Develop Reference

Android: How to get rid of the header bar in App?

For some reasons when I launch the app in the splash activity and in the row activity, see images, there is a header bar with the name of the app "Baby Read".
I don't want the header there, how do I get rid of it?
Splash Activity
Row Activity
[![enter image description here][2]][2]
This is the splash layout:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<LinearLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
android:orientation="vertical"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="match_parent"
android:background="#drawable/babyreadappsplash"
>
</LinearLayout>
And this is the row layout:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<LinearLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="match_parent"
>
<ImageView
android:id="#+id/icon"
android:layout_width="90px"
android:layout_height="90px"
android:layout_marginLeft="10px"
android:layout_marginRight="10px"
android:layout_marginBottom="10px"
android:layout_marginTop="10px"
android:src="#drawable/ic_launcher" >
</ImageView>
<TextView
android:id="#+id/label"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:text="#+id/label"
>
</TextView>
This is res/values/styles after adding the code suggested
[![enter image description here][3]][3]
And this is the manifest after adding the code suggested

Create a style for your splash Activity like this
<style name="AppTheme.NoActionBar">
<item name="windowActionBar">false</item>
</style>
after that set this style for your splash Activity in Manifest
<activity
android:name="activity name"
android:theme="#style/AppTheme.NoActionBar"
/>
Update
make your style like this
<style name="splashStyle" parent="Theme.AppCompat.Light.NoActionBar">
//add other attributes
</style>
if not work for you change the parent of your AppTheme to Theme.AppCompat.Light.ActionBar

You can use this in onCreate:
getSupportActionBar().hide();

No need to create anew theme (At least for this purpose)
Modify you app theme (Picture one)change parent="android:Theme.Holo.Light.DarkActionBar" for parent="android:Theme.Holo.NoActionBar"
On you manifest, in the application section (picture 2)add
android:theme="#style/AppTheme"
If by any change you are supporting APIs below 13 you can add
<item name="android:windowActionBar">false</item>
<item name="android:windowNoTitle">true</item>
to your app theme rather than changing the parent.
As a side note I would advise moving from Holo themes to Appcompat or even Material, but that´s out of the scope of this question

changing the titlebar results in not showing (fonts issue) the listview items

I want to change the title bar color .Following the instructions here
, or eliminating the title bar with Notitle bar in AndroidManifest esults in not showing the text fonts in the list view (I use "simple_list_item_checked" listview).
Here is the xml for this activity:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<LinearLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
android:layout_width="fill_parent"
android:layout_height="fill_parent"
android:orientation="vertical"
android:background="#FFFAFA"
>
<Button
android:id="#+id/btn"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:background="#drawable/green_button"
android:text="#string/show_items_kfc"
android:onClick="onClick"/>
<ListView
android:id="#+id/android:list"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
/>
</LinearLayout>
(the rest of xml code is the same as the link above)
Any solutions to this?
Thanks!

If I got the problem:
Instead of parent="android:Theme":
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<resources>
<style name="customTheme" parent="android:Theme">
<item name="android:windowTitleBackgroundStyle">#style/WindowTitleBackground</item>
</style>
</resources>
Use parent="android:Theme.Light":
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<resources>
<style name="customTheme" parent="android:Theme.Light">
<item name="android:windowTitleBackgroundStyle">#style/WindowTitleBackground</item>
</style>
</resources>
The problem is that you are overriding the native Black theme which has black background and white letters. By switching to Light theme you achieve the black letter also have your own white background!
Note: After that you may have to fix custom theme colors (eg. title text color force to white) to white/black if they do not fit the UI you need.

you can use the titlebar object for the purpose...
the link below gives the good explanation on how to do that...
Title bar color change issues

How to add an additional title bar to the activity screen in android?

How do i add a title bar to the screen in addition to the already existing one in android?I would also want to choose a color for this title bar.
Can you tell me how this can be done?

This thread will get you started with building your own title bar in a xml file and using it in your activities
Here is a brief summary of the content of the link above - This is just to set the color of the text and the background of the title bar - no resizing, no buttons, just the simpliest sample
res/layout/mytitle.xml - This is the view that will represent the title bar
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<TextView
xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
android:id="#+id/myTitle"
android:text="This is my new title"
android:layout_width="fill_parent"
android:layout_height="fill_parent"
android:textColor="#color/titletextcolor"
/>
res/values/themes.xml - We want to keep the default android theme and just need to change the background color of the title background. So we create a theme that inherits the default theme and set the background style to our own style.
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<resources>
<style name="customTheme" parent="android:Theme">
<item name="android:windowTitleBackgroundStyle">#style/WindowTitleBackground</item>
</style>
</resources>
res/values/styles.xml - This is where we set the theme to use the color we want for the title background
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<resources>
<style name="WindowTitleBackground">
<item name="android:background">#color/titlebackgroundcolor</item>
</style>
</resources>
res/values/colors.xml - Set here the color you want
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<resources>
<color name="titlebackgroundcolor">#3232CD</color>
<color name="titletextcolor">#FFFF00</color>
</resources>
In the AndroidMANIFEST.xml, set the theme attribute either in the application (for the whole application) or in the activity (only this activity) tags
<activity android:name=".CustomTitleBar" android:theme="#style/customTheme" ...
From the Activity (called CustomTitleBar) :
#Override
public void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
requestWindowFeature(Window.FEATURE_CUSTOM_TITLE);
setContentView(R.layout.main);
getWindow().setFeatureInt(Window.FEATURE_CUSTOM_TITLE, R.layout.mytitle);
}

This is a real workaround but i got what i wanted.I put a textview at the top of my layout and gave the following dimensions to make it look like a title bar
<LinearLayout
xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
android:id="#+id/vehicle_view"
android:orientation="vertical"
android:layout_width="fill_parent"
android:layout_height="fill_parent">
//Title bar
<TextView
android:layout_width="fill_parent"
android:layout_height="24dip"
android:id="#+id/title_bar_text"
android:background="#dddddd"
android:textColor="#150517"
android:text="Enter Text">
</TextView>
............................. //Rest of layout elements
.............................
.............................
</LinearLayout>
If someone's got a better answer for adding an additional title bar in some way without altering the layout like i did please post it i'll accept that as the answer.

Calling android dialog without it fading the background

I have this nice dialog view I set my UserInputDialog class to:
<LinearLayout android:id="#+id/LinearLayout01"
android:layout_width="fill_parent"
android:layout_height="fill_parent"
android:orientation="vertical"
xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android">
<TextView
android:id="#+id/nameMessage"
android:layout_width="fill_parent"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:text="What is your name Captain?"
>
</TextView>
<EditText
android:id="#+id/nameEditText"
android:layout_width="fill_parent"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:textSize="18sp"
>
</EditText>
<LinearLayout android:id="#+id/LinearLayout02" android:layout_width="fill_parent" android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:layout_gravity="center_horizontal">
<Button
android:id="#+id/okButton"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:text="OK">
</Button>
<Button android:id="#+id/cancelButton"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:text="Cancel">
</Button>
</LinearLayout>
</LinearLayout>
I want my dialog to show up but for the background to not fade out. Is this possible? Cause the view that calls this dialog has a neato background I would like to be shown as a backdrop to the dialog.
I found this online:
<style name="doNotDim" parent="#android:style/Theme.Dialog">
<item name="android:backgroundDimAmount">0</item>
</style >
but not sure how to apply that to my dialog? I have a class called public class UserInputDialog extends Dialog implements OnClickListener. It sets its content view to the layout described above.
I think I am doing this all right, just not sure how to add that style so I can NOT fade the background.
Secondary question: Can you get new looks on your dialog (by say having an image or icon display with your text there) by using Themes?

You can also remove the dim effect by code with the following:
dialog.getWindow().clearFlags(WindowManager.LayoutParams.FLAG_DIM_BEHIND);

Create a res/values/styles.xml file and add this to it.
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<resources>
<style name="Theme.DoNotDim" parent="android:Theme">
<item name="android:backgroundDimEnabled">false</item>
</style>
</resources>
And apply the theme to your activity.
<activity android:name=".SampleActivity" android:theme="#style/Theme.DoNotDim">

Create a custom style and place it in your values folder
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<resources>
<style name="YourCustomStyle" parent="android:Theme">
<item name="android:backgroundDimEnabled">false</item>
</style>
</resources>
To set a style to an individual dialog you can use
Dialog dialog = new Dialog(context, R.style.YourCustomStyle);

For displaying dialog like TrueCaller do this:
In styles.xml file.
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<resources>
<style name="myBackgroundStyle" parent="android:Theme.Dialog">
<item name="android:backgroundDimEnabled">false</item>
</style>
</resources>
In AndroidManifest.xml do this:
<activity android:name=".SampleActivity" android:theme="#style/myBackgroundStyle">

Custom title bar without padding (Android)

So I am using the techniques in this thread to use a custom background for my titlebar. Unfortunately the framework places my layout inside a FrameLayout (title_container) which has padding as seen below.
(source: ggpht.com)
Is there anyway to remove the grey borders? The frame layout is defined in com.android.internal.R.id.title_container, so accessing the frame by ID would be fragile.

I was struggling with this same issue and now I have the answer!
As you probably have seen several places, you need to create a themes.xml resource:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<resources>
<style name="MyTheme" parent="android:Theme">
<item name="android:windowTitleSize">44dip</item>
<item name="android:windowTitleBackgroundStyle">#style/WindowTitleBackground</item>
</style>
</resources>
Note it is not often mentioned in the sites talking about custom title bars you need to select this theme at the view, activity, or application level. I do it at the application level by adding android:theme property to the application:
<application android:icon="#drawable/icon"
android:label="#string/app_name"
android:theme="#style/MyTheme">
You also need a styles.xml to define that WindowTitleBackgroundStyle. Unlike the various versions of this file I have seen floating aroung the web, I have added one additional line to the file that sets the padding to 0 which gets rid of the padding you are complaining about:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<resources>
<style name="WindowTitleBackground">
<item name="android:background">#android:color/transparent</item>
<item name="android:padding">0px</item>
</style>
</resources>

There is actually no need to use a custom layout to customise the background image. The following code in theme.xml will work:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<resources>
<style name="TitlebarBackgroundStyle">
<item name="android:background">#drawable/header_bg</item>
</style>
<style name="Theme.OTPMain" parent="android:Theme">
<item name="android:windowTitleBackgroundStyle">#style/TitlebarBackgroundStyle</item>
</style>
</resources>
However, if you do actually want to use a custom title bar, then the following code will remove the margin:
ViewGroup v = (ViewGroup) findViewById(android.R.id.title);
v.setPadding(0, 0, 0, 0)
title_bar_background was set as the ID of the background image in the XML. I set android:scaleType="fitXY".

There is a lenghty thread over on anddev.org that may be able to help you out
http://www.anddev.org/my_own_titlebar_backbutton_like_on_the_iphone-t4591.html
I have followed it and successfully created my own title bar which allows me to set the padding.
Xml for my title bar:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<RelativeLayout android:id="#+id/header"
xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
android:layout_height="38px" android:layout_width="fill_parent"
android:background="#drawable/gradient">
<TextView android:id="#+id/title" android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:gravity="center_vertical" style="#style/PhoneText"
android:layout_alignParentLeft="true"
android:text="New Title" android:background="#android:color/transparent"
android:layout_height="wrap_content" android:layout_alignParentTop="true"
android:padding="5dip" android:layout_marginBottom="7px"/>
<TextView android:id="#+id/time" android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:gravity="center_vertical" style="#style/PhoneText2"
android:layout_alignParentRight="true"
android:text="Test Text" android:background="#android:color/transparent"
android:layout_height="wrap_content" android:layout_alignParentTop="true"
android:padding="4dip" android:layout_marginBottom="7px"/>
</RelativeLayout>
The above creates a small gray bar with text aligned to the right and left sides

I got rid of the padding by getting the title container and setting the padding to 0. It works on Android 4.
titleContainerId = (Integer)Class.forName("com.android.internal.R$id").getField("title_container").get(null);
ViewGroup vg = ((ViewGroup) getWindow().findViewById(titleContainerId));
vg.setPadding(0, 0, 0, 0);

As mentioned by dalewking, you can change the Manifest like this:
<application android:icon="#drawable/icon"
android:label="#string/app_name"
android:theme="#style/MyTheme">
But it did not work for me until I added
android:theme="#style/MyTheme"
to the activity it self like:
<activity
android:name=".MainActivity"
android:screenOrientation="portrait"
android:theme="#style/CustomTheme" >
</activity>

As of 4.2 and ADT 21 when creating a default layout standard dimensions are added to the parent container:
<RelativeLayout 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"
android:paddingBottom="#dimen/activity_vertical_margin"
android:paddingLeft="#dimen/activity_horizontal_margin"
android:paddingRight="#dimen/activity_horizontal_margin"
android:paddingTop="#dimen/activity_vertical_margin"
tools:context=".MainActivity" >
</RelativeLayout>
Values are located in res/dimens.xml:
<!-- Default screen margins, per the Android Design guidelines. -->
<dimen name="activity_horizontal_margin">16dp</dimen>
<dimen name="activity_vertical_margin">16dp</dimen>
</resources>
Either remove them from the parent or change the dimens.xml values to your desired values.

I added the following padding item the AppTheme in styles.xml
<style name="AppTheme" parent="AppBaseTheme">
...
<item name="android:padding">0dp</item>
...
</style>
The Application manifest uses that theme:
<application
...
android:theme="#style/AppTheme" >
...
This resolved it for me.