Material Design Buttons in Android: A Developer’s Guide

Dive into the realm of Android button styles with our comprehensive guide to Material Design! Explore the diversity of design options, ranging from raised to flat buttons, and enhance the appearance and user experience of your Android app. Our blog post provides practical examples, customization tips, and insights into the intricacies of Material Design for Android buttons.

Overview of Android Material Design Buttons

The standard button in Android layouts is typically defined within a LinearLayout:

            <Button
                android:layout_width="wrap_content"
                android:layout_height="wrap_content"
                android:text="NORMAL BUTTON"/>

By default, this button corresponds to the Widget.AppCompat.Button style. To customize the button’s appearance, especially the background color, the android:background attribute is used:

            <Button
                android:layout_width="wrap_content"
                android:layout_height="wrap_content"
                android:background="@color/colorPrimary"
                android:textColor="@android:color/white"
                android:layout_margin="12dp"
                android:text="BACKGROUND COLOR BUTTON"/>

Although the background color changes, this method removes the default click effect. To retain the click effect while still customizing the appearance, using a drawable selector or pre-defined styles is recommended.

Android Button Styling

Material Design categorizes buttons into two main types: Raised Buttons and Flat Buttons. Raised buttons are standard, while flat buttons are borderless and often used in dialogs. The following primary button styles are available:

• style="@style/Widget.AppCompat.Button"
• style="@style/Widget.AppCompat.Button.Colored"
• style="@style/Widget.AppCompat.Button.Borderless"
• style="@style/Widget.AppCompat.Button.Borderless.Colored"

The last two styles belong to the category of flat buttons.

Customizing Color Buttons

To set a standard color button style, the following approach is used:

            <Button
                style="@style/Widget.AppCompat.Button.Colored"
                android:layout_width="wrap_content"
                android:layout_height="wrap_content"
                android:layout_margin="12dp"
                android:text="COLORED BUTTON"
                android:padding="8dp" />

The color of the colored button is derived from the colorAccent attribute defined in styles.xml.

Custom Button Styling

For finer control over the button’s appearance, attributes like colorButtonNormal and colorControlHighlight can be used in the application’s theme. However, these attributes apply only to buttons with standard styles. For custom buttons, a separate theme must be defined.

Flat Buttons

Flat buttons, borderless or colored, provide different visual cues. By specifying text color and control highlight in the theme, custom styles for these buttons can be achieved.

Conclusion

Material Design has revolutionized the design of Android buttons, offering a variety of styles to meet various design requirements. By understanding these styles and their customization options, developers can create engaging and user-friendly applications.