How to change color of the bubble (under cursor) on EditText (programmatically)?

You will need to use reflection to tint the select handles (bubbles). I wrote the following class this morning:

Example usage:

try {
  EditTextTint.applyColor(editText, Color.CYAN);
} catch (EditTextTint.EditTextTintError e) {
  e.printStackTrace();
}

EditTextTint.java:

import android.content.res.Resources;
import android.graphics.PorterDuff;
import android.graphics.drawable.Drawable;
import android.support.annotation.ColorInt;
import android.support.annotation.NonNull;
import android.widget.EditText;
import android.widget.TextView;
import java.lang.reflect.Field;

/**
 * Tint the cursor and select handles of an {@link EditText} programmatically.
 */
public class EditTextTint {

  /**
   * Set the cursor and handle colors for an {@link EditText} programmatically.
   *
   * @param editText
   *     The {@link EditText} to tint
   * @param color
   *     The color to apply for the cursor and select handles
   * @throws EditTextTintError
   *     If an error occured while attempting to tint the view.
   */
  public static void applyColor(@NonNull EditText editText, @ColorInt int color) throws EditTextTintError {
    EditTextTint editTextTint = new Builder(editText)
        .setCursorColor(color)
        .setSelectHandleLeftColor(color)
        .setSelectHandleRightColor(color)
        .setSelectHandleMiddleColor(color)
        .build();
    editTextTint.apply();
  }

  private final EditText editText;
  private final Integer cursorColor;
  private final Integer selectHandleLeftColor;
  private final Integer selectHandleRightColor;
  private final Integer selectHandleMiddleColor;

  private EditTextTint(Builder builder) {
    editText = builder.editText;
    cursorColor = builder.cursorColor;
    selectHandleLeftColor = builder.selectHandleLeftColor;
    selectHandleRightColor = builder.selectHandleRightColor;
    selectHandleMiddleColor = builder.selectHandleMiddleColor;
  }

  /**
   * Sets the color for the cursor and handles on the {@link EditText editText}.
   *
   * @throws EditTextTintError
   *     if an error occurs while tinting the view.
   */
  public void apply() throws EditTextTintError {
    try {
      Resources res = editText.getContext().getResources();

      // Get the editor
      Field field = TextView.class.getDeclaredField("mEditor");
      field.setAccessible(true);
      Object editor = field.get(editText);

      if (cursorColor != null) {
        // Get the cursor drawable, tint it, and set it on the TextView Editor
        field = TextView.class.getDeclaredField("mCursorDrawableRes");
        field.setAccessible(true);
        int cursorDrawableRes = field.getInt(editText);
        Drawable cursorDrawable = res.getDrawable(cursorDrawableRes).mutate();
        cursorDrawable.setColorFilter(cursorColor, PorterDuff.Mode.SRC_IN);
        Drawable[] drawables = {cursorDrawable, cursorDrawable};
        field = editor.getClass().getDeclaredField("mCursorDrawable");
        field.setAccessible(true);
        field.set(editor, drawables);
      }

      String[] resFieldNames = {"mTextSelectHandleLeftRes", "mTextSelectHandleRightRes", "mTextSelectHandleRes"};
      String[] drawableFieldNames = {"mSelectHandleLeft", "mSelectHandleRight", "mSelectHandleCenter"};
      Integer[] colors = {selectHandleLeftColor, selectHandleRightColor, selectHandleMiddleColor};

      for (int i = 0; i < resFieldNames.length; i++) {
        Integer color = colors[i];
        if (color == null) {
          continue;
        }

        String resFieldName = resFieldNames[i];
        String drawableFieldName = drawableFieldNames[i];

        field = TextView.class.getDeclaredField(resFieldName);
        field.setAccessible(true);
        int selectHandleRes = field.getInt(editText);

        Drawable selectHandleDrawable = res.getDrawable(selectHandleRes).mutate();
        selectHandleDrawable.setColorFilter(color, PorterDuff.Mode.SRC_IN);

        field = editor.getClass().getDeclaredField(drawableFieldName);
        field.setAccessible(true);
        field.set(editor, selectHandleDrawable);
      }
    } catch (Exception e) {
      throw new EditTextTintError("Error applying tint to " + editText, e);
    }
  }

  public static class Builder {

    final EditText editText;
    Integer cursorColor;
    Integer selectHandleLeftColor;
    Integer selectHandleRightColor;
    Integer selectHandleMiddleColor;

    public Builder(@NonNull EditText editText) {
      this.editText = editText;
    }

    public Builder setCursorColor(@ColorInt int cursorColor) {
      this.cursorColor = cursorColor;
      return this;
    }

    public Builder setSelectHandleLeftColor(@ColorInt int selectHandleLeftColor) {
      this.selectHandleLeftColor = selectHandleLeftColor;
      return this;
    }

    public Builder setSelectHandleRightColor(@ColorInt int selectHandleRightColor) {
      this.selectHandleRightColor = selectHandleRightColor;
      return this;
    }

    public Builder setSelectHandleMiddleColor(@ColorInt int selectHandleMiddleColor) {
      this.selectHandleMiddleColor = selectHandleMiddleColor;
      return this;
    }

    public EditTextTint build() {
      return new EditTextTint(this);
    }

  }

  public static class EditTextTintError extends Exception {

    public EditTextTintError(String message, Throwable cause) {
      super(message, cause);
    }
  }

}

Note: This should work from Jelly Bean to Nougat. However, since it uses reflection to get and set private fields this may break in future releases of Android or if a manufacturer has made changes to EditText.


The below method works for all cursors bubble such as left, right and center. I mean,beside your request, It works for both left and right ones.

For example; Beside your request, It works for both left and right ones

You can change that method to only color the center handle by removing the left and right field names in the two arrays.

public static void colorHandles(TextView view, int color) {
  try {
    Field editorField = TextView.class.getDeclaredField("mEditor");
    if (!editorField.isAccessible()) {
      editorField.setAccessible(true);
    }

    Object editor = editorField.get(view);
    Class<?> editorClass = editor.getClass();

    String[] handleNames = {"mSelectHandleLeft", "mSelectHandleRight", "mSelectHandleCenter"};
    String[] resNames = {"mTextSelectHandleLeftRes", "mTextSelectHandleRightRes", "mTextSelectHandleRes"};

    for (int i = 0; i < handleNames.length; i++) {
      Field handleField = editorClass.getDeclaredField(handleNames[i]);
      if (!handleField.isAccessible()) {
        handleField.setAccessible(true);
      }

      Drawable handleDrawable = (Drawable) handleField.get(editor);

      if (handleDrawable == null) {
        Field resField = TextView.class.getDeclaredField(resNames[i]);
        if (!resField.isAccessible()) {
          resField.setAccessible(true);
        }
        int resId = resField.getInt(view);
        handleDrawable = view.getResources().getDrawable(resId);
      }

      if (handleDrawable != null) {
        Drawable drawable = handleDrawable.mutate();
        drawable.setColorFilter(color, PorterDuff.Mode.SRC_IN);
        handleField.set(editor, drawable);
      }
    }
  } catch (Exception e) {
    e.printStackTrace();
  }
}