Android: View.setID(int id) programmatically - how to avoid ID conflicts?

The 'Compat' library now also supports the generateViewId() method for API levels prior 17.

Just make sure to use a version of the Compat library that is 27.1.0+

For example, in your build.gradle file, put :

implementation 'com.android.support:appcompat-v7:27.1.1

Then you can simply use the generateViewId() from the ViewCompat class instead of the View class as follow:

//Will assign a unique ID myView.id = ViewCompat.generateViewId()

Happy coding !

inspired by @dilettante answer, here's my solution as an extension function in kotlin:

/* sets a valid id that isn't in use */
fun View.findAndSetFirstValidId() {
    var i: Int
    do {
        i = Random.nextInt()
    } while (findViewById<View>(i) != null)
    id = i
}