Incorrect items sizing in layer-list on pre-lollipop

Its best not to mention the height and width attributes in layer-list. When you use this as drawable in let's say an ImageView (the width and height of the ImageView will override the one's mentioned in item/shape).

You can use top, bottom, left, right to align your items in layer-list.

Note: height and width attributes of item is supported only from API 23.

Here is a working example (Tested in Android 7.0 and Android 4.4):

sample.xml

<layer-list    xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android">    <item android:id="@+id/menu"        android:left="16dp"        android:right="16dp"        android:gravity="center">        <bitmap            android:src="@drawable/menu_icon" />    </item>    <item        android:top="8dp"        android:left="56dp"        android:right="24dp"        android:bottom="42dp">        <shape android:shape="oval">            <solid android:color="@android:color/holo_red_dark"/>        </shape>    </item></layer-list>

main.xml

<ImageView        android:layout_width="72dp"        android:layout_height="72dp"        android:src="@drawable/sample"        android:scaleType="fitCenter"/>

You can also use wrap_content for height & width in ImageView.

So i came up with a workable solution. I have a layer-list drawable in /drawable and /drawable-v21.The layer-list drawable in /drawable-v21 contains a vector drawable. The layer-list drawable in /drawable contains a .png . It kind of defeats the purpose of using vector drawables but I had to do this to make it work in this one off case.