Difference in appearance of Button and ImageButton

Question

I just noticed that the borders of the Button and the ImageButton look different. The ImageButton is totally flat. I cannot explain it and I would like to have the ImageButton as "3d-ish" as the default Button. Any ideas are welcome!

This is my xml-code

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

    <Button
        android:layout_width="wrap_content"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:text="Power"
        android:id="@+id/button1"
        android:layout_gravity="center"
        android:layout_weight="0"
        android:layout_centerInParent="true" />

    <ImageButton
        android:layout_width="wrap_content"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:src="@drawable/f_light_on"
        android:id="@+id/button4"
        android:layout_gravity="center"
        android:layout_weight="0"
        android:layout_centerInParent="true" />
</LinearLayout>

And this is how it looks on my Lollipop tablet:

Thanks in advance! Thomas

Its best you create a style in the drawable folder and set android:background = "@drawable/your_xml" to keep it consistent — Actiwitty, Nov 12 '15 at 23:02
You are free to design your own 9 patch with a "3d-ish" look. — Phantômaxx, Nov 12 '15 at 23:09
Thanks for down voting :( In my opinion it is a very inconsistent behavior. I'm asking myself why two buttons with the only difference that the one contains a text and the other an image look different. — Dark.Rider, Nov 13 '15 at 07:57
See also: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/27080338/android-5-0-androidelevation-works-for-view-but-not-button — CommonsWare, Nov 13 '15 at 15:56

score 3 · Accepted Answer · answered Nov 13 '15 at 15:45

3

Button has default elevation (actually, it has a StateListAnimator that provides elevation when the button is enabled) under the Material theme, whereas ImageButton does not.

answered Nov 13 '15 at 15:45

alanv

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thank you! this clarifies the behavior, although it doesn't seem consistent. – Dark.Rider Nov 13 '15 at 19:20
`ImageButton` is often used with a null background, which doesn't lend itself to setting an elevation. We opted for breaking as few apps as possible when designing the Material widget styles. – alanv Nov 13 '15 at 20:04

Difference in appearance of Button and ImageButton

1 Answers1