[android] How to add dividers and spaces between items in RecyclerView?

This is an example of how it could have been done previously in the ListView class, using the divider and dividerHeight parameters:

<ListView
    android:id="@+id/activity_home_list_view"
    android:layout_width="match_parent" 
    android:layout_height="match_parent"
    android:divider="@android:color/transparent"
    android:dividerHeight="8dp"/>

However, I don't see such possibility in the RecyclerView class.

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

In that case, is it ok to define margins and/or add a custom divider view directly into a list item's layout or is there a better way to achieve my goal?

October 2016 Update

The version 25.0.0 of Android Support Library introduced DividerItemDecoration class:

DividerItemDecoration is a RecyclerView.ItemDecoration that can be used as a divider between items of a LinearLayoutManager. It supports both HORIZONTAL and VERTICAL orientations.

Usage:

DividerItemDecoration dividerItemDecoration = new DividerItemDecoration(recyclerView.getContext(),
    layoutManager.getOrientation());
recyclerView.addItemDecoration(dividerItemDecoration);

Previous answer

Some answers either use methods that have since become deprecated, or don't give a complete solution, so I tried to do a short, up-to-date wrap-up.

Unlike ListView, the RecyclerView class has no divider-related parameters. Instead, you need to extend ItemDecoration, a RecyclerView's inner class:

An ItemDecoration allows the application to add a special drawing and layout offset to specific item views from the adapter's data set. This can be useful for drawing dividers between items, highlights, visual grouping boundaries and more.

All ItemDecorations are drawn in the order they were added, before the item views (in onDraw()) and after the items (in onDrawOver(Canvas, RecyclerView, RecyclerView.State).

Vertical spacing ItemDecoration

Extend ItemDecoration, add custom constructor which takes space height as a parameter and override getItemOffsets() method:

public class VerticalSpaceItemDecoration extends RecyclerView.ItemDecoration {

    private final int verticalSpaceHeight;

    public VerticalSpaceItemDecoration(int verticalSpaceHeight) {
        this.verticalSpaceHeight = verticalSpaceHeight;
    }

    @Override
    public void getItemOffsets(Rect outRect, View view, RecyclerView parent,
            RecyclerView.State state) {
        outRect.bottom = verticalSpaceHeight;
    }
}

If you don't want to insert space below the last item, add the following condition:

if (parent.getChildAdapterPosition(view) != parent.getAdapter().getItemCount() - 1) {
            outRect.bottom = verticalSpaceHeight;
}

Note: you can also modify outRect.top, outRect.left and outRect.right properties for desired effect.

Divider ItemDecoration

Extend ItemDecoration and override onDraw() method:

public class DividerItemDecoration extends RecyclerView.ItemDecoration {

    private static final int[] ATTRS = new int[]{android.R.attr.listDivider};

    private Drawable divider;

    /**
     * Default divider will be used
     */
    public DividerItemDecoration(Context context) {
        final TypedArray styledAttributes = context.obtainStyledAttributes(ATTRS);
        divider = styledAttributes.getDrawable(0);
        styledAttributes.recycle();
    }

    /**
     * Custom divider will be used
     */
    public DividerItemDecoration(Context context, int resId) {
        divider = ContextCompat.getDrawable(context, resId);
    }

    @Override
    public void onDraw(Canvas c, RecyclerView parent, RecyclerView.State state) {
        int left = parent.getPaddingLeft();
        int right = parent.getWidth() - parent.getPaddingRight();

        int childCount = parent.getChildCount();
        for (int i = 0; i < childCount; i++) {
            View child = parent.getChildAt(i);

            RecyclerView.LayoutParams params = (RecyclerView.LayoutParams) child.getLayoutParams();

            int top = child.getBottom() + params.bottomMargin;
            int bottom = top + divider.getIntrinsicHeight();

            divider.setBounds(left, top, right, bottom);
            divider.draw(c);
        }
    }
}

You can either call the first constructor that uses the default Android divider attributes, or the second one that uses your own drawable, for example drawable/divider.xml

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<shape xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
       android:shape="rectangle">
    <size android:height="1dp" />
    <solid android:color="#ff992900" />
</shape>

Note: if you want the divider to be drawn over your items, override onDrawOver() method instead.

Usage

To use your new class add VerticalSpaceItemDecoration or DividerSpaceItemDecoration to RecyclerView, for example in your fragment's onCreateView() method:

private static final int VERTICAL_ITEM_SPACE = 48;
private RecyclerView recyclerView;
private LinearLayoutManager linearLayoutManager;
@Override
public View onCreateView(LayoutInflater inflater, ViewGroup container,
        Bundle savedInstanceState) {
    View rootView = inflater.inflate(R.layout.fragment_feed, container, false);

    recyclerView = (RecyclerView) rootView.findViewById(R.id.fragment_home_recycler_view);
    linearLayoutManager = new LinearLayoutManager(getActivity());
    recyclerView.setLayoutManager(linearLayoutManager);
    
    //add ItemDecoration
    recyclerView.addItemDecoration(new VerticalSpaceItemDecoration(VERTICAL_ITEM_SPACE));
    //or
    recyclerView.addItemDecoration(new DividerItemDecoration(getActivity()));
    //or
    recyclerView.addItemDecoration(
            new DividerItemDecoration(getActivity(), R.drawable.divider));

    recyclerView.setAdapter(...);

    return rootView;
}

There's also Lucas Rocha's library which is supposed to simplify the item decoration process. Haven't tried it though.

Among its features are:

• A collection of stock item decorations including:
• Item spacing Horizontal/vertical dividers.
• List item

This link worked like a charm for me:

https://gist.github.com/lapastillaroja/858caf1a82791b6c1a36

import android.content.Context;
import android.content.res.TypedArray;
import android.graphics.Canvas;
import android.graphics.Rect;
import android.graphics.drawable.Drawable;
import android.support.v7.widget.LinearLayoutManager;
import android.support.v7.widget.RecyclerView;
import android.util.AttributeSet;
import android.view.View;

public class DividerItemDecoration extends RecyclerView.ItemDecoration {

    private Drawable mDivider;
    private boolean mShowFirstDivider = false;
    private boolean mShowLastDivider = false;


    public DividerItemDecoration(Context context, AttributeSet attrs) {
        final TypedArray a = context
                .obtainStyledAttributes(attrs, new int[]{android.R.attr.listDivider});
        mDivider = a.getDrawable(0);
        a.recycle();
    }

    public DividerItemDecoration(Context context, AttributeSet attrs, boolean showFirstDivider,
            boolean showLastDivider) {
        this(context, attrs);
        mShowFirstDivider = showFirstDivider;
        mShowLastDivider = showLastDivider;
    }

    public DividerItemDecoration(Drawable divider) {
        mDivider = divider;
    }

    public DividerItemDecoration(Drawable divider, boolean showFirstDivider,
            boolean showLastDivider) {
        this(divider);
        mShowFirstDivider = showFirstDivider;
        mShowLastDivider = showLastDivider;
    }

    @Override
    public void getItemOffsets(Rect outRect, View view, RecyclerView parent,
            RecyclerView.State state) {
        super.getItemOffsets(outRect, view, parent, state);
        if (mDivider == null) {
            return;
        }
        if (parent.getChildPosition(view) < 1) {
            return;
        }

        if (getOrientation(parent) == LinearLayoutManager.VERTICAL) {
            outRect.top = mDivider.getIntrinsicHeight();
        } else {
            outRect.left = mDivider.getIntrinsicWidth();
        }
    }

    @Override
    public void onDrawOver(Canvas c, RecyclerView parent, RecyclerView.State state) {
        if (mDivider == null) {
            super.onDrawOver(c, parent, state);
            return;
        }

        // Initialization needed to avoid compiler warning
        int left = 0, right = 0, top = 0, bottom = 0, size;
        int orientation = getOrientation(parent);
        int childCount = parent.getChildCount();

        if (orientation == LinearLayoutManager.VERTICAL) {
            size = mDivider.getIntrinsicHeight();
            left = parent.getPaddingLeft();
            right = parent.getWidth() - parent.getPaddingRight();
        } else { //horizontal
            size = mDivider.getIntrinsicWidth();
            top = parent.getPaddingTop();
            bottom = parent.getHeight() - parent.getPaddingBottom();
        }

        for (int i = mShowFirstDivider ? 0 : 1; i < childCount; i++) {
            View child = parent.getChildAt(i);
            RecyclerView.LayoutParams params = (RecyclerView.LayoutParams) child.getLayoutParams();

            if (orientation == LinearLayoutManager.VERTICAL) {
                top = child.getTop() - params.topMargin;
                bottom = top + size;
            } else { //horizontal
                left = child.getLeft() - params.leftMargin;
                right = left + size;
            }
            mDivider.setBounds(left, top, right, bottom);
            mDivider.draw(c);
        }

        // show last divider
        if (mShowLastDivider && childCount > 0) {
            View child = parent.getChildAt(childCount - 1);
            RecyclerView.LayoutParams params = (RecyclerView.LayoutParams) child.getLayoutParams();
            if (orientation == LinearLayoutManager.VERTICAL) {
                top = child.getBottom() + params.bottomMargin;
                bottom = top + size;
            } else { // horizontal
                left = child.getRight() + params.rightMargin;
                right = left + size;
            }
            mDivider.setBounds(left, top, right, bottom);
            mDivider.draw(c);
        }
    }

    private int getOrientation(RecyclerView parent) {
        if (parent.getLayoutManager() instanceof LinearLayoutManager) {
            LinearLayoutManager layoutManager = (LinearLayoutManager) parent.getLayoutManager();
            return layoutManager.getOrientation();
        } else {
            throw new IllegalStateException(
                    "DividerItemDecoration can only be used with a LinearLayoutManager.");
        }
    }
}

Then in your activity:

mCategoryRecyclerView.addItemDecoration(
    new DividerItemDecoration(this, null));

Or this if you are using a fragment:

mCategoryRecyclerView.addItemDecoration(
    new DividerItemDecoration(getActivity(), null));

• PrimeAdapter

By using PrimeAdapter, handling dividers in RecyclerViews could be so simple. It provides multiple functionality and more flexibility to create and manage dividers.

You can create an adapter as following: (Please see complete doc about usage in github)

val adapter = PrimeAdapter.with(recyclerView)
                    .setLayoutManager(LinearLayoutManager(activity))
                    .set()
                    .build(ActorAdapter::class.java)

After creating an adapter instance, you can simply add divider simply by using:

//----- default divider:
adapter.setDivider()

//----- divider with custom drawable:
adapter.setDivider(ContextCompat.getDrawable(context, R.drawable.divider))

//----- divider with custom color:
adapter.setDivider(Color.RED)

//----- divider with custom color and custom inset:
adapter.setDivider(Color.RED, insetLeft = 16, insetRight = 16)

//----- deactivate dividers:
adapter.setDivider(null)

This is how I would do it in Kotlin for a column display (grid)

  class ItemDecorationColumns(private val space: Int) : ItemDecoration() {

    override fun getItemOffsets(
        outRect: Rect,
        view: View,
        parent: RecyclerView,
        state: RecyclerView.State
    ) {
        val position = parent.getChildLayoutPosition(view)
        val manager = parent.layoutManager as GridLayoutManager?
        val spanCount = manager?.spanCount ?: 0

        if (position < spanCount) {
            outRect.top = space
        }

        if (position % 2 != 0) {
            outRect.right = space
        }
        outRect.left = space
        outRect.bottom = space
    }
}

Usage

rvAlbums.addItemDecoration(ItemDecorationColumns(resources.getDimensionPixelSize(R.dimen.space)))

Too Late but for GridLayoutManager I use this:

public class GridSpacesItemDecoration : RecyclerView.ItemDecoration
{
    private int space;

    public GridSpacesItemDecoration(int space) {
        this.space = space;
    }

    public override void GetItemOffsets(Android.Graphics.Rect outRect, View view, RecyclerView parent, RecyclerView.State state)
    {
        var position = parent.GetChildLayoutPosition(view);

        /// Only for GridLayoutManager Layouts
        var manager = parent.GetLayoutManager() as GridLayoutManager;

        if (parent.GetChildLayoutPosition(view) < manager.SpanCount)
            outRect.Top = space;

        if (position % 2 != 0) {
            outRect.Right = space;
        }

        outRect.Left = space;
        outRect.Bottom = space;
    }
}

This work for any span count you have.

Ollie.

You can add with programaticly easily.

If your Layout Manager is Linearlayout then you can use:

DividerItemDecoration is a RecyclerView.ItemDecoration that can be used as a divider between items of a LinearLayoutManager. It supports both HORIZONTAL and VERTICAL orientations.

 mDividerItemDecoration = new DividerItemDecoration(recyclerView.getContext(),
         mLayoutManager.getOrientation());
 recyclerView.addItemDecoration(mDividerItemDecoration);

source

public class CommonItemSpaceDecoration extends RecyclerView.ItemDecoration {

        private int mSpace = 0;
        private boolean mVerticalOrientation = true;

    public CommonItemSpaceDecoration(int space) {
        this.mSpace = space;
    }

    public CommonItemSpaceDecoration(int space, boolean verticalOrientation) {
        this.mSpace = space;
        this.mVerticalOrientation = verticalOrientation;
    }

    @Override
    public void getItemOffsets(Rect outRect, View view, RecyclerView parent, RecyclerView.State state) {
        outRect.top = SizeUtils.dp2px(view.getContext(), mSpace);
        if (mVerticalOrientation) {
            if (parent.getChildAdapterPosition(view) == 0) {
                outRect.set(0, SizeUtils.dp2px(view.getContext(), mSpace), 0, SizeUtils.dp2px(view.getContext(), mSpace));
            } else {
                outRect.set(0, 0, 0, SizeUtils.dp2px(view.getContext(), mSpace));
            }
        } else {
            if (parent.getChildAdapterPosition(view) == 0) {
                outRect.set(SizeUtils.dp2px(view.getContext(), mSpace), 0, 0, 0);
            } else {
                outRect.set(SizeUtils.dp2px(view.getContext(), mSpace), 0, SizeUtils.dp2px(view.getContext(), mSpace), 0);
            }
        }
    }
}

This will add space in every item's top and bottom(or left and right).Then you can set it to your recyclerView.

recyclerView.addItemDecoration(new CommonItemSpaceDecoration(16));

SizeUtils.java

public class SizeUtils {
    public static int dp2px(Context context, float dpValue) {
        final float scale = context.getResources().getDisplayMetrics().density;
        return (int) (dpValue * scale + 0.5f);
    }
}

If anyone is looking to only add, say, 10dp spacing between items, you can do so by setting a drawable to DividerItemDecoration:

DividerItemDecoration dividerItemDecoration = new DividerItemDecoration(
    recyclerView.getContext(),
    layoutManager.getOrientation()
);

dividerItemDecoration.setDrawable(
    ContextCompat.getDrawable(getContext(), R.drawable.divider_10dp)
); 

Where divider_10dpis a drawable resource containing:

<shape xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android" android:shape="rectangle">
    <size android:height="10dp"/>
    <solid android:color="@android:color/transparent"/>
</shape>

Here's how I would do it in Kotlin, for simple space between Items with default size of 10dp:

class SimpleItemDecoration(context: Context, space: Int = 10) : RecyclerView.ItemDecoration() {

    private val spaceInDp = ConvertUtil.dpToPx(context, space)

    override fun getItemOffsets(outRect: Rect, view: View, parent: RecyclerView, state: RecyclerView.State) {

        outRect.left = spaceInDp
        outRect.right = spaceInDp
        outRect.bottom = spaceInDp
        // Add top margin only for the first item to avoid double space between items
        if (parent.getChildAdapterPosition(view) == 0) {
            outRect.top = spaceInDp
        }
    }
}

and here is the dpToPx method:

fun dpToPx(context: Context, dp: Int): Int {
        return (dp * context.resources.displayMetrics.density).toInt()
    }

I feel like there's a need for a simple, code-based answer that doesn't use XML

DividerItemDecoration dividerItemDecoration = new DividerItemDecoration(recyclerView.getContext(), DividerItemDecoration.VERTICAL);

ShapeDrawable shapeDrawableForDivider = new ShapeDrawable(new RectShape());

int dividerThickness = // (int) (SomeOtherView.getHeight() * desiredPercent);
shapeDrawableForDivider.setIntrinsicHeight(dividerThickness);
shapeDrawableForDivider.setAlpha(0);

dividerItemDecoration.setDrawable(shapeDrawableForDivider);

recyclerView.addItemDecoration(dividerItemDecoration);

I love this answer so much, I re-wrote it in a single-expression Kotlin answer:

    recyclerView.addItemDecoration(DividerItemDecoration(this,DividerItemDecoration.VERTICAL).also { deco ->
        with (ShapeDrawable(RectShape())){
            intrinsicHeight = (resources.displayMetrics.density * 24).toInt()
            alpha = 0
            deco.setDrawable(this)
        }
    })

This does the same thing as @Nerdy's original answer, except it sets the height of the divider to 24dp instead of a percentage of another view's height.

For those who are looking just for spaces between items in the RecyclerView see my approach where you get equal spaces between all items, except in first and last items where I gave a bigger padding. I only apply padding to left/right in horizontal LayoutManager and to top/bottom in vertical LayoutManager.

public class PaddingItemDecoration extends RecyclerView.ItemDecoration {

    private int mPaddingPx;
    private int mPaddingEdgesPx;

    public PaddingItemDecoration(Activity activity) {
        final Resources resources = activity.getResources();
        mPaddingPx = (int) resources.getDimension(R.dimen.paddingItemDecorationDefault);
        mPaddingEdgesPx = (int) resources.getDimension(R.dimen.paddingItemDecorationEdge);
    }

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

        final int itemPosition = parent.getChildAdapterPosition(view);
        if (itemPosition == RecyclerView.NO_POSITION) {
            return;
        }
        int orientation = getOrientation(parent);
        final int itemCount = state.getItemCount();

        int left = 0;
        int top = 0;
        int right = 0;
        int bottom = 0;

        /** HORIZONTAL */
        if (orientation == LinearLayoutManager.HORIZONTAL) {
            /** all positions */
            left = mPaddingPx;
            right = mPaddingPx;

            /** first position */
            if (itemPosition == 0) {
                left += mPaddingEdgesPx;
            }
            /** last position */
            else if (itemCount > 0 && itemPosition == itemCount - 1) {
                right += mPaddingEdgesPx;
            }
        }
        /** VERTICAL */
        else {
            /** all positions */
            top = mPaddingPx;
            bottom = mPaddingPx;

            /** first position */
            if (itemPosition == 0) {
                top += mPaddingEdgesPx;
            }
            /** last position */
            else if (itemCount > 0 && itemPosition == itemCount - 1) {
                bottom += mPaddingEdgesPx;
            }
        }

        if (!isReverseLayout(parent)) {
            outRect.set(left, top, right, bottom);
        } else {
            outRect.set(right, bottom, left, top);
        }
    }

    private boolean isReverseLayout(RecyclerView parent) {
        if (parent.getLayoutManager() instanceof LinearLayoutManager) {
            LinearLayoutManager layoutManager = (LinearLayoutManager) parent.getLayoutManager();
            return layoutManager.getReverseLayout();
        } else {
            throw new IllegalStateException("PaddingItemDecoration can only be used with a LinearLayoutManager.");
        }
    }

    private int getOrientation(RecyclerView parent) {
        if (parent.getLayoutManager() instanceof LinearLayoutManager) {
            LinearLayoutManager layoutManager = (LinearLayoutManager) parent.getLayoutManager();
            return layoutManager.getOrientation();
        } else {
            throw new IllegalStateException("PaddingItemDecoration can only be used with a LinearLayoutManager.");
        }
    }
}

dimens.xml

<resources>
    <dimen name="paddingItemDecorationDefault">10dp</dimen>
    <dimen name="paddingItemDecorationEdge">20dp</dimen>
</resources>

Instead of create a shape xml for change the divider height and color. You can create programmatically like

val divider = DividerItemDecoration(context,
        DividerItemDecoration.VERTICAL)

divider.setDrawable(ShapeDrawable().apply {
    intrinsicHeight = resources.getDimensionPixelOffset(R.dimen.dp_15)
    paint.color = Color.RED // note: currently (support version 28.0.0), we can not use tranparent color here, if we use transparent, we still see a small divider line. So if we want to display transparent space, we can set color = background color or we can create a custom ItemDecoration instead of DividerItemDecoration. 
})

recycler_devices.addItemDecoration(divider)

Here's a decoration that lets you set a spacing between items as well as a spacing on the edges. This works for both HORIZONTAL and VERTICAL layouts.

class LinearSpacingDecoration(
    @Px private val itemSpacing: Int,
    @Px private val edgeSpacing: Int = 0
): RecyclerView.ItemDecoration() {
    override fun getItemOffsets(outRect: Rect, view: View, parent: RecyclerView, state: RecyclerView.State) {
        val count = parent.adapter?.itemCount ?: 0
        val position = parent.getChildAdapterPosition(view)
        val leading = if (position == 0) edgeSpacing else itemSpacing
        val trailing = if (position == count - 1) edgeSpacing else 0
        outRect.run {
            if ((parent.layoutManager as? LinearLayoutManager)?.orientation == LinearLayout.VERTICAL) {
                top = leading
                bottom = trailing
            } else {
                left = leading
                right = trailing
            }
        }
    }
}

Usage:

recyclerView.addItemDecoration(LinearSpacingDecoration(itemSpacing = 10, edgeSpacing = 20))

In order to accomplish spacing between items in a RecylerView, we can use ItemDecorators:

addItemDecoration(object : RecyclerView.ItemDecoration() {

    override fun getItemOffsets(
        outRect: Rect,
        view: View,
        parent: RecyclerView,
        state: RecyclerView.State,
    ) {
        super.getItemOffsets(outRect, view, parent, state)
        if (parent.getChildAdapterPosition(view) > 0) {
            outRect.top = 8.dp // Change this value with anything you want. Remember that you need to convert integers to pixels if you are working with dps :)
        }
    }
})

A few things to have in consideration given the code I pasted:

• You don't really need to call super.getItemOffsets but I chose to, because I want to extend the behavior defined by the base class. If the library got an update doing more logic behind the scenes, we would miss it.

• As an alternative to adding top spacing to the Rect, you could also add bottom spacing, but the logic related to getting the last item of the adapter is more complex, so this might be slightly better.

• I used an extension property to convert a simple integer to dps: 8.dp. Something like this might work:

val Int.dp: Int
    get() = (this * Resources.getSystem().displayMetrics.density + 0.5f).toInt()

// Extension function works too, but invoking it would become something like 8.dp()

Taken from a google search, add this ItemDecoration to your RecyclerView:

public class DividerItemDecoration extends RecyclerView.ItemDecoration {

private Drawable mDivider;
private boolean mShowFirstDivider = false;
private boolean mShowLastDivider = false;


public DividerItemDecoration(Context context, AttributeSet attrs) {
    final TypedArray a = context
            .obtainStyledAttributes(attrs, new int[]{android.R.attr.listDivider});
    mDivider = a.getDrawable(0);
    a.recycle();
}

public DividerItemDecoration(Context context, AttributeSet attrs, boolean showFirstDivider,
        boolean showLastDivider) {
    this(context, attrs);
    mShowFirstDivider = showFirstDivider;
    mShowLastDivider = showLastDivider;
}

public DividerItemDecoration(Drawable divider) {
    mDivider = divider;
}

public DividerItemDecoration(Drawable divider, boolean showFirstDivider,
        boolean showLastDivider) {
    this(divider);
    mShowFirstDivider = showFirstDivider;
    mShowLastDivider = showLastDivider;
}

@Override
public void getItemOffsets(Rect outRect, View view, RecyclerView parent,
        RecyclerView.State state) {
    super.getItemOffsets(outRect, view, parent, state);
    if (mDivider == null) {
        return;
    }
    if (parent.getChildPosition(view) < 1) {
        return;
    }

    if (getOrientation(parent) == LinearLayoutManager.VERTICAL) {
        outRect.top = mDivider.getIntrinsicHeight();
    } else {
        outRect.left = mDivider.getIntrinsicWidth();
    }
}

@Override
public void onDrawOver(Canvas c, RecyclerView parent, RecyclerView.State state) {
    if (mDivider == null) {
        super.onDrawOver(c, parent, state);
        return;
    }

    // Initialization needed to avoid compiler warning
    int left = 0, right = 0, top = 0, bottom = 0, size;
    int orientation = getOrientation(parent);
    int childCount = parent.getChildCount();

    if (orientation == LinearLayoutManager.VERTICAL) {
        size = mDivider.getIntrinsicHeight();
        left = parent.getPaddingLeft();
        right = parent.getWidth() - parent.getPaddingRight();
    } else { //horizontal
        size = mDivider.getIntrinsicWidth();
        top = parent.getPaddingTop();
        bottom = parent.getHeight() - parent.getPaddingBottom();
    }

    for (int i = mShowFirstDivider ? 0 : 1; i < childCount; i++) {
        View child = parent.getChildAt(i);
        RecyclerView.LayoutParams params = (RecyclerView.LayoutParams) child.getLayoutParams();

        if (orientation == LinearLayoutManager.VERTICAL) {
            top = child.getTop() - params.topMargin;
            bottom = top + size;
        } else { //horizontal
            left = child.getLeft() - params.leftMargin;
            right = left + size;
        }
        mDivider.setBounds(left, top, right, bottom);
        mDivider.draw(c);
    }

    // show last divider
    if (mShowLastDivider && childCount > 0) {
        View child = parent.getChildAt(childCount - 1);
        RecyclerView.LayoutParams params = (RecyclerView.LayoutParams) child.getLayoutParams();
        if (orientation == LinearLayoutManager.VERTICAL) {
            top = child.getBottom() + params.bottomMargin;
            bottom = top + size;
        } else { // horizontal
            left = child.getRight() + params.rightMargin;
            right = left + size;
        }
        mDivider.setBounds(left, top, right, bottom);
        mDivider.draw(c);
    }
}

private int getOrientation(RecyclerView parent) {
    if (parent.getLayoutManager() instanceof LinearLayoutManager) {
        LinearLayoutManager layoutManager = (LinearLayoutManager) parent.getLayoutManager();
        return layoutManager.getOrientation();
    } else {
        throw new IllegalStateException(
                "DividerItemDecoration can only be used with a LinearLayoutManager.");
    }
}
}

Add a margin to your view, it worked for me.

android:layout_marginTop="10dp"

If you just want to add equal spacing and want to do it in XML, just set padding to your RecyclerView and equal amount of layoutMargin to the item you inflate into your RecyclerView, and let the background color determine the spacing color.

Might I direct your attention to this particular file on Github by Alex Fu: https://gist.github.com/alexfu/0f464fc3742f134ccd1e

It's the DividerItemDecoration.java example file "pulled straight from the support demos".(https://plus.google.com/103498612790395592106/posts/VVEB3m7NkSS)

I was able to get divider lines nicely after importing this file in my project and add it as an item decoration to the recycler view.

Here's how my onCreateView look like in my fragment containing the Recyclerview:

@Override
public View onCreateView(LayoutInflater inflater, ViewGroup container, Bundle savedInstanceState) {
    View rootView = inflater.inflate(R.layout.fragment_recycler_view, container, false);

    mRecyclerView = (RecyclerView) rootView.findViewById(R.id.my_recycler_view);
    mRecyclerView.addItemDecoration(new DividerItemDecoration(getActivity(), DividerItemDecoration.VERTICAL));

    mRecyclerView.setHasFixedSize(true);
    mLayoutManager = new LinearLayoutManager(getActivity());
    mRecyclerView.setLayoutManager(mLayoutManager);
    mRecyclerView.setItemAnimator(new DefaultItemAnimator());

    return rootView;
}

I'm sure additional styling can be done, but it's a starting point. :)

just add this line after init the recycler view object.

in Fragment :

mRecyclerView.addItemDecoration(new DividerItemDecoration(getActivity(),android.R.drawable.divider_horizontal_bright));

in Activity

mRecyclerView.addItemDecoration(new DividerItemDecoration(this,android.R.drawable.divider_horizontal_bright));

Divider Item Decoration

public class DividerItemDecoration extends RecyclerView.ItemDecoration {
public static final int VERTICAL_LIST = 0;

public DividerItemDecoration(ListActivity listActivity, Object p1) {
}

private static final int[] ATTRS = new int[]{android.R.attr.listDivider};

private Drawable mDivider;

/**
 * Default divider will be used
 */
public DividerItemDecoration(Context context) {
    final TypedArray styledAttributes = context.obtainStyledAttributes(ATTRS);
    mDivider = styledAttributes.getDrawable(0);
    styledAttributes.recycle();
}

/**
 * Custom divider will be used
 */
public DividerItemDecoration(Context context, int resId) {
    mDivider = ContextCompat.getDrawable(context, resId);
}

@Override
public void onDraw(Canvas c, RecyclerView parent, RecyclerView.State state) {
    int left = parent.getPaddingLeft();
    int right = parent.getWidth() - parent.getPaddingRight();

    int childCount = parent.getChildCount();
    for (int i = 0; i < childCount; i++) {
        View child = parent.getChildAt(i);

        RecyclerView.LayoutParams params = (RecyclerView.LayoutParams) child.getLayoutParams();

        int top = child.getBottom() + params.bottomMargin;
        int bottom = top + mDivider.getIntrinsicHeight();

        mDivider.setBounds(left, top, right, bottom);
        mDivider.draw(c);
    }
}
}

A really easy solution is to use RecyclerView-FlexibleDivider

Add dependency:

compile 'com.yqritc:recyclerview-flexibledivider:1.4.0'

Add to your recyclerview:

recyclerView.addItemDecoration(new HorizontalDividerItemDecoration.Builder(context).build());

And you're done!

1.One of the Way is by using cardview and recycler view together we can easily add effect like divider. ex.https://developer.android.com/training/material/lists-cards.html

2.and other is by adding view as divider to list_item_layout of recycler view.

        <View
            android:id="@+id/view1"
            android:layout_width="match_parent"
            android:layout_height="1dp"
            android:background="@color/colorAccent" />

The simple one is to set background color for RecyclerView and different background color for items. Here is an example ...

<android.support.v7.widget.RecyclerView
    android:background="#ECEFF1"
    android:layout_width="match_parent"
    android:layout_height="wrap_content"
    android:scrollbars="vertical"/>

and the TextView item (It can be anything though) with bottom margin "x" dp or px.

<TextView
    android:layout_width="match_parent"
    android:layout_height="match_parent"
    android:layout_marginBottom="1dp"
    android:background="#FFFFFF"/>

The output ...

If you want to add same space for items, the simplest way is to add top+left padding for RecycleView and right+bottom margins to card items.

dimens.xml

<resources>
    <dimen name="divider">1dp</dimen>
</resources>

list_item.xml

<CardView
 android:layout_marginBottom="@dimen/divider"
 android:layout_marginRight="@dimen/divider">
 ...
</CardView>

list.xml

<RecyclerView
 android:paddingLeft="@dimen/divider"
 android:paddingTop="@dimen/divider"
/>

The way how I'm handling the Divider view and also Divider Insets is by adding a RecyclerView extension.

1.

Add a new extension file by naming View or RecyclerView:

RecyclerViewExtension.kt

and add the setDivider extension method inside the RecyclerViewExtension.kt file.

/*
* RecyclerViewExtension.kt
* */
import androidx.annotation.DrawableRes
import androidx.core.content.ContextCompat
import androidx.recyclerview.widget.DividerItemDecoration
import androidx.recyclerview.widget.RecyclerView


fun RecyclerView.setDivider(@DrawableRes drawableRes: Int) {
    val divider = DividerItemDecoration(
        this.context,
        DividerItemDecoration.VERTICAL
    )
    val drawable = ContextCompat.getDrawable(
        this.context,
        drawableRes
    )
    drawable?.let {
        divider.setDrawable(it)
        addItemDecoration(divider)
    }
}

2.

Create a Drawable resource file inside of drawable package like recycler_view_divider.xml:

<inset xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
    android:insetLeft="10dp"
    android:insetRight="10dp">

    <shape>
        <size android:height="0.5dp" />
        <solid android:color="@android:color/darker_gray" />
    </shape>

</inset>

where you can specify the left and right margin on android:insetLeft and android:insetRight.

3.

On your Activity or Fragment where the RecyclerView is initialized, you can set the custom drawable by calling:

recyclerView.setDivider(R.drawable.recycler_view_divider)

4.

Cheers

OCTOBER 2016 UPDATE

With support library v25.0.0 there finally is a default implementation of basic horizontal and vertical dividers available!

https://developer.android.com/reference/android/support/v7/widget/DividerItemDecoration.html

public class VerticalItemDecoration extends RecyclerView.ItemDecoration {

private boolean verticalOrientation = true;
private int space = 10;

public VerticalItemDecoration(int value, boolean verticalOrientation) {
    this.space = value;
    this.verticalOrientation = verticalOrientation;
}

@Override
public void getItemOffsets(Rect outRect, View view, RecyclerView parent,
                           RecyclerView.State state) {
    //skip first item in the list
    if (parent.getChildAdapterPosition(view) != 0) {
        if (verticalOrientation) {
            outRect.set(space, 0, 0, 0);
        } else if (!verticalOrientation) {
            outRect.set(0, space, 0, 0);
        }
    }
}
}

mCompletedShippingRecyclerView.addItemDecoration(new VerticalItemDecoration(20,false)); 

• Here is simple hack to add divider

• Just add a background to the layout of your recycler item as follows

  <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
  <LinearLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
      android:layout_width="match_parent"
      android:layout_height="wrap_content"
      android:background="@drawable/shape_border"
      android:gravity="center"
      android:orientation="horizontal"
      android:padding="5dp">
  
  <ImageView
      android:id="@+id/imageViewContactLogo"
      android:layout_width="60dp"
      android:layout_height="60dp"
      android:layout_marginRight="10dp"
      android:src="@drawable/ic_user" />
  
  <LinearLayout
      android:id="@+id/linearLayout"
      android:layout_width="wrap_content"
      android:layout_height="wrap_content"
      android:layout_weight="0.92"
      android:gravity="center|start"
      android:orientation="vertical">
  
  <TextView
      android:id="@+id/textViewContactName"
      android:layout_width="wrap_content"
      android:layout_height="wrap_content"
      android:singleLine="true"
      android:text="Large Text"
      android:textAppearance="?android:attr/textAppearanceLarge" />
  
  <TextView
      android:id="@+id/textViewStatusOrNumber"
      android:layout_width="wrap_content"
      android:layout_height="wrap_content"
      android:layout_marginTop="5dp"
      android:singleLine="true"
      android:text=""
      android:textAppearance="?android:attr/textAppearanceMedium" />
  </LinearLayout>
  
  <TextView
      android:id="@+id/textViewUnreadCount"
      android:layout_width="wrap_content"
      android:layout_height="wrap_content"
      android:layout_marginRight="10dp"
      android:padding="5dp"
      android:text=""
      android:textAppearance="?android:attr/textAppearanceMedium"
      android:textColor="@color/red"
      android:textSize="22sp" />
  
  <Button
      android:id="@+id/buttonInvite"
      android:layout_width="54dp"
      android:layout_height="wrap_content"
      android:background="@drawable/ic_add_friend" />
  </LinearLayout>
  

Create following shape_border.xml in drawable folder

  <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
    <shape xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
      android:shape="rectangle" >
       <gradient
        android:angle="270"
        android:centerColor="@android:color/transparent"
        android:centerX="0.01"
        android:startColor="#000" />
    </shape>

Here is final result - a RecyclerView with divider.

RecyclerView doesn't provide straightforward interface for drawing dividers of lists. But actually it provides us a much more flexible way to draw dividers. We use RecyclerView.ItemDecoration to decorate RecyclerView's tiles with dividers or anything you want. That is also why it is called ItemDecoration.

As described in Meterial Design Guidelines:

The divider sits within the baseline of the tile.

So if you want to follow the Material Design Guidelines, you don't need extra space to draw the dividers. Just draw them on the tiles. However, you have the right to do whatever you want to do. So I implemented one which gives you the ability to set insets as well as draw on/underneath the tiles.

public class InsetDivider extends RecyclerView.ItemDecoration {

    public static final int HORIZONTAL_LIST = LinearLayoutManager.HORIZONTAL;
    public static final int VERTICAL_LIST = LinearLayoutManager.VERTICAL;

    private Paint mPaint;
    // in pixel
    private int mDividerHeight;
    // left inset for vertical list, top inset for horizontal list
    private int mFirstInset;
    // right inset for vertical list, bottom inset for horizontal list
    private int mSecondInset;
    private int mColor;
    private int mOrientation;
    // set it to true to draw divider on the tile, or false to draw beside the tile.
    // if you set it to false and have inset at the same time, you may see the background of
    // the parent of RecyclerView.
    private boolean mOverlay;

    private InsetDivider() {
        mPaint = new Paint(Paint.ANTI_ALIAS_FLAG);
        mPaint.setStyle(Paint.Style.FILL);
    }

    public int getDividerHeight() {
        return mDividerHeight;
    }

    public void setDividerHeight(int dividerHeight) {
        this.mDividerHeight = dividerHeight;
    }

    public int getFirstInset() {
        return mFirstInset;
    }

    public void setFirstInset(int firstInset) {
        this.mFirstInset = firstInset;
    }

    public int getSecondInset() {
        return mSecondInset;
    }

    public void setSecondInset(int secondInset) {
        this.mSecondInset = secondInset;
    }

    public int getColor() {
        return mColor;
    }

    public void setColor(int color) {
        this.mColor = color;
        mPaint.setColor(color);
    }

    public int getOrientation() {
        return mOrientation;
    }

    public void setOrientation(int orientation) {
        this.mOrientation = orientation;
    }

    public boolean getOverlay() {
        return mOverlay;
    }

    public void setOverlay(boolean overlay) {
        this.mOverlay = overlay;
    }

    @Override
    public void onDrawOver(Canvas c, RecyclerView parent, RecyclerView.State state) {
        if (mOrientation == VERTICAL_LIST) {
            drawVertical(c, parent);
        } else {
            drawHorizontal(c, parent);
        }
    }

    protected void drawVertical(Canvas c, RecyclerView parent) {
        final int left = parent.getPaddingLeft() + mFirstInset;
        final int right = parent.getWidth() - parent.getPaddingRight() - mSecondInset;
        final int childCount = parent.getChildCount();
        for (int i = 0; i < childCount; i++) {
            final View child = parent.getChildAt(i);
            if (parent.getChildAdapterPosition(child) == (parent.getAdapter().getItemCount() - 1)) {
                continue;
            }
            final RecyclerView.LayoutParams params = (RecyclerView.LayoutParams) child.getLayoutParams();
            final int bottom;
            final int top;
            if (mOverlay) {
                bottom = child.getBottom() + params.bottomMargin + Math.round(ViewCompat.getTranslationY(child));
                top = bottom - mDividerHeight;
            } else {
                top = child.getBottom() + params.bottomMargin + Math.round(ViewCompat.getTranslationY(child));
                bottom = top + mDividerHeight;
            }
            c.drawRect(left, top, right, bottom, mPaint);
        }
    }

    protected void drawHorizontal(Canvas c, RecyclerView parent) {
        final int top = parent.getPaddingTop() + mFirstInset;
        final int bottom = parent.getHeight() - parent.getPaddingBottom() - mSecondInset;
        final int childCount = parent.getChildCount();
        for (int i = 0; i < childCount; i++) {
            final View child = parent.getChildAt(i);
            if (parent.getChildAdapterPosition(child) == (parent.getAdapter().getItemCount() - 1)) {
                continue;
            }
            final RecyclerView.LayoutParams params = (RecyclerView.LayoutParams) child
                .getLayoutParams();
            final int right;
            final int left;
            if (mOverlay) {
                right = child.getRight() + params.rightMargin + Math.round(ViewCompat.getTranslationX(child));
                left = right - mDividerHeight;
            } else {
                left = child.getRight() + params.rightMargin + Math.round(ViewCompat.getTranslationX(child));
                right = left + mDividerHeight;
            }
            c.drawRect(left, top, right, bottom, mPaint);
        }
    }

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

        if (mOrientation == VERTICAL_LIST) {
            outRect.set(0, 0, 0, mDividerHeight);
        } else {
            outRect.set(0, 0, mDividerHeight, 0);
        }
    }

    /**
     * Handy builder for creating {@link InsetDivider} instance.
     */
    public static class Builder {

        private Context mContext;
        private int mDividerHeight;
        private int mFirstInset;
        private int mSecondInset;
        private int mColor;
        private int mOrientation;
        private boolean mOverlay = true; // set default to true to follow Material Design Guidelines

        public Builder(Context context) {
            mContext = context;
        }

        public Builder dividerHeight(int dividerHeight) {
            mDividerHeight = dividerHeight;
            return this;
        }

        public Builder insets(int firstInset, int secondInset) {
            mFirstInset = firstInset;
            mSecondInset = secondInset;
            return this;
        }

        public Builder color(@ColorInt int color) {
            mColor = color;
            return this;
        }

        public Builder orientation(int orientation) {
            mOrientation = orientation;
            return this;
        }

        public Builder overlay(boolean overlay) {
            mOverlay = overlay;
            return this;
        }

        public InsetDivider build() {
            InsetDivider insetDivider = new InsetDivider();

            if (mDividerHeight == 0) {
                // Set default divider height to 1dp.
                 insetDivider.setDividerHeight(mContext.getResources().getDimensionPixelSize(R.dimen.divider_height));
            } else if (mDividerHeight > 0) {
                insetDivider.setDividerHeight(mDividerHeight);
            } else {
                throw new IllegalArgumentException("Divider's height can't be negative.");
            }

            insetDivider.setFirstInset(mFirstInset < 0 ? 0 : mFirstInset);
            insetDivider.setSecondInset(mSecondInset < 0 ? 0 : mSecondInset);

            if (mColor == 0) {
                throw new IllegalArgumentException("Don't forget to set color");
            } else {
                insetDivider.setColor(mColor);
            }

            if (mOrientation != InsetDivider.HORIZONTAL_LIST && mOrientation != InsetDivider.VERTICAL_LIST) {
                throw new IllegalArgumentException("Invalid orientation");
            } else {
                insetDivider.setOrientation(mOrientation);
            }

            insetDivider.setOverlay(mOverlay);

            return insetDivider;
        }
    }
}

And you can use it like this:

ItemDecoration divider = new InsetDivider.Builder(this)
                            .orientation(InsetDivider.VERTICAL_LIST) 
                            .dividerHeight(getResources().getDimensionPixelSize(R.dimen.divider_height))
                            .color(getResources().getColor(R.color.colorAccent))
                            .insets(getResources().getDimensionPixelSize(R.dimen.divider_inset), 0)
                            .overlay(true)
                            .build(); 

RecyclerView recyclerView = (RecyclerView) findViewById(R.id.recycler_view);
recyclerView.setLayoutManager(new LinearLayoutManager(this));
recyclerView.addItemDecoration(divider);

I also wrote a demo App about how to implement ItemDecoration and how to use them. You can check out my GitHub repo Dividers-For-RecyclerView. There are three implementations in it:

• UnderneathDivider
• OverlayDivider
• InsetDivider

Here's my lazy approach but it works: wrap the CardView in a layout and set a padding/margin on the parent layout to mimic the divider, and force the normal divider to null

list_item.xml

<LinearLayout
    android:id="@+id/entry_item_layout_container"
    android:layout_width="match_parent"
    android:layout_height="wrap_content"
    android:orientation="vertical"
    android:paddingBottom="<divider_size>" > // this is the divider
    <CardView
        android:layout_width="<width_size>"
        android:layout_height="<height_size>">
        ...
    </CardView>
</LinearLayout

list.xml

<RecyclerView
 android:divider="@null"
 android:layout_width="<width_size>"
 android:layout_height="<height_size>"
 ...
/>

Just add

recyclerView.addItemDecoration(new DividerItemDecoration(getContext(),
                DividerItemDecoration.VERTICAL));

Also you may need to add the dependency
implementation 'com.android.support:recyclerview-v7:28.0.0'

For customizing it a little bit you can add a custom drawable:

DividerItemDecoration itemDecorator = new DividerItemDecoration(getContext(), DividerItemDecoration.VERTICAL);
itemDecorator.setDrawable(ContextCompat.getDrawable(getContext(), R.drawable.divider));

You are free to use any custom drawable, for instance:

<shape xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
       android:shape="rectangle">
    <solid android:color="@color/colorPrimary"/>
    <size android:height="0.5dp"/>
</shape>

Simple ItemDecoration implementation for equal spaces between all items.

public class SpacesItemDecoration extends RecyclerView.ItemDecoration {
    private int space;

    public SpacesItemDecoration(int space) {
        this.space = space;
    }

    @Override
    public void getItemOffsets(Rect outRect, View view, RecyclerView parent, RecyclerView.State state) {
        outRect.left = space;
        outRect.right = space;
        outRect.bottom = space;

        // Add top margin only for the first item to avoid double space between items
        if(parent.getChildAdapterPosition(view) == 0) {
            outRect.top = space;
        }
    }
}

Since there is no right way to implement this yet properly using Material Design, I just did the following trick to add a divider on the list item directly:

<View
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="1dp"
android:background="@color/dividerColor"/>

I have a very simple way of adding a divider in RecyclerView. Use a custom adapter to modify the recycler view layout and then along with the recycler view items add LinearLayout with a background color (which will be the divider color) and add a height of 1dp (or as per your requirement) and width to match parent.

Here is a sample code.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<LinearLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
android:orientation="vertical" android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="match_parent">

<LinearLayout
    android:layout_width="match_parent"
    android:layout_height="wrap_content"
    android:orientation="horizontal"
    android:padding="18dp">

    <TextView
        android:id="@+id/list_row_SNO"
        android:layout_width="match_parent"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:layout_weight=".8"
        android:layout_gravity="end"
        android:text="44."
        android:textAlignment="center"
        android:textSize="24sp"
        android:textColor="@color/colorBlack"
        android:fontFamily="sans-serif-condensed" />

    <TextView
        android:id="@+id/list_row_Heading"
        android:layout_width="match_parent"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:layout_weight=".2"
        android:layout_gravity="start"
        android:text="Student's application for leave and this what"
        android:textAlignment="textStart"
        android:textSize="24sp"
        android:textColor="@color/colorBlack"
        android:fontFamily="sans-serif-condensed" />

</LinearLayout>

<LinearLayout
    android:layout_width="match_parent"
    android:layout_height="1dp"
    android:background="@color/colorHighlight">
</LinearLayout>

I have added a line in list item like below

<View
android:id="@+id/divider"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="1px"
android:background="@color/dividerColor"/>

1px will draw the thin line.

If you want to hide the divider for the last row then divider.setVisiblity(View.GONE); on the onBindViewHolder for the last list Item.

Implement its own version of RecyclerView.ItemDecoration

public class SpacingItemDecoration extends RecyclerView.ItemDecoration {
    private int spacingPx;
    private boolean addStartSpacing;
    private boolean addEndSpacing;

    public SpacingItemDecoration(int spacingPx) {
        this(spacingPx, false, false);
    }

    public SpacingItemDecoration(int spacingPx, boolean addStartSpacing, boolean addEndSpacing) {
        this.spacingPx = spacingPx;
        this.addStartSpacing = addStartSpacing;
        this.addEndSpacing = addEndSpacing;
    }

    @Override
    public void getItemOffsets(Rect outRect, View view, RecyclerView parent, RecyclerView.State state) {
        super.getItemOffsets(outRect, view, parent, state);
        if (spacingPx <= 0) {
            return;
        }

        if (addStartSpacing && parent.getChildLayoutPosition(view) < 1 || parent.getChildLayoutPosition(view) >= 1) {
            if (getOrientation(parent) == LinearLayoutManager.VERTICAL) {
                outRect.top = spacingPx;
            } else {
                outRect.left = spacingPx;
            }
        }

        if (addEndSpacing && parent.getChildAdapterPosition(view) == getTotalItemCount(parent) - 1) {
            if (getOrientation(parent) == LinearLayoutManager.VERTICAL) {
                outRect.bottom = spacingPx;
            } else {
                outRect.right = spacingPx;
            }
        }
    }

    private int getTotalItemCount(RecyclerView parent) {
        return parent.getAdapter().getItemCount();
    }

    private int getOrientation(RecyclerView parent) {
        if (parent.getLayoutManager() instanceof LinearLayoutManager) {
            return ((LinearLayoutManager) parent.getLayoutManager()).getOrientation();
        } else {
            throw new IllegalStateException("SpacingItemDecoration can only be used with a LinearLayoutManager.");
        }
    }
}

I think using simple divider will help you

To add divider to each item:
1- Add this to drawable directory line_divider.xml

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<shape xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
android:shape="rectangle">
<size
    android:width="1dp"
    android:height="1dp" />
<solid android:color="#999999" />
</shape>

2- Create SimpleDividerItemDecoration class
I used this example to define this class:
https://gist.github.com/polbins/e37206fbc444207c0e92

package com.example.myapp;
import android.content.Context;
import android.content.res.Resources;
import android.graphics.Canvas;
import android.graphics.drawable.Drawable;
import android.support.v7.widget.RecyclerView;
import android.view.View;
import com.example.myapp.R;

public class SimpleDividerItemDecoration extends RecyclerView.ItemDecoration{
private Drawable mDivider;

public SimpleDividerItemDecoration(Resources resources) {
    mDivider = resources.getDrawable(R.drawable.line_divider);
}

public void onDrawOver(Canvas c, RecyclerView parent, RecyclerView.State state) {
    int left = parent.getPaddingLeft();
    int right = parent.getWidth() - parent.getPaddingRight();

    int childCount = parent.getChildCount();
    for (int i = 0; i < childCount; i++) {
        View child = parent.getChildAt(i);

        RecyclerView.LayoutParams params = (RecyclerView.LayoutParams) child.getLayoutParams();

        int top = child.getBottom() + params.bottomMargin;
        int bottom = top + mDivider.getIntrinsicHeight();

        mDivider.setBounds(left, top, right, bottom);
        mDivider.draw(c);
    }
  }
}

3- In activity or fragment that using RecyclerView, inside onCreateView add this:

@Override
public View onCreateView(LayoutInflater inflater, ViewGroup container,
                         Bundle savedInstanceState) {
 RecyclerView myRecyclerView = (RecyclerView) layout.findViewById(R.id.my_recycler_view);
 myRecyclerView.addItemDecoration(new SimpleDividerItemDecoration(getResources()));
 ....
 }

4- To add spacing between Items
you just need to add padding property to your item view

<RelativeLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
android:layout_width="match_parent" android:layout_height="match_parent"
android:padding="4dp"
>
..... item structure
</RelativeLayout>

The RecyclerView is a bit different from the ListView. Actually, the RecyclerView needs a ListView like structure in it. For example, a LinearLayout. The LinearLayout has parameters for the dividing each element. In the code below I have a RecyclerView comprised of CardView objects within a LinearLayout with a "padding" that will put some space between items. Make that space really small and you get a line.

Here's the Recycler view in recyclerview_layout.xml

<RelativeLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
    xmlns:tools="http://schemas.android.com/tools" android:layout_width="match_parent"
    android:layout_height="match_parent" android:paddingLeft="@dimen/activity_horizontal_margin"
    android:paddingRight="@dimen/activity_horizontal_margin"
    android:paddingTop="@dimen/activity_vertical_margin"
    android:paddingBottom="@dimen/activity_vertical_margin" tools:context=".ToDoList">

    <!-- A RecyclerView with some commonly used attributes -->
    <android.support.v7.widget.RecyclerView
        android:id="@+id/todo_recycler_view"
        android:scrollbars="vertical"
        android:layout_width="match_parent"
        android:layout_height="match_parent"/>

</RelativeLayout>

And here is what each item looks like (and it shows as divided due to the android:padding in the LinearLayout that surrounds everything.) in another file: cards_layout.xml

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<LinearLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
    android:orientation="vertical" android:layout_width="match_parent"
    android:layout_height="match_parent"
    **android:padding="@dimen/activity_vertical_margin"**>
    <!-- A CardView that contains a TextView -->
    <android.support.v7.widget.CardView
        xmlns:card_view="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res-auto"
        android:id="@+id/card_view"
        android:layout_gravity="center"
        android:layout_width="match_parent"
        android:layout_height="100dp"
        android:elevation="30dp"
        card_view:cardElevation="3dp">
            <TextView
                android:id="@+id/info_text"
                android:layout_width="match_parent"
                android:layout_height="match_parent"
                />
    </android.support.v7.widget.CardView>
</LinearLayout>

This is simple, you don't need such complicated code

DividerItemDecoration divider = new 
DividerItemDecoration(mRVMovieReview.getContext(), 
DividerItemDecoration.VERTICAL);
divider.setDrawable(
    ContextCompat.getDrawable(getBaseContext(), R.drawable.line_divider)
);
mRVMovieReview.addItemDecoration(divider);

Add this in your drawable : line_divider.xml

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<shape xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android" 
  android:shape="rectangle">
    <size android:height="1dp" />
    <solid android:color="@android:color/black" />
</shape>

This doesn't actually solve the problem, but as a temporary workaround, you can set the useCompatPadding property on the card in your XML layout to make it measure the same as it does on pre-Lollipop versions.

card_view:cardUseCompatPadding="true"

Use this class to set divider in your RecyclerView.

 public class GridSpacingItemDecoration extends RecyclerView.ItemDecoration {

        private int spanCount;
        private int spacing;
        private boolean includeEdge;

        public GridSpacingItemDecoration(int spanCount, int spacing, boolean includeEdge) {
            this.spanCount = spanCount;
            this.spacing = spacing;
            this.includeEdge = includeEdge;
        }

        @Override
        public void getItemOffsets(Rect outRect, View view, RecyclerView parent, RecyclerView.State state) {
            int position = parent.getChildAdapterPosition(view); // item position
            int column = position % spanCount; // item column

            if (includeEdge) {
                outRect.left = spacing - column * spacing / spanCount; // spacing - column * ((1f / spanCount) * spacing)
                outRect.right = (column + 1) * spacing / spanCount; // (column + 1) * ((1f / spanCount) * spacing)

                if (position < spanCount) { // top edge
                    outRect.top = spacing;
                }
                outRect.bottom = spacing; // item bottom
            } else {
                outRect.left = column * spacing / spanCount; // column * ((1f / spanCount) * spacing)
                outRect.right = spacing - (column + 1) * spacing / spanCount; // spacing - (column + 1) * ((1f /    spanCount) * spacing)
                if (position >= spanCount) {
                    outRect.top = spacing; // item top
                }
            }
        }
    }

As I have set ItemAnimators. The ItemDecorator don't enter or exit along with the animation.

I simply ended up in having a view line in my item view layout file of each item. It solved my case. DividerItemDecoration felt to be too much of sorcery for a simple divider.

<View
    android:layout_width="match_parent"
    android:layout_height="1px"
    android:layout_marginLeft="5dp"
    android:layout_marginRight="5dp"
    android:background="@color/lt_gray"/>

I forked the DividerItemDecoration from an older gist and simplified it to fit my use case, and I also modified it to draw the dividers the way they are drawn in ListView, including a divider after the last list item. This will also handle vertical ItemAnimator animations:

1) Add this class to your project:

public class DividerItemDecoration extends RecyclerView.ItemDecoration {
    private static final int[] ATTRS = new int[]{android.R.attr.listDivider};
    private Drawable divider;

    public DividerItemDecoration(Context context) {
        try {
            final TypedArray a = context.obtainStyledAttributes(ATTRS);
            divider = a.getDrawable(0);
            a.recycle();
        } catch (Resources.NotFoundException e) {
            // TODO Log or handle as necessary.
        }
    }

    @Override
    public void getItemOffsets(Rect outRect, View view, RecyclerView parent, RecyclerView.State state) {
        super.getItemOffsets(outRect, view, parent, state);
        if (divider == null) return;
        if (parent.getChildAdapterPosition(view) < 1) return;

        if (getOrientation(parent) == LinearLayoutManager.VERTICAL)
            outRect.top = divider.getIntrinsicHeight();
        else
            throw new IllegalArgumentException("Only usable with vertical lists");
    }

    @Override
    public void onDrawOver(Canvas c, RecyclerView parent, RecyclerView.State state) {
        if (divider == null) {
            super.onDrawOver(c, parent, state);
            return;
        }

        final int left = parent.getPaddingLeft();
        final int right = parent.getWidth() - parent.getPaddingRight();
        final int childCount = parent.getChildCount();

        for (int i = 0; i < childCount; ++i) {
            final View child = parent.getChildAt(i);
            final RecyclerView.LayoutParams params = (RecyclerView.LayoutParams) child.getLayoutParams();
            final int size = divider.getIntrinsicHeight();
            final int top = (int) (child.getTop() - params.topMargin - size + child.getTranslationY());
            final int bottom = top + size;
            divider.setBounds(left, top, right, bottom);
            divider.draw(c);

            if (i == childCount - 1) {
                final int newTop = (int) (child.getBottom() + params.bottomMargin + child.getTranslationY());
                final int newBottom = newTop + size;
                divider.setBounds(left, newTop, right, newBottom);
                divider.draw(c);
            }
        }
    }

    private int getOrientation(RecyclerView parent) {
        if (!(parent.getLayoutManager() instanceof LinearLayoutManager))
            throw new IllegalStateException("Layout manager must be an instance of LinearLayoutManager");
        return ((LinearLayoutManager) parent.getLayoutManager()).getOrientation();
    }
}

2) Add the decorator to your RecylerView:

recyclerView.addItemDecoration(new DividerItemDecoration(getActivity()));

We can decorate the items using various decorators attached to the recyclerview such as the DividerItemDecoration:

Simply use the following ...taken from the answer by EyesClear

public class DividerItemDecoration extends RecyclerView.ItemDecoration {

private static final int[] ATTRS = new int[]{android.R.attr.listDivider};

private Drawable mDivider;

/**
 * Default divider will be used
 */
public DividerItemDecoration(Context context) {
    final TypedArray styledAttributes = context.obtainStyledAttributes(ATTRS);
    mDivider = styledAttributes.getDrawable(0);
    styledAttributes.recycle();
}

/**
 * Custom divider will be used
 */
public DividerItemDecoration(Context context, int resId) {
    mDivider = ContextCompat.getDrawable(context, resId);
}

@Override
public void onDraw(Canvas c, RecyclerView parent, RecyclerView.State state) {
    int left = parent.getPaddingLeft();
    int right = parent.getWidth() - parent.getPaddingRight();

    int childCount = parent.getChildCount();
    for (int i = 0; i < childCount; i++) {
        View child = parent.getChildAt(i);

        RecyclerView.LayoutParams params = (RecyclerView.LayoutParams) child.getLayoutParams();

        int top = child.getBottom() + params.bottomMargin;
        int bottom = top + mDivider.getIntrinsicHeight();

        mDivider.setBounds(left, top, right, bottom);
        mDivider.draw(c);
    }
}

} and then use the above as follows

RecyclerView.ItemDecoration itemDecoration = new DividerItemDecoration(this, DividerItemDecoration.VERTICAL_LIST);
recyclerView.addItemDecoration(itemDecoration);

This will display dividers between each item within the list as shown below:

And for those of who are looking for more details can check out this guide Using the RecyclerView _ CodePath Android Cliffnotes

Some answers here suggest the use of margins but the catch is that : If you add both top and bottom margins, they will appear both added between items and they will be too large. If you only add either, there will be no margin either at the top or the bottom of the whole list. If you add half of the distance at the top, half at the bottom, the outer margins will be too small.

Thus, the only aesthetically correct solution is the divider that the system knows where to apply properly: between items but not above or below items.

Please let me know of any doubts in the comments below :)