Text Clock in Android using Jetpack Compose

Text Clock is a UI widget in android which is used to display the current time in android applications. This widget displays the current time in a simple text view. The text clock widget displays a time in 12 and 24 hours format. In this article, we will take a look at How to use the TextClock widget on android using Jetpack Compose. 

Step by Step Implementation

Step 1: Create a New Project in Android Studio

To create a new project in Android Studio please refer to How to Create/Start a New Project in Android Studio. While choosing the template, select Empty Compose Activity. If you do not find this template, try upgrading the Android Studio to the latest version. We demonstrated the application in Kotlin, so make sure you select Kotlin as the primary language while creating a New Project.

Step 2: Adding a new color to the Color.kt file

Navigate to app > java > your app’s package name > ui.theme > Color.kt file and add the below code to it. 

Kotlin

package com.example.newcanaryproject.ui.theme

import androidx.compose.ui.graphics.Color

val Purple200 = Color(0xFF0F9D58)
val Purple500 = Color(0xFF0F9D58)
val Purple700 = Color(0xFF3700B3)
val Teal200 = Color(0xFF03DAC5)

// on below line we are adding different colors.
val greenColor = Color(0xFF0F9D58)

Step 3: Working with the MainActivity.kt file

Go to the MainActivity.kt file and refer to the following code. Below is the code for the MainActivity.kt file. Comments are added inside the code to understand the code in more detail.

Kotlin

package com.example.newcanaryproject

import android.Manifest.permission.READ_EXTERNAL_STORAGE
import android.app.Activity
import android.content.BroadcastReceiver
import android.content.Context
import android.content.Intent
import android.content.IntentFilter
import android.content.pm.PackageManager
import android.content.res.ColorStateList
import android.database.Cursor
import android.os.Bundle
import android.os.Environment
import android.provider.MediaStore
import android.util.Log
import android.widget.TextClock
import android.widget.Toast
import androidx.activity.ComponentActivity
import androidx.activity.compose.setContent
import androidx.compose.foundation.ExperimentalFoundationApi
import androidx.compose.foundation.Image
import androidx.compose.foundation.layout.*
import androidx.compose.foundation.lazy.GridCells
import androidx.compose.foundation.lazy.LazyVerticalGrid
import androidx.compose.material.*
import androidx.compose.runtime.*
import androidx.compose.ui.Alignment
import androidx.compose.ui.Modifier
import androidx.compose.ui.graphics.Color
import androidx.compose.ui.platform.LocalContext
import androidx.compose.ui.res.colorResource
import androidx.compose.ui.res.painterResource
import androidx.compose.ui.semantics.Role.Companion.Image
import androidx.compose.ui.text.font.FontWeight
import androidx.compose.ui.text.style.TextAlign
import androidx.compose.ui.unit.*
import androidx.compose.ui.viewinterop.AndroidView
import androidx.core.app.ActivityCompat
import androidx.core.app.ActivityCompat.requestPermissions
import androidx.core.content.ContextCompat
import androidx.localbroadcastmanager.content.LocalBroadcastManager
import coil.compose.rememberImagePainter
import com.example.newcanaryproject.MainActivity2
import com.example.newcanaryproject.R
import com.example.newcanaryproject.ui.theme.*
import java.io.File

class MainActivity : ComponentActivity() {
    override fun onCreate(savedInstanceState: Bundle?) {
        super.onCreate(savedInstanceState)
        setContent {
            NewCanaryProjectTheme {
                // on below line we are specifying
                // background color for our application
                Surface(
                    modifier = Modifier.fillMaxSize(), color = MaterialTheme.colors.background
                ) {
                    // on below line we are specifying theme as scaffold.
                    Scaffold(
                        // in scaffold we are specifying top bar.
                        topBar = {
                            // inside top bar we are specifying background color.
                            TopAppBar(backgroundColor = greenColor,
                                // along with that we are specifying title for our top bar.
                                title = {
                                    // in the top bar we are specifying tile as a text
                                    Text(
                                        // on below line we are specifying text
                                        // to display in top app bar.
                                        text = "GFG",
                                        // on below line we are specifying modifier
                                        // to fill max width.
                                        modifier = Modifier.fillMaxWidth(),
                                        // on below line we are specifying
                                        // text alignment.
                                        textAlign = TextAlign.Center,
                                        // on below line we are
                                        // specifying color for our text.
                                        color = Color.White
                                    )
                                })
                        }) {
                        // on below line we are calling
                        // display text clock function.
                        displayTxtClock()
                    }
                }
            }
        }
    }
}

// on below line we are creating
// a function for our text clock.
@Composable
fun displayTxtClock() {
    // on below line we are creating
    // a column on below sides.
    Column(
        // on below line we are adding padding
        // padding for our column and filling the max size.
        Modifier
            .fillMaxSize()
            .fillMaxHeight()
            .fillMaxWidth(),
        // on below line we are adding
        // horizontal alignment for our column
        horizontalAlignment = Alignment.CenterHorizontally,
        // on below line we are adding
        // vertical arrangement for our column
        verticalArrangement = Arrangement.Center
    ) {

        Text(
            // on below line we are specifying text
            // to display in top app bar.
            text = "Text Clock in Android",

            // on below line we are specifying
            // modifier to fill max width.
            modifier = Modifier.fillMaxWidth(),

            // on below line we are
            // specifying text alignment.
            textAlign = TextAlign.Center,

            // on below line we are
            // specifying color for our text.
            color = greenColor,

            // on below line we are
            // updating font size.
            fontSize = 25.sp,
        )

        // on below line we are creating a spacer.
        Spacer(modifier = Modifier.height(20.dp))

        // on below line we are creating a text clock.
        AndroidView(
            // on below line we are initializing our text clock.
            factory = { context ->
                TextClock(context).apply {
                    // on below line we are setting 12 hour format.
                    format12Hour?.let { this.format12Hour = "hh:mm:ss a" }
                    // on below line we are setting time zone.
                    timeZone?.let { this.timeZone = it }
                    // on below line we are setting text size.
                    textSize.let { this.textSize = 30f }
                }
            },
            // on below line we are adding padding.
            modifier = Modifier.padding(5.dp),
        )
    }
}

Now run your application to see the output of it.

Output: