Develop Reference

Android: Menu item in left side

Now I have this
But I want to make this:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<item
android:id="#+id/menu"
android:icon="#drawable/ic_menu"
android:title="#string/title_menu"
app:showAsAction="always" />
<item
android:id="#+id/file"
android:icon="#drawable/ic_file"
android:title="#string/title_file"
app:showAsAction="always" />
<item
android:id="#+id/new_file"
android:icon="#drawable/ic_new_file"
android:title="#string/title_new_file"
app:showAsAction="always" />
<item
android:id="#+id/visual"
android:icon="#drawable/ic_eye"
android:title="#string/title_eye"
app:showAsAction="always" />
<item
android:id="#+id/print"
android:icon="#drawable/ic_print"
android:title="#string/title_print"
app:showAsAction="always" />
<item android:id="#+id/help"
android:icon="#drawable/ic_help"
android:title="#string/title_help" />
This menu I add in activity
override fun onCreateOptionsMenu(menu: Menu): Boolean {
val inflater = menuInflater
inflater.inflate(R.menu.designer_options_menu, menu)
return true
}
And I don't understand how I can install ic_menu at the left side

You can use the Up/Home button for doing that by using a custom toolbar within a CoordinatorLayout:
1. Main layout
<android.support.design.widget.CoordinatorLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
xmlns:app="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res-auto"
xmlns:tools="http://schemas.android.com/tools"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="match_parent"
tools:context=".MainActivity">
<android.support.design.widget.AppBarLayout
android:id="#+id/appbar"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:theme="#style/ThemeOverlay.AppCompat.Dark.ActionBar">
<android.support.v7.widget.Toolbar
android:id="#+id/toolbar"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="?attr/actionBarSize"
app:popupTheme="#style/ThemeOverlay.AppCompat.Light">
</android.support.v7.widget.Toolbar>
</android.support.design.widget.AppBarLayout>
<!-- My Layout -->
<LinearLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="match_parent"
app:layout_behavior="#string/appbar_scrolling_view_behavior">
<TextView
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:text="Hello World!" />
</LinearLayout>
</android.support.design.widget.CoordinatorLayout>
2. Your menu
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<menu xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
xmlns:app="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res-auto">
<item
android:id="#+id/folder"
android:icon="#drawable/ic_folder_black_24dp"
android:orderInCategory="1"
android:title=""
app:showAsAction="always" />
<item
android:id="#+id/file"
android:icon="#drawable/ic_insert_drive_file_black_24dp"
android:orderInCategory="2"
android:title=""
app:showAsAction="always" />
<item
android:id="#+id/eye"
android:icon="#drawable/ic_remove_red_eye_black_24dp"
android:orderInCategory="3"
android:title=""
app:showAsAction="always" />
<item
android:id="#+id/print"
android:icon="#drawable/ic_print_black_24dp"
android:orderInCategory="4"
android:title=""
app:showAsAction="always" />
</menu>
3. Java
public class MainActivity extends AppCompatActivity {
#Override
protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
setContentView(R.layout.activity_main);
Toolbar toolbar = findViewById(R.id.toolbar);
setSupportActionBar(toolbar);
if (getSupportActionBar() != null) {
getSupportActionBar().setDisplayHomeAsUpEnabled(true);
getSupportActionBar().setHomeAsUpIndicator(R.drawable.ic_menu_black_24dp);
getSupportActionBar().setTitle("");
}
}
#Override
public boolean onOptionsItemSelected(MenuItem item) {
switch (item.getItemId()) {
case android.R.id.home:
Toast.makeText(this, "Home", Toast.LENGTH_SHORT).show();
break;
case R.id.eye:
Toast.makeText(this, "Eye", Toast.LENGTH_SHORT).show();
break;
case R.id.file:
Toast.makeText(this, "File", Toast.LENGTH_SHORT).show();
break;
case R.id.folder:
Toast.makeText(this, "Folder", Toast.LENGTH_SHORT).show();
break;
case R.id.print:
Toast.makeText(this, "Print", Toast.LENGTH_SHORT).show();
break;
}
return super.onOptionsItemSelected(item);
}
#Override
public boolean onCreateOptionsMenu(Menu menu) {
getMenuInflater().inflate(R.menu.menu, menu);
return true;
}
}
4. Style: use NoActionBar theme
<resources>
<!-- Base application theme. -->
<style name="AppTheme" parent="Theme.AppCompat.Light.NoActionBar">
<!-- Customize your theme here. -->
<item name="colorPrimary">#color/colorPrimary</item>
<item name="colorPrimaryDark">#color/colorPrimaryDark</item>
<item name="colorAccent">#color/colorAccent</item>
</style>
</resources>
5. Gradle:: add design support library for coordinator layout
implementation 'com.android.support:design:28.0.0'
The result

Simpler Version
Add android:icon to your Main Activity or whatever Activity you want this icon:
<activity
android:name=".Main"
android:icon="#drawable/ic_settings_white_24dp"
android:launchMode="singleTop">
Enable the "home" icon in your Main.java:
getActionBar().setDisplayShowHomeEnabled( true ); // In your onCreate() or wherever.
You might also want to hide the back icon in the top left and the app name in the top left. You can do that with these two commands:
// Disable back icon in top left and hide app name.
getActionBar().setDisplayHomeAsUpEnabled( false );
getActionBar().setDisplayShowTitleEnabled( false );
To handle the click event you just need to capture the home in onOptionsItemSelected:
#Override
public boolean onOptionsItemSelected( MenuItem item ) {
switch( item.getItemId() ) {
case android.R.id.home:
// Do something.
return true;
}
}
Worked for us and the end result is something like this:
With AppCompatActivity
You need to do this slightly differently if your Activity is extending from AppCompatActivity. Here are the changes to the steps above:
No need to add android:icon to AndroidManifest.xml.
Set the Icon to use in your Main.java Activity and use getSupportActionBar():
getSupportActionBar().setHomeAsUpIndicator( R.drawable.ic_settings_white_24dp );

How to change Toolbar layout after listitems selection in android activity

I have created an activity with toolbar and recyclerview,Implemented selection option for recyclerview, After selection of list items i need to update selected items count in toolbar.I'm trying to achieve this by using
#Override
public boolean onCreateActionMode(ActionMode actionMode, Menu menu) {
// Inflate a menu resource providing context menu items
MenuInflater inflater = actionMode.getMenuInflater();
inflater.inflate(R.menu.menu_cab_recyclerviewdemoactivity, menu);
return true;
}
Now after selecting recyclerview items extra actionbar adding above the toolbar,Here is screen http://screencast.com/t/UY2KSs9r

If you just want to update the count in the toolbar, you can just update the title,
final ActionBar ab = getSupportActionBar();
if(ab!=null)
ab.setTitle(stringVariable);
I'm not sure what else you want to do, so for now here is my answer.

First of all remove the default ActionBar
edit your style.xml
<!-- Base application theme. -->
<style name="AppTheme" parent="Theme.AppCompat.Light.DarkActionBar">
<!-- Customize your theme colors here. -->
<item name="colorPrimary">#color/primary</item>
<item name="colorPrimaryDark">#color/primary_dark</item>
<item name="colorAccent">#color/accent</item>
<!-- Disables the Default ActionBar -->
<item name="windowActionBar">false</item>
<item name="windowNoTitle">true</item>
</style>
Then in your main_activity_layout.xml, remove any padding on the root RelativeLayout tag.
Next
<android.support.v7.widget.Toolbar
android:id="#+id/mainToolbar"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="wrap_content">
<ImageButton
android:id="#+id/main_settings_btn"
android:background="#drawable/ic_settings"
android:backgroundTint="#color/accent"
android:contentDescription="Copy"/>
<ImageButton
android:layout_alignParentEnd="true"
android:layout_alignParentRight="true"
android:layout_gravity="right"
android:layout_marginRight="10dp"
android:background="#drawable/ic_points"
android:backgroundTint="#color/accent"
android:contentDescription="Paste"/>
</android.support.v7.widget.Toolbar>
...... <your_code_here_possibly_recyclerview>
This solves your extra toolbar issue.
Next
private Toolbar toolbar; // Declaring the Toolbar Object
#Override
protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
setContentView(R.layout.activity_main);
toolbar = (Toolbar) findViewById(R.id.mainToolbar); // Attaching the layout to the toolbar object
setSupportActionBar(toolbar); // Setting toolbar as the ActionBar with setSupportActionBar() call
// Now whenever you want to update the title just change text in below
getSupportActionBar().setTitle("My title");
}

How to make ActionBar and stacked bar share same background image

is it possible for actionbar and it's stacked bar(one that contain navigation tabs) to share same background image? one that starts from actionbar and ends at stacked bar?
currently the way am implementing this, am ending up having action bar with it own image and stacked bar with its own.
my styles.xml
<style name="AppTheme" parent="Theme.AppCompat.Light.DarkActionBar">
<!-- Customize your theme here. -->
<item name="android:actionBarStyle">#style/MyActionBar</item>
<item name="android:actionMenuTextColor">#color/app_yellow</item>
<item name="android:windowActionBarOverlay">true</item>
<!-- Support library compatibility -->
<item name="actionBarStyle">#style/MyActionBar</item>
<item name="actionMenuTextColor">#color/app_yellow</item>
</style>
<!-- ActionBar styles -->
<style name="MyActionBar" parent="#style/Widget.AppCompat.Light.ActionBar">
<item name="android:titleTextStyle">#style/MyActionBarTitleText</item>
<item name="android:actionBarTabTextStyle">#style/MyActionBarTabText</item>
<item name ="android:actionBarTabStyle">#style/MyTabStyle</item>
<item name="background">#drawable/actionbar</item>
</style>
<!-- individual ActionBar tabs style -->
<style name="MyTabStyle" parent ="Widget.AppCompat.Light.ActionBar.TabView">
<item name ="background">#android:color/transparent</item>
<item name ="android:background">#android:color/transparent</item>
</style>
in my activity
#Override
protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
setContentView(R.layout.activity_main);
ActionBar actionBar = getSupportActionBar();
// Specify that tabs should be displayed in the action bar.
actionBar.setNavigationMode(ActionBar.NAVIGATION_MODE_TABS);
actionBar.setLogo(R.mipmap.ic_launcher);
actionBar.setDisplayUseLogoEnabled(true);
actionBar.setDisplayShowHomeEnabled(true);
actionBar.setStackedBackgroundDrawable(getResources().getDrawable(R.drawable.actionbar));

From Michael De Soto guidance(see his comment above), i was able to have actionbar and stacked bar share same background image by using a toolbar that has
actionbar details(e.g icons,titles) in views(textview for titles, imageviews for icons etc)
Stacked bar details(basically tabs) in a tablayout.
Here how i implemented it guys
my activity xml
<android.support.v7.widget.Toolbar
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:minHeight="?attr/actionBarSize"
android:id="#+id/mainActivityBar"
android:layout_alignParentTop="true"
android:background="#drawable/actionbar"
app:contentInsetLeft="0dp"
app:contentInsetStart="0dp"
app:contentInsetEnd="0dp"
app:contentInsetRight="0dp"
>
<RelativeLayout
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
>
<TextView
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:textAppearance="?android:attr/textAppearanceMedium"
android:text="President"
android:id="#+id/appname_1"
android:background="#android:color/transparent"
android:textColor="#ffffff"
android:layout_marginLeft="20dp" />
<android.support.design.widget.TabLayout
android:id="#+id/tabs"
style="#style/myCustomTabLayout"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:background="#android:color/transparent"
android:layout_below="#+id/appname_1"
android:layout_alignParentEnd="true"
android:layout_alignParentStart="false"
android:layout_alignParentLeft="false"
android:layout_alignParentRight="true"
android:layout_alignParentBottom="false"
android:layout_alignLeft="#+id/appname_1"
app:tabGravity="fill"
app:tabMode="scrollable"/>
</RelativeLayout>
</android.support.v7.widget.Toolbar>
added the following in my styles.xml
<style name="mainActivityTheme" parent="Theme.AppCompat.Light.NoActionBar">
<item name="windowActionBar">false</item>
<item name="android:windowNoTitle">true</item>
<item name="android:textColorSecondary">#android:color/white</item>
<!--We will be using the toolbar so no need to show ActionBar-->
<item name="android:windowActionBar">false</item>
</style>
<style name="myCustomTabLayout" parent="Widget.Design.TabLayout">
<item name="tabIndicatorColor">?attr/colorAccent</item>
<item name="tabIndicatorHeight">2dp</item>
<item name="tabSelectedTextColor">?android:textColorPrimary</item>
</style>
Finally, my activity
public class MainActivity extends AppCompatActivity {
private SectionsPagerAdapter mSectionsPagerAdapter;
TabLayout tabLayout;
private ViewPager mViewPager;
#Override
protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
setContentView(R.layout.activity_main);
Toolbar toolbar =(Toolbar) findViewById(R.id.mainActivityBar);
setSupportActionBar(toolbar);
tabLayout = (TabLayout) findViewById(R.id.tabs);
// Create the adapter that will return a fragment for each of the three
// primary sections of the activity.
mSectionsPagerAdapter = new SectionsPagerAdapter(getSupportFragmentManager());
// Set up the ViewPager with the sections adapter.
mViewPager = (ViewPager) findViewById(R.id.pager);
mViewPager.setAdapter(mSectionsPagerAdapter);
mViewPager.addOnPageChangeListener(new TabLayout.TabLayoutOnPageChangeListener(tabLayout));
tabLayout.setupWithViewPager(mViewPager);
}
public class SectionsPagerAdapter extends FragmentStatePagerAdapter {
public SectionsPagerAdapter(FragmentManager fm) {
super(fm);
}
#Override
public Fragment getItem(int position) {
// getItem is called to instantiate the fragment for the given page.
switch (position) {
case 0:
return Item1fragment.newInstance();
case 1:
return Item2fragment.newInstance();
case 2:
return Item3fragment.newInstance();
}
return null;
}
#Override
public int getCount() {
// Show 3 total pages.
return 3;
}
#Override
public CharSequence getPageTitle(int position) {
Locale l = Locale.getDefault();
switch (position) {
case 0:
return "Item1;
case 1:
return "Item2";
case 2:
return "Item3";
}
return "";
}
}
}

Thanks for your indepth answer OP. For those coming here in future, if you want to display the back button on the toolbar, it will push all the subsequent views in the Toolbar to the side by about 50dp, even when aligned below, even when using app:contentInsetStart="0dp". Because of this, I have just gone for the transparent backgrounds and having a view behind them.

How to prevent the actionMode and toolbar to "jump" when toggling between them?

Background
I have an activity in my app that has a toolbar as the actionBar, and it also has an actionMode, for multi-selection of items.
The problem
Every time I close the actionMode, there is a "jump" between the two modes, so I can see both the toolbar and the actionMode.
Maybe I'm just doing it wrong, but I remember it worked fine in the past.
Here's how it looks like using the snippet code I've made:
What I've tried
This is a snippet of the code I've used. To test it, run the app, wait a moment for the actionMode to appear, and then either press the back button, or press the button on the actionMode. Do note that all classes that I use are of the support library (when available).
MainActivity.java
public class MainActivity extends AppCompatActivity {
protected ActionMode.Callback _actionModeCallback;
protected ActionMode _actionMode;
Toolbar _toolbar;
#Override
protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
setContentView(R.layout.activity_main);
_toolbar = (Toolbar) findViewById(R.id.activity_app_list__toolbar);
setSupportActionBar(_toolbar);
_actionModeCallback = new ActionMode.Callback() {
#Override
public boolean onPrepareActionMode(final ActionMode mode, final Menu menu) {
return false;
}
#Override
public void onDestroyActionMode(final ActionMode mode) {
_toolbar.setVisibility(View.VISIBLE);
_actionMode = null;
}
#Override
public boolean onCreateActionMode(final ActionMode mode, final Menu menu) {
_toolbar.setVisibility(View.GONE);
return true;
}
#Override
public boolean onActionItemClicked(final ActionMode mode, final MenuItem item) {
mode.finish();
return true;
}
};
//
new Handler().postDelayed(new Runnable() {
#Override
public void run() {
_actionMode = startSupportActionMode(_actionModeCallback);
}
}, 2000);
}
}
activity_main.xml
<LinearLayout
xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
xmlns:tools="http://schemas.android.com/tools"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="match_parent"
android:orientation="vertical"
tools:context=".MainActivity">
<android.support.v7.widget.Toolbar
android:id="#+id/activity_app_list__toolbar"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:background="?attr/colorPrimary"
android:colorControlNormal="?attr/colorControlNormal"
android:minHeight="?attr/actionBarSize"
android:theme="?attr/actionBarTheme"
tools:ignore="UnusedAttribute"/>
<FrameLayout
android:id="#+id/container"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="match_parent">
<TextView
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:text="Some Text"/>
</FrameLayout>
</LinearLayout>
styles.xml
<resources>
<!-- Base application theme. -->
<style name="AppTheme" parent="Theme.AppCompat">
<!-- Customize your theme here. -->.
<item name="windowActionBar">false</item>
<item name="windowNoTitle">true</item>
<item name="preferenceTheme">#style/PreferenceThemeOverlay</item>
<item name="colorPrimary">#FF0288D1</item>
</style>
</resources>
The question
Why is this happenning? How can I fix it?
Is this a known bug, perhaps?

What you're looking for is the ACTION_MODE_OVERLAY flag. In your Activity.onCreate() method, add the following before the call to super.onCreate():
#Override
protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
supportRequestWindowFeature(Window.FEATURE_ACTION_MODE_OVERLAY);
super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
// other stuff...
}

The same as described by #Kevin Coppock can also be achieved by adding <item name="windowActionModeOverlay">true</item> in your AppTheme.
The theme could look like this:
<!-- Base application theme. -->
<style name="AppTheme" parent="Theme.AppCompat">
<!-- Customize your theme here. -->.
<item name="windowActionBar">false</item>
<item name="windowNoTitle">true</item>
<item name="preferenceTheme">#style/PreferenceThemeOverlay</item>
<item name="colorPrimary">#FF0288D1</item>
<item name="windowActionModeOverlay">true</item>
</style>

Notification Bar is grey after implementing Nav Drawer

I am trying to learn implementations of Navigation Drawer in Android.
In one activity, i have made the Navigation Drawer come under the Status Bar(transparent) and over the App Bar and everything works fine.(left Screenshot)
In another activity in the same App, i am trying to create Navigation Drawer that pulls up under the App Bar. But here, the status bar turns grey for some reason(whether nav drawer is open or closed)(Right Screenshot). Other than this, everything seems fine.
Below is the screenshot:
The green Nav Drawer is a fragment.
What i want to know is how to make the status normal(darker shade of. Please remember, if i click that twin arrow icon in the App Bar, it will take me to another activity which contains another Nav Drawer which works like the one in Material Design(Full height of the screen and comes under a transparent Status Bar). This is shown in the left side of the screenshot.
Below is the code:
MainActivity.java:
public class MainActivity extends ActionBarActivity {
Toolbar toolbar;
DrawerLayout xDrawerLayout;
#Override
protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
setContentView(R.layout.activity_alt);
toolbar = (Toolbar) findViewById(R.id.app_bar);
setSupportActionBar(toolbar);
getSupportActionBar().setDisplayShowHomeEnabled(true);
xDrawerLayout = (DrawerLayout) findViewById(R.id.drawer_layout);
xDrawerLayout.setStatusBarBackgroundColor(getResources().getColor(R.color.primary_dark));
NavDrawerFragment mfragment = (NavDrawerFragment) getFragmentManager().findFragmentById(R.id.nav_drawer_fragment);
mfragment.SetUp(xDrawerLayout, toolbar, R.id.nav_drawer_fragment);
}
...
activity_alt.xml:
<LinearLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
xmlns:tools="http://schemas.android.com/tools"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="match_parent"
android:fitsSystemWindows="true"
android:orientation="vertical">
<include
android:id="#+id/app_bar"
layout="#layout/app_bar" />
<android.support.v4.widget.DrawerLayout
android:id="#+id/drawer_layout"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="match_parent">
<RelativeLayout
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="match_parent">
<TextView
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:text="#string/hello_world" />
</RelativeLayout>
<fragment
android:id="#+id/nav_drawer_fragment"
android:name="com.rt.droid.mattest.NavDrawerFragment"
android:layout_width="#dimen/nav_drawer_width"
android:layout_height="match_parent"
android:layout_gravity="start"
tools:layout="#layout/fragment_nav_drawer" />
</android.support.v4.widget.DrawerLayout>
</LinearLayout>
NavDrawerFragment.java:
public class NavDrawerFragment extends Fragment {
private ActionBarDrawerToggle mDrawerToggle;
private DrawerLayout mDrawerLayout;
public DrawerLearner yDrawerLearner;
public NavDrawerFragment() {
// Required empty public constructor
}
#Override
public View onCreateView(LayoutInflater inflater, ViewGroup container,
Bundle savedInstanceState) {
// Inflate the layout for this fragment
View fView = inflater.inflate(R.layout.fragment_nav_drawer, container, false);
//fView.setFitsSystemWindows(true);
fView.setBackgroundColor(getResources().getColor(R.color.accent));
return fView;
}
#Override
public void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
}
public void SetUp(DrawerLayout drawerLayout, Toolbar toolbar, int frag_id) {
this.mDrawerLayout = drawerLayout;
View drawerFrag = getActivity().findViewById(frag_id);
mDrawerToggle = new ActionBarDrawerToggle(getActivity(), mDrawerLayout, toolbar, R.string.drawer_open, R.string.drawer_close) {
#Override
public void onDrawerOpened(View drawerView) {
super.onDrawerOpened(drawerView);
getActivity().invalidateOptionsMenu();
}
#Override
public void onDrawerClosed(View drawerView) {
super.onDrawerClosed(drawerView);
getActivity().invalidateOptionsMenu();
}
};
yDrawerLearner = new DrawerLearner(mDrawerLayout, drawerFrag, getActivity());
yDrawerLearner.execute();
this.mDrawerLayout.setDrawerListener(mDrawerToggle);
mDrawerLayout.setStatusBarBackgroundColor(getResources().getColor(R.color.primary_dark));
mDrawerLayout.post(new Runnable() {
#Override
public void run() {
mDrawerToggle.syncState();
}
});
}
}
fragment_nav_drawer.xml:
<FrameLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
xmlns:tools="http://schemas.android.com/tools"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="match_parent"
tools:context="com.rt.droid.mattest.NavDrawerFragment">
<!-- TODO: Update blank fragment layout -->
<TextView
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="match_parent"
android:text="#string/hello_blank_fragment" />
</FrameLayout>
app_bar.xml:
<android.support.v7.widget.Toolbar xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
xmlns:app="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res-auto"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:background="#color/primary"
app:popupTheme="#style/AppTheme.PopupMenu"
android:theme="#style/AppTheme.Toolbar">
</android.support.v7.widget.Toolbar>
styles.xml:
<resources>
<!-- Base application theme. -->
<style name="AppTheme" parent="AppTheme.Base">
<!-- Customize your theme here. -->
</style>
<style name="AppTheme.Base" parent="Theme.AppCompat.Light.NoActionBar">
<item name="colorPrimary">#color/primary</item>
<item name="colorPrimaryDark">#color/primary_dark</item>
<item name="colorAccent">#color/accent</item>
</style>
<style name="AppTheme.Toolbar" parent="ThemeOverlay.AppCompat.Dark">
<item name="android:textColorPrimary">#color/primary_text</item>
<item name="android:textColorSecondary">#color/accent</item>
</style>
<style name="AppTheme.PopupMenu" parent="ThemeOverlay.AppCompat.Dark">
<item name="android:background">#color/accent</item>
</style>
</resources>
styles.xml(v21):
<resources>
<style name="AppTheme" parent="AppTheme.Base">
<!-- Customize your theme here. -->
<item name="android:colorPrimary">#color/primary</item>
<item name="android:colorPrimaryDark">#color/primary_dark</item>
<item name="android:colorAccent">#color/accent</item>
<item name="android:windowDrawsSystemBarBackgrounds">true</item>
<item name="android:statusBarColor">#android:color/transparent</item>
<item name="android:windowTranslucentStatus">true</item>
</style>
</resources>
Colors.xml(screenshot showing color samples):
Note: I do not want to compromise on the styles etc that would render my other navigation drawer not working. In other words, i prefer a solution wherein both types of navigation bar works as expected in the same app.
Please let me know if you need any info and i shall edit if required.
Edit: added app_bar.xml & colors.xml for clarity.

But here, the status bar turns grey for some reason
It's the translucent (25% black) status bar background over the white background of activity underneath it.
What i want to know is how to make the status normal
You need to disable translucent status bar for the second activity. It is activated by this line in your theme definition:
<item name="android:windowTranslucentStatus">true</item>
<item name="android:statusBarColor">#color/primary_dark</item>
So either define a child theme and override the flag with false or clear the flag programmatically by calling this from your activity:
if (Build.VERSION.SDK_INT >= 21) {
getWindow().clearFlags(WindowManager.LayoutParams.FLAG_TRANSLUCENT_STATUS);
getWindow().setStatusBarColor(getResources().getColor(R.color.primary_dark);
}