RTL support for vector drawable for below API 19

android, android-vectordrawable, right-to-left

Solution

Here's how I would do it, instead of using `autoMirrored`, use this workaround to do your own "automirror".

<vector xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
    android:width="24dp"
    android:height="24dp"
    android:viewportHeight="24.0"
    android:viewportWidth="24.0">
    <group
        android:pivotX="12"
        android:scaleX="@dimen/rtl_automirror_scale">
        <path
            android:fillColor="#65666a"
            android:pathData="M8.59,16.34l4.58,-4.59 -4.58,-4.59L10,5.75l6,6 -6,6z" />
    </group>
</vector>

Here I've deleted the autoMirror attribute and instead wrapped the vector path in a `<group>` tag with a `pivotX` point of 12 (ie. the middle of the drawable) and a `scaleX` pointing to a Dimen resource.

In your normal values folder you would provide the resource as:

<resources>

    <item name="rtl_automirror_scale" format="float" type="dimen">1</item>

</resources>

A value of 1 for the scale means no change, just the normal drawable.

However you can then provide an alternate values resource for `RTL` devices in `values-ldrtl`:

<resources>

    <item name="rtl_automirror_scale" format="float" type="dimen">-1</item>

</resources>

A value of -1 means the `VectorDrawable` will be flipped horizontally for `RTL` devices.

Then whenever you have other `VectorDrawables` which need to be flipped, just wrap them in a group tag as above, pointing to the same dimen.

Problem

Original source