# Color Android navigation bar according to selected theme **URL:** \ **Category:** Ideas and Suggestions\ **Created:** [March 6, 2019, 5:10pm UTC](https://discuss.seriesgui.de/t/color-android-navigation-bar-according-to-selected-theme/123 "2019-03-06T17:10:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Blubbb](https://discuss.seriesgui.de/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/b/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Blubbb](https://discuss.seriesgui.de/u/Blubbb)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2019, 5:10pm UTC](https://discuss.seriesgui.de/t/color-android-navigation-bar-according-to-selected-theme/123/1 "2019-03-06T17:10:12Z")
Some device manufacturers including OnePlus and Samsung decided for a default white navigation bar instead of the usual black. This white bar really stands out in dark themes and looks ugly, see this screenshot: ![Screenshot_20190306-180236](https://discuss.seriesgui.de/uploads/default/original/1X/859c3e039eea04a8c585dd668b0a75d33952ceec.jpeg) Can we get a colored navigation bar that fits the selected theme, e.g. a black one for the dark themes? This is usually simply done by setting [`android:navigationBarColor`](https://developer.android.com/reference/android/view/Window.html#attr_android:navigationBarColor) accordingly, e.g. to `0xff000000` for a black navbar. ---
**Author:** ![uwe](https://discuss.seriesgui.de/user_avatar/discuss.seriesgui.de/uwe/32/1786_2.png) [@uwe](https://discuss.seriesgui.de/u/uwe)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2019, 9:05am UTC](https://discuss.seriesgui.de/t/color-android-navigation-bar-according-to-selected-theme/123/2 "2019-03-07T09:05:12Z")
Thanks for the request and even pointing to the solution! I always dismissed this because I’m not a fan of tampering with system UI (it might break or look bad on some devices). But I guess after so many requests I’ll have look. ---
**Author:** ![uwe](https://discuss.seriesgui.de/user_avatar/discuss.seriesgui.de/uwe/32/1786_2.png) [@uwe](https://discuss.seriesgui.de/u/uwe)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2019, 2:16pm UTC](https://discuss.seriesgui.de/t/color-android-navigation-bar-according-to-selected-theme/123/3 "2019-03-07T14:16:05Z")
Done, let’s see how this plays out once the update ships. ---
**Author:** ![Blubbb](https://discuss.seriesgui.de/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/b/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Blubbb](https://discuss.seriesgui.de/u/Blubbb)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2019, 10:00am UTC](https://discuss.seriesgui.de/t/color-android-navigation-bar-according-to-selected-theme/123/4 "2019-03-08T10:00:13Z")
Thanks for the quick response and implementing this suggestion! For that its worth, more and more Android apps color the navigation bar to fit the general design: Telegram always sets it to pure black [[1]](https://github.com/DrKLO/Telegram/blob/e397bd9afdfd9315bf099f78a903f8754d297d7a/TMessagesProj/src/main/java/org/telegram/ui/LaunchActivity.java#L199), WhatsApp makes it black dependent on what screen you are on and even Google Photos and the new Gmail color the bar (pure white in both cases). So I wouldn’t expect any problems with coloring it. ---
**Author:** ![Blubbb](https://discuss.seriesgui.de/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/b/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Blubbb](https://discuss.seriesgui.de/u/Blubbb)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2019, 11:27am UTC](https://discuss.seriesgui.de/t/color-android-navigation-bar-according-to-selected-theme/123/5 "2019-03-09T11:27:04Z")
I’ve just received the beta update. For whatever reason, the color is not applied and the bar stays white on my OnePlus device. Apparently OnePlus Devices fall back to a white navigation bar when one sets it to pure black via `styles.xml` [[1]](https://forums.oneplus.com/threads/cannot-set-navigation-bar-color-to-pure-black-ff000000-via-values-xml.908719/). Either setting it to an almost-black (e.g. `#ff000001`) or using `getWindow().setNavigationBarColor(0xff000000);` does work according to the above link. I don’t really understand why they intentionally choose this behaviour or haven’t fixed this if it is a bug. The system apps have a pure black navbar when in dark mode, so they must use the second method mentioned above in their own apps. ---
**Author:** ![uwe](https://discuss.seriesgui.de/user_avatar/discuss.seriesgui.de/uwe/32/1786_2.png) [@uwe](https://discuss.seriesgui.de/u/uwe)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2019, 1:56pm UTC](https://discuss.seriesgui.de/t/color-android-navigation-bar-according-to-selected-theme/123/6 "2019-03-13T13:56:08Z")
See, see, this is what I was talking about 😃 Though avoiding burn-in might be a real concern… 🤔 ---
**Author:** ![uwe](https://discuss.seriesgui.de/user_avatar/discuss.seriesgui.de/uwe/32/1786_2.png) [@uwe](https://discuss.seriesgui.de/u/uwe)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2019, 6:08am UTC](https://discuss.seriesgui.de/t/color-android-navigation-bar-according-to-selected-theme/123/7 "2019-03-20T06:08:09Z")
@Blubbb So did the latest beta fix things? ---
**Author:** ![Blubbb](https://discuss.seriesgui.de/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/b/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Blubbb](https://discuss.seriesgui.de/u/Blubbb)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2019, 9:21am UTC](https://discuss.seriesgui.de/t/color-android-navigation-bar-according-to-selected-theme/123/8 "2019-03-22T09:21:14Z")
The latest beta has a black navigation bar for me. Thank you very much! ---
**Author:** ![McBaumwolle](https://discuss.seriesgui.de/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/m/3da27b/32.png) [@McBaumwolle](https://discuss.seriesgui.de/u/McBaumwolle)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2021, 10:37am UTC](https://discuss.seriesgui.de/t/color-android-navigation-bar-according-to-selected-theme/123/9 "2021-06-01T10:37:13Z")
Hey there, I did not want to create a new post so I’ll use this one. When you use the navigation bar, the black background looks a little bit weird. ![IMG_20210601_123329_382](https://discuss.seriesgui.de/uploads/default/original/1X/99578f049c7c82933c4ac6d25e4c01fb2eb1aa40.jpeg) I included two screenshots, one of SeriesGuide and one of another app (Google Photos) that applies the color of the app to the navigation bar background. (The other one is the next comment, because I cannot share 2.) In my opinion the adaptive color (Google Photos, Reddit,…) looks so much better, an option for that would be nice. But I am not a developer, so I can’t say if it’s possible or provide help. ☹ Thank you. ---
**Author:** ![McBaumwolle](https://discuss.seriesgui.de/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/m/3da27b/32.png) [@McBaumwolle](https://discuss.seriesgui.de/u/McBaumwolle)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2021, 10:38am UTC](https://discuss.seriesgui.de/t/color-android-navigation-bar-according-to-selected-theme/123/10 "2021-06-01T10:38:05Z")
Here it is. 😁 ![IMG_20210601_123330_902](https://discuss.seriesgui.de/uploads/default/original/1X/49d3b1e890e7e31f967199615200418a66f41bfa.jpeg) ---
**Author:** ![uwe](https://discuss.seriesgui.de/user_avatar/discuss.seriesgui.de/uwe/32/1786_2.png) [@uwe](https://discuss.seriesgui.de/u/uwe)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2021, 4:31am UTC](https://discuss.seriesgui.de/t/color-android-navigation-bar-according-to-selected-theme/123/11 "2021-06-02T04:31:10Z")
> [@uwe](#): > > not a fan of tampering with system UI @McBaumwolle My original opinion on this has not really changed. Maybe at some point. ---
**Author:** ![uwe](https://discuss.seriesgui.de/user_avatar/discuss.seriesgui.de/uwe/32/1786_2.png) [@uwe](https://discuss.seriesgui.de/u/uwe)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2024, 8:20am UTC](https://discuss.seriesgui.de/t/color-android-navigation-bar-according-to-selected-theme/123/12 "2024-07-19T08:20:54Z")