Android material design buttons - Pre lollipop

Question

How do I implement the \"raised button\" and the \"flat button\" as described in google\'s material design guidelines?

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Raised buttons add dimension

Answer 1

You may also need to add a bottom margin to your button, in order to be able to see the raised-button shadow effect:

<item name="android:layout_marginBottom">@dimen/activity_vertical_margin</item>
<item name="android:elevation">1dp</item>

Answer 2

I use this as a background for a button with AppCompat and it depicts a raised button (with ripples n all), hope it helps.

myRaisedButton.xml - inside the drawable folder:

<layer-list xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android">
    <item>
        <shape xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
               android:shape="rectangle">
            <solid android:color="@color/yourColor"/>
            <corners android:radius="6dp"/>
        </shape>
    </item>
    <item android:drawable="?android:selectableItemBackground"/>
</layer-list>

styles.xml:

<resources>

    <style name="AppTheme" parent="AppTheme.Base"/>
    <style name="AppTheme.Base" parent="Theme.AppCompat">

</resources>

styles.xml (v21):

...
<style name="AppTheme" parent="AppTheme.Base">

layout.xml:

...
android:background="@drawable/myRaisedButton"