You need to use a Theme.AppCompat theme (or descendant) with this activity
android, android-layout
Solution
The reason you are having this problem is because the activity you are trying to apply the dialog theme to is extending `ActionBarActivity` which requires the `AppCompat` theme to be applied.
Update: Extending `AppCompatActivity` would also have this problem
In this case, change the Java inheritance from `ActionBarActivity` to `Activity` and leave the dialog theme in the manifest as it is, a non `Theme.AppCompat` value
The general rule is that if you want your code to support older versions of Android, it should have the `AppCompat` theme and the java code should extend `AppCompatActivity`. If you have *an activity that doesn't need this support, such as you only care about the latest versions and features of Android, you can apply any theme to it but the java code must extend plain old `Activity`.
NOTE: When change from `AppCompatActivity` (or a subclass, `ActionBarActivity`), to `Activity`, must also change the various calls with "support" to the corresponding call without "support". So, instead of `getSupportFragmentManager`, call `getFragmentManager`.
Problem
Android Studio 0.4.5 Android documentation for creating custom dialog boxes: http://developer.android.com/guide/topics/ui/dialogs.html If you want a custom dialog, you can instead display an Activity as a dialog instead of using the Dialog APIs. Simply create an activity and set its theme to Theme.Holo.Dialog in the `<activity>` manifest element: ``` <activity android:theme="@android:style/Theme.Holo.Dialog" > ``` However, when I tried this I get the following exception: ``` java.lang.IllegalStateException: You need to use a Theme.AppCompat theme (or descendant) with this activity ``` I am supporting the following, and I can't using something greater than 10 for the min: ``` minSdkVersion 10 targetSdkVersion 19 ``` In my styles I have the following: ``` <!-- Base application theme. --> <style name="AppTheme" parent="Theme.AppCompat.Light.DarkActionBar"> ``` And in my manifest I have this for the activity: ``` <application android:allowBackup="true" android:icon="@drawable/ic_launcher" android:label="@string/app_name" android:theme="@style/AppTheme" > <activity android:theme="@android:style/Theme.Holo.Light.Dialog" android:name="com.ssd.register.Dialog_update" android:label="@string/title_activity_dialog_update" > </activity> ``` Creating the dialog box like this was something I was hopping to do, as I have already completed the layout. Can anyone tell me how I can get around this problem?