Change button color in AlertDialog

How can I change the color of the button(s) in an AlertDialog in Android?

Here is how I did.

AlertDialog.Builder customBuilder = new AlertDialog.Builder(new ContextThemeWrapper(this,android.R.style.Theme_Dialog));

customBuilder.setTitle(R.string.popup_error_title);
customBuilder.setNegativeButton("Exit application", new DialogInterface.OnClickListener() {  
    public void onClick(DialogInterface dialog, int which) {  
        MyActivity.this.finish();
    }  
});

AlertDialog dialog = customBuilder.create();
dialog.show();

Button b = dialog.getButton(DialogInterface.BUTTON_NEGATIVE);

if(b != null) {
    b.setBackgroundDrawable(getResources().getDrawable(R.drawable.my_button));
}

I find the drawable here

Since most people are probably using a DialogFragment by now I ran into some issues and clicked my way through several SO answers to solve those. Let me post my current solution.

I ended up setting the button-background with custom drawables as already suggested several times. However, this was not yet possible in the onCreateDialog-method of the DialogFragment. You can either do this e.g. in onStart(), or (which is what I preferred) in the onShow-listener of the dialog! Keep in mind though, you need to invalidate your buttons after the changes then.

As for the margins: simple remove the padding in your Drawable-XML for the buttons.

#onCreateDialog in your DialogFragment:

@Override
public Dialog onCreateDialog(final Bundle savedInstanceState) {
  AlertDialog.Builder builder = new AlertDialog.Builder(getActivity());

  // setup your dialog here...

  builder.setNegativeButton(getString(R.string.cancel), new DialogInterface.OnClickListener() {
    @Override
    public void onClick(final DialogInterface dialog, final int which) {
      // do something
    }
  });

  builder.setPositiveButton(getString(R.string.ok), new DialogInterface.OnClickListener() {
    @Override
    public void onClick(final DialogInterface dialog, final int which) {
      // do something
    }
  });

  final AlertDialog dialog = builder.create();

  dialog.setOnShowListener(new DialogInterface.OnShowListener() {
    @Override
    public void onShow(final DialogInterface dialog) {
      Button negativeButton = ((AlertDialog)dialog).getButton(DialogInterface.BUTTON_NEGATIVE);
      Button positiveButton = ((AlertDialog)dialog).getButton(DialogInterface.BUTTON_POSITIVE);

      // this not working because multiplying white background (e.g. Holo Light) has no effect
      //negativeButton.getBackground().setColorFilter(0xFFFF0000, PorterDuff.Mode.MULTIPLY);

      final Drawable negativeButtonDrawable = getResources().getDrawable(R.drawable.alert_dialog_button_light_red);
      final Drawable positiveButtonDrawable = getResources().getDrawable(R.drawable.alert_dialog_button_light_green);
      if (Build.VERSION.SDK_INT >= 16) {
        negativeButton.setBackground(negativeButtonDrawable);
        positiveButton.setBackground(positiveButtonDrawable);
      } else {
        negativeButton.setBackgroundDrawable(negativeButtonDrawable);
        positiveButton.setBackgroundDrawable(positiveButtonDrawable);
      }

      negativeButton.invalidate();
      positiveButton.invalidate();
    }
  });

  return dialog;
}

Drawable-XML example for a button:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<selector
  xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android">

  <item android:state_pressed="true" >
    <shape>
      <gradient
        android:startColor="@color/alert_dialog_button_green_pressed1"
        android:endColor="@color/alert_dialog_button_green_pressed2"
        android:angle="270" />
    </shape>
  </item>

  <item android:state_focused="true" >
    <shape>
      <gradient
        android:endColor="@color/alert_dialog_button_green_focused1"
        android:startColor="@color/alert_dialog_button_green_focused2"
        android:angle="270" />
    </shape>
  </item>

  <item>
    <shape>
      <gradient
        android:endColor="@color/alert_dialog_button_green1"
        android:startColor="@color/alert_dialog_button_green2"
        android:angle="270" />
    </shape>
  </item>
</selector>

Don't forget to define your colors in the res\values\colors.xml, e.g. like this (I didn't want a gradient, therefore colors 1 & 2 are the same):

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<resources>
  <color name="alert_dialog_button_green1">#b4099930</color>
  <color name="alert_dialog_button_green2">#b4099930</color>
  <color name="alert_dialog_button_green_focused1">#96099930</color>
  <color name="alert_dialog_button_green_focused2">#96099930</color>
  <color name="alert_dialog_button_green_pressed1">#96099930</color>
  <color name="alert_dialog_button_green_pressed2">#96099930</color>
</resources>

I have done by this code it might help you:

AlertDialog.Builder builder1 = new AlertDialog.Builder(this); 
        builder1.setCancelable(true);
     builder1.setTitle("abc");
      builder1.setMessage("abcdefg");
      builder1.setInverseBackgroundForced(true);
     builder1.setPositiveButton("Yes",
             new DialogInterface.OnClickListener() {
         public void onClick(DialogInterface dialog, int id) {
             dialog.cancel();
         }
     }); 

     builder1.setNegativeButton("No",
             new DialogInterface.OnClickListener() {
         public void onClick(DialogInterface dialog, int id) {
             dialog.cancel();
         }
     });

     AlertDialog alert11 = builder1.create();
     alert11.show(); 

     Button buttonbackground = alert11.getButton(DialogInterface.BUTTON_NEGATIVE); 
     buttonbackground.setBackgroundColor(Color.BLUE); 

     Button buttonbackground1 = alert11.getButton(DialogInterface.BUTTON_POSITIVE); 
     buttonbackground1.setBackgroundColor(Color.BLUE);