Pros of ShowcaseView

• More flexible and customizable for highlighting specific UI elements
• Lightweight and focused on showcasing individual views
• Easier to integrate into existing apps without major changes

Cons of ShowcaseView

• Less suitable for creating full onboarding experiences
• Lacks built-in navigation between multiple showcase items
• May require more manual setup for complex intro sequences

Code Comparison

ShowcaseView:

new ShowcaseView.Builder(this)
    .setTarget(new ViewTarget(findViewById(R.id.button)))
    .setContentTitle("Hello!")
    .setContentText("This is a showcase view")
    .hideOnTouchOutside()
    .build();

material-intro-screen:

new MaterialIntroBuilder()
    .addSlide(new SimpleSlide.Builder()
        .title("Welcome!")
        .description("This is a material intro screen")
        .image(R.drawable.intro_image)
        .build())
    .build();

ShowcaseView focuses on highlighting individual UI elements, while material-intro-screen is designed for creating full-screen intro sequences. ShowcaseView offers more granular control over specific views, whereas material-intro-screen provides a more structured approach to building onboarding experiences with multiple slides and built-in navigation.

Pros of AppIntro

• More extensive customization options for intro screens
• Larger community and more frequent updates
• Better documentation and examples

Cons of AppIntro

• Slightly more complex setup process
• Heavier library with more dependencies

Code Comparison

material-intro-screen:

class IntroActivity : MaterialIntroActivity() {
    override fun onCreate(savedInstanceState: Bundle?) {
        super.onCreate(savedInstanceState)
        enableLastSlideAlphaExitTransition(true)
        addSlide(SimpleSlide.Builder()
            .title("Title")
            .description("Description")
            .image(R.drawable.image)
            .background(R.color.background_color)
            .build())
    }
}

AppIntro:

class IntroActivity : AppIntro() {
    override fun onCreate(savedInstanceState: Bundle?) {
        super.onCreate(savedInstanceState)
        addSlide(AppIntroFragment.newInstance(
            title = "Title",
            description = "Description",
            imageDrawable = R.drawable.image,
            backgroundColor = getColor(R.color.background_color)
        ))
        setIndicatorColor(
            selectedIndicatorColor = getColor(R.color.selected_indicator),
            unselectedIndicatorColor = getColor(R.color.unselected_indicator)
        )
    }
}

Both libraries offer similar functionality for creating intro screens, but AppIntro provides more granular control over individual elements and styling. material-intro-screen has a simpler API, which may be preferable for basic intro screens. AppIntro's larger community and more frequent updates make it a more robust choice for long-term projects.

Pros of material-intro

• More recent updates and active development
• Better documentation and usage examples
• Supports more customization options for intro screens

Cons of material-intro

• Fewer stars and forks on GitHub
• Less comprehensive feature set compared to material-intro-screen
• May require more setup and configuration

Code Comparison

material-intro-screen:

new MaterialIntroBuilder()
    .addSlide(new SimpleSlide.Builder()
        .title("Title")
        .description("Description")
        .image(R.drawable.image)
        .background(R.color.background_color)
        .build())
    .build();

material-intro:

MaterialIntroActivity.Builder builder = new MaterialIntroActivity.Builder();
builder.addSlide(new SimpleSlide.Builder()
    .title("Title")
    .description("Description")
    .image(R.drawable.image)
    .backgroundColor(R.color.background_color)
    .build());
IntroActivity.launch(this, builder.build());

Both libraries offer similar functionality for creating intro screens, but material-intro-screen provides a more streamlined API and additional features. material-intro may be a good choice for developers who need more control over the intro screen behavior and appearance, while material-intro-screen offers a more comprehensive out-of-the-box solution.

Pros of Horizontal-Calendar

• Focused on a specific UI component (horizontal calendar) for easier integration
• Lightweight and simple to use
• Customizable appearance with various styling options

Cons of Horizontal-Calendar

• Limited to calendar functionality, less versatile for general app introductions
• Less actively maintained (last update 5 years ago)
• Fewer stars and forks, indicating potentially less community support

Code Comparison

material-intro-screen:

public class IntroActivity extends AppIntro {
    @Override
    protected void onCreate(@Nullable Bundle savedInstanceState) {
        super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
        addSlide(SimpleSlide.newInstance(R.layout.fragment_simple_slide));
    }
}

Horizontal-Calendar:

HorizontalCalendar horizontalCalendar = new HorizontalCalendar.Builder(this, R.id.calendarView)
    .startDate(startDate)
    .endDate(endDate)
    .datesNumberOnScreen(5)
    .build();

Summary

material-intro-screen is a comprehensive solution for creating app introduction screens with multiple slides and customization options. It's more actively maintained and has a larger community following.

Horizontal-Calendar, on the other hand, is a specialized library for implementing horizontal calendars in Android apps. It's simpler to use for its specific purpose but lacks the versatility of material-intro-screen for creating full app introductions.

Choose material-intro-screen for complete app onboarding experiences, and Horizontal-Calendar for implementing a specific calendar UI component.

Pros of TapTargetView

• More focused on highlighting specific UI elements
• Lightweight and easy to integrate into existing apps
• Supports custom shapes and animations for target views

Cons of TapTargetView

• Limited to showcasing individual elements, not full-screen introductions
• Less customization options for overall app onboarding flow
• Requires more manual setup for multiple targets

Code Comparison

TapTargetView:

TapTargetView.showFor(this,
    TapTarget.forView(findViewById(R.id.target), "This is a target", "We have the best targets, believe me")
        .outerCircleColor(R.color.red)
        .targetCircleColor(R.color.white)
        .titleTextSize(20)
        .titleTextColor(R.color.white)
        .descriptionTextSize(10)
        .descriptionTextColor(R.color.red)
        .textColor(R.color.blue)
        .dimColor(R.color.black)
        .drawShadow(true)
        .cancelable(false)
        .tintTarget(true)
        .transparentTarget(false)
        .targetRadius(60));

material-intro-screen:

new MaterialIntroActivity()
    .addSlide(new SimpleSlide.Builder()
        .title("Title")
        .description("Description")
        .image(R.drawable.image_1)
        .background(R.color.background_color)
        .build())
    .addSlide(new CustomSlide())
    .enableFadeAnimation(true)
    .build();

The code comparison shows that TapTargetView focuses on individual element highlighting, while material-intro-screen provides a more comprehensive intro screen setup.