Workaround to change action bar background dynamically

ActionBarBackgroundWorkaround.java

  
//Looks like drawable is still not ready to be set when applying it to the action bar 
//in versions bellow 17 with default method. The action bar needs to be redrawed and it can be forced by using     
//the following workarround 
public void setActionBarbackground(ColorDrawable colorDrawable) {
        ActionBar actionBar = getActionBar();
	if (Build.VERSION.SDK_INT < Build.VERSION_CODES.JELLY_BEAN_MR1) {
  		actionBar.setBackgroundDrawable(colorDrawable);
          	//switch true/false values if title is not needed
		actionBar.setDisplayShowTitleEnabled(false);
		actionBar.setDisplayShowTitleEnabled(true);
        } else {
		getActionBar().setBackgroundDrawable(colorDrawable);
	}
}

You won't need to call getActionBar() again in else condition, just use your variable.