Status bar not transparent when using new support design library

Question

I'm facing some issues when trying to set a transparent status bar in my app while using the new android support design library.

Specifically, I'm using the combination CoordinatorLayout + AppBarLayout + CollapsingToolbarLayout + Toolbar with this hierarchical order.

I noticed that the status bar first come transparent then I can see the translation from transparent to full black.

I do this in values/styles:

<item name="android:windowTranslucentStatus">true</item>

And this in my layout:

<android.support.design.widget.CoordinatorLayout
    xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
    xmlns:app="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res-auto"
    android:id="@+id/main_content"
    android:layout_width="match_parent"
    android:layout_height="match_parent">

<android.support.design.widget.AppBarLayout
    android:id="@+id/appbar"
    android:theme="@style/ThemeOverlay.AppCompat.Dark.ActionBar"
    android:elevation="4dp"
    android:background="?android:colorPrimary"
    android:layout_width="match_parent"
    android:layout_height="128dp">

    <android.support.design.widget.CollapsingToolbarLayout
        android:id="@+id/collapsingToolbarLayout"
        android:layout_width="match_parent"
        android:layout_height="match_parent"
        app:layout_scrollFlags="scroll|exitUntilCollapsed"
        app:expandedTitleMarginStart="64dp">

        <android.support.v7.widget.Toolbar
            android:id="@+id/toolbar"
            android:layout_width="match_parent"
            android:layout_height="?attr/actionBarSize"
            android:minHeight="?attr/actionBarSize"
            app:layout_collapseMode="pin"
            app:theme="@style/ThemeOverlay.AppCompat.Dark.ActionBar"
            app:popupTheme="@style/ThemeOverlay.AppCompat.Light" />

    </android.support.design.widget.CollapsingToolbarLayout>

</android.support.design.widget.AppBarLayout>

<android.support.v4.widget.NestedScrollView
    android:layout_width="match_parent"
    android:layout_height="match_parent"
    app:layout_behavior="@string/appbar_scrolling_view_behavior">

    <LinearLayout
        android:layout_width="match_parent"
        android:layout_height="match_parent"
        android:orientation="vertical">

        <android.support.v7.widget.CardView
            android:layout_width="match_parent"
            android:layout_height="wrap_content"
            android:layout_marginStart="16dp"
            android:layout_marginEnd="16dp"
            app:cardCornerRadius="4dp"
            app:cardElevation="6dp">

            <LinearLayout
                android:layout_width="match_parent"
                android:layout_height="wrap_content"
                android:orientation="vertical">

                <TextView
                    android:layout_width="match_parent"
                    android:layout_height="wrap_content"
                    android:text="Latest Stories"/>

                <TextView
                    android:id="@+id/latest_story_title"
                    android:layout_width="match_parent"
                    android:layout_height="wrap_content"
                    android:text="Title Example"/>

                <TextView
                    android:id="@+id/latest_story_preview"
                    android:layout_width="match_parent"
                    android:layout_height="wrap_content"
                    android:text="Content Example, this should be around 250 chars"/>

            </LinearLayout>

        </android.support.v7.widget.CardView>

    </LinearLayout>

</android.support.v4.widget.NestedScrollView>

<android.support.design.widget.FloatingActionButton
    android:id="@+id/fab_add_story"
    android:layout_width="wrap_content"
    android:layout_height="wrap_content"
    app:fabSize="normal"
    app:layout_anchor="@id/appbar"
    app:layout_anchorGravity="bottom|right|end"
    app:borderWidth="0dp"
    android:layout_margin="16dp"/>

<View
    android:id="@+id/ripple_layout"
    android:layout_width="match_parent"
    android:layout_height="match_parent"
    android:visibility="visible"
    android:elevation="10dp"
    android:stateListAnimator="@null"
    android:clickable="false"/>

(Sorry for terrible formatting, it seems like SO editor won't collaborate)

Will this be fixed in a future release or there is a way to bypass this?

Thanks everyone.

Answer 1

Add this lines to values/styles.xml

 <style name="MyTheme" parent="Base.MyTheme"></style>


     <style name="Base.MyTheme" parent="Theme.AppCompat.Light.NoActionBar"> 
   <item name="colorPrimary">@color/primary_500</item>

   <item name="colorPrimaryDark">@color/primary_700</item>

   <item name="colorAccent">@color/accent_500</item>
   <item name="windowActionBar">false</item>
    <item name="windowActionBarOverlay">true</item>
    <item name="windowNoTitle">true</item>
    <item name="android:windowBackground">@color/background_material_light</item>

    

Add below code to values-v21/styles.xml

<style name="MyTheme" parent="Base.MyTheme">
  <item name="android:windowDrawsSystemBarBackgrounds">true</item>
 </style>

Note : You can only set translucent status with this method on Lollipop and above APIs

Set application level theme to MyTheme

Answer 2

Try to set translucent flag - it was added in api level 19:

getWindow().addFlags(WindowManager.LayoutParams.FLAG_TRANSLUCENT_STATUS);

http://developer.android.com/reference/android/view/WindowManager.LayoutParams.html#FLAG_TRANSLUCENT_STATUS

Edit: It's not working in api level lower than 19. (Minimum KitKat required)