Change theme of android ActionBar

Are you struggling with changing your ActionBar color or theme? I was struggling too, now I decided to share the solution so everyone can benefit from it.
Here is what you have to do to make it work :

1 - Define your style in a file, for example : "values/myStyle.xml" :

<resources>
    <style name="Theme.MyActionBarTheme" parent="@style/Theme.AppCompat.Light">

        <!-- This is for Support library compatibility -->
        <item name="actionBarStyle">@style/MyActionBarStyle</item>

        <item name="android:actionBarStyle">@style/MyActionBarStyle</item>
    </style>

    <!-- general styles for the action bar -->
    <style name="MyActionBarStyle" parent="@style/Widget.AppCompat.ActionBar">
 
       <!-- This is for Support library compatibility -->
        <item name="titleTextStyle">@style/MyActionBarTextStyle</item>
        
        <!-- Define your background color in colors.xml -->  
        <item name="background">@color/action_bar_background</item>     
   
        <item name="android:titleTextStyle">@style/MyActionBarTextStyle</item>
        <item name="android:background">@color/action_bar_background</item>

    </style>

    <!-- Define your actionBar title text Style : Here I defined only the textColor property -->
    <style name="MyActionBarTextStyle" parent="@style/TextAppearance.AppCompat.Widget.ActionBar.Title">
        <item name="android:textColor">#ff55cc</item>
    </style>

</resources>

2 - Apply your style to your application in your "AndroidManifest.xml" file:

<application
        android:name=".YourApplicationName"
        android:allowBackup="true"
        android:icon="@mipmap/ic_launcher"
        android:label="@string/app_name"        
        android:theme="@style/Theme.MyActionBarTheme">
        <activity
            android:name=".MainActivity"
            android:label="@string/app_name">
            <intent-filter>
                <action android:name="android.intent.action.MAIN" />

                <category android:name="android.intent.category.LAUNCHER" />
            </intent-filter>
        </activity>
    </application>

That's it, easy peasy :)

Milan Tomic

Hi. I’m Designer of Blog Magic. I’m CEO/Founder of ThemeXpose. I’m Creative Art Director, Web Designer, UI/UX Designer, Interaction Designer, Industrial Designer, Web Developer, Business Enthusiast, StartUp Enthusiast, Speaker, Writer and Photographer. Inspired to make things looks better.