how to use material design features in api lower than 21 in eclipse?

Question

there are many questions regarding this but not even single helped me.

So please tell me how to enable material design features in eclipse.

i have also impo

Answer 1

There are some points you should check:

• Import into eclipse, last version of android-support-v7-appcompat project. You should update via SDK Manager, and import project from {your_path_to_android_sdk}/extras/android/support/v7/appcompat
• Add this project as library dependency to your project

• In styles.xml use Theme.AppCompat.Light or Theme.AppCompat:

  style name="AppTheme" parent="@style/Theme.AppCompat.Light"

Answer 2

A simple guideline:

• import the appcompat-v7 project and add it as a library dependency for your project
• let your theme inherit some of the appcompat themes. For example <style name="Theme.MyTheme" parent="Theme.AppCompat.Light">
• Note that not all widgets (ui elements) are material-styled by appcompat
• Follow the examples and explanations in the android-developers blogspot.
• The values-vXY folders are used to add specific resources for a specific platform. For example you might add a style (in a values-v21 folder) that inherits some of the material styles that are built-in and available only one api level 21+. These folders are created manually and are only used if you want an alternative resource for a specific platform level. They are used when you want your app to fit better in all/many android versions. More info - at the android developers portal