Unable to change Appcompat theme from light to holo dark

Question

I am trying to change the theme of my app completely, This is what I modified & tried :

styles.xml in values folder is

<resources>

<!--
    Base application theme, dependent on API level. This theme is replaced
    by AppBaseTheme from res/values-vXX/styles.xml on newer devices.
-->
<style name="AppBaseTheme" parent="android:Theme.Holo">
    <!--
        Theme customizations available in newer API levels can go in
        res/values-vXX/styles.xml, while customizations related to
        backward-compatibility can go here.
    -->
</style>

<!-- Application theme. -->
<style name="AppTheme" parent="AppBaseTheme">
    <!-- All customizations that are NOT specific to a particular API-level can go here. -->
</style>

</resources>

values-v11 styles.xml

<resources>

<!--
    Base application theme for API 11+. This theme completely replaces
    AppBaseTheme from res/values/styles.xml on API 11+ devices.
-->
<style name="AppBaseTheme" parent="android:Theme.Holo">
    <!-- API 11 theme customizations can go here. -->
</style>

</resources>

values-v14 styles.xml

<resources>

<!--
    Base application theme for API 14+. This theme completely replaces
    AppBaseTheme from BOTH res/values/styles.xml and
    res/values-v11/styles.xml on API 14+ devices.
-->
<style name="AppBaseTheme" parent="android:Theme.Holo">
    <!-- API 14 theme customizations can go here. -->
</style>

</resources>

Mainifest.xml

<application
   .....
   android:theme="@style/AppTheme" >
   .......
</application>

I am using ActionBarActivity & appcompat_v7 but the app crashes by java.lang.RuntimeException: Unable to start activity ComponentInfo{com...}: java.lang.IllegalStateException: You need to use a Theme.AppCompat theme (or descendant) with this activity

Am I missing something...?

How can I solve this problem?

Please help...

Thanks in advance !

---

EDIT: When using Appcompat theme , the theme was light, the code was:

So, using appcompat theme my styles.xml in values folder was

<resources>

<!--
    Base application theme, dependent on API level. This theme is replaced
    by AppBaseTheme from res/values-vXX/styles.xml on newer devices.
-->
<style name="AppBaseTheme" parent="Theme.AppCompat.Light">
    <!--
        Theme customizations available in newer API levels can go in
        res/values-vXX/styles.xml, while customizations related to
        backward-compatibility can go here.
    -->
</style>

<!-- Application theme. -->
<style name="AppTheme" parent="AppBaseTheme">
    <!-- All customizations that are NOT specific to a particular API-level can go here. -->
</style>

</resources>

values-v11 styles.xml

<resources>

<!--
    Base application theme for API 11+. This theme completely replaces
    AppBaseTheme from res/values/styles.xml on API 11+ devices.
-->
<style name="AppBaseTheme" parent="Theme.AppCompat.Light">
    <!-- API 11 theme customizations can go here. -->
</style>

</resources>

values-v14 styles.xml

<resources>

<!--
    Base application theme for API 14+. This theme completely replaces
    AppBaseTheme from BOTH res/values/styles.xml and
    res/values-v11/styles.xml on API 14+ devices.
-->
<style name="AppBaseTheme" parent="Theme.AppCompat.Light.DarkActionBar">
    <!-- API 14 theme customizations can go here. -->
</style>

</resources>

Mainifest.xml

<application
   .....
   android:theme="@style/AppTheme" >
   .......
</application>

And I dont know how to change appcompat theme from light to holo dark. Please help

Answer 1

As tyczj pointed, you need to use Theme.AppCompat as a parent for your themes if your app uses appcompat_v7. Theme.AppCompat is visually the same as Theme.Holo (dark).

See the article about styling the ActionBar on the Android documentation for more information.