but it doesnโ€™t seem to behave as documented. I also checked that my `Item` class implements `Parcelable` correctly. Iโ€™m using Kotlin 1.5.31, AndroidX libraries, and targeting API level 30. Any suggestions on how to ensure that the `RecyclerView` updates automatically without manual intervention? This is my first time working with Kotlin 3.9. What are your experiences with this? This is my first time working with Kotlin latest. What's the best practice here? This issue appeared after updating to Kotlin 3.9. I'm open to any suggestions.