To have an inclusive background for android activity?

Question

I want to have an iridescent background for the activity, so that the previous activity can be seen under this activity. Something like an overflow menu that appears above a video that plays in the background.

Is it possible? Can you tell me how?

Note. I cannot use the default iridescent theme from android, since I use my own custom background and theme for my application.

Help Pls. Below is my .xml style, where my_btn and my_list are selectors:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<resources> 
    <style name="btnstyle" parent="@android:style/Widget.Button">
        <item name="android:textColor">#FFFFFF</item> 
        <item name="android:background">@drawable/my_btn</item>         
    </style>    
    <style name="liststyle" parent="@android:style/Widget.ListView">
        <item name="android:listSelector">@drawable/my_list</item>
    </style> 
    <style name="theme" parent="android:Theme.Translucent"> 
        <item name="android:windowBackground">@drawable/background</item>   
        <item name="android:windowIsTranslucent">true</item>
        <item name="android:buttonStyle">@style/btnstyle</item>
        <item name="android:listViewStyle">@style/liststyle</item>  
    </style>
    </resources>

Answer 1

Apply a transparent theme to your activities in AndroidManifest.xml

<activity android:theme="@android:style/Theme.Translucent">