Develop Reference

Android Studio: Rendering Problems when I open a project

I am having this issue with Rendering problems every time i open a project.
java.lang.IllegalArgumentException: You need to use a Theme.AppCompat theme (or descendant) with the design library.
at android.support.design.widget.ThemeUtils.checkAppCompatTheme(ThemeUtils.java:36)
at android.support.design.widget.CoordinatorLayout.<init>(CoordinatorLayout.java:192)
at android.support.design.widget.CoordinatorLayout.<init>(CoordinatorLayout.java:186)
at sun.reflect.NativeConstructorAccessorImpl.newInstance0(Native Method)
at sun.reflect.NativeConstructorAccessorImpl.newInstance(NativeConstructorAccessorImpl.java:62)
at sun.reflect.DelegatingConstructorAccessorImpl.newInstance(DelegatingConstructorAccessorImpl.java:45)
at java.lang.reflect.Constructor.newInstance(Constructor.java:423)
at org.jetbrains.android.uipreview.ViewLoader.createNewInstance(ViewLoader.java:465)
at org.jetbrains.android.uipreview.ViewLoader.loadClass(ViewLoader.java:172)
at org.jetbrains.android.uipreview.ViewLoader.loadView(ViewLoader.java:105)
at com.android.tools.idea.rendering.LayoutlibCallbackImpl.loadView(LayoutlibCallbackImpl.java:186)
at android.view.BridgeInflater.loadCustomView(BridgeInflater.java:334)
at android.view.BridgeInflater.loadCustomView(BridgeInflater.java:345)
at android.view.BridgeInflater.createViewFromTag(BridgeInflater.java:245)
at android.view.LayoutInflater.createViewFromTag(LayoutInflater.java:727)
at android.view.LayoutInflater.inflate(LayoutInflater.java:495)
at android.view.LayoutInflater.inflate(LayoutInflater.java:397)
at com.android.layoutlib.bridge.impl.RenderSessionImpl.inflate(RenderSessionImpl.java:324)
at com.android.layoutlib.bridge.Bridge.createSession(Bridge.java:429)
at com.android.ide.common.rendering.LayoutLibrary.createSession(LayoutLibrary.java:389)
at com.android.tools.idea.rendering.RenderTask$2.compute(RenderTask.java:548)
at com.android.tools.idea.rendering.RenderTask$2.compute(RenderTask.java:533)
at com.intellij.openapi.application.impl.ApplicationImpl.runReadAction(ApplicationImpl.java:966)
at com.android.tools.idea.rendering.RenderTask.createRenderSession(RenderTask.java:533)
at com.android.tools.idea.rendering.RenderTask.lambda$inflate$72(RenderTask.java:659)
at java.util.concurrent.FutureTask.run(FutureTask.java:266)
at java.util.concurrent.ThreadPoolExecutor.runWorker(ThreadPoolExecutor.java:1142)
at java.util.concurrent.ThreadPoolExecutor$Worker.run(ThreadPoolExecutor.java:617)
at java.lang.Thread.run(Thread.java:745)
Screenshot of the problem
I don't know how to fix it permanently, or why this is happening repeatedly.
I read up on it and someone suggested that I Change the theme to the following:
theme change
I did that, and it takes care of the problem for the session, but as soon as i close android studio ad open it back up again, i am greeted by the sae problem.
What am I doing wrong here?
How can I fix this for good?

Restart Android Studio by invalidating the caches
File → Invalidate Caches / Restart.
This may fix the issue.
For more information visit this site
Alternative Solution
Use a higher SDK as the minimum SDK like lollipop or marshmallow when building the project. If you really want to use a lower SDK as the minimum SDK, start from blank activity and develop from there onwards

on the very first line of your log cat its already telling you
java.lang.IllegalArgumentException: You need to use a Theme.AppCompat theme (or descendant) with the design library.
follow as it says.

Intellij IDEA: Rendering problems (Android)

Edit: I should have included more info, so here's more stuff (if more is needed let me know):
Windows 10
Intellij 15.0.6.
Any/all options in the preview window have been tried with the same "Rendering Problems" dialog.
OK, so right now I'm getting this error when trying to display the xml preview window: Rendering Problems - This version of the rendering library is more recent than your version of IntelliJ IDEA. Please update IntelliJ IDEA.
This question has been asked here a couple times before but I seem to be getting nowhere with those answers.
Intellij is at its latest version (determined from Help > Check for updates), everything in the Android SDK manager is up to date, and I've tried changing the preview window's API to a non-Preview API. Those three things were the old questions' answers. I don't know what to do next.
Here are the error details:
org.jetbrains.android.uipreview.RenderingException: This version of the rendering library is more recent than your version of IntelliJ IDEA. Please update IntelliJ IDEA
at org.jetbrains.android.uipreview.LayoutLibraryLoader.load(LayoutLibraryLoader.java:90)
at org.jetbrains.android.sdk.AndroidTargetData.getLayoutLibrary(AndroidTargetData.java:180)
at com.android.tools.idea.rendering.RenderService.createTask(RenderService.java:163)
at org.jetbrains.android.uipreview.AndroidLayoutPreviewToolWindowManager.doRender(AndroidLayoutPreviewToolWindowManager.java:640)
at org.jetbrains.android.uipreview.AndroidLayoutPreviewToolWindowManager.access$1700(AndroidLayoutPreviewToolWindowManager.java:80)
at org.jetbrains.android.uipreview.AndroidLayoutPreviewToolWindowManager$7$1.run(AndroidLayoutPreviewToolWindowManager.java:585)
at com.intellij.openapi.progress.impl.CoreProgressManager$2.run(CoreProgressManager.java:142)
at com.intellij.openapi.progress.impl.CoreProgressManager.registerIndicatorAndRun(CoreProgressManager.java:446)
at com.intellij.openapi.progress.impl.CoreProgressManager.executeProcessUnderProgress(CoreProgressManager.java:392)
at com.intellij.openapi.progress.impl.ProgressManagerImpl.executeProcessUnderProgress(ProgressManagerImpl.java:54)
at com.intellij.openapi.progress.impl.CoreProgressManager.runProcess(CoreProgressManager.java:127)
at org.jetbrains.android.uipreview.AndroidLayoutPreviewToolWindowManager$7.run(AndroidLayoutPreviewToolWindowManager.java:580)
at com.intellij.util.ui.update.MergingUpdateQueue.execute(MergingUpdateQueue.java:337)
at com.intellij.util.ui.update.MergingUpdateQueue.execute(MergingUpdateQueue.java:327)
at com.intellij.util.ui.update.MergingUpdateQueue$3.run(MergingUpdateQueue.java:271)
at com.intellij.util.ui.update.MergingUpdateQueue.flush(MergingUpdateQueue.java:286)
at com.intellij.util.ui.update.MergingUpdateQueue.flush(MergingUpdateQueue.java:244)
at com.intellij.util.ui.update.MergingUpdateQueue.run(MergingUpdateQueue.java:234)
at com.intellij.util.concurrency.QueueProcessor.runSafely(QueueProcessor.java:238)
at com.intellij.util.Alarm$Request$1.run(Alarm.java:352)
at java.util.concurrent.Executors$RunnableAdapter.call(Executors.java:511)
at java.util.concurrent.FutureTask.run(FutureTask.java:266)
at java.util.concurrent.ThreadPoolExecutor.runWorker(ThreadPoolExecutor.java:1142)
at java.util.concurrent.ThreadPoolExecutor$Worker.run(ThreadPoolExecutor.java:617)
at java.lang.Thread.run(Thread.java:745)

Rendering Problems Exception raised during rendering: com.android.ide.common.rendering.api.LayoutlibCallback

I encountered a problem when creating a project in Android Studio. (Version 1.5.1)
I describe my actions step-by-step:
Open Android Studio.
Create a new project without any activity.
Make a blank activity.
And there might be a problem in preview mode:
I get this message:
Rendering Problems Exception raised during rendering: com.android.ide.common.rendering.api.LayoutlibCallback.getXmlFileParser(Ljava/lang/String;)Lorg/xmlpull/v1/XmlPullParser;
In stack trace:
java.lang.NoSuchMethodError: com.android.ide.common.rendering.api.LayoutlibCallback.getXmlFileParser(Ljava/lang/String;)Lorg/xmlpull/v1/XmlPullParser;
at com.android.layoutlib.bridge.impl.ResourceHelper.getInternalComplexColor(ResourceHelper.java:146)
at com.android.layoutlib.bridge.impl.ResourceHelper.getColorStateList(ResourceHelper.java:231)
at android.content.res.BridgeTypedArray.getColorStateList(BridgeTypedArray.java:308)
at android.widget.TextView.<init>(TextView.java:776)
at android.widget.TextView.<init>(TextView.java:705)
at android.widget.TextView.<init>(TextView.java:701)
at com.android.layoutlib.bridge.MockView.<init>(MockView.java:50)
at com.android.layoutlib.bridge.MockView.<init>(MockView.java:45)
at com.android.layoutlib.bridge.MockView.<init>(MockView.java:41)
at android.view.BridgeInflater.createViewFromTag(BridgeInflater.java:163)
at android.view.LayoutInflater.createViewFromTag(LayoutInflater.java:727)
at android.view.LayoutInflater.rInflate_Original(LayoutInflater.java:858)
at android.view.LayoutInflater_Delegate.rInflate(LayoutInflater_Delegate.java:70)
at android.view.LayoutInflater.rInflate(LayoutInflater.java:834)
at android.view.LayoutInflater.inflate(LayoutInflater.java:492)
at com.android.layoutlib.bridge.bars.CustomBar.<init>(CustomBar.java:95)
at com.android.layoutlib.bridge.bars.StatusBar.<init>(StatusBar.java:67)
at com.android.layoutlib.bridge.impl.Layout.createStatusBar(Layout.java:222)
at com.android.layoutlib.bridge.impl.Layout.<init>(Layout.java:144)
at com.android.layoutlib.bridge.impl.RenderSessionImpl.inflate(RenderSessionImpl.java:213)
at com.android.layoutlib.bridge.Bridge.createSession(Bridge.java:426)
at com.android.ide.common.rendering.LayoutLibrary.createSession(LayoutLibrary.java:350)
at com.android.tools.idea.rendering.RenderTask$2.compute(RenderTask.java:510)
at com.android.tools.idea.rendering.RenderTask$2.compute(RenderTask.java:498)
at com.intellij.openapi.application.impl.ApplicationImpl.runReadAction(ApplicationImpl.java:888)
at com.android.tools.idea.rendering.RenderTask.createRenderSession(RenderTask.java:498)
at com.android.tools.idea.rendering.RenderTask.access$600(RenderTask.java:72)
at com.android.tools.idea.rendering.RenderTask$3.call(RenderTask.java:610)
at com.android.tools.idea.rendering.RenderTask$3.call(RenderTask.java:607)
at com.android.tools.idea.rendering.RenderService.runRenderAction(RenderService.java:362)
at com.android.tools.idea.rendering.RenderTask.render(RenderTask.java:607)
at com.android.tools.idea.rendering.RenderTask.render(RenderTask.java:629)
at com.intellij.android.designer.designSurface.AndroidDesignerEditorPanel$6.run(AndroidDesignerEditorPanel.java:480)
at com.intellij.util.ui.update.MergingUpdateQueue.execute(MergingUpdateQueue.java:320)
at com.intellij.util.ui.update.MergingUpdateQueue.execute(MergingUpdateQueue.java:310)
at com.intellij.util.ui.update.MergingUpdateQueue$2.run(MergingUpdateQueue.java:254)
at com.intellij.util.ui.update.MergingUpdateQueue.flush(MergingUpdateQueue.java:269)
at com.intellij.util.ui.update.MergingUpdateQueue.flush(MergingUpdateQueue.java:227)
at com.intellij.util.ui.update.MergingUpdateQueue.run(MergingUpdateQueue.java:217)
at com.intellij.util.concurrency.QueueProcessor.runSafely(QueueProcessor.java:238)
at com.intellij.util.Alarm$Request$1.run(Alarm.java:351)
at java.util.concurrent.Executors$RunnableAdapter.call(Executors.java:511)
at java.util.concurrent.FutureTask.run(FutureTask.java:266)
at java.util.concurrent.ThreadPoolExecutor.runWorker(ThreadPoolExecutor.java:1142)
at java.util.concurrent.ThreadPoolExecutor$Worker.run(ThreadPoolExecutor.java:617)
at java.lang.Thread.run(Thread.java:745)
What could be the problem?

I had the same problem after some updates minutes ago, what I did to solve the rendering issue was to change the android version used to render layouts from Android Studio back to "API 23: Android 6.0".

java.lang.NoSuchMethodError:
com.android.ide.common.rendering.api.LayoutlibCallback.getXmlFileParser(Ljava/lang/String;)Lorg/xmlpull/v1/XmlPullParser;
Thrown if an application tries to call a specified method of a class (either static or instance), and that class no longer has a definition of that method.Normally, this error is caught by the compiler; this error can only occur at run time if the definition of a class has incompatibly changed.
Your app must target Android 6.0 (API level 23) to enable this behavior; you do not need to add any additional code.
Just select "API 23: Android 6.0" in Preview Section .

I had the same issue when I installed android studio 2.1 on ubuntu 14.04.Even the android robot icon which displays the android version used for rendering layout was only showing API Level 24 version and no other versions.
I had to enable API 23 to be downloaded by navigating to the below path
Tools -> SDK Manager -> Android SDK -> SDK Platforms -> Name.
Check the Android 6.0(Marshwallow) option.This will be downloaded now.
Now you will be able to see API Level 23 and by selecting which we can get around this issue.

I had a similar problem with Android Studio 1.5.1 in Windows 10. The preview was not working no matter what version of Android was selected. The stacktrace starts with:
"java.lang.NoSuchMethodError:
com.android.ide.common.rendering.api.LayoutlibCallback.getXmlFileParser(Ljava/lang/String;)Lorg/xmlpull/v1/XmlPullParser;"
When I remove the attribute tools:showIn="#layout/activity_main"
from the RelativeLayout the problem resolves for all Android versions except "N".
I have Android 2.2, 2.3.3, 5.0.1 and 6.0 enabled
I can't explain why the action resolves the problem though or why it does work for version N.

This is no timely answer but for anyone looking for anyone else experiencing the same problem an update of the android studio does the trick. While all the suggestions above work you want get update(version 2.1.2).

Android Studio won't render my activities

Android Studio straight crapped out on me tonight. I went to open my project and now I can't use the activity UI. Two different errors:
activity_main.xml
The following classes could not be found:
- android.support.v7.internal.widget.ActionBarOverlayLayout (Fix Build Path, Edit XML, Create Class)
Tip: Try to build the project.
settings_activity.xml
java.lang.NullPointerException
at com.android.layoutlib.bridge.impl.RenderSessionImpl.isThemeAppCompat(RenderSessionImpl.java:1203)
at com.android.layoutlib.bridge.impl.RenderSessionImpl.findStatusBar(RenderSessionImpl.java:1066)
at com.android.layoutlib.bridge.impl.RenderSessionImpl.init(RenderSessionImpl.java:209)
at com.android.layoutlib.bridge.Bridge.createSession(Bridge.java:319)
at com.android.ide.common.rendering.LayoutLibrary.createSession(LayoutLibrary.java:350)
at com.android.tools.idea.rendering.RenderTask$2.compute(RenderTask.java:497)
at com.android.tools.idea.rendering.RenderTask$2.compute(RenderTask.java:485)
at com.intellij.openapi.application.impl.ApplicationImpl.runReadAction(ApplicationImpl.java:894)
at com.android.tools.idea.rendering.RenderTask.createRenderSession(RenderTask.java:485)
at com.android.tools.idea.rendering.RenderTask.render(RenderTask.java:590)
at com.intellij.android.designer.designSurface.AndroidDesignerEditorPanel$6.run(AndroidDesignerEditorPanel.java:480)
at com.intellij.util.ui.update.MergingUpdateQueue.execute(MergingUpdateQueue.java:320)
at com.intellij.util.ui.update.MergingUpdateQueue.execute(MergingUpdateQueue.java:310)
at com.intellij.util.ui.update.MergingUpdateQueue$2.run(MergingUpdateQueue.java:254)
at com.intellij.util.ui.update.MergingUpdateQueue.flush(MergingUpdateQueue.java:269)
at com.intellij.util.ui.update.MergingUpdateQueue.flush(MergingUpdateQueue.java:227)
at com.intellij.util.ui.update.MergingUpdateQueue.run(MergingUpdateQueue.java:217)
at com.intellij.util.concurrency.QueueProcessor.runSafely(QueueProcessor.java:238)
at com.intellij.util.Alarm$Request$1.run(Alarm.java:351)
at java.util.concurrent.Executors$RunnableAdapter.call(Executors.java:511)
at java.util.concurrent.FutureTask.run(FutureTask.java:266)
at java.util.concurrent.ThreadPoolExecutor.runWorker(ThreadPoolExecutor.java:1142)
at java.util.concurrent.ThreadPoolExecutor$Worker.run(ThreadPoolExecutor.java:617)
at java.lang.Thread.run(Thread.java:745)
The second error I have no clue about, but the first one is really weird to me. I've already imported com.android.support:appcompat-v7:22.1.0 in the Dependencies, and the application deploys fine in both debug and release environments.
Thoughts?
Edit: Per suggestion, I can render my main activity using API 21. However, my settings activity still won't render the new error is:
Missing styles.
Is the correct theme chosen for this layout?
Use the Theme combo box above the layout to choose a different layout, or fix the theme style references.
Failed to find style 'textViewStyle' in current theme (2 similar errors not shown)
Edit 2: I managed to fix the second issue by just selecting a different theme from the list and then selecting back onto my AppTheme. Not sure why I needed to do that, but whatever. Aside from my Switch element being completely black, it renders just fine now.

First of all build project, then change "android version to use when rending layouts" to lower (design screen-> top panel->icon with android).
also it can't rending custom view

Android Studio 1.1 preview 2 single test run NullPointerException

In Android Studio 1.1 preview 2, any single test auto-generated configuration (via context menu Run/Debug method test for example) produces the following NullPointer exception with stacktrace:
java.lang.NullPointerException
at org.jetbrains.android.run.testing.AndroidTestRunConfiguration.checkConfiguration(AndroidTestRunConfiguration.java:183)
at org.jetbrains.android.run.AndroidRunConfigurationBase.checkConfiguration(AndroidRunConfigurationBase.java:141)
at com.intellij.execution.impl.RunnerAndConfigurationSettingsImpl.checkSettings(RunnerAndConfigurationSettingsImpl.java:358)
at com.intellij.execution.impl.RunManagerImpl.canRunConfiguration(RunManagerImpl.java:524)
at com.intellij.execution.ProgramRunnerUtil.executeConfiguration(ProgramRunnerUtil.java:97)
at com.intellij.execution.ProgramRunnerUtil.executeConfiguration(ProgramRunnerUtil.java:73)
at com.intellij.execution.impl.ExecutionManagerImpl.start(ExecutionManagerImpl.java:398)
at com.intellij.execution.impl.ExecutionManagerImpl.access$400(ExecutionManagerImpl.java:61)
at com.intellij.execution.impl.ExecutionManagerImpl$4.run(ExecutionManagerImpl.java:375)
at com.intellij.util.concurrency.QueueProcessor.runSafely(QueueProcessor.java:238)
at com.intellij.util.Alarm$Request$1.run(Alarm.java:327)
at com.intellij.openapi.application.impl.LaterInvocator$FlushQueue.run(LaterInvocator.java:319)
at java.awt.event.InvocationEvent.dispatch(InvocationEvent.java:251)
at java.awt.EventQueue.dispatchEventImpl(EventQueue.java:733)
at java.awt.EventQueue.access$200(EventQueue.java:103)
at java.awt.EventQueue$3.run(EventQueue.java:694)
at java.awt.EventQueue$3.run(EventQueue.java:692)
at java.security.AccessController.doPrivileged(Native Method)
at java.security.ProtectionDomain$1.doIntersectionPrivilege(ProtectionDomain.java:76)
at java.awt.EventQueue.dispatchEvent(EventQueue.java:703)
at com.intellij.ide.IdeEventQueue.defaultDispatchEvent(IdeEventQueue.java:697)
at com.intellij.ide.IdeEventQueue._dispatchEvent(IdeEventQueue.java:524)
at com.intellij.ide.IdeEventQueue.dispatchEvent(IdeEventQueue.java:335)
at java.awt.EventDispatchThread.pumpOneEventForFilters(EventDispatchThread.java:242)
at java.awt.EventDispatchThread.pumpEventsForFilter(EventDispatchThread.java:161)
at java.awt.EventDispatchThread.pumpEventsForHierarchy(EventDispatchThread.java:150)
at java.awt.EventDispatchThread.pumpEvents(EventDispatchThread.java:146)
at java.awt.EventDispatchThread.pumpEvents(EventDispatchThread.java:138)
at java.awt.EventDispatchThread.run(EventDispatchThread.java:91)
Has anyone else run into this issue? Any recommendations on how to work around this?

Workarounds for now:
Execute all tests in package or All unit tests
Open test configuration and re-select class and method explicitly from dialogs
after saving no issues with test run.
Install latest beta version from Android Studio Canary channel. Bug already fixed there and no new blockers found
This answer was originally posted by the author. This post has been edited to fit within Stack Overflow's Q/A format.