Develop Reference

ListPreference text color

I'm having a hard time trying to style a ListPreference.
I've applied a main theme which declares a preferenceTheme and both of them link to a dialogTheme (and alertDialogTheme respectively). It works except that the text color of the items doesn't change - but the color of all other texts does. I cannot rely on a workaround because I'm using the v7 preferences and thus cannot override the dialog methods in a custom class.
For me it looks like the rows ignore the text color value, but maybe someone else has a solution for this. Otherwise this might be a bug?
Main style:
<style name="AppTheme" parent="Theme.AppCompat.Light.DarkActionBar">
<!-- [...] -->
<!-- Some color values -->
<item name="android:dialogTheme">#style/DialogTheme</item>
<item name="android:alertDialogTheme">#style/DialogTheme</item>
<item name="dialogTheme">#style/DialogTheme</item>
<item name="alertDialogTheme">#style/DialogTheme</item>
<item name="preferenceTheme">#style/PreferenceTheme</item>
</style>
PreferenceTheme:
<style name="PreferenceTheme" parent="PreferenceThemeOverlay.v14.Material">
<!-- [...] -->
<!-- Some color values -->
<item name="android:textColor">#color/preference_primary_color</item>
<item name="android:textColorPrimary">#color/preference_primary_color</item>
<item name="android:textColorSecondary">#color/preference_primary_color</item>
<item name="android:textColorHighlight">#color/preference_primary_color</item>
<item name="android:editTextColor">#color/preference_primary_color</item>
<item name="android:dialogTheme">#style/DialogTheme</item>
<item name="android:alertDialogTheme">#style/DialogTheme</item>
<item name="preferenceTheme">#style/PreferenceTheme</item>
</style>
DialogTheme:
<style name="DialogTheme" parent="Theme.AppCompat.Light.Dialog.Alert">
<item name="android:textColor">#EEEEEE</item>
<item name="android:textColorPrimary">#EEEEEE</item>
<item name="android:textColorSecondary">#EEEEEE</item>
<item name="android:textColorHighlight">#EEEEEE</item>
<item name="android:textColorTertiary">#EEEEEE</item>
<item name="android:textColorAlertDialogListItem">#EEEEEE</item>
<item name="android:editTextColor">#EEEEEE</item>
<item name="color">#EEEEEE</item>
</style>
This is how it looks.The text should be #EEEEEE. I've snipped it but the text colors are applied in each of the given styles.

You did everything right, except one thing: do not use the android prefix when overriding textColorAlertDialogListItem because this is not the framework version of AlertDialog.
This statement is generally true for almost all attributes that belong to the support widgets / views. The reason is pretty straightforward: not all attributes are available on the older platforms. Such example is android:colorControlActivated which was introduced in API 21. The AppCompat lib declares its own colorControlActivated so it's available on older API levels, too. In this case the developer should not use the android prefix when defining the style in the theme as that would point to the platform version of the attribute instead of the AppCompat one.
TL;DR: Do not use the android prefix for support widgets unless you have to (i.e. you get compilation error).
P.S.: I have created a fix / extension to the support preferences-v7 lib's annoying things that you might want to check out.

Also for radio buttons color add <item name="colorAccent">#000000</item> to your style.
Be careful, it's not android:colorAccent but colorAccent

Theme namespaces Android

I expended days looking for any documentation and really don't figured out not even how to start.
What I am looking for is the namespaces, i want to custom somethings on android, so I read that i can override the Material style, but how can I override it if i can't find the namespaces and what they do?
take a look here:
i Created my Style:
<resources xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android">
<style name="VogoSocialTheme" parent="android:Theme.Material.Light">
<item name="android:colorPrimary">#color/primary</item>
<item name="android:colorPrimaryDark">#color/primary_dark</item>
<item name="android:colorAccent">#color/accent</item>
<item name="android:editTextBackground">#drawable/apptheme_edit_text_holo_light</item>
<item name="android:alertDialogTheme">#style/VogoSocialTheme.AlertDialog</item>
</style>
<style name="VogoSocialTheme.AlertDialog" parent="android:Theme.Material.Light.Dialog">
<item name="android:colorAccent">#122f54</item>
</style>
<!-- Colors -->
<color name="primary">#2764B5</color>
<color name="primary_dark">#B2f91816</color>
<color name="accent">#122f54</color>
</resources>
everything here I just I copied and pasted, but now i want to for example change the background color, size of text, or whatever, so probably I need to change the
<style name="VogoSocialTheme.AlertDialog" parent="android:Theme.Material.Light.Dialog">
<item name="android:colorAccent">#122f54</item>
</style>
and add a new items with specific name android:...
where can i find theses names and docs to go ahead ?

R.style reference
The R.style reference, however, is not well documented and does not thoroughly describe the styles, so viewing the actual source code for these styles and themes will give you a better understanding of what style properties each one provides. For a better reference to the Android styles and themes, see the following source code:
Source styles.xml
Source themes.xml
Ref: Using Platform Styles and Themes

Android TimePickerDialog styling guide/docs?

I'm trying to style a TimePickerDialog for sdk 21+ (Lollipop). So far I've figured out how to change the default colorscheme in XML:
<style name="TimePickerTheme" parent="#style/Theme.AppCompat.Light.Dialog">
<item name="colorPrimary">#ff2d6073</item> <!-- no effect -->
<item name="colorPrimaryDark">#ff2d6073</item> <!-- no effect -->
<item name="colorAccent">#ff2d6073</item>
<item name="android:textColor">#ffD0D102</item>
<item name="android:textColorPrimary">#ffD0D102</item>
</style>
This works but I'm looking for a guide or documentation for all the properties I can change.
AccentColor does the basic color scheme
TextColorPrimary does the text color
But what property, for example, do I need to change the big text in the 'header' of the dialog (where the current selected time is displayed)?
Is there some documentation that lists all the possible things you can change?

After digging through the AOSP theme and style xml files and a lot of googling I made some progress. I am now able to style most(!) things.
So this is a partial answer, not all the way there yet. But here's how far I got:
You can see that I'm now able to theme the header, the un(!)selected time part (minutes in this case), the circle, the numbers in that circle and the 'hand' (or selector). Oh, and the buttons are styled, too.
Let me explain how I got things working, first: the important thing is that you can't override things directly from you app's theme OR from a (alert)dialog theme/style. You have to go from one to the next, so to speak.
Example:
AndroidManifest.xml: Set custom theme for app and/or activity
<activity>
android:theme="#style/Theme.MyTheme"
</activity>
values-v21/styles.xml: (where your custom theme resides): set the timePickerDialogTheme
<style name="Theme.MyTheme" parent="#style/Theme.AppCompat.Light">
<item name="android:timePickerDialogTheme">#style/TimePickerDialogTheme</item>
</style>
Then below that, define the timePickerDialogTheme and set the timePickerStyle:
<style name="TimePickerDialogTheme" parent="#style/Theme.AppCompat.Light.Dialog">
<item name="colorAccent">#ff2d6073</item> <!-- colorAccent here seems to work just fine? -->
<item name="android:timePickerStyle">#style/TimePickerDialogStyle</item>
</style>
Now you can define most of the styling here..
<style name="TimePickerDialogStyle" parent="#android:style/Widget.Material.Light.TimePicker">
<item name="colorAccent">#ff2d6073</item> <!-- colorAccent here seems to work just fine? -->
<item name="android:timePickerMode">clock</item>
<item name="android:headerBackground">#ff2d6073</item>
<item name="android:headerTimeTextAppearance">#style/TextAppearance.TimePickerDialogStyle.TimeLabel</item> <!-- TimePicker Time *TextAppearance* -->
<item name="android:numbersTextColor">#ff000000</item>
<item name="android:numbersSelectorColor">#ff2d6073</item>
<item name="android:numbersBackgroundColor">#ffdddddd</item>
</style>
The important line in the above is:
<item name="android:headerTimeTextAppearance">#style/TextAppearance.TimePickerDialogStyle.TimeLabel</item>
Because if you want to style the text (well, time, actually) in the header you need to define the headerTimeTextAppearance:
<style name="TextAppearance.TimePickerDialogStyle.TimeLabel" parent="#android:style/TextAppearance.Material">
<item name="android:textSize">60sp</item> <!-- from -->
<item name="android:textColor">#ffD0D102</item>
</style>
Now, if you take a look at the Widget.Material.TimePicker in AOSP styles.xml (ctrl-f 'timepicker' until you find it) you'll notice a bunch of other properties that you should be able to modify:
headerTimeTextAppearance
headerAmPmTextAppearance
headerSelectedTextColor
headerBackground
numbersTextColor
numbersBackgroundColor
amPmTextColor
amPmBackgroundColor
amPmSelectedBackgroundColor
numbersSelectorColor
Most of these work (as long as you prepend 'android:' for each of them) BUT I could not get 'headerSelectedTextColor' to work. I got a compile error saying something like "could not match property bla bla". Also, if you look at my example above, I hardcoded the textSize for the 'headerTimeTextAppearance' property because the '#dimen/timepicker_ampm_label_size' value threw errors.
In short: most of the things are listed above and how to get them working. But not all is clear. So I'd still see that complete documentation/guide :)

Android TimePicker material style with custom colors below, you can see http://www.zoftino.com/android-timepicker-example for TimePicker usage and styles.
<style name="MyAppThemeFour" parent="Theme.AppCompat.Light">
<item name="android:timePickerDialogTheme">#style/MyTimePickerDialogStyle</item>
</style>
<style name="MyTimePickerDialogStyle" parent="#style/ThemeOverlay.AppCompat.Dialog.Alert">
<item name="showTitle">false</item>
<item name="colorControlActivated">#ffd600</item>
<item name="colorAccent">#b71c1c</item>
<item name="android:textColorPrimary">#43a047</item>
<item name="android:textColorSecondary">#f44336</item>
</style>

When using version 1.5.0 of the Material Design Library for Android, I've found that I can get most of the theming with using this particular style:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<resources>
<style name="MyTimePickerTheme" parent="ThemeOverlay.MaterialComponents.TimePicker">
<item name="android:textColor">#FF121212</item>
<item name="android:textColorPrimary">#FF121212</item>
<item name="android:textColorSecondary">#FFF9F9F9</item>
<item name="colorAccent">#FF121212</item>
<item name="colorControlNormal">#FF121212</item>
<item name="colorPrimary">#FF121212</item>
<item name="colorSurface">#FFF9F9F9</item>
</style>
</resources>
This will yield in a generic - non colored - Dialog which works for white theme. For dark theme, simply invert the colors.
I've also asked here to have dynamic theming supported for this component.
Example screenshot using the above style:

ActionBarSherlock casues distortion of other views and it doesn't display correctly

I use the newest ActionBarSherlock extension of the support library in my application. I came across a weird appearance of the views and action bar itself when I ran an app on emulator 4.2 and device with android 4.2 Please take a look at the screenshots from the emulator. We can see that blue line appears in every line separator in the ListView and underline the home icon.
Also the little right arrow is underline and not scaled properly as well.
And to put that in perspective, it display well in emulator with android 2.2
The way I use the Theme is:
ManifestFile.xml:
android:theme="#style/AppThemeWithoutTitle"
and styles.xml:
<style name="AppThemeWithoutTitle" parent="Widget.Sherlock.ActionBar">
<item name="actionBarStyle">#style/MyActionBarWithoutTitle</item>
<item name="android:actionBarStyle">#style/MyActionBarWithoutTitle</item>
</style>
<style name="MyActionBarWithoutTitle" parent="Widget.Sherlock.ActionBar">
<item name="android:displayOptions">useLogo|showHome</item>
</style>
How can I solve this issue?

Widget.Sherlock.ActionBar isn't a theme, it's a style. The first clue is it starts with Widget. The convention for themes in Android is to start it with the word Theme or at least put the word Theme in the name of the style.
The style you overrode and tried to use as a Theme is the style assigned to actionBarStyle which is the very thing you are trying to override.
You need to have an actual theme as your parent, then, and only then can you override actionBarStyle and have it work.
<style name="MyAppTheme" parent="Theme.Sherlock.Light.DarkActionBar">
<item name="actionBarStyle">#style/MyActionBarTheme</item>
<item name="android:actionBarStyle">#style/MyActionBarTheme</item>
</style>
<style name="MyActionBarTheme" parent="Widget.Sherlock.Light.ActionBar.Solid.Inverse">
<item name="background">#drawable/bg_striped</item>
<item name="android:background">#drawable/bg_striped</item>
<item name="backgroundSplit">#drawable/bg_striped_split</item>
<item name="android:backgroundSplit">#drawable/bg_striped_split</item>
</style>
You can find all the available themes you can override here.

Styling ActionBar dropdown menu

I'm using a custom theme that inherits from DarkActionBar and I want to customize dropdown menu to be white like when using Light Holo theme.
I've been able to change the background to white using:
<style name="MyTheme" parent="#style/Theme.Light.DarkActionBar">
<item name="android:actionDropDownStyle">#style/MyDropDownNav</item>
</style>
<style name="MyDropDownNav">
<item name="android:background">#drawable/spinner_background_white</item>
<item name="android:popupBackground">#drawable/menu_dropdown_panel_whyite</item>
<item name="android:dropDownSelector">#drawable/selectable_background_white</item>
</style>
But I haven't any clue of how to change the text color to black. Because after setting white drawable the problem is that text isn't visible because is white on white background.

I answer myself after some investigation.
In addition to question's styling you need to:
Customize android:spinnerDropDownItemStyle for actionBarWidgetTheme changing it's text appearance.
Also don't forget that dropdown list is managed by the adapter you use. Then if you used the standard one (simple_dropdown_item_1line) there's no problem. But if you used a custom one like me (to be able to add an icon) don't forget to apply style="?attr/spinnerDropDownItemStyle" in your layout TextView.
Then final custom style is:
<resources xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android">
<style name="Theme.myapp" parent="#style/Theme.Light.DarkActionBar">
<item name="android:actionDropDownStyle">#style/myapp_DropDownNav</item>
<item name="android:actionBarWidgetTheme">#style/myapp.actionBarWidgetTheme</item>
</style>
<style name="myapp.actionBarWidgetTheme" parent="#style/Theme.">
<item name="android:spinnerDropDownItemStyle">#style/myapp.Widget.DropDownItem.Spinner</item>
</style>
<style name="myapp_DropDownNav" parent="#style/Widget.Spinner.DropDown.ActionBar">
<item name="background">#drawable/spinner_background_ab_myapp</item>
<item name="android:background">#drawable/spinner_background_ab_myapp</item>
<item name="android:popupBackground">#drawable/menu_dropdown_panel_myapp</item>
<item name="android:dropDownSelector">#drawable/selectable_background_myapp</item>
</style>
<style name="myapp.Widget.DropDownItem.Spinner" parent="Widget.DropDownItem.Spinner">
<item name="android:textAppearance">#style/myapp.TextAppearance.Widget.DropDownItem</item>
</style>
<style name="myapp.TextAppearance.Widget.DropDownItem" parent="TextAppearance.Widget.DropDownItem">
<item name="android:textColor">#color/black</item>
</style>
Where drawables in myapp_DropDownNav are white background ones that you can generate with ActionBar Style generator in Android Asset Studio

Try setting itemTextAppearance. That should achieve what you want.

I have stumbled on what may be the simplest way to do this. I was working with the AppCompat library.
<style name="ApplicationTheme" parent="#style/Theme.AppCompat">
<item name="android:actionBarWidgetTheme">#style/Theme.AppCompat.Light</item>
<item name="actionBarWidgetTheme">#style/Theme.AppCompat.Light</item>
</style>

My advice is to simply inherit from the Sherlock.Light theme and change the applicable fields to the Dark values. For my app, we wanted a white "up" icon, and white text for the action labels. I don't provide dark versions of my actionbar icons, so they are all white anyway. So after several hours messing around with it and following different people's suggestions, I finally found what I was looking for in the ABS themes file.
I inherit from Sherlock.Light (well, technically HoloEverywhereLight.Sherlock but...) and change:
<item name="android:actionMenuTextColor">#color/White</item>
<item name="actionMenuTextColor">#color/White</item>
<item name="android:homeAsUpIndicator">#drawable/abs__ic_ab_back_holo_dark</item>
<item name="homeAsUpIndicator">#drawable/abs__ic_ab_back_holo_dark</item>
<item name="android:dividerVertical">#drawable/abs__list_divider_holo_dark</item>
<item name="dividerVertical">#drawable/abs__list_divider_holo_dark</item>
That's it. It's way simpler and easier than trying to extend classes, restyle things in code, etc.