Button always displays on top in FrameLayout

Question

I have FrameLayout like this:

<FrameLayout
    xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
    android:layout_width="match_parent"
    android:layout_height="match_parent">

    <Button
        android:layout_width="wrap_content"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:onClick="changeColor"
        android:text="new button"/>

    <TextView
        android:layout_width="wrap_content"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:text="some text"/>

</FrameLayout>

The problem is that the button is displayed on top while FrameLayout class overview tells us this: "Child views are drawn in a stack, with the most recently added child on top".

Answer 1

FrameLayout should be used to hold a single child view, because it can be difficult to organize child views in a way that's scalable to different screen sizes without the children overlapping each other.

You should use LinearLayout or RelativeLayout in FrameLayout . Like this way

<FrameLayout
    xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
    android:layout_width="match_parent"
    android:layout_height="match_parent">

   <RelativeLayout
    android:layout_width="fill_parent"
    android:layout_height="fill_parent">

    <Button
        android:layout_width="wrap_content"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:onClick="changeColor"
        android:text="new button"/>

    <TextView
        android:layout_width="wrap_content"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:text="some text"/>
   </RelativeLayout>

</FrameLayout>

Answer 2

As the official android documantation points out:

FrameLayout is designed to block out an area on the screen to display a single item. Generally, FrameLayout should be used to hold a single child view, because it can be difficult to organize child views in a way that's scalable to different screen sizes without the children overlapping each other. You can, however, add multiple children to a FrameLayout and control their position within the FrameLayout by assigning gravity to each child, using the android:layout_gravity attribute.

It's better if you put your Button and Textview in a RelativeLayout inside the FrameLayout like:

<FrameLayout
    xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
    android:layout_width="match_parent"
    android:layout_height="match_parent">
    <RelativeLayout
        android:layout_width="match_parent"
        android:layout_height="match_parent">
        <TextView
            android:id="@+id/textView1"
            android:layout_width="wrap_content"
            android:layout_height="wrap_content"
            android:text="some text"/>
        <Button
            android:id="@+id/button1"
            android:layout_below="@+id/textView1"
            android:layout_width="wrap_content"
            android:layout_height="wrap_content"
            android:onClick="changeColor"
            android:text="new button"/>
        <RelativeLayout>
    </FrameLayout>

Answer 3

This answer

Buttons in Lollipop and higher have a default elevation to them which causes them to always draw on top. You can change this by overriding the default StateListAnimator.

Try putting this into your button XML:

android:stateListAnimator="@null"

The FrameLayout should now cover the button.

Answer 4

Apperently android:stateListAnimator="@null" works only for API = 21 or higher, So for those who target API<21 use this, it worked for me :D

<FrameLayout
xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="match_parent">
    <FrameLayout
    android:layout_width="match_parent"
    android:layout_height="match_parent">
        <Button
            android:layout_width="wrap_content"
            android:layout_height="wrap_content"
            android:onClick="changeColor"
            android:text="new button"/>
    </FrameLayout>
    <TextView
        android:layout_width="wrap_content"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:text="some text"/>
</FrameLayout>

Answer 5

Put in your Button inside FrameLayout

<RelativeLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
    android:layout_width="match_parent"
    android:layout_height="match_parent">

    <FrameLayout
        android:layout_width="wrap_content"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content">

        <Button
            android:layout_width="wrap_content"
            android:layout_height="wrap_content"
            android:text="new button" />
    </FrameLayout>

    <TextView
        android:layout_width="wrap_content"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:text="some text" />
</RelativeLayout>

Answer 6

In the Android 5.0 (API 21) and above, you must add android:elevation into the view.

<FrameLayout
    xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
    android:layout_width="match_parent"
    android:layout_height="match_parent">

    <Button
        android:layout_width="wrap_content"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:onClick="changeColor"
        android:text="new button"/>

    <TextView
        android:layout_width="wrap_content"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:text="some text"
        android:elevation="3dp"/>