Develop Reference

How to set textColorSecondary on toolbar theme

I have tried for several days to fix a problem where multiple of my UI elements in my toolbar is the wrong color. If you take a look at the picture below you can see what I mean:
Elements that should be white are black and I just can't figure out how to fix this through my theme.
Here's my themes.xml (sry about the mess in there, but theming is really difficult):
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<resources>
<!-- Base application theme. -->
<style name="AppTheme" parent="Theme.GuidelinesCompat.Light.DarkToolbar">
<item name="colorPrimary">#color/colorPrimary</item>
<item name="colorPrimaryDark">#color/colorPrimaryDark</item>
<item name="colorAccent">#color/colorAccent</item>
<item name="android:windowBackground">#color/colorBackground</item>
</style>
<style name="AppTheme.NoActionBar">
<item name="windowActionBar">false</item>
<item name="windowNoTitle">true</item>
<item name="android:windowActionModeOverlay">true</item>
<item name="toolbarStyle">#style/AppTheme.NoActionBar.ToolbarStyle</item>
<item name="actionModeStyle">#style/AppTheme.NoActionBar.ActionModeStyle</item>
<item name="searchViewStyle">#style/AppTheme.NoActionBar.SearchViewStyle</item>
<!--<item name="android:actionModeBackground">#color/bg_action_mode</item>-->
<!--<item name="android:textColorSecondary">#color/white</item>-->
</style>
<style name="AppTheme.ActionBar">
<item name="android:windowActionModeOverlay">true</item>
</style>
<!-- Base toolbar theme. -->
<style name="AppTheme.NoActionBar.ToolbarStyle" parent="Widget.GuidelinesCompat.Toolbar">
<item name="titleTextAppearance">#style/AppTheme.NoActionBar.ToolbarTitleTextAppearance</item>
</style>
<style name="AppTheme.NoActionBar.ToolbarTitleTextAppearance" parent="#style/TextAppearance.Widget.AppCompat.Toolbar.Title">
<item name="android:textColor">#color/white</item>
<item name="android:textColorSecondary">#color/white</item>
</style>
<!-- Base Action Mode styles -->
<style name="AppTheme.NoActionBar.ActionModeStyle" parent="Widget.GuidelinesCompat.ActionMode">
<item name="background">#color/bg_action_mode</item>
<!--<item name="android:actionModeBackground">#color/bg_action_mode</item>-->
<!--<item name="android:actionOverflowButtonStyle">#style/ActionModeTitleTextStyle</item>-->
<!--<item name="statusBarColor">#color/grey_100</item>-->
</style>
<style name="ActionModeTitleTextStyle" parent="Widget.GuidelinesCompat.ActionButton.Overflow">
<item name="android:textColor">#color/white</item>
<item name="android:textColorSecondary">#color/white</item>
</style>
<style name="AppTheme.NoActionBar.SearchViewStyle" parent="Widget.AppCompat.SearchView">
<!-- Sets the search icon -->
<item name="searchIcon">#drawable/ic_search_white_24dp</item>
<!-- Gets rid of the "underline" in the text -->
<!--<item name="queryBackground">#color/white</item>-->
<!-- Gets rid of the search icon when the SearchView is expanded -->
<!--<item name="searchHintIcon">#null</item>-->
<!-- The hint text that appears when the user has not typed anything -->
<!--<item name="queryHint">#string/menu_examination_search_hint</item>-->
<item name="android:textAppearance">#style/SearchViewTextAppearance</item>
</style>
<style name="SearchViewTextAppearance">
<item name="android:textColorHint">#color/white</item>
<item name="android:textColor">#color/white</item>
<item name="android:textColorSecondary">#color/white</item>
</style>
<!-- Theme applied to LoginActivity and SignUpActivity -->
<style name="AppTheme.Login" parent="AppTheme.NoActionBar">
<item name="android:windowBackground">#color/colorPrimary</item>
<item name="android:textColorHint">#color/iron</item>
<item name="android:textColorPrimary">#color/white</item>
<item name="colorControlNormal">#color/iron</item>
<item name="colorControlActivated">#color/white</item>
<item name="colorControlHighlight">#color/white</item>
<item name="colorButtonNormal">#color/colorPrimaryDarker</item>
</style>
<style name="AppTheme.NavigationView">
<item name="android:textColorSecondary">#color/colorTextSecondary</item>
</style>
<!-- Theme applied to Textview in LoginActivity and SignUpActivity -->
<style name="WhiteText" parent="#android:style/TextAppearance">
<item name="android:textColor">#color/white</item>
</style>
<!-- Animations applied to dialog when entering or exiting -->
<style name="DialogAnimation">
<item name="android:windowEnterAnimation">#anim/slide_up</item>
<item name="android:windowExitAnimation">#anim/slide_down</item>
</style>
I've found out that if I set textColorSecondary in my AppTheme.NoActonBar all my controls are correctly coloured white, but this gives me trouble in all my dialogs, that now also have textColorSecondary set to white.
I hope someone out there can show me a solution, cause I'm out of ideas.

Try this here .
In your toolbar layout:
<android.support.v7.widget.Toolbar
xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
xmlns:app="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res-auto"
android:id="#+id/toolbar"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="?attr/actionBarSize"
android:minHeight="?attr/actionBarSize"
app:theme="#style/ToolBarStyle"
app:popupTheme="#style/ToolBarPopupStyle"
android:background="#color/actionbar/>
In your styles:
<!-- ToolBar -->
<style name="ToolBarStyle" parent="Theme.AppCompat">
<item name="android:textColorPrimary">#android:color/white</item>
<item name="android:textColorSecondary">#android:color/white</item>
<item name="actionMenuTextColor">#android:color/white</item>
<item name="actionOverflowButtonStyle">#style/ActionButtonOverflowStyle</item>
<item name="drawerArrowStyle">#style/DrawerArrowStyle</item>
</style>

how can I change toolbar searchView drop down menu theme to be light in android app

i have developed an android app with search view on action bar
but the suggestion drop down menu items are dark.
is there a way i can turn the drop down menu to light ?
this is my style.xml file
<!-- Base application theme. -->
<style name="AppTheme" parent="Theme.AppCompat.Light.NoActionBar">
<item name="colorPrimary">#color/colorPrimary</item>
<item name="colorPrimaryDark">#color/colorPrimaryDark</item>
<!--<item name="android:dropDownListViewStyle">#android:style/Widget.DeviceDefault.Light.ListView.DropDown</item>-->
<item name="colorAccent">#color/colorAccent</item>
<item name="android:actionBarWidgetTheme">#style/Widget.AppCompat.Light.ActionBar</item>
<item name="android:popupMenuStyle">#android:style/Widget.Holo.Light.PopupMenu</item>
<!--<item name="android:dropDownListViewStyle">#android:style/Theme.Light</item>-->
</style>
<style name="AppTheme.AppBarOverlay" parent="ThemeOverlay.AppCompat.Dark.ActionBar" />
<style name="AppTheme.PopupOverlay" parent="ThemeOverlay.AppCompat.Light" />
<style name="AppTheme.ButtonBase" parent="Widget.AppCompat.Button.Colored">
<item name="android:paddingTop">12dip</item>
<item name="android:paddingBottom">12dip</item>
<item name="android:textSize">16.9sp</item>
<item name="android:textStyle">bold</item>
</style>
<style name="AppTheme.ButtonPrimary" parent="AppTheme.ButtonBase">
<item name="colorButtonNormal">#color/buttonPrimary</item>
<item name="android:textColor">#color/textLight</item>
</style>
<style name="MineCustomTabText" parent="TextAppearance.Design.Tab">
<item name="android:textSize">18sp</item>
</style>
<style name="AppTheme.ButtonSecondary" parent="AppTheme.ButtonBase">
<item name="android:textColor">#color/textLight</item>
</style>

Just comment out your style code. for below attribute in your code.
android:dropDownListViewStyle
Now build and run your app again.
It will help you.

Backward compatibity using v-21/styles.xml not working

I am trying to style my button while maintaining backwards compatibility.
I have 2 files as follows:
values/styles.xml:
<resources>
<!-- Base application theme. -->
<style name="AppTheme" parent="Theme.AppCompat.Light.DarkActionBar">
<!-- Main theme colors -->
<!-- your app branding color for the app bar -->
<item name="colorPrimary">#color/primary</item>
<!-- darker variant for the status bar and contextual app bars -->
<item name="colorPrimaryDark">#color/primary_dark</item>
<!-- theme UI controls like checkboxes and text fields -->
<item name="colorAccent">#color/accent</item>
<item name="android:textColorPrimary">#color/primary_text</item>
<item name="android:textColorSecondary">#color/secondary_text</item>
<item name="android:buttonStyle">#style/RoundedButton</item>
</style>
<style name="RoundedButton" parent="#style/Widget.AppCompat.Button">
</style>
<style name="AppName.NoActionBar" parent="AppTheme" >
<item name="windowActionBar">false</item>
<item name="windowNoTitle">true</item>
</style>
<style name="DemoButton">
<item name="android:layout_width">wrap_content</item>
<item name="android:layout_height">wrap_content</item>
<item name="android:minWidth">40dp</item>
</style>
</resources>
values-v21/styles.xml:
<resources>
<style name="RoundedButton" parent="Widget.AppCompat.Button">
<item name="android:background">#drawable/btn_rounded</item>
</style>
</resources>
But even then my button looses all attributes i.e. just a text is displayed as per android-studio's "XML preview". I just want the button to default to the usual Holo theme on pre-lolipop devices. It works as expected on Lolipop devices.
What am I doing wrong?

In values/styles.xml
<style name="RoundedButton" parent="#style/Widget.AppCompat.Button">
</style>
change it to as Follow :-
<style name="RoundedButton" parent="android:Widget.Holo">
</style>

I couldn't figure out the reason of why this was happening so I removed the line <item name="android:buttonStyle">#style/RoundedButton</item> from my values/styles.xml file, and added it to my values-v21/styles.xml.
I do not like this solution as there is a lot of code duplication. The only good thing about it is that it works.
Now my files look like:
values/styles.xml:
<resources>
<!-- Base application theme. -->
<style name="AppTheme" parent="Theme.AppCompat.Light.DarkActionBar">
<!-- Main theme colors -->
<!-- your app branding color for the app bar -->
<item name="colorPrimary">#color/primary</item>
<!-- darker variant for the status bar and contextual app bars -->
<item name="colorPrimaryDark">#color/primary_dark</item>
<!-- theme UI controls like checkboxes and text fields -->
<item name="colorAccent">#color/accent</item>
<item name="android:textColorPrimary">#color/primary_text</item>
<item name="android:textColorSecondary">#color/secondary_text</item>
</style>
<style name="AppName.NoActionBar" parent="AppTheme" >
<item name="windowActionBar">false</item>
<item name="windowNoTitle">true</item>
</style>
<style name="DemoButton">
<item name="android:layout_width">wrap_content</item>
<item name="android:layout_height">wrap_content</item>
<item name="android:minWidth">40dp</item>
</style>
</resources>
v21/styles.xml:
<resources>
<!-- Base application theme. -->
<style name="AppTheme" parent="Theme.AppCompat.Light.DarkActionBar">
<!-- Main theme colors -->
<!-- your app branding color for the app bar -->
<item name="colorPrimary">#color/primary</item>
<!-- darker variant for the status bar and contextual app bars -->
<item name="colorPrimaryDark">#color/primary_dark</item>
<!-- theme UI controls like checkboxes and text fields -->
<item name="colorAccent">#color/accent</item>
<item name="android:textColorPrimary">#color/primary_text</item>
<item name="android:textColorSecondary">#color/secondary_text</item>
<item name="android:buttonStyle">#style/RoundedButton</item>
</style>
<style name="RoundedButton" parent="Widget.AppCompat.Button">
<item name="android:background">#drawable/btn_rounded</item>
</style>
<style name="AppName.NoActionBar" parent="AppTheme" >
<item name="windowActionBar">false</item>
<item name="windowNoTitle">true</item>
</style>
<style name="DemoButton">
<item name="android:layout_width">wrap_content</item>
<item name="android:layout_height">wrap_content</item>
<item name="android:minWidth">40dp</item>
</style>
</resources>

Android styles: how to change colors in styles.xml

I want to change some colors of android UI elements. But I would prefer to set a default tint color, which applies to all UI elements. I am not sure if this is possible.
If not, I want to set the "tint"-color of some UI elements, as shown below. Can anybody enlighten me?
EDIT
Based on what Entreco suggested:
My styles.xml:
<resources>
<!-- Base application theme. -->
<style name="AppTheme.Base" parent="Theme.AppCompat.Light.DarkActionBar">
<!-- Customize your theme here. -->
<item name="android:textColorPrimary">#color/brown</item>
<item name="android:textColorSecondary">#color/brown</item>
<item name="android:textColorTertiary">#color/brown</item>
<item name="android:textColorPrimaryInverse">#color/brown</item>
<item name="android:textColorSecondaryInverse">#color/brown</item>
<item name="android:textColorTertiaryInverse">#color/brown</item>
<item name="colorPrimary">#color/blue</item>
<item name="colorPrimaryDark">#color/blue</item>
<item name="android:actionBarStyle">#style/MyActionBar</item>
<item name="actionBarStyle">#style/MyActionBar</item>
</style>
<!-- style for the action bar backgrounds -->
<style name="MyActionBar" parent="#style/Widget.AppCompat.Light.ActionBar">
<item name="android:titleTextStyle">#style/MyTheme.ActionBar.TitleTextStyle</item>
<item name="android:subtitleTextStyle">#style/MyTheme.ActionBar.TitleTextStyle</item>
<item name="android:background">#color/brown</item>
<item name="titleTextStyle">#style/MyTheme.ActionBar.TitleTextStyle</item>
<item name="subtitleTextStyle">#style/MyTheme.ActionBar.TitleTextStyle</item>
<item name="background">#color/brown</item>
</style>
<style name="MyTheme.ActionBar.TitleTextStyle" parent="#android:style/TextAppearance">
<item name="android:textColor">#color/brown_light</item>
<item name="android:textSize">24sp</item>
</style>
</resources>
And my values-v21/styles.xml:
<resources>
<style name="AppTheme" parent="AppTheme.Base">
<item name="android:colorPrimary">#color/blue</item>
<item name="android:colorPrimaryDark">#color/blue</item>
<!-- <item name="android:colorAccent">#color/white</item> -->
</style>
</resources>
And in my Manifest:
<application android:theme="#style/AppTheme.Base" >
...
</application>
But the primary color is still the same...???

Starting from Lollipop this is straight-forward thanks to the colorPrimary attribute:
file values/styles.xml:
<!-- Base application theme. -->
<style name="AppTheme.Base" parent="Theme.AppCompat.Light.DarkActionBar">
<item name="colorPrimary">#color/primary</item>
<item name="colorPrimaryDark">#color/primary_dark</item>
</style>
file values-v21/styles.xml:
<style name="AppTheme" parent="AppTheme.Base">
<item name="android:colorPrimary">#color/primary</item>
<item name="android:colorPrimaryDark">#color/primary_dark</item>
<item name="android:colorAccent">#color/white</item>
</style>
Basically, you can define a color pallete for your app, and I believe for your case your want to set the colorPrimary (unverified).
More info on Material colors

Android Status Bar Prevent Coloring

I am having a problem preventing the status bar from taking on the primaryColor. I want to leave the status bar unstyled but on lollipop it is always taking on the color of the primaryColor defined in my styles.xml
Excerpt from styles:
<style name="AppTheme" parent="Theme.AppCompat.Light.NoActionBar" >
<item name="colorPrimaryDark">?attr/colorPrimary</item>
<item name="colorAccent">?attr/colorPrimary</item>
<item name="android:textColorPrimary">#android:color/primary_text_light</item>
<item name="drawerArrowStyle">#style/DrawerArrowStyle</item>
</style>
<!-- Base application theme. -->
<style name="AppTheme.TransparentActionBar" parent="Theme.AppCompat.Light.NoActionBar">
<item name="colorPrimaryDark">?attr/colorPrimary</item>
<item name="colorAccent">?attr/colorPrimary</item>
<item name="android:textColorPrimary">#android:color/primary_text_light</item>
<item name="drawerArrowStyle">#style/DrawerArrowStyle</item>
<item name="android:windowActionBarOverlay">true</item>
<!-- Support library compatibility -->
<item name="windowActionBarOverlay">true</item>
<item name="android:windowBackground">#color/white</item>
</style>
<!-- START Market Themes -->
<style name="AppTheme.Blue" parent="AppTheme">
<item name="colorPrimary">#color/primaryColorBlue</item>
</style>
styles/v21
<style name="AppTheme" parent="Theme.AppCompat.Light.NoActionBar" >
<item name="colorPrimaryDark">?attr/colorPrimary</item>
<item name="colorAccent">?attr/colorPrimary</item>
<item name="android:textColorPrimary">#android:color/primary_text_light</item>
<item name="drawerArrowStyle">#style/DrawerArrowStyle</item>
</style>
<!-- Base application theme. -->
<style name="AppTheme.TransparentActionBar" parent="Theme.AppCompat.Light.NoActionBar">
<item name="colorPrimaryDark">?attr/colorPrimary</item>
<item name="colorAccent">?attr/colorPrimary</item>
<item name="android:textColorPrimary">#android:color/primary_text_light</item>
<item name="drawerArrowStyle">#style/DrawerArrowStyle</item>
<item name="android:windowDrawsSystemBarBackgrounds">true</item>
<item name="android:statusBarColor">#color/black</item>
<item name="android:windowActionBarOverlay">true</item>
<!-- Support library compatibility -->
<item name="windowActionBarOverlay">true</item>
<item name="android:windowBackground">#color/white</item>
<item name="android:windowContentTransitions">true</item>
</style>
<style name="DrawerArrowStyle" parent="Widget.AppCompat.DrawerArrowToggle">
<item name="spinBars">true</item>
<item name="color">#android:color/white</item>
</style>
<style name="ToolBarStyle" parent="">
<item name="android:elevation">#dimen/toolbar_elevation</item>
<item name="popupTheme">#style/ThemeOverlay.AppCompat.Light</item>
<item name="theme">#style/ThemeOverlay.AppCompat.Dark.ActionBar</item>
</style>

You're telling it to be your primary colour.
The status bar gets its colour form your colorPrimaryDark so change
<item name="colorPrimaryDark">?attr/colorPrimary</item>
to
<item name="colorPrimary">?attr/colorPrimary</item>
<item name="colorPrimaryDark">#android:color/black</item>
I think this should only be necessary in your styles-v21 but I'm not close enough to anything to test it.
Docs here
<resources>
<!-- inherit from the material theme -->
<style name="AppTheme" parent="android:Theme.Material">
<!-- Main theme colors -->
<!-- your app branding color for the app bar -->
<item name="android:colorPrimary">#color/primary</item>
<!-- darker variant for the status bar and contextual app bars -->
<item name="android:colorPrimaryDark">#color/primary_dark</item>
<!-- theme UI controls like checkboxes and text fields -->
<item name="android:colorAccent">#color/accent</item>
</style>
</resources>