Change the icon color in a BottomNavigationView

Question

I want to change the color of the drawables used in a BottomNavigationView but the changes I've made don't seem to make a difference.

I've tried to use the android:iconTint in the menu resource and changed the color in the vector XML file but neither seemed to work.

icon.xml :
<vector xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
    android:width="24dp"
    android:height="24dp"
    android:viewportWidth="24"
    android:viewportHeight="24">
  <path
      android:fillColor="@color/secondary"
      android:pathData="M4.5,8c1.04,0 2.34,-1.5 4.25,-1.5c1.52,0 2.75,1.23 2.75,2.75c0,2.04 -1.99,3.15 -3.91,4.22C5.42,14.67 4,15.57 4,17c0,1.1 0.9,2 2,2v2c-2.21,0 -4,-1.79 -4,-4c0,-2.71 2.56,-4.14 4.62,-5.28c1.42,-0.79 2.88,-1.6 2.88,-2.47c0,-0.41 -0.34,-0.75 -0.75,-0.75C7.5,8.5 6.25,10 4.5,10C3.12,10 2,8.88 2,7.5C2,5.45 4.17,2.83 5,2l1.41,1.41C5.41,4.42 4,6.43 4,7.5C4,7.78 4.22,8 4.5,8zM8,21l3.75,0l8.06,-8.06l-3.75,-3.75L8,17.25L8,21zM20.37,6.29c-0.39,-0.39 -1.02,-0.39 -1.41,0l-1.83,1.83l3.75,3.75l1.83,-1.83c0.39,-0.39 0.39,-1.02 0,-1.41L20.37,6.29z"/>
</vector>

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

    <item
        android:id="@+id/miHome"
        android:icon="@drawable/ic_library_books"
        android:title="Home"
        />

    <item
        android:id="@+id/miMusic"
        android:icon="@drawable/ic_library_music"
        android:iconTint="@color/secondary"
        android:iconTintMode="add"
        android:title="Music" />

    <item
        android:id="@+id/miPlacehoder"
        android:title="" />

    <item
        android:id="@+id/miCatalogue"
        android:icon="@drawable/ic_catalogue"
        android:title="Catalogue" />

    <item
        android:id="@+id/miWriter"
        android:icon="@drawable/ic_write"
        android:title="Writer" />

</menu>

main_activity.xml :
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<androidx.coordinatorlayout.widget.CoordinatorLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
    xmlns:app="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res-auto"
    xmlns:tools="http://schemas.android.com/tools"
    android:layout_width="match_parent"
    android:layout_height="match_parent"
    tools:context=".MainActivity"
    android:background="@color/white">

    <com.google.android.material.bottomappbar.BottomAppBar
        android:id="@+id/bottomAppBar"
        android:layout_width="match_parent"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:layout_gravity="bottom"
        android:backgroundTint="@color/primary">

        <com.google.android.material.bottomnavigation.BottomNavigationView
            android:id="@+id/bottomNavigationView"
            android:layout_width="match_parent"
            android:layout_height="match_parent"
            android:layout_marginEnd="16dp"
            android:background="@android:color/transparent"
            app:elevation="0dp"
            app:menu="@menu/bottom_nav_menu"
            android:layout_marginRight="16dp">

        </com.google.android.material.bottomnavigation.BottomNavigationView>

    </com.google.android.material.bottomappbar.BottomAppBar>

    <com.google.android.material.floatingactionbutton.FloatingActionButton
        android:id="@+id/fab"
        android:layout_width="wrap_content"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:backgroundTint="@color/secondary"
        android:src="@drawable/ic_add"

        app:layout_anchor="@id/bottomAppBar"/>

</androidx.coordinatorlayout.widget.CoordinatorLayout>

Answer 1

The icon tint for a BottomNavigationView is controlled by the app:itemIconTint attribute, not the tint specified in your menu or drawable resource.

So you should have something like this:

<com.google.android.material.bottomnavigation.BottomNavigationView
    ...
    app:itemIconTint="@color/navigation_icon_tint" />

If you wanted the colour to change depending on whether it was selected you should use a selector with a checked state instead of a static colour:

<selector>

    <item android:state_checked="true" android:color="..." />
    <item android:color="..." />
</selector>

---

For future reference, you can always read about the material components in the documentation at material.io which should cover everything relating to styling and usage.