How to set TextColor using setTextColor(ColorsStateList colors)

If you need to set the colors in code (using ColorStateList), but still want to keep the color states in an XML, you might want to use this:

try {    XmlResourceParser parser = getResources().getXml(R.color.your_colors);    ColorStateList colors = ColorStateList.createFromXml(getResources(), parser);    mText.setTextColor(colors);} catch (Exception e) {    // handle exceptions}

res/color/your_colors.xml

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?><selector xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android">    <item android:state_pressed="true"          android:color="#222222"/>    <item android:state_selected="true"          android:color="#222222"/>    <item android:state_focused="true"          android:color="#222222"/>    <item android:color="#0000ff"/></selector>

You have to use getColorStateList()

I was also struggling with this problem, if you want to use a state list, you need to declared it in the color resources folder, instead of the drawable folder, and use the setTextColor(getResources().getColorStateList(R.color.your_colors)).

you can also use ContextCompat to load a color state list

ColorStateList colors = ContextCompat.getColorStateList(this,R.color.my_color_list);