Standard Android Button with a different color

Answer 1

Nope, I think you have the right answer there. Be grateful you only need three states -- there are other possible ones (e.g., disabled, selected).

You can certainly just set the background to be a solid color, which is simpler, but it means you won't see focus, clicks, etc.

Answer 2

I discovered that this can all be done in one file fairly easily. Put something like the following code in a file named custom_button.xml and then set background="@drawable/custom_button" in your button view:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<selector
    xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"&gt;

    <item android:state_pressed="true" >
        <shape>
            <gradient
                android:startColor="@color/yellow1"
                android:endColor="@color/yellow2"
                android:angle="270" />
            <stroke
                android:width="3dp"
                android:color="@color/grey05" />
            <corners
                android:radius="3dp" />
            <padding
                android:left="10dp"
                android:top="10dp"
                android:right="10dp"
                android:bottom="10dp" />
        </shape>
    </item>

    <item android:state_focused="true" >
        <shape>
            <gradient
                android:endColor="@color/orange4"
                android:startColor="@color/orange5"
                android:angle="270" />
            <stroke
                android:width="3dp"
                android:color="@color/grey05" />
            <corners
                android:radius="3dp" />
            <padding
                android:left="10dp"
                android:top="10dp"
                android:right="10dp"
                android:bottom="10dp" />
        </shape>
    </item>

    <item>        
        <shape>
            <gradient
                android:endColor="@color/blue2"
                android:startColor="@color/blue25"
                android:angle="270" />
            <stroke
                android:width="3dp"
                android:color="@color/grey05" />
            <corners
                android:radius="3dp" />
            <padding
                android:left="10dp"
                android:top="10dp"
                android:right="10dp"
                android:bottom="10dp" />
        </shape>
    </item>
</selector>

Answer 3

Mike, you might be interested in color filters. You can play with them to achieve the color you want.

An example:

button.getBackground().setColorFilter(new LightingColorFilter(0xFFFFFFFF, 0xFFAA0000));

Answer 4

Following on from Tomasz's answer, you can also programmatically set the shade of the entire button using the PorterDuff multiply mode. This will change the button colour rather than just the tint.

If you start with a standard grey shaded button:

button.getBackground().setColorFilter(0xFFFF0000, PorterDuff.Mode.MULTIPLY);

will give you a red shaded button,

button.getBackground().setColorFilter(0xFF00FF00, PorterDuff.Mode.MULTIPLY);

will give you a green shaded button etc., where the first value is the colour in hex format.

It works by multiplying the current button colour value by your colour value. I'm sure there's also a lot more you can do with these modes.