SciChart’s iOS & Android v4.8 Is Here to Advance Your Financial Trading Applications

Some good news! SciChart’s Android, iOS and macOS v4.8 has been released, which includes enhanced annotation support to level up your trading applications for mobile. As always, we’ve included mentions of the latest bug fixes, exciting new features, and links to examples that you can try for yourself.

Find out what’s new below!

What Bugs Have We Fixed Since Our Last Update?

From memory leaks to LogBaseNumericLabelFormatter issues, our developer team has been busy investigating and fixing bugs reported by our users. The below three examples of some of the most notable examples we wanted to share with our customers:

1. Fixed a memory leak that was caused by an unreleased object in the draw method.
2. Resolve LogBaseNumericLabelFormatter issue to handle correct exponent calculation
3. Fixed the drag modifier not working when configured via a modifier group rather than directly on chartModifiers.
4. Resolved an engine limitation to allow hosting and rendering multiple SciChartSurface3D chart surfaces simultaneously in a single application layout, activity, or fragment.
5. Fixed an issue with 3D chart axis-side clipping where data points outside the clipping region were incorrectly rendered. We ensured that series coordinates are strictly clipped against the visible range boundaries across all axes for all 3D series types.
6. Fixed frame rate performance issue with our Waterfall 3D Chart.

What New Features Can You Expect From v4.8?

The Android, iOS, and macOS update is all about annotations. We’ve now included a range of new and exciting options to help you elevate your financial charts. Annotation options include composite, pitchfork, extended line, XABCD, and freehand drawing. See the code samples and links to the examples below.

Included Annotations:

1. XabcdAnnotation (XABCD Pattern): Represents harmonic patterns consisting of 5 control points (X, A, B, C, D). It automatically calculates and displays Fibonacci leg ratios.
2. PitchforkAnnotation (Andrews’ Pitchfork): Draws Andrews’ Pitchfork technical indicator consisting of three parallel trend lines based on three control points.
3. ExtendedLineAnnotation (Extended Line): A trend line defined by two control points that visually projects infinitely across the chart area. Features configurable isExtendStart and isExtendEnd properties.
4. FreehandDrawingAnnotation (Freehand Path): Allows freeform drawing/brushing of custom paths or doodles directly over the chart.

Included Creation Modifiers:

1. XabcdAnnotationCreationModifier: Allows users to dynamically place the 5 control points on the chart via touch gestures to draw the XABCD harmonic pattern.
2. PitchforkAnnotationCreationModifier: Enables the interactive creation of Andrews’ Pitchfork annotations by placing three peak/trough anchor points on the chart surface.
3. ExtendedLineAnnotationCreationModifier: Enables users to draw extended trend lines dynamically using a drag gesture, defaulting to extending the line in both directions.
4. FreehandDrawingModifier: Captures continuous touch-and-drag inputs on the screen to construct and render a freehand line annotation dynamically. It supports configurable brushColor and brushThickness.

// Add freehand drawing modifier
self.freeHandModifier = SCIFreehandDrawingModifier()
self.surface.chartModifiers.add(items:self.freeHandModifier)

// Example setup for trading and freehand annotations and modifiers
val surface = findViewById<SciChartSurface>(R.id.surface)

// Create XABCD Annotation
val xabcdAnnotation = XabcdAnnotation(this).apply {
initialBasePoints.add(ComparablePoint(10, 30.6))
initialBasePoints.add(ComparablePoint(30, 31.5))
initialBasePoints.add(ComparablePoint(50, 30.3))
initialBasePoints.add(ComparablePoint(70, 31.5))
initialBasePoints.add(ComparablePoint(90, 30.6))
setIsEditable(true)
}

// Create Andrews' Pitchfork Annotation
val pitchforkAnnotation = PitchforkAnnotation(this).apply {
initialBasePoints.add(ComparablePoint(100, 30.6))
initialBasePoints.add(ComparablePoint(110, 31.5))
initialBasePoints.add(ComparablePoint(130, 30.7))
setIsEditable(true)
}

// Create Extended Line Annotation
val extendedLineAnnotation = ExtendedLineAnnotation(this).apply {
isExtendStart = true
isExtendEnd = true
x1 = 70
y1 = 33.3
x2 = 90
y2 = 33.7
setIsEditable(true)
}

// Create Freehand Drawing Annotation
val freehandDrawingAnnotation = FreehandDrawingAnnotation(this).apply {
initialBasePoints.add(ComparablePoint(140, 32.5))
initialBasePoints.add(ComparablePoint(150, 32.8))
initialBasePoints.add(ComparablePoint(160, 32.2))
initialBasePoints.add(ComparablePoint(170, 32.6))
brushColor = Color.YELLOW
brushThickness = 8f
setIsEditable(true)
}

// Add annotations to surface
surface.annotations.add(xabcdAnnotation)
surface.annotations.add(pitchforkAnnotation)
surface.annotations.add(extendedLineAnnotation)
surface.annotations.add(freehandDrawingAnnotation)

// Create modifiers
val xabcdModifier = XabcdAnnotationCreationModifier().apply {
setAnnotationCreationListener(listener)
}
val pitchforkModifier = PitchforkAnnotationCreationModifier().apply {
setAnnotationCreationListener(listener)
}
val extendedLineModifier = ExtendedLineAnnotationCreationModifier().apply {
setAnnotationCreationListener(listener)
}
val freehandDrawingModifier = FreehandDrawingModifier().apply {
brushColor = Color.WHITE
brushThickness = 5f
setAnnotationCreationListener(listener)
}

// Add modifiers to surface
surface.chartModifiers.add(xabcdModifier)
surface.chartModifiers.add(pitchforkModifier)
surface.chartModifiers.add(extendedLineModifier)
surface.chartModifiers.add(freehandDrawingModifier)

SCICompositeAnnotation Support

CompositeAnnotation lets you group multiple child annotations into a single container that can be moved, resized, and selected as one unit on the chart. It extends BoxAnnotation, so the composite itself is a rectangular region defined by chart data coordinates (X1, Y1, X2, Y2). Child annotations inside it use relative coordinates (0.0–1.0) within that bounding box, so they stay correctly positioned when the composite is dragged or resized.

This is useful for building reusable annotation templates, such as a label plus connector line, a callout with multiple text blocks, or a custom overlay with several visual elements that should always move together.

CompositeAnnotation is a container annotation that:

• Groups a collection of child IAnnotation instances via getAnnotations() / annotations
• Defines a bounding box on the chart (inherited from BoxAnnotation)
• Positions children relative to that box (0.0 = top/left edge, 1.0 = bottom/right edge, 0.5 = center)
• Treats the whole group as a single editable annotation on the surface
• Automatically manages child lifecycle (attach/detach, axis IDs, visibility)

It also serves as the base architecture for trading annotations. TradingAnnotationBase extends CompositeAnnotation and composes multiple line/text children to render patterns like XABCD and Pitchfork.

See the code sample below.

SCICompositeAnnotation *compositeAnnotation = [SCICompositeAnnotation new];
compositeAnnotation.x1 = @(185.0);
compositeAnnotation.y1 = @(12300.0);
compositeAnnotation.x2 = @(210.0);
compositeAnnotation.y2 = @(11100.0);
compositeAnnotation.isEditable = YES;
compositeAnnotation.fillBrush = [[SCISolidBrushStyle alloc] initWithColorCode:0x33FF69BD];
// Child Annotation
SCITextAnnotation *textAnnotation = [SCITextAnnotation new];
textAnnotation.x1 = @(0.25);
textAnnotation.y1 = @(0.75);
textAnnotation.text = @"Text 1\n(0.25, 0.75)";
textAnnotation.fontStyle = [[SCIFontStyle alloc] initWithFontSize:14 andTextColor:SCIColor.whiteColor];

// Add child annotations to composite
compositeAnnotation.annotations = [[SCIAnnotationCollection alloc] initWithCollection: @[textAnnotation]];
// Add composite annotation
[self.surface.annotations add:compositeAnnotation];

// Example setup for CompositeAnnotation
SciChartSurface surface = findViewById(R.id.surface);

// Create composite annotation container
CompositeAnnotation compositeAnnotation = new CompositeAnnotation(surface.getContext());
compositeAnnotation.setX1(2.0);
compositeAnnotation.setY1(2.0);
compositeAnnotation.setX2(6.0);
compositeAnnotation.setY2(6.0);
compositeAnnotation.setIsEditable(true);
compositeAnnotation.setBackgroundColor(ColorUtil.argb(0x33, 0xFF, 0x68, 0xBC));

// Child annotations use relative positions (0.0-1.0) within the composite bounds
// 0.0, 0.0 = top-left; 1.0, 1.0 = bottom-right; 0.5, 0.5 = center

IAnnotation textAnnotation1 = sciChartBuilder.newTextAnnotation()
        .withX1(0.25)   // 25% from left
        .withY1(0.75)   // 75% from top
        .withText("Text 1\n(0.25, 0.75)")
        .withFontStyle(14, ColorUtil.White)
        .build();

IAnnotation textAnnotation2 = sciChartBuilder.newTextAnnotation()
        .withX1(0.75)
        .withY1(0.25)
        .withText("Text 2\n(0.75, 0.25)")
        .withFontStyle(14, ColorUtil.White)
        .build();

IAnnotation textAnnotationCenter = sciChartBuilder.newTextAnnotation()
        .withX1(0.5)
        .withY1(0.5)
        .withText("Center\n(0.5, 0.5)")
        .withFontStyle(14, ColorUtil.White)
        .build();

IAnnotation lineAnnotation = sciChartBuilder.newLineAnnotation()
        .withPosition(0.2, 0.2, 0.8, 0.8)  // diagonal line across the composite
        .withStroke(2f, ColorUtil.White)
        .build();

// Add children to the composite
compositeAnnotation.getAnnotations().add(textAnnotation1);
compositeAnnotation.getAnnotations().add(textAnnotation2);
compositeAnnotation.getAnnotations().add(textAnnotationCenter);
compositeAnnotation.getAnnotations().add(lineAnnotation);

// Add composite to surface (not the children individually)
surface.getAnnotations().add(compositeAnnotation);

// Optional: add a standalone annotation for comparison
surface.getAnnotations().add(
        sciChartBuilder.newTextAnnotation()
                .withX1(7.0)
                .withY1(7.0)
                .withText("Regular Annotation\n(not grouped)")
                .build()
);

View iOS Example View Android Example

Extended Line Annotation & Creation Modifier

There’s now support for Extended Line Annotations, which render infinitely beyond their defined start and end points. The example includes an interactive creation modifier for drawing and configuring extended lines directly on the chart.

// Add Extended Line annotation modifier
self.extendedLineCreationModifier = SCIExtendedLineCreationModifier()
self.surface.chartModifiers.add(items: self.extendedLineCreationModifier)

// Create Extended Line Annotation
val extendedLineAnnotation = ExtendedLineAnnotation(this).apply {
isExtendStart = true
isExtendEnd = true
x1 = 70
y1 = 33.3
x2 = 90
y2 = 33.7
setIsEditable(true)

XABCD Annotation & Creation Modifier

We added support for XABCD Harmonic Pattern Annotations with an interactive creation modifier for creating and editing harmonic trading patterns on charts.

// Add xabcd annotation modifier
self.xabcdCreationModifier = SCIXabcdCreationModifier()
self.surface.chartModifiers.add(items: self.xabcdCreationModifier)

// Create XABCD Annotation
val xabcdAnnotation = XabcdAnnotation(this).apply {
initialBasePoints.add(ComparablePoint(10, 30.6))
initialBasePoints.add(ComparablePoint(30, 31.5))
initialBasePoints.add(ComparablePoint(50, 30.3))
initialBasePoints.add(ComparablePoint(70, 31.5))
initialBasePoints.add(ComparablePoint(90, 30.6))
setIsEditable(true)
}

View iOS Example View Android Example

Pitchfork Annotation & Creation Modifier

We added interactive trading annotations, including the Pitchfork Annotation Modifier.

// Add Pitchfork annotation modifier
self.pitchforkCreationModifier = SCIPitchforkCreationModifier()
self.surface.chartModifiers.add(items: self.pitchforkCreationModifier)

// Create Andrews' Pitchfork Annotation
val pitchforkAnnotation = PitchforkAnnotation(this).apply {
initialBasePoints.add(ComparablePoint(100, 30.6))
initialBasePoints.add(ComparablePoint(110, 31.5))
initialBasePoints.add(ComparablePoint(130, 30.7))
setIsEditable(true)
}

View iOS Example View Android Example

Contact Us to Learn More

SciChart is an Android and iOS Chart Library designed for complex, mission-critical applications. If you have a question or would like to learn more about our products and services, please contact us or visit our dedicated chart pages.

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