A grid list consists of a repeated pattern of cells arrayed in a vertical and horizontal layout.
Grid lists are best used on similar data types. They help improve the visual comprehension of the content they contain.
Image-only
Single-line text (or with icon)
Two-line text (or with icon)
Vertical scrolling
Filtering
A grid list is best suited to presenting homogenous data, typically images, and is optimized for visual comprehension and differentiating between similar data types.
Example of grid list
A grid list consists of a repeated pattern of cells arrayed vertically and horizontally within the grid list.
Tiles hold content and can span one or more cells vertically or horizontally.
Example of grid list
Example of a cell and tile
If the text in tiles needs to be prominent enough to distinguish between primary content pieces, consider using a different container, like a list or cards, optimized for displaying text and facilitating reading comprehension.
Lists: Optimized for reading comprehension, particularly when comparing a set of data containing multiple data types.
Cards: Used for content with inconsistent formatting, such as photos with captions of variable length, or data sets with heterogeneous content, such as a mixed collection of photos and videos and books.
Tile content consists of primary content and secondary content. Primary content is the main differentiating element, typically an image. Secondary content can be an action or text.
Provide a default image for tiles that lack an image for primary content.
Example of tile content with primary and secondary actions
Actions on both primary and secondary content – such as play, zoom in, delete, or select – are immediate and typically do not result in a submenu of options (action overflow) within the grid list.
Actions can open a subsequent view, such as a card.
Example of secondary action with action and text positions
Grid lists typically scroll only vertically.
Horizontally scrolling grid lists are discouraged because the scrolling interferes with typical reading patterns, affecting comprehension. One notable exception is a horizontally-scrolling, single-line grid list of images, such as a gallery, which is compatible with typical reading patterns.
Cut off grid tiles in the view’s initial scroll position to communicate the scroll direction for content overflow.
Do.
Indicate content overflow by cutting off grid tiles.
Don’t.
Avoid aligning grid tiles along a view edge in the view’s initial scroll position. This positioning doesn’t effectively communicate that there is more content available.
Per-tile swipe actions are not permitted. Pick-up-and-move actions are discouraged.
Content in a grid list can be programmatically filtered or sorted by date, file size, alphabetical order, or other parameters.
The first item in the grid list is positioned at the top left of the grid list, and the order proceeds left to right and top to bottom.
Resizing a grid list causes the tiles to re-sort as horizontal space becomes available. Full-bleed grid list tiles resize to fit the screen width.
A grid list does not transform into a list when horizontal space contracts. Grid lists and lists are separate structures for emphasizing different data types. Grid lists prioritize images over text and lists prioritize text over images.
To maintain a consistent rhythm throughout the grid list, truncate text content that is too long for the tile’s width. Alternatively, increase the grid size so that the tiles can accommodate the longer titles.
Full-screen grid lists should use fluid image ratios with minimum and maximum widths, derived using the Ratio keylines. They should retain fixed heights, margins, and padding.
Centered grid lists have fluid margins with a minimum width. They maintain fixed image widths, heights, and padding.
Height: 48dp
Text padding: 16dp
Default font size: 16sp
Secondary action is flush right to the footer.
Height: 68dp
Text padding: 16dp
Default font size for each line: 16sp/12sp or 14sp/14sp
Type 14/14
Two-line bar (with icon) height: 68dp
Two-line bar height: 68dp
Single-line bar height: 48dp
Type 16/12
Two-line bar (with icon) height: 68dp
Two-line bar height: 68dp
Single-line bar height: 48dp
Text truncation in header/footers.
Grid list padding: 4dp or 1dp
Tiles in grid lists can span multiple columns.
Carefully consider whether secondary text is needed in grid lists that use multi-column tiles, as larger tiles can develop significant empty space.
Image-only grid list
Image-only grid list photo album
Height: 48dp
Text padding: 16dp
Default font size: 16sp
Grid list padding: 4dp or 1dp
Single-line grid list footer with 16dp padding
Single-line grid list header with 16dp padding
Single-line grid list photo album
Height: 48dp
Text padding: 16dp
Default font size: 16sp
Grid list padding: 4dp or 1dp
The secondary action can be flush right or flush left within the footer or header.
Single-line grid list footer with 16dp padding and icon
Single-line grid list header with 16dp padding and icon
Single-line grid list footer with icon in photo album
Single-line grid list footer with icon
Single-line grid list header with icon
Height: 68dp
Text padding: 16dp
Default font size for each line: 16sp/12sp or 14sp/14sp
Grid list padding: 4dp or 1dp
Two-line grid list footer with 16dp of padding
Two-line grid list, 4dp example
Two-line grid list header with 16dp of padding
Two-line grid list, 1dp example
Height: 68dp
Text padding: 16dp
Default font size for each line: 16sp/12sp or 14sp/14sp
The secondary action can be flush right or flush left within the footer or header.
Grid list padding: 4dp or 1dp
Two-line text with icon footer
Text padding: 16dp
Two-line text with icon header
Text padding: 16dp
Example of text with icon
Two-line text with icon
Two-line text with icon