Custom title bar without padding (Android)

Question

So I am using the techniques in this thread to use a custom background for my titlebar. Unfortunately the framework places my layout inside a FrameLayout (title_container) which has padding as seen below.

_{(source: ggpht.com)}

Is there anyway to remove the grey borders? The frame layout is defined in com.android.internal.R.id.title_container, so accessing the frame by ID would be fragile.

Answer 1

I was struggling with this same issue and now I have the answer!

As you probably have seen several places, you need to create a themes.xml resource:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<resources>
    <style name="MyTheme" parent="android:Theme">
            <item name="android:windowTitleSize">44dip</item>
            <item name="android:windowTitleBackgroundStyle">@style/WindowTitleBackground</item>
    </style>
</resources>

Note it is not often mentioned in the sites talking about custom title bars you need to select this theme at the view, activity, or application level. I do it at the application level by adding android:theme property to the application:

  <application android:icon="@drawable/icon"
               android:label="@string/app_name"
               android:theme="@style/MyTheme">

You also need a styles.xml to define that WindowTitleBackgroundStyle. Unlike the various versions of this file I have seen floating aroung the web, I have added one additional line to the file that sets the padding to 0 which gets rid of the padding you are complaining about:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<resources>
    <style name="WindowTitleBackground">
        <item name="android:background">@android:color/transparent</item>
        <item name="android:padding">0px</item>
    </style>
</resources>

Answer 2

There is a lenghty thread over on anddev.org that may be able to help you out

http://www.anddev.org/my_own_titlebar_backbutton_like_on_the_iphone-t4591.html

I have followed it and successfully created my own title bar which allows me to set the padding.

Xml for my title bar:

---

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<RelativeLayout android:id="@+id/header"
xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
android:layout_height="38px" android:layout_width="fill_parent"
android:background="@drawable/gradient">

<TextView android:id="@+id/title" android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:gravity="center_vertical" style="@style/PhoneText"
android:layout_alignParentLeft="true"
android:text="New Title" android:background="@android:color/transparent"
android:layout_height="wrap_content" android:layout_alignParentTop="true"
android:padding="5dip" android:layout_marginBottom="7px"/>

<TextView android:id="@+id/time" android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:gravity="center_vertical" style="@style/PhoneText2"
android:layout_alignParentRight="true"
android:text="Test Text" android:background="@android:color/transparent"
android:layout_height="wrap_content" android:layout_alignParentTop="true"
android:padding="4dip" android:layout_marginBottom="7px"/>
</RelativeLayout>

---

The above creates a small gray bar with text aligned to the right and left sides

Answer 3

I added the following padding item the AppTheme in styles.xml

<style name="AppTheme" parent="AppBaseTheme">
...
<item name="android:padding">0dp</item>
...
</style>

The Application manifest uses that theme:

<application 
...
android:theme="@style/AppTheme" >
...

This resolved it for me.

Answer 4

As of 4.2 and ADT 21 when creating a default layout standard dimensions are added to the parent container:

<RelativeLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
xmlns:tools="http://schemas.android.com/tools"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="match_parent"
android:paddingBottom="@dimen/activity_vertical_margin"
android:paddingLeft="@dimen/activity_horizontal_margin"
android:paddingRight="@dimen/activity_horizontal_margin"
android:paddingTop="@dimen/activity_vertical_margin"
tools:context=".MainActivity" >

</RelativeLayout>

Values are located in res/dimens.xml:

<!-- Default screen margins, per the Android Design guidelines. -->
<dimen name="activity_horizontal_margin">16dp</dimen>
<dimen name="activity_vertical_margin">16dp</dimen>

</resources>

Either remove them from the parent or change the dimens.xml values to your desired values.

Answer 5

There is actually no need to use a custom layout to customise the background image. The following code in theme.xml will work:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<resources>
    <style name="TitlebarBackgroundStyle">
        <item name="android:background">@drawable/header_bg</item>
    </style>
    <style name="Theme.OTPMain" parent="android:Theme"> 
        <item name="android:windowTitleBackgroundStyle">@style/TitlebarBackgroundStyle</item>
    </style>
</resources>

However, if you do actually want to use a custom title bar, then the following code will remove the margin:

ViewGroup v = (ViewGroup) findViewById(android.R.id.title);
v.setPadding(0, 0, 0, 0)

title_bar_background was set as the ID of the background image in the XML. I set android:scaleType="fitXY".

Answer 6

As mentioned by dalewking, you can change the Manifest like this:

<application android:icon="@drawable/icon"
           android:label="@string/app_name"
           android:theme="@style/MyTheme">

But it did not work for me until I added

android:theme="@style/MyTheme"

to the activity it self like:

    <activity
        android:name=".MainActivity" 
        android:screenOrientation="portrait"
        android:theme="@style/CustomTheme" >            
    </activity>