Develop Reference

Android Studio App Dev. Relative Layout does not get background color in full device size

Many similar questions were posted here, and I took my time to read them all. Majority of these posts uses ScrollView like this:
<ScrollView xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
android:layout_width="fill_parent"
android:layout_height="fill_parent"
android:background="#CACACA"
android:fillViewPort="true" >
<RelativeLayout
android:layout_width="fill_parent"
android:layout_height="wrap_content" >
</RelativeLayout>
</ScrollView>
But i dont want to use scrollview. I only use Relative layout which has 2 childs, lottiefile animation and textview to display No Internet Error page. In Android Studio preview shows white background on device size as I expected, but when I test it on my Pocophone F1, relativelayout does not take any background color (even though white color is set). What am I missing here ? Can RelativeLayout fill the device screen background color at all ?
Here are screenshots and code I am working on:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<RelativeLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
xmlns:app="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res-auto"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="match_parent"
android:background="#FFFFFF">
<com.airbnb.lottie.LottieAnimationView
android:id="#+id/noInternetAnimation"
android:layout_width="250dp"
android:layout_height="250dp"
android:layout_centerInParent="true"
app:lottie_autoPlay="true"
app:lottie_loop="true"
app:lottie_rawRes="#raw/internet_error" />
<TextView
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="30dp"
android:layout_below="#id/noInternetAnimation"
android:layout_centerHorizontal="true"
android:text="#string/no_internet"
android:textSize="20sp"
android:textStyle="bold" />
</RelativeLayout>
Check the screenshot, app preview on the right has white background as expected.
Now, check this when it is installed on my phone in real device.

Did you try changing your RelativeLayout to a ConstraintLayout just to see if it works? Your XML doesn't look complex at all, so I don't see why is not working

Android Imagebutton is clipped

I'm having issues with my Activity and an ImageButton inside it. It looks like it is clipping:
This is the XML of the corresponding activity:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<!-- A RecyclerView with some commonly used attributes -->
<LinearLayout xmlns:app="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res-auto"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:id="#+id/todo_linear_layout"
android:layout_height="match_parent"
android:orientation="vertical"
xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android">
<LinearLayout
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:focusable="true"
android:focusableInTouchMode="true"
android:orientation="horizontal">
<ImageButton
android:id="#+id/imageButton"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:layout_weight="1"
android:adjustViewBounds="true"
app:srcCompat="#android:drawable/ic_input_add" />
<EditText
android:id="#+id/edittodo"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:layout_marginLeft="20px"
android:layout_weight="5"
android:textColor="#android:color/black" />
</LinearLayout>
<android.support.v7.widget.RecyclerView xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
android:id="#+id/todo_recycler_view"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="match_parent"
android:scrollbars="vertical" >
</android.support.v7.widget.RecyclerView>
</LinearLayout>
Additionally the Layout Designer in Android Studio shows the Layout correctly:
Where is the problem here? I already tried to change margin or padding values but the Button is still clipping in the running app on my android device.

I believe that what's happening is that the device you're running your app on doesn't have the #android:drawable/ic_input_add drawable.
I tried running the code you posted, and everything worked for me. However, if I delete the app:srcCompat attribute from the <ImageButton> tag, then I get the same behavior you posted in your first screenshot.
In general, you can't rely on 100% of devices having #android: resources. Some manufacturers remove resources, and others replace the values with nonsense (I've seen #android:color/white come through as gray, for example).
I recommend creating your own drawable (maybe even just manually copying the one from Android and adding it to your project), and referencing that instead.
app:srcCompat="#drawable/your_own_add"

Changing the app:srcCompat to:
android:src="#android:drawable/ic_input_add" did it! So the issue was, that the device didn't find that icon and displayed just something gray.

Android RecyclerView Spacing Differences between Platforms

Disclosure up front, this is a school project.
I've run into a somewhat confusing-to-me layout issue regarding a list of CardViews inside of a RecyclerView, that being that the spacing between cards is non-existent on 5.0, whereas it's fine on 4.4. Here's two screenshots to demonstrate.
Android 4.4 (On Device, Galaxy S4)
Android 5.0.1 (On Device, Nexus 4)
I can see the card corners in the 5.x version, so the cards are there. I have a feeling this is something to do with some XML attribute that I need for running 5.x that the support library fakes automatically on 4.x, but googling has failed me. Here's the relevant XML:
Fragment Layout
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<FrameLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
xmlns:tools="http://schemas.android.com/tools" android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="match_parent"
tools:context="com.hinodesoftworks.kanagt.HiraganaListFragment">
<android.support.v7.widget.RecyclerView
android:id="#+id/hira_list"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="match_parent"
/>
</FrameLayout>
Card Layout
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<android.support.v7.widget.CardView xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
xmlns:card_view="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res-auto"
android:layout_height="match_parent"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
card_view:cardCornerRadius="4dp">
<RelativeLayout
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="match_parent">
<TextView
android:id="#+id/kana_card_display"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:textSize="46sp"
android:text="あ"/>
<TextView
android:id="#+id/kana_card_roma"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:layout_toRightOf="#id/kana_card_display"
android:layout_toEndOf="#id/kana_card_display"
android:text="a"
/>
<TextView
android:id="#+id/kana_card_info1_display"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:layout_toRightOf="#id/kana_card_display"
android:layout_toEndOf="#id/kana_card_display"
android:layout_below="#id/kana_card_roma"
android:text="INFO 1"/>
<TextView
android:id="#+id/kana_card_info2_display"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:layout_toRightOf="#id/kana_card_display"
android:layout_toEndOf="#id/kana_card_display"
android:layout_below="#id/kana_card_info1_display"
android:text="INFO 2"/>
<HorizontalScrollView
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:layout_below="#id/kana_card_info2_display">
<ImageView
android:id="#+id/kana_card_diagram"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="100dp"
android:scaleType="fitStart"
android:adjustViewBounds="true"/>
</HorizontalScrollView>
</RelativeLayout>
</android.support.v7.widget.CardView>
I'm really hoping this is a dumb mistake with a simple XML fix; that the support library version is working fine makes me hopeful of that.

If you want the padding on 5.0 follow the same rules as on previous platforms add this attribute to the CardView XML element
app:cardUseCompatPadding="true"
On Lollipop the shadows can be drawn outside of the view bounds. On Kitkat and lower extra space has to be reserved for the shadows. That's why on Lollipop the spacing would have to be set explicitly.

Android screen rendered really wrong

I'm using a GLSurfaceView to render a live wallpaper behind my apps interface which consists of android UI elements.
In the beginning of my app I ask the user if they would like to see this wallpaper or not.
ONLY if the user accepts the GLSurfaceView is inflated in the existing xml as a first element so it will stay behind.
My problem is exactly the opposite of what i would think it would.
When the wallpaper is ACTIVATED the screen renders properly, like so:
When I don't use the wallpaper it's rendered like a, partially burned graphic card:
As you see from the xml structure, my GLSurfaceView is not even injected in the problematic case.
Something weird is that when it's injected the DDMS Monitor displays it as just
If the opposite was the case it would be clear that the problem is caused by the GLSurfaceView. But now it seems as if the lack of it causes this problem.
Any ideas on what could be the problem?
I'm using Nexus 4 to test and it seems that it could be related based on DanJAB
XML layout:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<RelativeLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="match_parent">
<Button
style="?metaButtonBarButtonStyle"
android:id="#+id/home_history"
android:layout_width="0dp"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:layout_alignParentTop="true"
android:layout_alignParentLeft="true"
android:layout_toLeftOf="#+id/button_calibrator"
android:text="#string/history"/>
<View
android:id="#+id/button_calibrator"
android:layout_width="0dp"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:layout_alignTop="#+id/home_history"
android:layout_alignBottom="#+id/home_history"
android:layout_centerHorizontal="true"/>
<Button
style="?metaButtonBarButtonStyle"
android:id="#+id/home_help"
android:layout_width="0dp"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:layout_alignParentTop="true"
android:layout_alignParentRight="true"
android:layout_toRightOf="#+id/button_calibrator"
android:text="#string/help"/>
<View
android:id="#+id/screen_menu_seperator"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="2dp"
android:layout_below="#+id/home_history"
android:background="#color/holo_blue"/>
<ListView
android:id="#+id/homescreen_list"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:layout_below="#+id/screen_menu_seperator"
android:background="#android:color/transparent"
android:cacheColorHint="#android:color/transparent"/>
<View
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="2dp"
android:layout_alignParentBottom="true"
android:background="#color/holo_blue"/>
</RelativeLayout>
GLSurfaceView XML:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<android.opengl.GLSurfaceView xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
android:id="#+id/background"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="match_parent"
android:layout_centerInParent="true"
android:visibility="gone"/>
and in java:
getLayoutInflater().inflate(R.layout.background, contents);
GLSurfaceView background = (GLSurfaceView) contents.findViewById(R.id.background);

This is a phone bug. Nexus 4 causes this issue with certain theme configurations.

Android ICS 1x1 widget text label

I am trying to make a 1x1 widget for ICS, which displays the text label beneath the icon, and uses the device default text style, but am unable to find out how this is done. I know it is possible, as many 1x1 widgets that come stock with the my Galaxy Nexus have this functionality. I don't want to hard-code a textView in the layout file, as doing this will make it look bad on other devices, which may use different fonts and text sizes, etc.
Anybody have any idea?

I don't think you can get around putting a TextView into the layout. What you can do is choose style for it from one of the built-in android styles. That way it should match all of the other icon/widget labels. Hopefully this will work in other API versions as well but I know that it looks right on my ICS phone. I'm also not sure if the FrameLayout is the best thing to use here but I thought I would do a bit of experimenting. The important part is the TextView at the end.
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<LinearLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
android:id="#+id/LinearLayout1"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="match_parent"
android:orientation="vertical" >
<FrameLayout
android:id="#+id/FrameLayout1"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="match_parent"
android:layout_weight="1" >
<ImageButton
android:id="#+id/buttonimg"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="match_parent"
android:background="#drawable/appwidget_dark_bg_clickable"
android:clickable="true"
android:contentDescription="#string/app_name" />
<ImageView
android:id="#+id/imageView1"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="match_parent"
android:contentDescription="#string/app_name"
android:src="#drawable/arrow_dark" />
</FrameLayout>
<TextView
android:id="#+id/labelTextView"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:gravity="center"
android:textAppearance="#android:style/TextAppearance.DeviceDefault.Widget"
android:text="#string/widgetlabeldefault" />
</LinearLayout>