Set color of TextView span in Android

Question

Is it possible to set the color of just span of text in a TextView?

I would like to do something similar to the Twitter app, in which a part of the text is blue. See image below:

Answer 1

If you want more control, you might want to check the TextPaint class. Here is how to use it:

final ClickableSpan clickableSpan = new ClickableSpan() {
    @Override
    public void onClick(final View textView) {
        //Your onClick code here
    }

    @Override
    public void updateDrawState(final TextPaint textPaint) {
        textPaint.setColor(yourContext.getResources().getColor(R.color.orange));
        textPaint.setUnderlineText(true);
    }
};

Answer 2

String text = "I don't like Hasina.";
textView.setText(spannableString(text, 8, 14));

private SpannableString spannableString(String text, int start, int end) {
    SpannableString spannableString = new SpannableString(text);
    ColorStateList redColor = new ColorStateList(new int[][]{new int[]{}}, new int[]{0xffa10901});
    TextAppearanceSpan highlightSpan = new TextAppearanceSpan(null, Typeface.BOLD, -1, redColor, null);

    spannableString.setSpan(highlightSpan, start, end, Spannable.SPAN_EXCLUSIVE_EXCLUSIVE);
    spannableString.setSpan(new BackgroundColorSpan(0xFFFCFF48), start, end, Spannable.SPAN_EXCLUSIVE_EXCLUSIVE);
    spannableString.setSpan(new RelativeSizeSpan(1.5f), start, end, Spannable.SPAN_EXCLUSIVE_EXCLUSIVE);

    return spannableString;
}

Output:

Answer 3

Here is a little help function. Great for when you have multiple languages!

private void setColor(TextView view, String fulltext, String subtext, int color) {
    view.setText(fulltext, TextView.BufferType.SPANNABLE);
    Spannable str = (Spannable) view.getText();
    int i = fulltext.indexOf(subtext);
    str.setSpan(new ForegroundColorSpan(color), i, i + subtext.length(), Spannable.SPAN_EXCLUSIVE_EXCLUSIVE);
}

Answer 4

There's a factory for creating the Spannable, and avoid the cast, like this:

Spannable span = Spannable.Factory.getInstance().newSpannable("text");

Answer 5

Set your TextView´s text spannable and define a ForegroundColorSpan for your text.

TextView textView = (TextView)findViewById(R.id.mytextview01);    
Spannable wordtoSpan = new SpannableString("I know just how to whisper, And I know just how to cry,I know just where to find the answers");          
wordtoSpan.setSpan(new ForegroundColorSpan(Color.BLUE), 15, 30, Spannable.SPAN_EXCLUSIVE_EXCLUSIVE);    
textView.setText(wordtoSpan);

Answer 6

Another answer would be very similar, but wouldn't need to set the text of the TextView twice

TextView TV = (TextView)findViewById(R.id.mytextview01);

Spannable wordtoSpan = new SpannableString("I know just how to whisper, And I know just how to cry,I know just where to find the answers");        

wordtoSpan.setSpan(new ForegroundColorSpan(Color.BLUE), 15, 30, Spannable.SPAN_EXCLUSIVE_EXCLUSIVE);

TV.setText(wordtoSpan);