Ultimate Guide to Material 3 Checkboxes in Android: Tutorial & Examples for 2025 🚀

Overview 📖

Material 3 Checkboxes allow users to select one or more options from a list, toggle settings, or manage sub-selections. This guide covers their implementation, including checked, unchecked, indeterminate, and error states, along with theming for 2025. ✅

Design and API Documentation 🔗

Using Checkboxes 🤖

Add the Material Components for Android library dependency to use Material 3 Checkboxes. See the Get Started guide. Checkboxes support checked, unchecked, indeterminate, and error states, with accessibility built-in. Use a Theme.Material3.* theme for auto-inflation as com.google.android.material.checkbox.MaterialCheckBox. 🛠️

Making Checkboxes Accessible ♿

Checkboxes are readable by screen readers like TalkBack, with text labels automatically provided. Set android:contentDescription for custom accessibility labels if needed. See the Android accessibility guide. 🗣️

Behavior and States 🎬

Toggle states with isChecked or checkedState, set error with errorShown, or listen for changes with setOnCheckedChangeListener. Example:

      
checkbox.isChecked = true
checkbox.errorShown = true
checkbox.setOnCheckedChangeListener { _, isChecked ->
    // Handle check change
}

Checkbox Anatomy 🌟

Material 3 Checkboxes consist of a container (square button) and an icon (checkmark or dash), with optional text labels. They support checked, unchecked, indeterminate, and error states. 📋

Container: Rounded square, holds the icon.
Icon: Checkmark (checked), dash (indeterminate), or empty (unchecked). ✅
Label: Optional text describing the option.

Checkbox Example 🔲

Checkboxes allow multiple selections, with parent-child relationships for hierarchical lists. 📝

Checkbox Example 💻

API and source code:

MaterialCheckBox
- Class description
- Class source

The following example shows a parent checkbox with four child checkboxes, updating states dynamically.

      
private var isUpdatingChildren = false
val parent = findViewById(R.id.checkbox_parent)
val children = listOf(
    findViewById(R.id.checkbox_child_1),
    findViewById(R.id.checkbox_child_2),
    findViewById(R.id.checkbox_child_3),
    findViewById(R.id.checkbox_child_4)
)
val parentListener = OnCheckedStateChangedListener { _, state ->
    if (state != MaterialCheckBox.STATE_INDETERMINATE) {
        isUpdatingChildren = true
        children.forEach { it.isChecked = parent.isChecked }
        isUpdatingChildren = false
    }
}
parent.addOnCheckedStateChangedListener(parentListener)
val childListener = OnCheckedStateChangedListener { _, _ ->
    if (!isUpdatingChildren) {
        val checkedCount = children.count { it.isChecked }
        parent.removeOnCheckedStateChangedListener(parentListener)
        parent.checkedState = when {
            checkedCount == children.size -> MaterialCheckBox.STATE_CHECKED
            checkedCount == 0 -> MaterialCheckBox.STATE_UNCHECKED
            else -> MaterialCheckBox.STATE_INDETERMINATE
        }
        parent.addOnCheckedStateChangedListener(parentListener)
    }
}
children.forEach { it.addOnCheckedStateChangedListener(childListener) }
children[0].isChecked = true

Anatomy and Key Properties 📏

A checkbox consists of a container and an icon, with an optional label. ✅

Container: Rounded square, holds icon.
Icon: Checkmark or dash, indicates state. 📍
Label: Descriptive text, optional. ✍️

Attributes 📋

Element	Attribute	Related method(s)	Default value
Container	`app:buttonTint`	`setButtonTintList`, `getButtonTintList`	`?attr/colorOnSurface` (states)
Container	`app:buttonIcon`	`setButtonIconDrawable`, `getButtonIconDrawable`	`@mtrl_checkbox_button_icon`
Icon	`app:buttonIconTint`	`setButtonIconTintList`, `getButtonIconTintList`	`?attr/colorOnPrimary` (states)
Label	`android:text`	`setText`, `getText`	`null`
State	`app:checkedState`	`setCheckedState`	`unchecked`

Styles 🎨

Default style: Widget.Material3.CompoundButton.CheckBox
Default style theme attribute: ?attr/checkboxStyle

See the full list of styles and attrs. 🔗

Theming Checkboxes 🖌️

Material Theming customizes checkbox colors and typography. 🎨

Theming Example 💻

Theming example for checkboxes:

Specific styles for checkboxes without affecting other components:

FAQ ❓

What are Material 3 Checkboxes? 🤔

Controls for selecting multiple options or toggling settings. ✅

What states do they support? 🔢

Checked, unchecked, indeterminate, and error states. 📋

When to use indeterminate state? 🖋️

Use for parent checkboxes when some, but not all, children are checked. 🔄

How to make them accessible? ♿

Labels are auto-provided for TalkBack; add custom contentDescription if needed. 🗣️

Can I customize appearance? 🎨

Yes, theme colors and typography via res/values/styles.xml. 🖌️

How to add the Material 3 library? 📦

Include the Material Components for Android library. See the Get Started guide. 🛠️

Are there updates for 2025? 🗓️

This guide reflects 2025 Material 3 standards for checkboxes. 🚀

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