Android spinner doesn't show items in lollipop emulator

Question

I have a spinner widget in my activity. If I run the app on my device (Pie version) the spinner works fine but if I run it on emulator (which has lollipop version- requirements of work)- spinner doesn't show any items at all.

So this is my activity code for the spinner (inside onCreate):

   spinner = (Spinner) findViewById(R.id.spinner_reminder_times);

    // Create an ArrayAdapter using the string array and a default spinner layout
    ArrayAdapter<CharSequence> spinnerAdapter = ArrayAdapter.createFromResource(getApplicationContext(),
            R.array.reminder_times_array, android.R.layout.simple_spinner_dropdown_item);

    // Specify the layout to use when the list of choices appears
    spinnerAdapter.setDropDownViewResource(android.R.layout.simple_spinner_dropdown_item);

    // Apply the spinnerAdapter to the spinner
    spinner.setAdapter(spinnerAdapter);
    spinner.setOnItemSelectedListener(this);

And this is the implemented method:

@Override
public void onItemSelected(AdapterView<?> parent, View view, int position, long id) {
    switch (parent.getSelectedItemPosition()) {
        case 0:
            // do stuff
            break;
        case 1:
            // do stuff
            break;
        case 2:
            // do stuff
            break;
    }
}

The spinner xml in activity_layout:

        <Spinner
            android:layout_width="match_parent"
            android:layout_height="wrap_content"
            android:id="@+id/spinner_reminder_times"
            android:theme="@style/ThemeOverlay.AppCompat.Light"
            android:spinnerMode="dropdown">

        </Spinner>

What may be the problem? how comes it works perfectly on my device but on android lollipop emulator doesn't show anything? Thanks!

Does is show empty space in the dropdown menu, as if the dropdown items are present but just invisible? — Gavin Wright, Mar 21 '19 at 12:40
Yes exactly, the dropdown shows empty space like the items are invisible. — Lian Binyamin, Mar 21 '19 at 12:48
Try changing the theme you set on the Spinner. Also try creating a custom dropdown view XML resource instead of using android.R.layout.simple_spinner_dropdown_item. My guess is the text is the same color as the dropdown background. — Gavin Wright, Mar 21 '19 at 12:50
So it seems like the text color is the same as the background like you said. Do you know a way to change the text color of the spinner without making any new custom spinner? Thanks for the help! — Lian Binyamin, Mar 21 '19 at 14:18

score 0 · Answer 1 · answered Mar 21 '19 at 13:34

0

enter code here
android:popupBackground="#59b0b9" 
    // try this to change the popupBackground color

<Spinner
            android:layout_width="match_parent"
            android:layout_height="wrap_content"
            android:id="@+id/spinner_reminder_times"
            android:theme="@style/ThemeOverlay.AppCompat.Light"
            android:popupBackground="#59b0b9" 
            android:spinnerMode="dropdown"/>

answered Mar 21 '19 at 13:34

vbijoor

95
1
5

My Guess i think text is the same color as the dropdown background. Change the popupBackground color – vbijoor Mar 21 '19 at 13:37
Seems like it is the problem since popupBackground did work although I still can't see the item before I press the little arrow and if I change the spinner background- the arrow disappears. Do you know a way to change the text color instead of the backgrounds? Thank you for your help! – Lian Binyamin Mar 21 '19 at 14:13
This will help https://stackoverflow.com/questions/9476665/how-to-change-spinner-text-size-and-text-color – vbijoor Mar 22 '19 at 17:56

Gavin Wright · Accepted Answer · 2019-03-21T15:07:51.583

Create a new layout file, called my_spinner_dropdown_list_item.xml (probably change textColor once you confirm it works):

<CheckedTextView xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
    android:id="@android:id/text1"
    style="?android:attr/spinnerDropDownItemStyle"
    android:singleLine="true"
    android:layout_width="match_parent"
    android:textColor="#FF0000"
    android:layout_height="?android:attr/dropdownListPreferredItemHeight"
    android:ellipsize="marquee"/>

And assign this layout as your Spinner's new dropdown resource:

   spinner = (Spinner) findViewById(R.id.spinner_reminder_times);

    // Create an ArrayAdapter using the string array and a default spinner layout
    ArrayAdapter<CharSequence> spinnerAdapter = ArrayAdapter.createFromResource(getApplicationContext(),
            R.array.reminder_times_array, R.layout.my_spinner_dropdown_list_item);

    // Specify the layout to use when the list of choices appears
    spinnerAdapter.setDropDownViewResource(R.layout.my_spinner_dropdown_list_item);

    // Apply the spinnerAdapter to the spinner
    spinner.setAdapter(spinnerAdapter);
    spinner.setOnItemSelectedListener(this);

Great! Thanks! It works when tapping the arrow and the drop down opens and looks great. The only thing now is the text of the selected item- still "invisible" since the text color is white. Funny thing is that I have another spinner in my app which works perfect and it was copy-paste from this spinner. — Lian Binyamin, Mar 21 '19 at 14:55
See my edit. Note how I changed from `android.R.layout.simple_spinner_dropdown_item` to `R.layout.my_spinner_dropdown_list_item` in the `createFromResource()` method. This changes the selected item layout to our new custom layout. — Gavin Wright, Mar 21 '19 at 15:08

Android spinner doesn't show items in lollipop emulator

2 Answers2