Solution 1
Call
editText.requestFocus()
before setting the error.
Decision 2
Use TextInputLayout.
<android.support.design.widget.TextInputLayout
android:id="@+id/text_input_layout"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="wrap_content">
<EditText
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"/>
</android.support.design.widget.TextInputLayout>
And in code
textInputLayout.setError("Error");
Decision 3
Custom view, up to you.