Develop Reference

Android Overflow Menu Button is not visible on some phones

The app runs fine. On devices with hard options menu button the menu shows up, so i know it works. On some devices it shows the overflow button at the top-right.
I my test case the device is Asus Zenphone 5 there is no hard button, i dont get a overflow button either. But when i run the showOptionsMenu() command from a button click it displays the options menu and all related events work no issues.
Menu - Xml
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<menu xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android" >
<item android:id="#+id/select" android:title="Select" android:showAsAction="never"></item>
<item android:id="#+id/add_kid" android:title="Add" android:showAsAction="never"></item>
</menu>
onCreate & onPrepare
#Override
public boolean onCreateOptionsMenu(Menu menu)
{
getMenuInflater().inflate(R.menu.menu1, menu);
return super.onCreateOptionsMenu(menu);
}
#Override
public boolean onPrepareOptionsMenu(Menu menu)
{
if(!getCheckInStatus())
{
menu.setGroupVisible(R.id.group1,false);
}
else
{
menu.setGroupVisible(R.id.group1,true);
}
return super.onPrepareOptionsMenu(menu);
}
Manifest values for the Activity
<application
android:allowBackup="true"
android:icon="#drawable/ic_launcher"
android:label="#string/app_name"
android:theme="#style/AppTheme" >
.....
<activity
android:name="com.my.package.MyActivity"
android:configChanges="orientation|keyboard"
android:label="#string/app_name"
android:launchMode="singleInstance"
>
</activity>
I would really appreciate any help on this matter.

I used to have same problem in few of my projects. I followed the steps given below which worked for me
1. extends your activity to ActionBarActivity
call the following code in onCreate method
private void makeActionOverflowMenuShown()
{
//devices with hardware menu button (e.g. Samsung Note) don't show action overflow menu
try {
ViewConfiguration config = ViewConfiguration.get(this);
Field menuKeyField = ViewConfiguration.class.getDeclaredField("sHasPermanentMenuKey");
if (menuKeyField != null) {
menuKeyField.setAccessible(true);
menuKeyField.setBoolean(config, false);
}
} catch (Exception e) {
}
}

set android:showAsAction="ifRoom" in menu.xml, the button would show.

Try like this. This works for me..
<menu xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android" >
<item
android:icon="#drawable/ic_action_overflow"
android:id="#+id/moreItmes"
android:showAsAction="never"
android:title="#string/more">
<menu>
<item
android:id="#+id/select"
android:showAsAction="never"
android:title="#string/Select"/>
<item
android:id="#+id/add_kid"
android:showAsAction="never"
android:title="#string/Add"/>
</menu>
</item>
</menu>

As i commented in vinay's answer , the reason was that i was debugging an old program written by some one else. It seems all were Activities , but i had changed the target and compile-with to 22. Once i changed the Activity to ActionBarActivity the overflow appeared on the devices with soft menu button. While those with hard options menu button did not display it.

Menu - Xml
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<menu xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android" >
<item android:id="#+id/select" android:title="Select" android:showAsAction="never"></item>
<item android:id="#+id/add_kid" android:title="Add" android:showAsAction="never"></item>
</menu>
in your menu.xml you just use showAsAction as never which represent Never place this item in the Action Bar. please refer the link for more info

Android appcompat actionbar menu item showAsAction not working

I have a menu item that is showing up on android 4.x but not on 2.x. Here is my menu.xml
<?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/menu_filter"
android:title="Filter"
app:showAsAction="always"/>
</menu>
This is my actionbar style
<style name="style1_actionBar" parent="#style/Widget.AppCompat.Light.ActionBar">
<item name="android:background">#color/blue_dark</item>
<item name="android:textColor">#color/white</item>
<item name="actionMenuTextAppearance">#color/white</item>
<item name="background">#color/blue_dark</item>
</style>
Any ideas?
Edit: removed double quote typo
Could it be the fact that I am showing only text, no icons? I'm kind of stuck here.

Whew, thanks for your help guys but I managed to figure it out. It wasn't a problem with the xml, it was a problem with the onCreateOptionsMenu function.
I was using this
new MenuInflater(getApplication()).inflate(R.menu.activity_wentry_editor, menu);
instead of this
MenuInflater inflater = getMenuInflater();
inflater.inflate(R.menu.activity_wentry_editor, menu);
Not entirely sure why this works but it does.

<menu xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
**xmlns:yourapp="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res-auto"** >
<item android:id="#+id/action_search"
android:icon="#drawable/ic_action_search"
android:title="#string/action_search"
**yourapp**:showAsAction="ifRoom" />
</menu>
Please refer to the documentation. http://developer.android.com/guide/topics/ui/actionbar.html
Using XML attributes from the support library
Notice that the showAsAction attribute above uses a custom namespace defined in the tag. This is necessary when using any XML attributes defined by the support library, because these attributes do not exist in the Android framework on older devices. So you must use your own namespace as a prefix for all attributes defined by the support library.

In my case I had to add a few lines to onCreateOptionsMenu.
Android Studio didn't let me use android:showAsAction="ifRoom" while using appCompat.
app:showAsAction="ifRoom" wasn't working and I removed it without problems.
#Override
public boolean onCreateOptionsMenu(Menu menu) {
MenuInflater inflater = getMenuInflater();
inflater.inflate(R.menu.menu, menu);
for (int i = 0; i < menu.size(); i++) {
menu.getItem(i).setShowAsAction(MenuItem.SHOW_AS_ACTION_IF_ROOM);
}
return super.onCreateOptionsMenu(menu);
}

If you want your app to support action bar below 3.0 you need to use app compact v7 from the support library.
Also check the link

Using the menu in an activity that extends the AppCompact it is necessary import the app context in the XML and use it:
<menu xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
xmlns:app="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res-auto">
<!-- "Mark Favorite", should appear as action button if possible -->
<item
android:id="#+id/action_favorite"
android:icon="#drawable/ic_favorite_black_48dp"
android:title="#string/action_favorite"
app:showAsAction="ifRoom"/>
<!-- Settings, should always be in the overflow -->
<item android:id="#+id/action_settings"
android:title="#string/action_settings"
app:showAsAction="never"/>
</menu>
What you need to do basically is add xmlns:app="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res-auto"to the menu element in yout XML and use the showAsAction in the following format: app:showAsAction="ifRoom".
This will show the icon in the action bar, if possible.

Can't add Search button to Action Bar in Android Developer Tutorial

I am trying to add the Search button to the Android Action bar by following this tutorial:
https://developer.android.com/training/basics/actionbar/adding-buttons.html
I modified by minSdkVersion to 11 in my Manifest.
<uses-sdk
android:minSdkVersion="11"
android:targetSdkVersion="16" />
I have added the action_search item in a main.xml file located in the menu folder:
<menu xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android" >
<item
android:id="#+id/action_settings"
android:orderInCategory="100"
android:showAsAction="never"
android:title="#string/action_settings"/>
<item android:id="#+id/action_search"
android:title="#string/action_search"
android:icon="#drawable/ic_action_search"
android:showAsAction="always|collapseActionView"
android:actionViewClass="android.widget.SearchView"/>
</menu>
Eclipse has provided the method already for the menu, which I have not changed:
#Override
public boolean onCreateOptionsMenu(Menu menu) {
// Inflate the menu; this adds items to the action bar if it is present.
getMenuInflater().inflate(R.menu.main, menu);
return true;
}
I've added the string to my strings.xml: <string name="action_search">Search</string> and included ic_action_search.png in my drawable folders.
There are no errors upon launch. I see the Settings menu item in the overflow. But I do not see the search button anywhere.

You should remove this value: collapseActionView
Replace this line:
android:showAsAction="always|collapseActionView"
with for example this
android:showAsAction="never"

How do I show Overflow Menu Items to Action Bar in Android

I am writing an Android App in which i am trying to show Overflow Menu Items to ActionBar
using this great tutorial link: http://wptrafficanalyzer.in/blog/adding-action-items-and-overflow-menu-items-to-action-bar-in-android/
Problem:
Not getting Overflow Menu Items (Icon)
Please see below Screen Shot for more clarity:
Manifest.xml:
<uses-sdk android:minSdkVersion="14" />
<application
android:icon="#drawable/ic_launcher"
android:label="#string/app_name" >
<activity
android:name=".MainActivity"
android:label="#string/app_name"
android:uiOptions="splitActionBarWhenNarrow"
>
items.xml:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<menu xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android" >
<item
android:id="#+id/phone"
android:title="#string/phone"
android:icon="#drawable/phone"
android:showAsAction="ifRoom|withText"
/>
<item
android:id="#+id/computer"
android:title="#string/computer"
android:icon="#drawable/computer"
android:showAsAction="ifRoom|withText"
/>
<item
android:id="#+id/gamepad"
android:title="#string/gamepad"
android:icon="#drawable/gamepad"
android:showAsAction="ifRoom|withText"
/>
<item
android:id="#+id/camera"
android:title="#string/camera"
android:icon="#drawable/camera"
android:showAsAction="ifRoom|withText"
/>
<item
android:id="#+id/video"
android:title="#string/video"
android:icon="#drawable/video"
android:showAsAction="ifRoom|withText"
/>
<item
android:id="#+id/email"
android:title="#string/email"
android:icon="#drawable/email"
android:showAsAction="ifRoom|withText"
/>
</menu>
I am using this tutorial, and trying to make Figure 6 : Action items and Overflow menu in Split Action Bar
Please help me to show Overflow Menu Items (ICON) to ActionBar
Now whenever i do click on Menu Button in emulator, then i am getting rest Menu Items....

Just to say that If your device has a menu-button, the overflow-icon won't show, on the newer phones the overflow button will show. I would not reccomend ASMUIRTI's answer since it is an awful hack that breaks consistency with the rest of the apps on the platform.
you must use
android:showAsAction="never"
and let the android device decide if the overflow menu is needed for that device.

To show three dot icon, to Action Bar, just use below method in your OnCreate():
private void getOverflowMenu() {
try {
ViewConfiguration config = ViewConfiguration.get(this);
Field menuKeyField = ViewConfiguration.class.getDeclaredField("sHasPermanentMenuKey");
if(menuKeyField != null) {
menuKeyField.setAccessible(true);
menuKeyField.setBoolean(config, false);
}
} catch (Exception e) {
e.printStackTrace();
}
}

This could be another work around, which really helped me. Keep one drawable with three dots and give it as a menu item.
<menu xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android" >
<item
android:id="#+id/saveDetails"
android:showAsAction="always"
android:title="#string/save"/>
<item
android:id="#+id/menu_overflow"
android:icon="#drawable/dts"
android:orderInCategory="11111"
android:showAsAction="always">
<menu>
<item
android:id="#+id/contacts"
android:showAsAction="never"
android:title="Contacts"/>
<item
android:id="#+id/service_Tasks"
android:showAsAction="never"
android:title="Service Tasks"/>
<item
android:id="#+id/charge_summary"
android:showAsAction="never"
android:title="Charge Summary"/>
<item
android:id="#+id/capture_signature"
android:showAsAction="never"
android:title="Capture Signature"/>
</menu>
</item>
</menu>

If I understand your question correctly and you want to show all your icons on the action bar change this parameters in your menu items
android:showAsAction="ifRoom|withText"
to this
android:showAsAction="always"

If you are using from supporting libraries, in order to show menu items in action bar you must use from the following syntax in your xml:
yourappname:showAsAction="ifRoom|withText"

The phones which have menu hardware button show extra menu items on click of the hardware button. Newer phones, with no hardware menu button automatically add an Overflow menu icon to the Action Bar.
The extra menu items are those which have "showAsAction" property set to never.

Within AndroidManifest.xml between add
android:theme="#android:style/Theme.Holo.Light"
which adds the action bar in your application.
After that, go to menu.xml and add the followings
xmlns:tools="http://schemas.android.com/tools
between
Finally in each item add
android:showAsAction="always"
tools:ignore="AppCompatResource"

Android action bar not showing overflow

I have an action bar in my app with 3 items.
Only 2 can be displayed due to space issues, so I'd expect the first to be displayed and the rest to be displayed in the overflow.
However in practice only the first 2 items are shown and there is no overflow detectable.
Here is the relevant code:
list_menu.xml
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<menu xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android" >
<item android:id="#+id/menu_insert"
android:icon="#android:drawable/ic_menu_add"
android:title="#string/menu_insert"
android:showAsAction="ifRoom|withText"/>
<item android:id="#+id/menu_call"
android:icon="#android:drawable/ic_menu_call"
android:title="#string/menu_call"
android:showAsAction="ifRoom|withText"/>
<item android:id="#+id/menu_agenda"
android:icon="#android:drawable/ic_menu_agenda"
android:title="#string/menu_agenda"
android:showAsAction="ifRoom|withText"/>
</menu>
Activity.java
public boolean onCreateOptionsMenu(Menu menu) {
MenuInflater mi = getMenuInflater();
mi.inflate(R.menu.list_menu, menu);
return true;
}

If you want to show the three dots, irrespective of device menu button! then you can call this method in your application class' onCreate method-
private void makeActionOverflowMenuShown() {
//devices with hardware menu button (e.g. Samsung Note) don't show action overflow menu
try {
ViewConfiguration config = ViewConfiguration.get(this);
Field menuKeyField = ViewConfiguration.class.getDeclaredField("sHasPermanentMenuKey");
if (menuKeyField != null) {
menuKeyField.setAccessible(true);
menuKeyField.setBoolean(config, false);
}
} catch (Exception e) {
Log.d(TAG, e.getLocalizedMessage());
}
}

Output
res/menu/menu.xml
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<menu xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android" >
<!-- Search / will display always -->
<item
android:id="#+id/action_search"
android:icon="#drawable/ic_action_search"
android:showAsAction="always"
android:title="#string/action_search"/>
<!-- Location Found -->
<item
android:id="#+id/action_location_found"
android:icon="#drawable/ic_action_location_found"
android:showAsAction="always"
android:title="#string/action_location_found"/>
<!-- More -->
<item
android:id="#+id/a_More"
android:icon="#drawable/ic_action_overflow"
android:showAsAction="always"
android:title="More">
<menu>
<!-- Refresh -->
<item
android:id="#+id/action_refresh"
android:icon="#drawable/ic_action_refresh"
android:showAsAction="never"
android:title="#string/action_refresh"/>
<!-- Help -->
<item
android:id="#+id/action_help"
android:icon="#drawable/ic_action_help"
android:showAsAction="never"
android:title="#string/action_help"/>
<!-- Check updates -->
<item
android:id="#+id/action_check_updates"
android:icon="#drawable/ic_action_refresh"
android:showAsAction="never"
android:title="#string/action_check_updates"/>
</menu>
</item>
</menu>
MainActivity.java
public class MainActivity extends Activity {
#Override
protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
setContentView(R.layout.activity_main);
}
#Override
public boolean onCreateOptionsMenu(Menu menu) {
// Inflate the menu; this adds items to the action bar if it is present.
MenuInflater inflater = getMenuInflater();
inflater.inflate(R.menu.menu, menu);
return super.onCreateOptionsMenu(menu);
}
}
Download the Action Bar Icon Set

I realize this is not an overflow menu, but it is similar.
Okay, this is simple but was hard to figure out.
You first need a menu item you want to use as the overflow inflater. Example
<item
android:id="#+id/a_More"
android:icon="#drawable/more"
android:showAsAction="always"
android:title="More">
</item>
Once you have your item, add a sub-menu containing your items you want in the overflow menu. Example:
<item
android:id="#+id/a_More"
android:icon="#drawable/more"
android:showAsAction="always"
android:title="More">
<menu>
<item
android:id="#+id/aM_Home"
android:icon="#drawable/home"
android:title="Home"/>
</menu>
</item>
On click this will inflate other items within. My application is using ActionBarSherlock 4.0 so before this will work for you, you will need to access the "SplitActionBar". (Will still work on default android Actionbar)
Here's how:
In your AndroidManifest.xml file, you need to add this code under the activity you need the overflow menu in.
android:uiOptions="splitActionBarWhenNarrow"
NOTE: Your item that inflates your overflow menu MUST showAsAction="always"
Vwola! you have an overflow menu! Hope I helped you out. :)

On devices with hardware menu buttons (Galaxy S3, stubborn as Samsung is...) the overflow menu behaves as the 'traditional' menu, by using the hardware menu button.

When you say "overflow" menu, do you mean the three dots that show up in the end to indicate that there are more items.... or do you mean the split actionbar that shows up in the bottom for overflow items?
If you mean the split action bar, you should add this to your activity's manifest file
android:uiOptions="splitActionBarWhenNarrow"
By default, the three dots overflow menu should happen automatically, so it's hard to tell what the problem is from the information you provided above.

To alway show action overflow (three dot) on actionbarcompat:
in menu file, example:
main.xml
<menu xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
xmlns:app="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res-auto" >
<item
android:id="#+id/action_settings"
android:title="#string/action_settings"
app:showAsAction="never"/>
<item
android:id="#+id/action_about"
android:title="#string/action_about"
app:showAsAction="never"/>
</menu>
and in activity file:
#Override
public boolean onCreateOptionsMenu(Menu menu) {
getMenuInflater().inflate(R.menu.main, menu);
return super.onCreateOptionsMenu(menu);
}
It's worked fine for me.
Tested on Google Nexus S, Samsung S3.

It appears that on devices with a menu button the overflow menu does not show in the ActionBar. Also we have no way to know if a device has a hardware menu button before API level 14 (4.0+).
This solution adds a overflow button to a android.support.v7.app.ActionBar that opens the standard options menu on pre-Honeycomb (<3.0) only, otherwise leaving it to the system. In any case you can choose between always or ifRoom for all actions.
Get the overflow icon from the Action Bar Icon Pack.
Add a menu (I'omitting some non-relevant parts as titles, ordering etc.)
<menu xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
xmlns:app="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res-auto">
<item
android:id="#+id/action_overflow"
android:orderInCategory="100"
android:icon="#drawable/ic_action_overflow"
app:showAsAction="always" />
<item
android:id="#+id/action_first"
app:showAsAction="always" />
<item
android:id="#+id/action_second"
app:showAsAction="ifRoom" />
</menu>
Remove our overflow action on 3.0+
#Override
public boolean onPrepareOptionsMenu(Menu menu) {
if (Build.VERSION.SDK_INT >= Build.VERSION_CODES.HONEYCOMB) {
menu.removeItem(R.id.action_overflow);
}
return super.onPrepareOptionsMenu(menu);
}
Finally call Activity.openOptionsMenu() from the overflow action.
Er... no. You cannot not call openOptionsMenu() from a menu button... but if you are using AndroidAnnotations you're done easily:
#OptionsItem
void action_overflow() {
openOptionsMenuDeferred();
}
#UiThread
void openOptionsMenuDeferred() {
openOptionsMenu();
}
If not you should do something like this, I suppose
#Override
public boolean onOptionsItemSelected(MenuItem item) {
if (item.getItemId() == id.action_overflow) {
openOptionsMenuDeferred();
return true;
}
}
private Handler handler = new Handler(Looper.getMainLooper());
public void openOptionsMenuDeferred() {
handler.post(new Runnable() {
#Override
public void run() {
openOptionsMenu();
}
}
);
}

Try changing the theme of the app from
Theme.AppCompat.Light.DarkActionBar to Theme.AppCompat.Light

Put xmlns:your_app_name="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res-auto" inside menu tag
and instead android:showAsAction="always" use your_app_name:showAsAction="always"
for eg
<item
android:id="#+id/action_search"
android:icon="#drawable/icon_search"
android:title="#string/search"
your_app_name:showAsAction="ifRoom"/>