Change the tint of drawable in xml selector

Question

I have a button with the background defined in xml. I would like to tint the button based on the current state it is in - ie - pressed, focussed, normal.

Here is my xml file below. Also, my colored_tint_dark, and colored_tint are both translucent colors that I am trying to draw over the drawable image that I call from the resources folder. Here is the problem. When the UI first loads, the image has the appropriate tint on it, but after pressed, the pressed state doesn't show any tint, then the normal state won't show any tint.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>

<item android:state_pressed="true" android:drawable="@drawable/rounded_grayscale_pinstripe_button">
 <shape>
 <gradient
 android:endColor="@color/colored_tint"
 android:startColor="@color/colored_tint"
 android:angle="270" />
 <stroke
 android:width="0dp"
 android:color="@color/colored_tint" />
 <corners
 android:radius="0dp" />
 <padding
 android:left="10dp"
 android:top="10dp"
 android:right="10dp"
 android:bottom="10dp" />
 </shape>
</item>
<item android:state_focused="true" android:drawable="@drawable/rounded_grayscale_pinstripe_button">
 <shape>
 <gradient
 android:endColor="@color/colored_tint"
 android:startColor="@color/colored_tint"
 android:angle="270" />
 <stroke
 android:width="0dp"
 android:color="@color/colored_tint" />
 <corners
 android:radius="0dp" />
 <padding
 android:left="10dp"
 android:top="10dp"
 android:right="10dp"
 android:bottom="10dp" />
 </shape>
</item>
<item android:drawable="@drawable/rounded_grayscale_pinstripe_button"> 
 <shape>
 <gradient
 android:endColor="@color/colored_tint_dark"
 android:startColor="@color/colored_tint_dark"
 android:angle="270" />
 <stroke
 android:width="0dp"
 android:color="@color/colored_tint_dark" />
 <corners
 android:radius="0dp" />
 <padding
 android:left="10dp"
 android:top="10dp"
 android:right="10dp"
 android:bottom="10dp" />
 </shape>
</item>

I know that there are solutions to this in java, but I am specifically looking for a solution in xml. Thanks.

Answer 1

Create a selector tint_menu_item.xml :

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<selector xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android">
 <item android:color="@color/white" android:state_pressed="true" />
 <item android:color="@color/white" android:state_activated="true" />
 <item android:color="@color/green" />
</selector>

(In my example, image is white when selected, and green when not selected)

Then in your xml, you can add tint attribute to ImageView:

<ImageView
 android:layout_width="30dp"
 android:layout_height="30dp"
 android:tint="@color/tint_menu_item"
 android:src="@drawable/ic_menu_home" />

You can also use this selector on a TextView using textColor attibute:

<TextView
 android:layout_width="wrap_content"
 android:layout_height="wrap_content"
 android:textColor="@color/tint_menu_item" />

• Alex: HI, I have issue with tint selector on Api 18 and lower link Do you have suggestions what the problem can be?
• Anne-Claire: android:tint attribute does not work on all apis. To resolve this you can create you .png file with the right color directly and then remove the android:tint attribute from your ImageView
• ery245gs: Where do I put tint_menu_item.xml?
• Anne-Claire: Create a new folder "color" inside "res" (next to 'values' folder, 'drawable' folder, etc). Then put your tint_menu_item.xml inside it.

Answer 2

Have you tried with a selector?

You can find some examples HERE

Answer 3

let's say you have an appCpmpatImageView and add this **app**:tint="@drawable/custom_tint" to the compat image view and your custom tint selector is like this:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<selector xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android">
 <item android:color="@color/grey" android:state_pressed="true" />
 <item android:color="@color/silver" android:state_focused="true" />
 <!-- default tint -->
 <item android:color="@color/white" />
</selector>

so your appCompat ImageView will use each color as a tint in different situations.