How to create a transparent activity in android?

The following example shows a simple method to make an activity transparent in android.

For this first create a fresh project and copy this java code into it.

package pack.coderzheaven;

import android.app.Activity;
import android.os.Bundle;

public class TranslucentActivity extends Activity {
    @Override
    public void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
        super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
        setContentView(R.layout.main);
    }
}

Now the main layout file main.xml

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<LinearLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
    android:orientation="vertical"
    android:layout_width="fill_parent"
    android:layout_height="fill_parent"
    >
<TextView
    android:layout_width="fill_parent"
    android:layout_height="wrap_content"
    android:text="@string/hello"
    android:textColor="@drawable/red"
    android:textStyle="bold"
    />
<Button
	android:text="This is Translucent Activity Demo From CoderzHeaven"
	android:id="@+id/Button01"
	android:layout_width="wrap_content"
	android:layout_height="wrap_content"
	android:textColor="@drawable/red"
    android:textStyle="bold">
</Button>
</LinearLayout>

OK Now here is the style that has to be applied to make the activity transparent.
create a file named style.xml inside res/values folder and copy this code into it.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<resources>
  <style name="Theme.Transparent" parent="android:Theme">
    <item name="android:windowIsTranslucent">true</item>
    <item name="android:windowBackground">@android:color/transparent</item>
    <item name="android:windowContentOverlay">@null</item>
    <item name="android:windowNoTitle">true</item>
    <item name="android:windowIsFloating">true</item>
    <item name="android:backgroundDimEnabled">false</item>
  </style>
</resources>

Now where to apply this theme. It is applied in the AndroidManifest.xml
This file is shown below.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<manifest xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
      package="pack.coderzheaven"
      android:versionCode="1"
      android:versionName="1.0">
    <application android:icon="@drawable/icon" android:label="@string/app_name">
        <activity android:name=".TranslucentActivity"
        		  android:theme="@style/Theme.Transparent"
                  android:label="@string/app_name">
            <intent-filter>
                <action android:name="android.intent.action.MAIN" />
                <category android:name="android.intent.category.LAUNCHER" />
            </intent-filter>
        </activity>
    </application>
</manifest>

Check this line in the manifest where this style is applied.

android:theme=”@style/Theme.Transparent”

The appname and different colors are in the strings.xml

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<resources>
    <string name="hello">TranslucentActivity! From Coderzheaven</string>
    <string name="app_name">TranslucentActivity</string>
    <drawable name="white">#ffffff</drawable>
	<drawable name="black">#000000</drawable>
	<drawable name="blue">#2554C7</drawable>
	<drawable name="green">#347C2C</drawable>
	<drawable name="orange">#ff9900</drawable>
	<drawable name="pink">#FF00FF</drawable>
	<drawable name="violet">#a020f0</drawable>
	<drawable name="grey">#778899</drawable>
	<drawable name="red">#C11B17</drawable>
	<drawable name="yellow">#FFFF8C</drawable>
	<drawable name="PowderBlue">#b0e0e6</drawable>
	<drawable name="brown">#2F1700</drawable>
	<drawable name="Hotpink">#7D2252</drawable>
	<string name="select_Category">Select Category</string>
	<drawable name="darkgrey">#606060</drawable>
</resources>

Change the color as you want.

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