[android] How can I make sticky headers in RecyclerView? (Without external lib)

I want to fix my header views in the top of the screen like in the image below and without using external libraries.

In my case, I don't want to do it alphabetically. I have two different types of views (Header and normal). I only want to fix to the top, the last header.

The answer has already been here. If you don't want to use any library, you can follow these steps:

1. Sort list with data by name
2. Iterate via list with data, and in place when current's item first letter != first letter of next item, insert "special" kind of object.
3. Inside your Adapter place special view when item is "special".

Explanation:

In onCreateViewHolder method we can check viewType and depending on the value (our "special" kind) inflate a special layout.

For example:

public static final int TITLE = 0;
public static final int ITEM = 1;

@Override
public RecyclerView.ViewHolder onCreateViewHolder(ViewGroup parent, int viewType) {
    if (context == null) {
        context = parent.getContext();
    }
    if (viewType == TITLE) {
        view = LayoutInflater.from(context).inflate(R.layout.recycler_adapter_title, parent,false);
        return new TitleElement(view);
    } else if (viewType == ITEM) {
        view = LayoutInflater.from(context).inflate(R.layout.recycler_adapter_item, parent,false);
        return new ItemElement(view);
    }
    return null;
}

where class ItemElement and class TitleElement can look like ordinary ViewHolder :

public class ItemElement extends RecyclerView.ViewHolder {
//TextView text;

public ItemElement(View view) {
    super(view);
   //text = (TextView) view.findViewById(R.id.text);

}

So the idea of all of that is interesting. But i am interested if it's effectively, cause we need to sort the data list. And i think this will take the speed down. If any thoughts about it, please write me :)

And also the opened question : is how to hold the "special" layout on the top, while the items are recycling. Maybe combine all of that with CoordinatorLayout.

to anyone looking for solution to the flickering/blinking issue when you already have DividerItemDecoration. i seem to have solved it like this:

override fun onDrawOver(...)
    {
        //code from before

       //do NOT return on null
        val childInContact = getChildInContact(recyclerView, currentHeader.bottom)
        //add null check
        if (childInContact != null && mHeaderListener.isHeader(recyclerView.getChildAdapterPosition(childInContact)))
        {
            moveHeader(...)
            return
        }
    drawHeader(...)
}

this seems to be working but can anyone confirm i did not break anything else?

Yo,

This is how you do it if you want just one type of holder stick when it starts getting out of the screen (we are not caring about any sections). There is only one way without breaking the internal RecyclerView logic of recycling items and that is to inflate additional view on top of the recyclerView's header item and pass data into it. I'll let the code speak.

import android.graphics.Canvas
import android.graphics.Rect
import android.view.LayoutInflater
import android.view.View
import android.view.ViewGroup
import androidx.annotation.LayoutRes
import androidx.recyclerview.widget.RecyclerView

class StickyHeaderItemDecoration(@LayoutRes private val headerId: Int, private val HEADER_TYPE: Int) : RecyclerView.ItemDecoration() {

private lateinit var stickyHeaderView: View
private lateinit var headerView: View

private var sticked = false

// executes on each bind and sets the stickyHeaderView
override fun getItemOffsets(outRect: Rect, view: View, parent: RecyclerView, state: RecyclerView.State) {
    super.getItemOffsets(outRect, view, parent, state)

    val position = parent.getChildAdapterPosition(view)

    val adapter = parent.adapter ?: return
    val viewType = adapter.getItemViewType(position)

    if (viewType == HEADER_TYPE) {
        headerView = view
    }
}

override fun onDrawOver(c: Canvas, parent: RecyclerView, state: RecyclerView.State) {
    super.onDrawOver(c, parent, state)
    if (::headerView.isInitialized) {

        if (headerView.y <= 0 && !sticked) {
            stickyHeaderView = createHeaderView(parent)
            fixLayoutSize(parent, stickyHeaderView)
            sticked = true
        }

        if (headerView.y > 0 && sticked) {
            sticked = false
        }

        if (sticked) {
            drawStickedHeader(c)
        }
    }
}

private fun createHeaderView(parent: RecyclerView) = LayoutInflater.from(parent.context).inflate(headerId, parent, false)

private fun drawStickedHeader(c: Canvas) {
    c.save()
    c.translate(0f, Math.max(0f, stickyHeaderView.top.toFloat() - stickyHeaderView.height.toFloat()))
    headerView.draw(c)
    c.restore()
}

private fun fixLayoutSize(parent: ViewGroup, view: View) {

    // Specs for parent (RecyclerView)
    val widthSpec = View.MeasureSpec.makeMeasureSpec(parent.width, View.MeasureSpec.EXACTLY)
    val heightSpec = View.MeasureSpec.makeMeasureSpec(parent.height, View.MeasureSpec.UNSPECIFIED)

    // Specs for children (headers)
    val childWidthSpec = ViewGroup.getChildMeasureSpec(widthSpec, parent.paddingLeft + parent.paddingRight, view.getLayoutParams().width)
    val childHeightSpec = ViewGroup.getChildMeasureSpec(heightSpec, parent.paddingTop + parent.paddingBottom, view.getLayoutParams().height)

    view.measure(childWidthSpec, childHeightSpec)

    view.layout(0, 0, view.measuredWidth, view.measuredHeight)
}

}

And then you just do this in your adapter:

override fun onAttachedToRecyclerView(recyclerView: RecyclerView) {
    super.onAttachedToRecyclerView(recyclerView)
    recyclerView.addItemDecoration(StickyHeaderItemDecoration(R.layout.item_time_filter, YOUR_STICKY_VIEW_HOLDER_TYPE))
}

Where YOUR_STICKY_VIEW_HOLDER_TYPE is viewType of your what is supposed to be sticky holder.

you can get sticky header functionality by copying these 2 files into your project. i had no issues with this implementation:

• can interact with the sticy header (tap/long press/swipe)
• the sticky header hides and reveals itself properly...even if each view holder has a different height (some other answers here don't handle that properly, causing the wrong headers to show, or the headers to jump up and down)

see an example of the 2 files being used in this small github project i whipped up

You can check and take the implementation of the class StickyHeaderHelper in my FlexibleAdapter project, and adapt it to your use case.

But, I suggest to use the library since it simplifies and reorganizes the way you usually implement the Adapters for RecyclerView: Don't reinvent the wheel.

I would also say, don't use Decorators or deprecated libraries, as well as don't use libraries that do only 1 or 3 things, you will have to merge implementations of others libraries yourself.

For those who may concern. Based on Sevastyan's answer, should you want to make it horizontal scroll. Simply change all getBottom() to getRight() and getTop() to getLeft()

Here I will explain how to do it without an external library. It will be a very long post, so brace yourself.

First of all, let me acknowledge @tim.paetz whose post inspired me to set off to a journey of implementing my own sticky headers using ItemDecorations. I borrowed some parts of his code in my implementation.

As you might have already experienced, if you attempted to do it yourself, it is very hard to find a good explanation of HOW to actually do it with the ItemDecoration technique. I mean, what are the steps? What is the logic behind it? How do I make the header stick on top of the list? Not knowing answers to these questions is what makes others to use external libraries, while doing it yourself with the use of ItemDecoration is pretty easy.

Initial conditions

1. You dataset should be a list of items of different type (not in a "Java types" sense, but in a "header/item" types sense).
2. Your list should be already sorted.
3. Every item in the list should be of certain type - there should be a header item related to it.
4. Very first item in the list must be a header item.

Here I provide full code for my RecyclerView.ItemDecoration called HeaderItemDecoration. Then I explain the steps taken in detail.

public class HeaderItemDecoration extends RecyclerView.ItemDecoration {

 private StickyHeaderInterface mListener;
 private int mStickyHeaderHeight;

 public HeaderItemDecoration(RecyclerView recyclerView, @NonNull StickyHeaderInterface listener) {
  mListener = listener;

  // On Sticky Header Click
  recyclerView.addOnItemTouchListener(new RecyclerView.OnItemTouchListener() {
   public boolean onInterceptTouchEvent(RecyclerView recyclerView, MotionEvent motionEvent) {
    if (motionEvent.getY() <= mStickyHeaderHeight) {
     // Handle the clicks on the header here ...
     return true;
    }
    return false;
   }

   public void onTouchEvent(RecyclerView recyclerView, MotionEvent motionEvent) {

   }

   public void onRequestDisallowInterceptTouchEvent(boolean disallowIntercept) {

   }
  });
 }

 @Override
 public void onDrawOver(Canvas c, RecyclerView parent, RecyclerView.State state) {
  super.onDrawOver(c, parent, state);

  View topChild = parent.getChildAt(0);
  if (Util.isNull(topChild)) {
   return;
  }

  int topChildPosition = parent.getChildAdapterPosition(topChild);
  if (topChildPosition == RecyclerView.NO_POSITION) {
   return;
  }

  View currentHeader = getHeaderViewForItem(topChildPosition, parent);
  fixLayoutSize(parent, currentHeader);
  int contactPoint = currentHeader.getBottom();
  View childInContact = getChildInContact(parent, contactPoint);
  if (Util.isNull(childInContact)) {
   return;
  }

  if (mListener.isHeader(parent.getChildAdapterPosition(childInContact))) {
   moveHeader(c, currentHeader, childInContact);
   return;
  }

  drawHeader(c, currentHeader);
 }

 private View getHeaderViewForItem(int itemPosition, RecyclerView parent) {
  int headerPosition = mListener.getHeaderPositionForItem(itemPosition);
  int layoutResId = mListener.getHeaderLayout(headerPosition);
  View header = LayoutInflater.from(parent.getContext()).inflate(layoutResId, parent, false);
  mListener.bindHeaderData(header, headerPosition);
  return header;
 }

 private void drawHeader(Canvas c, View header) {
  c.save();
  c.translate(0, 0);
  header.draw(c);
  c.restore();
 }

 private void moveHeader(Canvas c, View currentHeader, View nextHeader) {
  c.save();
  c.translate(0, nextHeader.getTop() - currentHeader.getHeight());
  currentHeader.draw(c);
  c.restore();
 }

 private View getChildInContact(RecyclerView parent, int contactPoint) {
  View childInContact = null;
  for (int i = 0; i < parent.getChildCount(); i++) {
   View child = parent.getChildAt(i);
   if (child.getBottom() > contactPoint) {
    if (child.getTop() <= contactPoint) {
     // This child overlaps the contactPoint
     childInContact = child;
     break;
    }
   }
  }
  return childInContact;
 }

 /**
  * Properly measures and layouts the top sticky header.
  * @param parent ViewGroup: RecyclerView in this case.
  */
 private void fixLayoutSize(ViewGroup parent, View view) {

  // Specs for parent (RecyclerView)
  int widthSpec = View.MeasureSpec.makeMeasureSpec(parent.getWidth(), View.MeasureSpec.EXACTLY);
  int heightSpec = View.MeasureSpec.makeMeasureSpec(parent.getHeight(), View.MeasureSpec.UNSPECIFIED);

  // Specs for children (headers)
  int childWidthSpec = ViewGroup.getChildMeasureSpec(widthSpec, parent.getPaddingLeft() + parent.getPaddingRight(), view.getLayoutParams().width);
  int childHeightSpec = ViewGroup.getChildMeasureSpec(heightSpec, parent.getPaddingTop() + parent.getPaddingBottom(), view.getLayoutParams().height);

  view.measure(childWidthSpec, childHeightSpec);

  view.layout(0, 0, view.getMeasuredWidth(), mStickyHeaderHeight = view.getMeasuredHeight());
 }

 public interface StickyHeaderInterface {

  /**
   * This method gets called by {@link HeaderItemDecoration} to fetch the position of the header item in the adapter
   * that is used for (represents) item at specified position.
   * @param itemPosition int. Adapter's position of the item for which to do the search of the position of the header item.
   * @return int. Position of the header item in the adapter.
   */
  int getHeaderPositionForItem(int itemPosition);

  /**
   * This method gets called by {@link HeaderItemDecoration} to get layout resource id for the header item at specified adapter's position.
   * @param headerPosition int. Position of the header item in the adapter.
   * @return int. Layout resource id.
   */
  int getHeaderLayout(int headerPosition);

  /**
   * This method gets called by {@link HeaderItemDecoration} to setup the header View.
   * @param header View. Header to set the data on.
   * @param headerPosition int. Position of the header item in the adapter.
   */
  void bindHeaderData(View header, int headerPosition);

  /**
   * This method gets called by {@link HeaderItemDecoration} to verify whether the item represents a header.
   * @param itemPosition int.
   * @return true, if item at the specified adapter's position represents a header.
   */
  boolean isHeader(int itemPosition);
 }
}

Business logic

So, how do I make it stick?

You don't. You can't make a RecyclerView's item of your choice just stop and stick on top, unless you are a guru of custom layouts and you know 12,000+ lines of code for a RecyclerView by heart. So, as it always goes with the UI design, if you can't make something, fake it. You just draw the header on top of everything using Canvas. You also should know which items the user can see at the moment. It just happens, that ItemDecoration can provide you with both the Canvas and information about visible items. With this, here are basic steps:

1. In onDrawOver method of RecyclerView.ItemDecoration get the very first (top) item that is visible to the user.

       View topChild = parent.getChildAt(0);
   

2. Determine which header represents it.

           int topChildPosition = parent.getChildAdapterPosition(topChild);
       View currentHeader = getHeaderViewForItem(topChildPosition, parent);
   

3. Draw the appropriate header on top of the RecyclerView by using drawHeader() method.

I also want to implement the behavior when the new upcoming header meets the top one: it should seem as the upcoming header gently pushes the top current header out of the view and takes his place eventually.

Same technique of "drawing on top of everything" applies here.

1. Determine when the top "stuck" header meets the new upcoming one.

           View childInContact = getChildInContact(parent, contactPoint);
   

2. Get this contact point (that is the bottom of the sticky header your drew and the top of the upcoming header).

           int contactPoint = currentHeader.getBottom();
   

3. If the item in the list is trespassing this "contact point", redraw your sticky header so its bottom will be at the top of the trespassing item. You achieve this with translate() method of the Canvas. As the result, the starting point of the top header will be out of visible area, and it will seem as "being pushed out by the upcoming header". When it is completely gone, draw the new header on top.

           if (childInContact != null) {
           if (mListener.isHeader(parent.getChildAdapterPosition(childInContact))) {
               moveHeader(c, currentHeader, childInContact);
           } else {
               drawHeader(c, currentHeader);
           }
       }
   

The rest is explained by comments and thorough annotations in piece of code I provided.

The usage is straight forward:

mRecyclerView.addItemDecoration(new HeaderItemDecoration((HeaderItemDecoration.StickyHeaderInterface) mAdapter));

Your mAdapter must implement StickyHeaderInterface for it to work. The implementation depends on the data you have.

Finally, here I provide a gif with a half-transparent headers, so you can grasp the idea and actually see what is going on under the hood.

Here is the illustration of "just draw on top of everything" concept. You can see that there are two items "header 1" - one that we draw and stays on top in a stuck position, and the other one that comes from the dataset and moves with all the rest items. The user won't see the inner-workings of it, because you'll won't have half-transparent headers.

And here what happens in the "pushing out" phase:

Hope it helped.

Edit

Here is my actual implementation of getHeaderPositionForItem() method in the RecyclerView's adapter:

@Override
public int getHeaderPositionForItem(int itemPosition) {
    int headerPosition = 0;
    do {
        if (this.isHeader(itemPosition)) {
            headerPosition = itemPosition;
            break;
        }
        itemPosition -= 1;
    } while (itemPosition >= 0);
    return headerPosition;
}

Slightly different implementation in Kotlin

Another solution, based on scroll listener. Initial conditions are the same as in Sevastyan answer

RecyclerView recyclerView;
TextView tvTitle; //sticky header view

//... onCreate, initialize, etc...

public void bindList(List<Item> items) { //All data in adapter. Item - just interface for different item types
    adapter = new YourAdapter(items);
    recyclerView.setAdapter(adapter);
    StickyHeaderViewManager<HeaderItem> stickyHeaderViewManager = new StickyHeaderViewManager<>(
            tvTitle,
            recyclerView,
            HeaderItem.class, //HeaderItem - subclass of Item, used to detect headers in list
            data -> { // bind function for sticky header view
                tvTitle.setText(data.getTitle());
            });
    stickyHeaderViewManager.attach(items);
}

Layout for ViewHolder and sticky header.

item_header.xml

<TextView xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
    android:id="@+id/tv_title"
    android:layout_width="match_parent"
    android:layout_height="wrap_content"/>

Layout for RecyclerView

<FrameLayout
    android:layout_width="match_parent"
    android:layout_height="match_parent">

    <android.support.v7.widget.RecyclerView
        android:id="@+id/recycler_view"
        android:layout_width="match_parent"
        android:layout_height="match_parent"/>

    <!--it can be any view, but order important, draw over recyclerView-->
    <include
        layout="@layout/item_header"/>

</FrameLayout>

Class for HeaderItem.

public class HeaderItem implements Item {

    private String title;

    public HeaderItem(String title) {
        this.title = title;
    }

    public String getTitle() {
        return title;
    }

}

It's all use. The implementation of the adapter, ViewHolder and other things, is not interesting for us.

public class StickyHeaderViewManager<T> {

    @Nonnull
    private View headerView;

    @Nonnull
    private RecyclerView recyclerView;

    @Nonnull
    private StickyHeaderViewWrapper<T> viewWrapper;

    @Nonnull
    private Class<T> headerDataClass;

    private List<?> items;

    public StickyHeaderViewManager(@Nonnull View headerView,
                                   @Nonnull RecyclerView recyclerView,
                                   @Nonnull Class<T> headerDataClass,
                                   @Nonnull StickyHeaderViewWrapper<T> viewWrapper) {
        this.headerView = headerView;
        this.viewWrapper = viewWrapper;
        this.recyclerView = recyclerView;
        this.headerDataClass = headerDataClass;
    }

    public void attach(@Nonnull List<?> items) {
        this.items = items;
        if (ViewCompat.isLaidOut(headerView)) {
            bindHeader(recyclerView);
        } else {
            headerView.post(() -> bindHeader(recyclerView));
        }

        recyclerView.addOnScrollListener(new RecyclerView.OnScrollListener() {

            @Override
            public void onScrolled(RecyclerView recyclerView, int dx, int dy) {
                super.onScrolled(recyclerView, dx, dy);
                bindHeader(recyclerView);
            }
        });
    }

    private void bindHeader(RecyclerView recyclerView) {
        if (items.isEmpty()) {
            headerView.setVisibility(View.GONE);
            return;
        } else {
            headerView.setVisibility(View.VISIBLE);
        }

        View topView = recyclerView.getChildAt(0);
        if (topView == null) {
            return;
        }
        int topPosition = recyclerView.getChildAdapterPosition(topView);
        if (!isValidPosition(topPosition)) {
            return;
        }
        if (topPosition == 0 && topView.getTop() == recyclerView.getTop()) {
            headerView.setVisibility(View.GONE);
            return;
        } else {
            headerView.setVisibility(View.VISIBLE);
        }

        T stickyItem;
        Object firstItem = items.get(topPosition);
        if (headerDataClass.isInstance(firstItem)) {
            stickyItem = headerDataClass.cast(firstItem);
            headerView.setTranslationY(0);
        } else {
            stickyItem = findNearestHeader(topPosition);
            int secondPosition = topPosition + 1;
            if (isValidPosition(secondPosition)) {
                Object secondItem = items.get(secondPosition);
                if (headerDataClass.isInstance(secondItem)) {
                    View secondView = recyclerView.getChildAt(1);
                    if (secondView != null) {
                        moveViewFor(secondView);
                    }
                } else {
                    headerView.setTranslationY(0);
                }
            }
        }

        if (stickyItem != null) {
            viewWrapper.bindView(stickyItem);
        }
    }

    private void moveViewFor(View secondView) {
        if (secondView.getTop() <= headerView.getBottom()) {
            headerView.setTranslationY(secondView.getTop() - headerView.getHeight());
        } else {
            headerView.setTranslationY(0);
        }
    }

    private T findNearestHeader(int position) {
        for (int i = position; position >= 0; i--) {
            Object item = items.get(i);
            if (headerDataClass.isInstance(item)) {
                return headerDataClass.cast(item);
            }
        }
        return null;
    }

    private boolean isValidPosition(int position) {
        return !(position == RecyclerView.NO_POSITION || position >= items.size());
    }
}

Interface for bind header view.

public interface StickyHeaderViewWrapper<T> {

    void bindView(T data);
}

I've made my own variation of Sevastyan's solution above

class HeaderItemDecoration(recyclerView: RecyclerView, private val listener: StickyHeaderInterface) : RecyclerView.ItemDecoration() {

private val headerContainer = FrameLayout(recyclerView.context)
private var stickyHeaderHeight: Int = 0
private var currentHeader: View? = null
private var currentHeaderPosition = 0

init {
    val layout = RelativeLayout(recyclerView.context)
    val params = recyclerView.layoutParams
    val parent = recyclerView.parent as ViewGroup
    val index = parent.indexOfChild(recyclerView)
    parent.addView(layout, index, params)
    parent.removeView(recyclerView)
    layout.addView(recyclerView, LayoutParams.MATCH_PARENT, LayoutParams.MATCH_PARENT)
    layout.addView(headerContainer, LayoutParams.MATCH_PARENT, LayoutParams.WRAP_CONTENT)
}

override fun onDrawOver(c: Canvas, parent: RecyclerView, state: RecyclerView.State) {
    super.onDrawOver(c, parent, state)

    val topChild = parent.getChildAt(0) ?: return

    val topChildPosition = parent.getChildAdapterPosition(topChild)
    if (topChildPosition == RecyclerView.NO_POSITION) {
        return
    }

    val currentHeader = getHeaderViewForItem(topChildPosition, parent)
    fixLayoutSize(parent, currentHeader)
    val contactPoint = currentHeader.bottom
    val childInContact = getChildInContact(parent, contactPoint) ?: return

    val nextPosition = parent.getChildAdapterPosition(childInContact)
    if (listener.isHeader(nextPosition)) {
        moveHeader(currentHeader, childInContact, topChildPosition, nextPosition)
        return
    }

    drawHeader(currentHeader, topChildPosition)
}

private fun getHeaderViewForItem(itemPosition: Int, parent: RecyclerView): View {
    val headerPosition = listener.getHeaderPositionForItem(itemPosition)
    val layoutResId = listener.getHeaderLayout(headerPosition)
    val header = LayoutInflater.from(parent.context).inflate(layoutResId, parent, false)
    listener.bindHeaderData(header, headerPosition)
    return header
}

private fun drawHeader(header: View, position: Int) {
    headerContainer.layoutParams.height = stickyHeaderHeight
    setCurrentHeader(header, position)
}

private fun moveHeader(currentHead: View, nextHead: View, currentPos: Int, nextPos: Int) {
    val marginTop = nextHead.top - currentHead.height
    if (currentHeaderPosition == nextPos && currentPos != nextPos) setCurrentHeader(currentHead, currentPos)

    val params = currentHeader?.layoutParams as? MarginLayoutParams ?: return
    params.setMargins(0, marginTop, 0, 0)
    currentHeader?.layoutParams = params

    headerContainer.layoutParams.height = stickyHeaderHeight + marginTop
}

private fun setCurrentHeader(header: View, position: Int) {
    currentHeader = header
    currentHeaderPosition = position
    headerContainer.removeAllViews()
    headerContainer.addView(currentHeader)
}

private fun getChildInContact(parent: RecyclerView, contactPoint: Int): View? =
        (0 until parent.childCount)
            .map { parent.getChildAt(it) }
            .firstOrNull { it.bottom > contactPoint && it.top <= contactPoint }

private fun fixLayoutSize(parent: ViewGroup, view: View) {

    val widthSpec = View.MeasureSpec.makeMeasureSpec(parent.width, View.MeasureSpec.EXACTLY)
    val heightSpec = View.MeasureSpec.makeMeasureSpec(parent.height, View.MeasureSpec.UNSPECIFIED)

    val childWidthSpec = ViewGroup.getChildMeasureSpec(widthSpec,
            parent.paddingLeft + parent.paddingRight,
            view.layoutParams.width)
    val childHeightSpec = ViewGroup.getChildMeasureSpec(heightSpec,
            parent.paddingTop + parent.paddingBottom,
            view.layoutParams.height)

    view.measure(childWidthSpec, childHeightSpec)

    stickyHeaderHeight = view.measuredHeight
    view.layout(0, 0, view.measuredWidth, stickyHeaderHeight)
}

interface StickyHeaderInterface {

    fun getHeaderPositionForItem(itemPosition: Int): Int

    fun getHeaderLayout(headerPosition: Int): Int

    fun bindHeaderData(header: View, headerPosition: Int)

    fun isHeader(itemPosition: Int): Boolean
}
}

... and here is implementation of StickyHeaderInterface (I did it directly in recycler adapter):

override fun getHeaderPositionForItem(itemPosition: Int): Int =
    (itemPosition downTo 0)
        .map { Pair(isHeader(it), it) }
        .firstOrNull { it.first }?.second ?: RecyclerView.NO_POSITION

override fun getHeaderLayout(headerPosition: Int): Int {
    /* ... 
      return something like R.layout.view_header
      or add conditions if you have different headers on different positions
    ... */
}

override fun bindHeaderData(header: View, headerPosition: Int) {
    if (headerPosition == RecyclerView.NO_POSITION) header.layoutParams.height = 0
    else /* ...
      here you get your header and can change some data on it
    ... */
}

override fun isHeader(itemPosition: Int): Boolean {
    /* ...
      here have to be condition for checking - is item on this position header
    ... */
}

So, in this case header is not just drawing on canvas, but view with selector or ripple, clicklistener, etc.

Easiest way is to just create an Item Decoration for your RecyclerView.

import android.graphics.Canvas;
import android.graphics.Rect;
import android.support.annotation.NonNull;
import android.support.v7.widget.RecyclerView;
import android.view.LayoutInflater;
import android.view.View;
import android.view.ViewGroup;
import android.widget.TextView;

public class RecyclerSectionItemDecoration extends RecyclerView.ItemDecoration {

private final int             headerOffset;
private final boolean         sticky;
private final SectionCallback sectionCallback;

private View     headerView;
private TextView header;

public RecyclerSectionItemDecoration(int headerHeight, boolean sticky, @NonNull SectionCallback sectionCallback) {
    headerOffset = headerHeight;
    this.sticky = sticky;
    this.sectionCallback = sectionCallback;
}

@Override
public void getItemOffsets(Rect outRect, View view, RecyclerView parent, RecyclerView.State state) {
    super.getItemOffsets(outRect, view, parent, state);

    int pos = parent.getChildAdapterPosition(view);
    if (sectionCallback.isSection(pos)) {
        outRect.top = headerOffset;
    }
}

@Override
public void onDrawOver(Canvas c, RecyclerView parent, RecyclerView.State state) {
    super.onDrawOver(c,
                     parent,
                     state);

    if (headerView == null) {
        headerView = inflateHeaderView(parent);
        header = (TextView) headerView.findViewById(R.id.list_item_section_text);
        fixLayoutSize(headerView,
                      parent);
    }

    CharSequence previousHeader = "";
    for (int i = 0; i < parent.getChildCount(); i++) {
        View child = parent.getChildAt(i);
        final int position = parent.getChildAdapterPosition(child);

        CharSequence title = sectionCallback.getSectionHeader(position);
        header.setText(title);
        if (!previousHeader.equals(title) || sectionCallback.isSection(position)) {
            drawHeader(c,
                       child,
                       headerView);
            previousHeader = title;
        }
    }
}

private void drawHeader(Canvas c, View child, View headerView) {
    c.save();
    if (sticky) {
        c.translate(0,
                    Math.max(0,
                             child.getTop() - headerView.getHeight()));
    } else {
        c.translate(0,
                    child.getTop() - headerView.getHeight());
    }
    headerView.draw(c);
    c.restore();
}

private View inflateHeaderView(RecyclerView parent) {
    return LayoutInflater.from(parent.getContext())
                         .inflate(R.layout.recycler_section_header,
                                  parent,
                                  false);
}

/**
 * Measures the header view to make sure its size is greater than 0 and will be drawn
 * https://yoda.entelect.co.za/view/9627/how-to-android-recyclerview-item-decorations
 */
private void fixLayoutSize(View view, ViewGroup parent) {
    int widthSpec = View.MeasureSpec.makeMeasureSpec(parent.getWidth(),
                                                     View.MeasureSpec.EXACTLY);
    int heightSpec = View.MeasureSpec.makeMeasureSpec(parent.getHeight(),
                                                      View.MeasureSpec.UNSPECIFIED);

    int childWidth = ViewGroup.getChildMeasureSpec(widthSpec,
                                                   parent.getPaddingLeft() + parent.getPaddingRight(),
                                                   view.getLayoutParams().width);
    int childHeight = ViewGroup.getChildMeasureSpec(heightSpec,
                                                    parent.getPaddingTop() + parent.getPaddingBottom(),
                                                    view.getLayoutParams().height);

    view.measure(childWidth,
                 childHeight);

    view.layout(0,
                0,
                view.getMeasuredWidth(),
                view.getMeasuredHeight());
}

public interface SectionCallback {

    boolean isSection(int position);

    CharSequence getSectionHeader(int position);
}

}

XML for your header in recycler_section_header.xml:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<TextView xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
    android:id="@+id/list_item_section_text"
    android:layout_width="match_parent"
    android:layout_height="@dimen/recycler_section_header_height"
    android:background="@android:color/black"
    android:paddingLeft="10dp"
    android:paddingRight="10dp"
    android:textColor="@android:color/white"
    android:textSize="14sp"
/>

And finally to add the Item Decoration to your RecyclerView:

RecyclerSectionItemDecoration sectionItemDecoration =
        new RecyclerSectionItemDecoration(getResources().getDimensionPixelSize(R.dimen.recycler_section_header_height),
                                          true, // true for sticky, false for not
                                          new RecyclerSectionItemDecoration.SectionCallback() {
                                              @Override
                                              public boolean isSection(int position) {
                                                  return position == 0
                                                      || people.get(position)
                                                               .getLastName()
                                                               .charAt(0) != people.get(position - 1)
                                                                                   .getLastName()
                                                                                   .charAt(0);
                                              }

                                              @Override
                                              public CharSequence getSectionHeader(int position) {
                                                  return people.get(position)
                                                               .getLastName()
                                                               .subSequence(0,
                                                                            1);
                                              }
                                          });
    recyclerView.addItemDecoration(sectionItemDecoration);

With this Item Decoration you can either make the header pinned/sticky or not with just a boolean when creating the Item Decoration.

You can find a complete working example on github: https://github.com/paetztm/recycler_view_headers