javaandroidxmluser-interfacematerial-design

Status Bar Color Ignores android:statusBarColor and Java Override in Material Design 3 (Android Studio Meerkat 2024.3.2)

I'm transitioning from Material Design 2 to Material Design 3 using Java + XML in Android Studio Meerkat Feature Drop | 2024.3.2 Patch 1. I’m building a new app with Theme.Material3.DayNight.NoActionBar and trying to understand how theme customization works — starting with the status bar, and expanding into other system and theme colors.

🎯 The Core Problem:

The android:statusBarColor doesn't apply, even when set via XML or overridden in Java. The status bar always matches the background color, not my desired color (e.g., @color/primary_dark).

⚙️ My Theme Setup:

<!-- themes.xml -->
<resources xmlns:tools="http://schemas.android.com/tools">
    <style name="Base.Theme.MaterialDesign3Playground" parent="Theme.Material3.DayNight.NoActionBar">
        <item name="colorPrimary">@color/primary</item>
        <item name="colorOnPrimary">@color/on_primary</item>
        <item name="android:statusBarColor">@color/primary_dark</item>
        <item name="android:navigationBarColor" tools:targetApi="l">?attr/colorSurface</item>
        <item name="android:windowLightStatusBar" tools:targetApi="m">true</item>
        <item name="colorSurface">@color/surface</item>
        <item name="android:colorBackground">@color/background</item>
    </style>

    <style name="Theme.MaterialDesign3Playground" parent="Base.Theme.MaterialDesign3Playground" />
</resources>

And I’ve defined appropriate values in colors.xml, like primary, primary_dark, surface, and so on.

✅ What I Tried (but didn't work):

In XML:

In Java:

Window window = getWindow();
window.setStatusBarColor(ContextCompat.getColor(this, R.color.primary_dark));

Tried clearing system bar appearance flags to remove LIGHT_STATUS_BAR. Also removed EdgeToEdge.enable(this); and ensured padding using WindowInsetsCompat.

Yet the status bar always matches the colorBackground, not statusBarColor.

❗ Additional Theme Confusion:

Besides the status bar, I’m also unsure about how Material Design 3 handles:

📚 What I’m Looking For:

I'm okay deferring Jetpack Compose for now. My only focus is Java + XML. I’d love:

  1. A clear way to override the status bar color in MD3.

  2. A beginner-friendly, up-to-date tutorial on how to properly use MD3 theming in XML:

    • Defining colors
    • Using them in Toolbars, buttons, surfaces
    • Understanding color roles like colorPrimary, colorSurface, etc.

  3. Guidance on using MaterialToolbar + ActionBar (with or without NoActionBar) properly in MD3.

  4. Optional: how to disable Dynamic Colors entirely (already tried skipping DynamicColors.applyToActivities()).

👨‍💻 TL;DR:

I’m switching from Material 2 to Material 3, using only Java + XML. I want to deeply understand the theming system — from status bar, navigation bar, surfaces, toolbars, to how color roles behave. I’m stuck with the status bar being unresponsive to overrides, and I’m likely missing newer MD3 changes that aren’t well documented for non-Compose devs.

🙏 If you can point me to:

…it would be a huge help. Thank you!

Solution

  • This problem is due to two reasons:

    1. Material 3 uses an edge-to-edge design by default, which makes the status bar transparent or matches it to the background, overriding your manually specified color.
    2. Dynamic Colors (on Android 12+) can override your statusBarColor with system-computed colors.

    To fix that

    1. Disable Dynamic Colors Never call DynamicColors.applyToActivities()
    2. Disable Edge to Edge feature Never call enableEdgeToEdge() in Main Activity or in the activity you want to show your status bar color
    3. Most Important thing add this line
     <item name="android:windowOptOutEdgeToEdgeEnforcement" tools:targetApi="35">true</item>

    in your theme and override it in in res/values-v35/styles

    Result:

    (The App Running in Android 15 Emulator with Ststus bar color dark Green)



    Screen shows status bar color

    Notes & Recommendation:

    If you wanna to publish your app in google play console google prefer to enable Edge to Edge feature

    If you target Android 16, this line windowOptOutEdgeToEdgeEnforcement will no longer be available