material-components / material-components/material-components-android

Implement a new EditText-like component designed to be optimized for large amounts of data

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feature request New component
Dominant language
Java
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Description

Is your feature request related to a problem? Please describe.

Currently, EditText struggles with handling large amounts of text efficiently, often resulting in significant lag and performance issues. This makes it difficult for applications that rely on extensive text input or display, such as note-taking apps, to provide a smooth user experience.

Describe the solution you'd like

It would be highly beneficial to introduce a new text-handling component for both EditText and TextView that functions similarly to a RecyclerView, rendering only the visible portion of the text dynamically. This would dramatically improve performance by reducing memory usage and processing overhead. A solution like this would eliminate the need for developers to implement complex workarounds, such as manually integrating RecyclerView or other intricate methods, just to handle large text efficiently.

Describe alternatives you've considered

I initially attempted to use TextView and EditText to manage large text inputs, but the result was severe lag and stuttering. Switching to RecyclerView or ListView provided some relief but added unnecessary complexity, making text display and editing far more cumbersome than it should be. A native, optimized solution would be a game-changer.

Additional context

I sincerely hope this request is considered for future releases, as it would greatly enhance performance and usability for text-heavy applications and make it easier on the developers of apps such as Note Taking, Code Editing, and more.

Contributor guide

Open the contributing guide

First steps

  1. Read the whole issue, then the project's contributing guide.
  2. Comment on the issue to say you are picking it up — it saves two people doing the same work.
  3. Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
  4. Open a pull request that references the issue number.

Research direction

Start by reviewing the existing EditText and TextView behavior for large text, then compare the RecyclerView and ListView approaches mentioned in the issue. A complete solution would provide a native component for text display and editing that renders only the visible portion while reducing lag and memory overhead.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
android, java
Domain
mobile
Issue type
Feature
Difficulty
5/5
Estimated time
Over a week
Activity status
Stale
Clarity
Needs clarification
Newbie friendliness
20/100

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