How to set a gradient background in a Material Button from Material Components?

Question

I've been trying to set a gradient background in a Material Button from Material Components for Android, but it's not working. So, how to set a gradient background in a Material Button?

Answer 1

From the documentation for MaterialButton:

Do not use the android:background attribute. MaterialButton manages its own background drawable, and setting a new background means MaterialButton can no longer guarantee that the new attributes it introduces will function properly. If the default background is changed, MaterialButton cannot guarantee well-defined behavior.

The only supported way to modify the background of the button is to set a color value to the app:backgroundTint attribute. Unfortunately, gradients are not supported here either; you can only use a simple color value or a ColorStateList.

So, there is no supported way to use a gradient background with MaterialButton.