Styling a SearchView in Android Action Bar

Question

I have a search widget in my Action Bar like this:

(1) How do I change

Answer 1

You would have to set

searchView.setBackgroundColor(Color.WHITE);

SearchViews are not so customizable.

Answer 2

Get SearchView in your xxxActivity.java file and then:

SearchView searchView = (SearchView)menu.findItem(R.id.my_search_view).getActionView();
int searchPlateId = searchView.getContext().getResources().getIdentifier("android:id/search_plate", null, null);

// Getting the 'search_plate' LinearLayout.
View searchPlate = searchView.findViewById(searchPlateId);
searchPlate.setBackgroundResource(R.drawable.textfield_searchview);

Create file res/drawable/texfield_searchview.xml

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<selector xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android">
    <item android:state_focused="true"
        android:drawable="@drawable/textfield_search_selected_holo_light" />
    <item android:drawable="@drawable/textfield_search_default_holo_light" />
</selector>

Answer 3

As of Lollipop you can style search view like this from blog post http://android-developers.blogspot.com/2014/10/appcompat-v21-material-design-for-pre.html

values/themes.xml:
<style name=”Theme.MyTheme” parent=”Theme.AppCompat”>
    <item name=”searchViewStyle”>@style/MySearchViewStyle</item>
</style>
<style name=”MySearchViewStyle” parent=”Widget.AppCompat.SearchView”>
    <!-- Background for the search query section (e.g. EditText) -->
    <item name="queryBackground">...</item>
    <!-- Background for the actions section (e.g. voice, submit) -->
    <item name="submitBackground">...</item>
    <!-- Close button icon -->
    <item name="closeIcon">...</item>
    <!-- Search button icon -->
    <item name="searchIcon">...</item>
    <!-- Go/commit button icon -->
    <item name="goIcon">...</item>
    <!-- Voice search button icon -->
    <item name="voiceIcon">...</item>
    <!-- Commit icon shown in the query suggestion row -->
    <item name="commitIcon">...</item>
    <!-- Layout for query suggestion rows -->
    <item name="suggestionRowLayout">...</item>
</style>

Answer 4

If you want white text, you should extend from an Action Bar theme that has a black background like Holo.Theme or Theme.AppCompat.Light.DarkActionBar if you're using the support library.
No other settings necessary.

Answer 5

@Override
    public boolean onCreateOptionsMenu(Menu menu) {

        super.onCreateOptionsMenu(menu);

        // Inflate the menu; this adds items to the action bar if it is present.
        getMenuInflater().inflate(R.menu.main, menu);

        // Associate search configuration with the SearchView
        SearchManager searchManager =
               (SearchManager) getSystemService(Context.SEARCH_SERVICE);
        SearchView searchView =
                (SearchView) menu.findItem(R.id.search).getActionView();
        searchView.setQueryHint("Client/DOB/PPSN");
        searchView.setSearchableInfo(
                searchManager.getSearchableInfo(getComponentName()));

        // Setting the textview default behaviour properties
        int id = searchView.getContext().getResources().getIdentifier("android:id/search_src_text", null, null);
        TextView textView = (TextView) searchView.findViewById(id);
        textView.setTextColor(Color.WHITE);
        textView.setHintTextColor(Color.WHITE);

        // Set the search plate color to white
        int linlayId = getResources().getIdentifier("android:id/search_plate", null, null);
        View view = searchView.findViewById(linlayId);
        Drawable drawColor = getResources().getDrawable(R.drawable.searchcolor);
        view.setBackground( drawColor );
        return super.onCreateOptionsMenu(menu);

    }

Now this is the xml file searchcolor.xml for changing the plate color of search bar

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<layer-list xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android" >
  <item>
      <shape >
          <solid android:color="#ffffff" />
      </shape>
  </item>

  <!-- main color -->
  <item android:bottom="1.5dp"
      android:left="1.5dp"
      android:right="1.5dp">
      <shape >
          <solid android:color="#2c4d8e" />
      </shape>
  </item>

  <!-- draw another block to cut-off the left and right bars -->
  <item android:bottom="10.0dp">
      <shape >
          <solid android:color="#2c4d8e" />
      </shape>
  </item>
</layer-list>

and menu/menu.xml for creating the search in action bar

<menu xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android" >
    <item android:id="@+id/search"
          android:icon="@drawable/search"
          android:showAsAction="ifRoom"
          android:actionViewClass="android.widget.SearchView" />

</menu>