I would like to get the background of the tab animated smoothly to the selected position (just like the default tabIndicator
animates between tabs).
Here is
We've achieved the same effect in our app using TabLayout.
The trick for smooth animation is to use tabIndicator attirbute instead of tabBackground!
You can define a shape drawable (not selector) and assign it to TabLayout by:
app:tabIndicator="@drawable/tab_layout_fg"
This will add a tab indicator with smooth animation that you want to achieve. If you find that tabIndicator color is not reflecting as defined in the drawable file, you can tint the tabIndicator using tabIndicatorColor attribute.
Note: Make sure you're using latest design support library v28.0.0 or material components library for Android X.