How to change current Theme at runtime in Android

Question

I've created a PreferenceActivity that allows the user to choose the theme he wants to apply to the entire application.

When the user selects a theme, this code is executed:

if (...) {
    getApplication().setTheme(R.style.BlackTheme);
} else {
    getApplication().setTheme(R.style.LightTheme);
}

But, even though I've checked with the debugger that the code is being executed, I can't see any change in the user interface.

Themes are defined in res/values/styles.xml, and Eclipse does not show any error.

<resources>
    <style name="LightTheme" parent="@android:style/Theme.Light">
    </style>

    <style name="BlackTheme" parent="@android:style/Theme.Black">
    </style>    
</resources>

Any idea about what could be happening and how to fix it? Should I call setTheme at any special point in the code? My application consists of several Activities if that helps.

http://stackoverflow.com/a/32111974/1318946 – Pratik Butani Aug 20 '15 at 07:30 — Pratik Butani, Aug 20 '15 at 07:30

score 99 · Accepted Answer · edited May 17 '20 at 22:24

99

I would like to see the method too, where you set once for all your activities. But as far I know you have to set in each activity before showing any views.

For reference check this:

http://www.anddev.org/applying_a_theme_to_your_application-t817.html

Edit (copied from that forum):

    protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
        super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);

        // Call setTheme before creation of any(!) View.
         setTheme(android.R.style.Theme_Dark);

        // ...
        setContentView(R.layout.main);
    }

Edit
If you call setTheme after super.onCreate(savedInstanceState); your activity recreated but if you call setTheme before super.onCreate(savedInstanceState); your theme will set and activity does not recreate anymore

  protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
     setTheme(android.R.style.Theme_Dark);
     super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);


    // ...
    setContentView(R.layout.main);
}

edited May 17 '20 at 22:24

Mehdi Yari

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answered Mar 20 '10 at 12:35

Pentium10

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It works, but changes are not applied until you don't change from one Activity to another... – Guido Mar 20 '10 at 16:06
23

Please provide a self-contained answer so that if that link dies people will still have access to your answer – Tash Pemhiwa Jun 12 '14 at 14:56
1

@TashPemhiwa and other upvoters of that comment: would it have been hard to edit the answer yourself? – TWiStErRob Oct 01 '16 at 09:41
@Pentium10 doesn't `getApplicationContext().setTheme()` achieve "the once for all activities"? (didn't test it, but it looks like a good place to start) – TWiStErRob Oct 01 '16 at 09:43
@TWiStErRob If no-one states it, how would the user ever know to do any better? – Tash Pemhiwa Oct 04 '16 at 13:30
@TashPemhiwa as far as I know you get a notification of your edited content. You can also add a comment stating that you edited. – TWiStErRob Oct 04 '16 at 13:49
@TWiStErRob Fair point. – Tash Pemhiwa Oct 04 '16 at 13:54
what about using setTheme(android.R.style.Theme_Dark); in baseActivity.? – Atif AbbAsi Feb 07 '18 at 06:22
article link is broken – Vivek Mar 11 '21 at 13:48
Is there really no other way to change the theme as for each activity separately, as the default theme in the manifest file is set. Maybe in the `onCreate()` method of the `Application` class? – enapi Jan 14 '22 at 11:08

TPReal · Answer 2 · 2017-02-28T10:46:43.070

70

If you want to change theme of an already existing activity, call recreate() after setTheme().

Note: don't call recreate if you change theme in onCreate(), to avoid infinite loop.

edited Feb 28 '17 at 10:46

answered Jan 16 '13 at 20:28

TPReal

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12
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This answer would be more useful if it cited some evidence or reasoning to explain why it should be necessary to call `recreate()`, even though the documentation (http://developer.android.com/reference/android/content/Context.html#setTheme(int)) just says to `setTheme()` before any views are instantiated. Are you saying to call recreate() only if views have already been instantiated? – LarsH Aug 17 '15 at 16:07
3

In particular, if you're calling `setTheme()` in your `onCreate()`, before calling either super.onCreate() or setContentView(), (1) you'll have to check to guard against an infinite loop where you keep recreating; and (2) what have you gained anyway? – LarsH Aug 17 '15 at 18:21
This is very useful. I already knew how to set the theme _before_ loading, but changing it immediately is neccessary for a reasonable user experience. `recreate` is just the thing I needed. – Kjeld Schmidt Mar 04 '19 at 13:39
Doesn't work ... – Mayank Kumar Chaudhari Mar 06 '20 at 16:39

score 25 · Answer 3 · edited May 23 '17 at 11:47

25

recreate() (as mentioned by TPReal) will only restart current activity, but the previous activities will still be in back stack and theme will not be applied to them.

So, another solution for this problem is to recreate the task stack completely, like this:

    TaskStackBuilder.create(getActivity())
            .addNextIntent(new Intent(getActivity(), MainActivity.class))
            .addNextIntent(getActivity().getIntent())
            .startActivities();

EDIT:

Just put the code above after you perform changing of theme on the UI or somewhere else. All your activities should have method setTheme() called before onCreate(), probably in some parent activity. It is also a normal approach to store the theme chosen in SharedPreferences, read it and then set using setTheme() method.

edited May 23 '17 at 11:47

Community

1
1

answered Mar 01 '15 at 21:11

yyunikov

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Where would you put this code? If you put it in an Activity.onCreate(), will that lead to an endless loop? – LarsH Aug 17 '15 at 19:55
1

Just put this code after you perform changing of theme on the UI or somewhere else. All your activities should have method `setTheme()` called before `onCreate()`, probably in some parent activity. – yyunikov Aug 17 '15 at 20:33
Thanks for your patience as I try to understand this. By "parent activity" I assume you mean the activity that started (using `startActivity()`) the activity whose theme I want changed. – LarsH Aug 17 '15 at 20:55
No, by parent activity I mean some `BaseActivity` that all other activities in your app can extend. – yyunikov Aug 18 '15 at 07:31
OK so I guess this code would be in the constructor of the `BaseActivity`, so that it happens before the `onCreate()` of the subclass activities? – LarsH Aug 18 '15 at 15:11
You just need to call `setTheme()` in `BaseActivity` before `onCreate()`. You don't need to do nothing in subclass activities – yyunikov Aug 18 '15 at 15:17

score 16 · Answer 4 · answered Jan 01 '13 at 11:51

i got the same problem but i found the solution.

public class EditTextSmartPhoneActivity extends Activity implements DialogInterface.OnClickListener
{
    public final static int CREATE_DIALOG  = -1;
    public final static int THEME_HOLO_LIGHT  = 0;
    public final static int THEME_BLACK  = 1;

    int position;

    /** Called when the activity is first created. */
    @Override
    public void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) 
    {
        position = getIntent().getIntExtra("position", -1);

        switch(position)
        {
        case CREATE_DIALOG:
            createDialog();
            break;
        case THEME_HOLO_LIGHT:
            setTheme(android.R.style.Theme_Holo_Light);
            break;
        case THEME_BLACK:
            setTheme(android.R.style.Theme_Black);
            break;
        default:
        }

        super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
        setContentView(R.layout.main);

    }

    private void createDialog()
    {
        /** Options for user to select*/
        String choose[] = {"Theme_Holo_Light","Theme_Black"};

        AlertDialog.Builder b = new AlertDialog.Builder(this);

        /** Setting a title for the window */
        b.setTitle("Choose your Application Theme");

        /** Setting items to the alert dialog */
        b.setSingleChoiceItems(choose, 0, null);

        /** Setting a positive button and its listener */
        b.setPositiveButton("OK",this);

        /** Setting a positive button and its listener */
        b.setNegativeButton("Cancel", null);

        /** Creating the alert dialog window using the builder class */
        AlertDialog d = b.create();

        /** show dialog*/
        d.show();
    }

    @Override
    public void onClick(DialogInterface dialog, int which) {
        // TODO Auto-generated method stub
        AlertDialog alert = (AlertDialog)dialog;
        int position = alert.getListView().getCheckedItemPosition();

        finish();
        Intent intent = new Intent(this, EditTextSmartPhoneActivity.class);
        intent.putExtra("position", position);
        intent.addFlags(Intent.FLAG_ACTIVITY_CLEAR_TOP); 
        intent.addFlags(Intent.FLAG_ACTIVITY_NEW_TASK);
        startActivity(intent);
    }
}

This for when you want to user to select a theme at run time.No need to set in manifest — Monty, Jan 01 '13 at 11:52
This works. I coupled it with a sharedpreferences config so the theme change is persistent. — Aloha, Jul 14 '15 at 07:44
is the call to `super.onCreate()` after `setTheme()` also critical to make this work? I was under the impression that one just has to call `setTheme()` before calling `setContentView()` — Someone Somewhere, Apr 08 '16 at 13:28
@pandalion98 Would you mind providing some pointers as to how you integrated it with sharedpreferences? Highly appreciated. — Erlend K.H., Jan 06 '19 at 13:51
@ErlendK.H. Sure. Save something, [maybe an integer](https://stackoverflow.com/q/16194567/3979290), using shared preferences. Then the next time you launch the app, you [load](https://stackoverflow.com/a/16194592/3979290) the saved value and apply the appropriate theme. In this answer, that is the `switch(position)` inside `onCreate`. Basically, it's the exact same thing as this answer, but I also saved a value which I check when the app launches (and apply the necessary theme). — Aloha, Jan 06 '19 at 14:38
@pandalion98 Thanks a lot for the reply. I'm looking at sharedpreferences now, it's really preferable indeed for storing info persistently. — Erlend K.H., Jan 06 '19 at 15:04
@ErlendK.H. Any save/load strategy is fine. At the time, I used shared prefs since that project used it a lot. Some projects have a database for settings, so you can also use that. Even Firebase is fine, if you save settings in the cloud for example. — Aloha, Jan 06 '19 at 15:25

score 13 · Answer 5 · edited Sep 08 '15 at 13:51

13

We have to set theme before calling 'super.onCreate()' and 'setContentView()' method.

Check out this link for applying new theme to whole application at runtime.

edited Sep 08 '15 at 13:51

LarsH

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answered Oct 04 '12 at 10:10

Lalit Sharma

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Apparently this means "before calling *super.onCreate()* and setContentView()." BTW I downvoted this answer earlier because it seemed wrong; now I understand what was meant, and I see value in it (though it wasn't expressed clearly). I can't change my vote, though, unless the answer is edited. If that happens, please notify me so I can change my vote. – LarsH Aug 17 '15 at 16:10
1

@LarsH ha ha ha No issues dear. – Lalit Sharma Sep 08 '15 at 12:48
2

I edited it and removed the downvote. – LarsH Sep 08 '15 at 13:52

score 11 · Answer 6 · answered Jun 12 '13 at 22:21

I had a similar problem and I solved in this way..

@Override
public void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {

    if (getIntent().hasExtra("bundle") && savedInstanceState==null){
        savedInstanceState = getIntent().getExtras().getBundle("bundle");
    }

    //add code for theme

    switch(theme)
    {
    case LIGHT:
        setTheme(R.style.LightTheme);
        break;
    case BLACK:
        setTheme(R.style.BlackTheme);
        break;

    default:
    }
    super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
    setContentView(R.layout.activity_main);
    //code

}

this code is for recreate the Activity saving Bundle and changing the theme. You have to write your own onSaveInstanceState(Bundle outState); From API-11 you can use the method recreate() instead

Bundle temp_bundle = new Bundle();
onSaveInstanceState(temp_bundle);
Intent intent = new Intent(this, MainActivity.class);
intent.putExtra("bundle", temp_bundle);
startActivity(intent);
finish();

Vitaly Zinchenko · Answer 7 · 2015-12-04T11:43:44.910

Instead of

getApplication().setTheme(R.style.BlackTheme);

use

setTheme(R.style.BlackTheme);

My code: in onCreate() method:

super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);

if(someExpression) {
    setTheme(R.style.OneTheme);
} else {
    setTheme(R.style.AnotherTheme);
}

setContentView(R.layout.activity_some_layout);

Somewhere (for example, on a button click):

YourActivity.this.recreate();

You have to recreate activity, otherwise - change won't happen

score 3 · Answer 8 · answered Aug 20 '15 at 07:24

3

This is what i have created for Material Design. May it will helpful you.

Have a look for MultipleThemeMaterialDesign

answered Aug 20 '15 at 07:24

Pratik Butani

60,504
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score 2 · Answer 9 · edited Oct 24 '15 at 16:35

I know that i am late but i would like to post a solution here: Check the full source code here. This is the code i used when changing theme using preferences..

SharedPreferences pref = PreferenceManager
        .getDefaultSharedPreferences(this);
String themeName = pref.getString("prefSyncFrequency3", "Theme1");
if (themeName.equals("Africa")) {
    setTheme(R.style.AppTheme);
} else if (themeName.equals("Colorful Beach")) {
    //Toast.makeText(this, "set theme", Toast.LENGTH_SHORT).show();
    setTheme(R.style.beach);
} else if (themeName.equals("Abstract")) {
    //Toast.makeText(this, "set theme", Toast.LENGTH_SHORT).show();
    setTheme(R.style.abstract2);
} else if (themeName.equals("Default")) {
    setTheme(R.style.defaulttheme);
}

score 2 · Answer 10 · answered Nov 15 '16 at 10:07

This way work for me:

  @Override
protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
    setTheme(GApplication.getInstance().getTheme());
    super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);

    setContentView(R.layout.activity_main);
}

Then you want to change a new theme:

GApplication.getInstance().setTheme(R.style.LightTheme);
recreate();

score 1 · Answer 11 · answered Jul 18 '12 at 09:34

1

You can finish the Acivity and recreate it afterwards in this way your activity will be created again and all the views will be created with the new theme.

answered Jul 18 '12 at 09:34

Sumit Dhaniya

596
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score 0 · Answer 12 · answered Jun 07 '16 at 04:52

0

Call SetContentView(Resource.Layout.Main) after setTheme().

answered Jun 07 '16 at 04:52

MohammadReza Moradi

161
4

arlomedia · Answer 13 · 2016-07-27T07:36:27.713

0

This had no effect for me:

public void changeTheme(int newTheme) {
    setTheme(newTheme);
    recreate();
}

But this worked:

int theme = R.style.default;

protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
    setTheme(this.theme);
    super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
}

public void changeTheme(int newTheme) {
    this.theme = newTheme;
    recreate();
}

edited Jul 27 '16 at 07:36

answered Jun 22 '16 at 17:18

arlomedia

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According to your code, you set the theme to a variable that is never used. I believe the setTheme within onCreate should be ```setTheme(theme);``` – Abandoned Cart Jul 22 '16 at 19:41
The Activity will be destroyed and recreated when calling recreate(), so the variable is never be used. Just adding **static** before the defined to make it work. – Freddie Aug 01 '19 at 01:50

How to change current Theme at runtime in Android

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