How can I add gradient effect to background color of TextView in a ListView?

You just need to create a drawable resource (see an example below), and add it to the layout you created for your ListItem.

The drawable (in your res\drawable folder - name it whatever - listgrad.xml for ex) could look like:

<shape xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"    android:shape="rectangle">    <gradient      android:startColor="@color/gradient_start"      android:endColor="@color/gradient_end"      android:angle="-270" /> </shape>

The you would add it to the layout for your list item (the layout.xml file you define for this) like this code snippet:

<TextView        android:id="@+id/ranking_order"        android:layout_width="wrap_content"        android:layout_height="wrap_content"        android:background="@drawable/list_grad"        />...

Once you create a gradient you can apply it to pretty much anything let it be textView, layout or button.

To understand how to create and use a gradient refer this link.

To create a gradient you need to add it to the below directory

Code for gradient would be something like this -

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><selector xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android">    <item>        <shape>            <gradient                android:startColor="#ff2d9a59"                android:centerColor="#ff42959a"                android:endColor="#ff23729a"                android:angle="135"/>        </shape>    </item></selector>

Referred from here : How do I create a ListView with rounded corners in Android?(I have found it very useful.)

Add the following into a file (say gradient.xml) and then place it in (res/drawable/gradient.xml) directory.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?> <shape xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"      android:shape="rectangle">      <gradient          android:startColor="#SomeGradientBeginColor"         android:endColor="#SomeGradientEndColor"          android:angle="270"/>     <corners          android:bottomRightRadius="7dp"          android:bottomLeftRadius="7dp"          android:topLeftRadius="7dp"          android:topRightRadius="7dp"/> </shape> 

Once you are done with creating this file,just set the background in one of the following ways:

Through Code: listView.setBackgroundResource(R.drawable.customshape);

Through XML,just add the following attribute to the container (ex: LinearLayout or to any fields):

android:background="@drawable/customshape"