Ultimate Guide to Material 3 Radio Buttons in Android XML (2025 Tutorial + Examples)

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

Overview 📖

Material 3 Radio Buttons allow users to select a single option from a list, ideal for presenting all available choices visibly. This guide covers their implementation, accessibility, and theming for 2025. 🔘

Design and API Documentation 🔗

• Google Material 3 Radio Button Spec
• API Reference

Using Radio Buttons 🤖

Add the Material Components for Android library dependency to use Material 3 Radio Buttons. See the Get Started guide. Use RadioButton with a Theme.Material3.* theme for auto-inflation to MaterialRadioButton, grouped in a RadioGroup. 🛠️

Making Radio Buttons Accessible ♿

Radio buttons are readable by TalkBack, with text labels auto-provided. Additional android:contentDescription is usually unnecessary but can be added for clarity. Ensure sufficient contrast for visibility. See the Android accessibility guide. 🗣️

Behavior and Configuration 🎬

Group radio buttons in a RadioGroup to ensure single selection. Handle state changes with listeners. Configure via XML attributes or programmatically. Example:

      
val radioGroup = findViewById(R.id.radio_group)
radioGroup.setOnCheckedChangeListener { _, checkedId ->
    // Handle selection
}
val radioButton = findViewById(R.id.radio_button_1)
radioButton.isChecked = true
      
      
    

Radio Button Anatomy 🌟

Material 3 Radio Buttons consist of a circular button and a text label, with states for selected, unselected, enabled, disabled, hover, focused, and pressed. 🔘

• Button: Circle, filled when selected.
• Text Label: Describes the option. ✍️

Radio Button Example 🔲

Radio Buttons enable single-choice selection, exposing all options visibly. 🔘

Radio Button Example 💻

API and source code:

• MaterialRadioButton
  • Class description
  • Class source
• RadioGroup
  • Class description

The following example shows a radio button group with two radio buttons.

      
val radioGroup = findViewById(R.id.radio_group)
radioGroup.setOnCheckedChangeListener { _, checkedId ->
    when (checkedId) {
        R.id.radio_button_1 -> { /* Handle option 1 */ }
        R.id.radio_button_2 -> { /* Handle option 2 */ }
    }
}
      
      
    

Anatomy and Key Properties 📏

A radio button includes a circular button and text label, with multiple states. 🔘

• Button: Circle, filled when checked.
• Text Label: Option description. ✍️

Attributes 📋

Element	Attribute	Related method(s)	Default value
Button	app:buttonTint	setButtonTintList	?attr/colorOnSurface (unchecked), ?attr/colorPrimary (checked)
Material Colors	app:useMaterialThemeColors	setUseMaterialThemeColors	true
Text	android:text	setText	null
Text Appearance	android:textAppearance	setTextAppearance	?attr/textAppearanceBodyMedium

Styles 🎨

• Default style: Widget.Material3.CompoundButton.RadioButton
• Default theme attribute: ?attr/radioButtonStyle

See the full list of styles and attrs. 🔗

Theming Radio Buttons 🖌️

Material Theming customizes radio button colors and typography. 🎨

Theming Example 💻

Theming example for radio buttons:

Specific styles for radio buttons without affecting other components:

FAQ ❓

What are Material 3 Radio Buttons? 🤔

Controls for selecting one option from a list. ✅

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When to use Radio Buttons? 🔢

Use to show all options; use dropdowns for collapsible lists. 🔘

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How to group them? 🖋️

Use RadioGroup to ensure single selection. 📋

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How to make them accessible? ♿

Labels are auto-readable; add contentDescription if needed. 🗣️

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Can I customize appearance? 🎨

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

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How to add the Material 3 library? 📦

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

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Are there updates for 2025? 🗓️

This guide reflects 2025 Material 3 standards for radio buttons. 🚀