How to change AppCompat v21 toolbar theme programmatically?

Question

This is my toolbar xml

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<android.support.v7.widget.Toolbar xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
    xmlns:app="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res-auto"

    android:id="@+id/toolbar"
    android:layout_width="match_parent"
    app:contentInsetEnd="0dp"
    app:contentInsetStart="0dp"
    android:layout_height="@dimen/toolbar_height"
    app:theme="@style/ThemeOverlay.AppCompat.Dark.ActionBar"
    app:popupTheme="@style/ThemeOverlay.AppCompat.Light"
    android:background="@color/primary_color">



</android.support.v7.widget.Toolbar>

I want to change app:theme programmatically. How do i do this?

You can't change the style and theme. What do you want to do? Maybe there is a different solution. — krystian71115, Jul 04 '15 at 21:27
Well i want to let users to choose color of toolbar.... according to the color i want to change the theme.. so if they choose a dark color theme would be ThemeOverlay.AppCompat.Dark.ActionBar otherwise it would be light theme — Shehan Ekanayake, Jul 04 '15 at 21:34
And link to answer how to set tile color: http://stackoverflow.com/a/26594674/2536878 — krystian71115, Jul 04 '15 at 21:41

score 25 · Accepted Answer · answered Jul 04 '15 at 21:54

You can do this programmatically or with style:

Toolbar toolbar; // your toolbar
toolbar.setBackgroundColor(newColor); // i don't tested this method. Write if it's not working
toolbar.setTitleTextColor(titleColor); // if toolbar is white set title to black, if toolbar is black set title to white

Or you can do it with style:

Add attrs.xml:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<resources>
    <attr name="toolbarStyle" format="reference"/>
</resources>

And now change toolbar.xml:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<android.support.v7.widget.Toolbar xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
    xmlns:app="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res-auto"

    android:id="@+id/toolbar"
    android:layout_width="match_parent"
    app:contentInsetEnd="0dp"
    app:contentInsetStart="0dp"
    android:layout_height="@dimen/toolbar_height"
    app:theme="?attr/toolbarStyle"
    app:popupTheme="@style/ThemeOverlay.AppCompat.Light"
    android:background="@color/primary_color">



</android.support.v7.widget.Toolbar>

And in styles.xml (if you don't have this create it):

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<resources>
    <style name="MyStyle.Dark" parent="AppCompat.Theme">
        <item name="toolbarStyle">@style/ThemeOverlay.AppCompat.Dark.ActionBar</item>
    </style>
    <style name="MyStyle.Light" parent="AppCompat.Theme.Light">
        <item name="toolbarStyle">@style/ThemeOverlay.AppCompat.Light.ActionBar</item>
    </style>
</resources>

If you select second method (with styles) you must restart activity and use setTheme method before super.onCreate()

I hope I helped you.

Hi, Krystian. The first one way doesn't work. But maybe you now the way how to change the toolbar between fragments replacing inside one Activity instance ? Need to avoid the Activity recreating. Thanks — Taras Vovkovych, Jun 23 '17 at 11:13

score 25 · Answer 2 · edited Mar 24 '17 at 09:35

25

Use the following code snippet to add a theme:

Toolbar toolbar;
toolbar.getContext().setTheme(R.style.ThemeOverlay_AppCompat_Dark_ActionBar);

edited Mar 24 '17 at 09:35

Shiva127

2,413
1
23
27

answered Mar 24 '17 at 09:04

John Ruban Singh

1,284
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1

Worked For me.. Thanks – Mr Code Sep 19 '17 at 10:16
Yes! This worked! All the other answers were both way overkill and some didn't work. The ones I tried didn't work, anyway. Thank you. – Peter Griffin Aug 18 '18 at 11:50
2

For me this did more than I wanted. It set the theme for my entire activity, not just the toolbar. Be careful if you have other elements in your activity that respond to the theme. – lostintranslation Apr 21 '19 at 00:01
4

This is dangerous, it might mess up your activity's theme – Suhaib Roomy Jun 26 '20 at 20:04
It didn't work for me (for API 30). It will definitely apply the theme to the toolbar's context which is obviously your activity. – Tayyab Amin Dec 08 '20 at 10:48
How would I do this if it were a custom toolbar implementation? I want to conditionally switch styles. – Skj Feb 08 '23 at 14:37

How to change AppCompat v21 toolbar theme programmatically?

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