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Slow Gradle builds? Use Mirror to preview Android layouts, custom views and animations

An Android Studio / IntelliJ IDEA plugin

Live-code

Save your XML / Java / Kotlin / PNG files. Check on devices in seconds. Rapidly experiment your layouts, custom views and animations.

Prototype

Create full-fidelity prototypes and collect early feedback before coding Java. Reuse the code in production when the prototype is approved.

Collaborate

Trash design specs. Sit with your designer, make a change and get instant feedback. Encourage them to create the layouts too!

It’s absolutely awesome. I worked an entire afternoon on an animation for my app, without the sandbox I probably need more than a full day.

Joao Gouveia

João Gouveia
Senior Android Developer
Passei Direto S/A

I found that Mirror really sped everything up for us in Android Studio. Mocking up things with dummy data is a nice touch.

Steff Kelsey

Steff Kelsey
Principal Software Engineer
GoodLux Technology

My development productivity has skyrocketed since adding Mirror to my workflow! All Android developers should have it in their tool belt!

Patrick Hammond

Patrick Hammond
Founder
Atomic Robot

Hot-swapping
  • Mirror compiles incrementally and only sends deltas to the devices — much faster than rebuilding and reinstalling the full APK.
  • Hot-swapping resources, assets, and Java / Kotlin code on multiple devices
  • View states on the layout are preserved across refreshes

Accurate, interactive previews
  • Mirror’s previewer app inflates layouts and renders views the same way as your app does (it’s a normal Android app anyway).
  • Touch feedback, gestures and animations are as accurate as they should be.

REPL for Android UI development
  • Experiment individual methods
  • Feed and test your custom view with different datasets
  • Build animations piecewise
  • Use code in production when ready

Custom views, custom fonts
  • Preview layouts with third-party libraries or your own custom views
  • Live-code custom views and custom adapters
  • Preview custom fonts, custom attributes

Great for learning Android coding
  • Learn Android’s layout/resource system by building things that work on the real device
  • Experiment UI related APIs
  • Learn by doing in a fast feedback loop

Sample data
  • Build your UI in a realistic context before coding Java
  • Simple XML to set text, image, visibility and more
  • Populate list and grid views with different item layouts
  • Use Android’s “tools” attribute to populate views