How to create unselected indicator for tab bar in Flutter

Question

I created a custom indicator for tab bar using Decorator. I want to create a unselected indicator for not selected tabs in tab bar.

I did a container with custom decoration but current selected indicator draws behind container decoration.

new TabBar( 
labelColor: Colors.black,
unselectedLabelColor: Colors.grey,
indicator: new CustomTabIndicator(),
tabs: [
new Container(decoration: new CustomTabInactive(),child: Tab(icon: Icon(Icons.person )))])

tab bar with unselected indicator

Did you find a solution? One in which the underline isn't continuous, but is based on the tabs? Thanks! — Oded Ben Dov, Dec 15 '22 at 10:58

score 16 · Answer 1 · edited Feb 21 '22 at 04:09

You can use Stack/Container and TabBar together to make the underline

Stack(
            fit: StackFit.passthrough,
            alignment: Alignment.bottomCenter,
            children: <Widget>[
              Container(
                decoration: BoxDecoration(
                  border: Border(
                    bottom: BorderSide(color: colorSecondary, width: 2.0),
                  ),
                ),
              ),
              TabBar(
                isScrollable: true,
                onTap: (index) => tabsModel.value = listTabsModel[index],
                tabs: listTabsModel
                    .map(
                      (value) => Tab(
                        child: value.tabComponent,
                      ),
                    )
                    .toList(),
              ),
            ],
          );

TabBar with an underline for unselected

Not exactly what you are looking for but it can give the underline for un-selected tab.

Thanks for the clear working solution @andyng – hemandroid Aug 11 '23 at 15:02 — hemandroid, Aug 11 '23 at 15:02

score 12 · Answer 2 · edited Oct 23 '21 at 05:38

Instead of using container in tabs, try this (wrapping the TabBar with DecoratedBox and providing bottom border

DecoratedBox(
  //This is responsible for the background of the tabbar, does the magic
  decoration: BoxDecoration(
    //This is for background color
    color: Colors.white.withOpacity(0.0),
    //This is for bottom border that is needed
    border: Border(bottom: BorderSide(color: Colors.grey, width: 0.8)),
  ),
  child: TabBar(
    controller: _controller,
    tabs: [
      ...
    ],
  ),
)

Will not look exactly as you want, but will give underlined indication to unselected tabs.

score 1 · Answer 3 · answered Oct 13 '20 at 15:44

Solution that I used is similar to what @andy suggested, but a bit different

Stack(
  children: [
    Container(
      // The height of TabBar without icons is 46 (72 with), so 2 pixels for border
      height: 48,
      decoration: BoxDecoration(
        border: Border(
          bottom: BorderSide(
            color: Colors.red,
            width: 2,
          ),
        ),
      ),
    ),
    TabBar(
      isScrollable: true,
      indicator: UnderlineTabIndicator(
        borderSide: BorderSide(
          color: Colors.yellow,
          width: 2.0,
        ),
      ),
      indicatorSize: TabBarIndicatorSize.tab,
      tabs: <Widget>[
        Tab(
          text: "Tab 1",
        ),
        Tab(
          text: "Tab 2",
        ),
        Tab(
          text: "Tab 3",
        )
      ],
    ),
  ],
)

We shouldn't set a fixed height. We can't be sure of the AppBar height. Any constant in the source code is subject to change and might differ from platform to platform. — ulusoyca, Dec 14 '20 at 20:11

score 0 · Answer 4 · answered Sep 06 '19 at 12:35

I think you can use below code with plugin.

TabBar(
      controller: tabController,
      tabs: [
        Tab(text: "ADCD"),
        Tab(text: "EFGH"),
        Tab(text: "IJKL"),
        Tab(text: "MNOP"),
        Tab(text: "QRST"),
      ],
      labelColor: Colors.white,
      labelStyle: TextStyle(
          fontSize: 12.0, fontWeight: FontWeight.w700, fontFamily: 'helvetica'),
      unselectedLabelColor: Colors.black,
      unselectedLabelStyle: TextStyle(
          fontSize: 12.0, fontWeight: FontWeight.w400, fontFamily: 'helvetica'),
      isScrollable: true,
      indicator: new BubbleTabIndicator(
        indicatorHeight: p_35,
        indicatorColor: const Color(0xFF58c8e3),
        tabBarIndicatorSize: TabBarIndicatorSize.tab,
      ),
    );

I have use this plugin for "BubbleTabIndicator" https://pub.dev/packages/bubble_tab_indicator

How to create unselected indicator for tab bar in Flutter

4 Answers4

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