Change Background color of the action bar using AppCompat

48
votes

I found some questions about this problem around the web. Unfortunately, everything i try so far, has been unsuccessful.

Has the title say, i need to change the background color of my action bar.

The project have a min sdk of 9, and max sdk of 19.

I have create in my res/values folder, an xml file:

red_actionbar.xml

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<resources>
    <style name="CustomActionBarTheme" parent="@style/Theme.AppCompat.Light">
        <item name="actionBarStyle">@style/MyActionBar</item>
    </style>
    <style name="MyActionBar"
           parent="@style/Widget.AppCompat.Light.ActionBar.Solid.Inverse">
        <item name="background">@color/red</item>
    </style>
</resources>

the colors.xml stored in res/values

<resources>
    <color name="red">#FF0000</color>
</resources>

and the part of the manifest where i change the theme

<application
    android:allowBackup="true"
    android:icon="@drawable/ic_launcher"
    android:label="@string/app_name"
    android:theme="@style/CustomActionBarTheme" >

But nothing changes. Where is the problem? The application accepts the code because if i change ths:

<style name="CustomActionBarTheme" parent="@style/Theme.AppCompat.Light">

to

<style name="CustomActionBarTheme" parent="@style/Theme.AppCompat.Light.DarkActionBar ">

it does change the theme of my app, so the problem is in the style but I don't know how to solve it.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<resources>
    <style name="CustomActionBarTheme" parent="@style/Theme.AppCompat.Light">
        <item name="android:actionBarStyle" tools:ignore="NewApi">@style/MyActionBar</item>
        <item name="actionBarStyle">@style/MyActionBar</item>
    </style>
    <style name="MyActionBar"
           parent="@style/Widget.AppCompat.Light.ActionBar.Solid.Inverse">
        <item name="android:background"  tools:ignore="NewApi">@color/red</item>
        <item name="background">@color/red</item>
    </style>
</resources>
4
androidxmlandroid-actionbar
what version of android has the device where do you test the code? – Blackbelt
Android 4.2.2 samsung s2 plus – Bombolo
Theming is always tricky. It's a big mess and poorly documented. On another note, do you need to support a minimum Android SDK of 9? You will cover the vast majority of devices running 15 or higher.... just sayin.. – angryITguy

4 Answers

123
votes
<style name="MyActionBar" parent="@style/Widget.AppCompat.Light.ActionBar.Solid.Inverse">
    <item name="android:background"  tools:ignore="NewApi">@color/red</item>
    <item name="background">@color/red</item>
</style>

<style name="CustomActionBarTheme" parent="@style/Theme.AppCompat.Light">
    <item name="android:actionBarStyle"   tools:ignore="NewApi">@style/MyActionBar</item>
    <item name="actionBarStyle">@style/MyActionBar</item>

</style>

you need both android:background and background items. The former is for newer versions of android that support ActionBar natively. The latter is for older android versions.

EDIT

instead of <resources> use 

<resources xmlns:tools="http://schemas.android.com/tools" xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android">

From SDK 21

to change Action Bar background color, add this to ActionBarTheme, and the two colours are to be different or it will not work (thanks to @Dre and @lagoman)

<item name="colorPrimary">@color/my_awesome_red</item> 
<item name="colorPrimaryDark">@color/my_awesome_darker_red</item>
19
votes

Try this:

<style name="CustomActionBarTheme" parent="@style/Theme.AppCompat.Light">
    <item name="android:actionBarStyle">@style/MyActionBar</item>
    <item name="actionBarStyle">@style/MyActionBar</item>

</style>

<style name="MyActionBar" parent="@style/Widget.AppCompat.Light.ActionBar.Solid.Inverse">

    <item name="android:background">@color/red</item>
    <item name="background">@color/red</item>

</style>
9
votes

Try this.

<style name="AppBaseTheme" parent="Theme.AppCompat.Light">
    <item name="colorPrimary"> #6699FF </item>
</style>

You can change #6699FF color according to your choice (or use a color resource).

1
votes

try to use 

parent="Theme.AppCompat.Light"

instead of 

parent="@style/Theme.AppCompat.Light"