explaingit

afollestad/material-dialogs

Analysis updated 2026-06-21

19,597KotlinAudience · developerComplexity · 2/5Setup · easy

TLDR

A Kotlin library for Android that replaces default system dialogs with polished Material Design pop-ups, including file pickers, color pickers, and date-time selectors.

Mindmap

mindmap
  root((repo))
    What it does
      Replaces system dialogs
      Material Design style
      Modular by feature
    Modules
      Core dialogs
      Input text field
      File and folder picker
      Color picker
      Date and time picker
    Tech
      Kotlin
      Android
      Gradle
    Use cases
      Confirmation prompts
      User input collection
      File selection UI
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Code map

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filefunction / class

What do people build with it?

USE CASE 1

Add a polished confirmation dialog to your Android app with a single function call.

USE CASE 2

Give users a file and folder picker dialog without building one from scratch.

USE CASE 3

Show a color picker or date-time picker in your app using a ready-made Material Design module.

What is it built with?

KotlinAndroidGradle

How does it compare?

afollestad/material-dialogsjetbrains/compose-multiplatformsquare/picasso
Stars19,59719,05018,833
LanguageKotlinKotlinKotlin
Setup difficultyeasymoderateeasy
Complexity2/53/51/5
Audiencedeveloperdeveloperdeveloper

Figures from each repo's GitHub metadata at analysis time.

How do you get it running?

Difficulty · easy Time to first run · 30min

Not compatible with Java-only Android projects, version 0.9.6.0 is the last Java-compatible release.

In plain English

Material Dialogs is a Kotlin library for Android that makes it easy to show polished pop-up dialog boxes in mobile apps. A "dialog" is the small window that appears over your app to ask a question, show a warning, or collect input, like the "Are you sure you want to delete this?" prompt that appears in many apps. Android provides basic dialogs out of the box, but Material Dialogs replaces them with a more attractive, flexible version that follows Google's Material Design guidelines. The library is split into focused modules so you only include what you need. The core module handles standard dialogs with titles, messages, and buttons. The input module adds a text field so the user can type an answer. The files module provides a ready-made file and folder chooser. The color module adds a color picker. The datetime module gives you date, time, and combined date-time pickers. The bottom sheets module transforms any dialog into a sheet that slides up from the bottom of the screen, a common pattern in modern mobile apps. There is also a lifecycle module that automatically dismisses dialogs when the hosting screen is destroyed, preventing common crash bugs. An Android developer would add Material Dialogs when they want visually consistent, easy-to-configure pop-ups without building them from scratch. The library is installed via Gradle (Android's build system) and is written entirely in Kotlin, meaning it is not compatible with older Java-only projects, version 0.9.6.0 is the last Java-compatible release.

Copy-paste prompts

Prompt 1
Using Material Dialogs for Android, show a confirmation dialog asking the user to confirm deletion, then run a function if they tap OK.
Prompt 2
How do I add an input dialog in my Kotlin Android app using Material Dialogs that validates the user typed a valid email address?
Prompt 3
Set up the Material Dialogs datetime module to let users pick a date and time and return the result to my Activity.

Frequently asked questions

What is material-dialogs?

A Kotlin library for Android that replaces default system dialogs with polished Material Design pop-ups, including file pickers, color pickers, and date-time selectors.

What language is material-dialogs written in?

Mainly Kotlin. The stack also includes Kotlin, Android, Gradle.

How hard is material-dialogs to set up?

Setup difficulty is rated easy, with roughly 30min to a first successful run.

Who is material-dialogs for?

Mainly developer.

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