How to add menu button in Android bottom bar? - android

In some apps like Skype, FireFox and Angry Birds there is a fourth menu button (which I have tried to draw) on the right which supplies app specific buttons. I want to know how can I add this button and then show some menu when this button is clicked.

I want to know how can I add this button and then show some menu when this button is clicked.
That is the legacy MENU button. It will be supplied by the OS for older applications (i.e., not set up for Honeycomb, Ice Cream Sandwich, etc.) that have activities with options menus.
New applications being written should either:
-- Use the action bar (android:targetSdkVersion="11" or higher), in which case the options menu will appear in the upper-right corner, or
-- Integrate some other menu mechanism directly into the app UI (e.g., for games)

remove target sdk line from manifest
example:
<uses-sdk
android:minSdkVersion="7"/>

Related

How to add an action flow button on the navigation bar?

From the article "Say Goodbye to the Menu Button "
it seems now the menu button is going to the action bar.
"If you’ve already developed an app to support Android 2.3 and lower,
then you might have noticed that when it runs on a device without a
hardware Menu button (such as a Honeycomb tablet or Galaxy Nexus), the
system adds the action overflow button beside the system navigation. "
But since I do not want the action bar takes the space, and I only need one menu button there, I hope I had a menu button within the navigation bar at the bottom.
How to do that?
[Update] From one aplication's code, it seems if I set the target level is lower, and use the add menu function, the menu button can be put with the navigation bar at the bottom. But anyway, as Samus Arin said, if there is only button for the menu, it doesn't make sense to build a action bar.
You can develop for newer releases, and then detect if there is a menu-button on the device. If there is not, show your own in the UI.
http://developer.android.com/reference/android/view/ViewConfiguration.html#hasPermanentMenuKey()
Ex.
if(ViewConfiguration.hasPermanentMenuKey(context)){ Has menu-button } else { Does not have menu-button, show in UI }
As you said, if you want the overflow-button in the navigation-bar you have to set the target-sdk to 13 or lower.
IMO this option should be given to the developer regardless of targetsdk.
UPDATE: hasPermanentMenuKey() can only be used in SDK>13, so you have to check this manually in your code.

How is this "menu" called?

I want to implement this kind of "pop up menu" in my app but I have no idea how it is called and therefore I can't do any research on how to do it.
This is the picture
I want this menu to have three options, right now I'm using AlertDialog and the buttons are right next to each other (positive, negative, neutral), but I'd rather use this kind of pop up menu since it can have more buttons and looks more professional.
I'm not asking for the code or anything, I just want to know how this menu is called so that I can do my research then.
What you are looking for is a Context Menu. There are two options, a floating context menu (like the one on your image), or the contextual action mode (shows the options on an ActionBar, like the GMail app for example).
You can choose which one is more appropriate for your app, but the official documentation states:
If you're developing for Android 3.0 (API level 11) or higher, you
should usually use the contextual action mode to present contextual
actions, instead of the floating context menu.
User Marcelo gave me an answer.
This is what I was looking for

overflow button on jellybean

I am developing an application with target Sdk 17. My current device is Nexus 7.
My app should be without an action bar so I am using the theme Theme.Holo.NoActionBar on the activity.
I want to show the overflow button (3 dots) at the bottom right (next to the recent task). but I can't make it to be visible. If I return the action bar I see it at the top right, but that's not what I want.
Is there any idea for anyone?
If you are talking about OptionsMenu button you must use ActionBar, or you can set android:targetSdkVersion="10" for your project in manifest file. This will enable compatibility behaviour and you will see menu button near other navigation buttons .

android - show menu button on galaxy nexus

i need to have the menu button shown for some activities on galaxy nexus .
i can't find how to do that, since it hides it by default . i don't wish to create an action bar since it takes more space that i want to use to other things .
when setting the "android:targetSdkVersion" value to lower than 14 , it seems to show the menu button , but otherwise, it hides it .
btw, the activity needs to be full screen , with no title/action bars .
it is very weird that this button is not shown by default for so many places (even the launcher) , and on some places it does exist . such a button is a very basic one for so many android devices . google decided that not only that , but instead , the switching button is more important to be shown and it's shown by default (no idea if it's possible to hide it, but i guess not , since home button no longer does anything when long pressed) .
anyway, please help me . i'm quite new on android 4 .
The Menu button has been deprecated in ICS. Your options are 1) run in legacy mode (targetSdkVersion < 14), 2) use an action bar with or without an overflow menu button, 3) add a menu button somewhere in your app area. 4) not using a menu and just adding its actions directly to your app area.
The menu button is more of a legacy thing on newer Android phones with bigger screens since it's normally best to use the Action Bar (1) to provide the user with the actions that would normally be on the menu. These are called "Action Items" and are a better user experience because they appear directly on the Action Bar rather than requiring the user to tap the menu button.
(1) http://developer.android.com/guide/topics/ui/actionbar.html
targetSdkVersion no longer influence the visibility of the legacy overflow menu button on newer devices and OS, it's dead and buried.

On Android Honeycomb how do I add option menu to the home bar at the bottom of the screen?

I'm On Honeycomb (3.1) and my first problem is that I don't know what is the name of the bar at the bottom of the OS (appears in every application). I've seen some apps add options to this bottom bar (it has by default the back button the home button and the show active programs button, besides the watch, battery indicator and signal connection strength). When a certain program uses options it sometimes adds them to this bottom bar (it is usually seen as a grid-like icon next to the show active programs buttons, which you can click and a menu pops up.
I've described it as best as I can, but My question is simple: how can I create a menu like this on in my app?
Thanks for any help!
EDIT:
Ok, I've just read it's a compatibility feature. And it's not supposed to be there in an Android App.
I feel stupid...
I'm On Honeycomb (3.1) and my first problem is that I don't know what is the name of the bar at the bottom of the OS (appears in every application).
That is the "system bar".
I've seen some apps add options to this bottom bar
This happens automatically for applications that set up an options menu using onCreateOptionsMenu(). However, once the application switches to the Honeycomb look-and-feel (e.g., via android:targetSdkVersion="11"), the options menu moves to the action bar.
how can I create a menu like this on in my app?
Long-term, you do not want to do this, because it means that you will not have the action bar and will not look like you belong on Honeycomb, Ice Cream Sandwich, etc.
Short-term, simply do not have android:targetSdkVersion="11", and implement an options menu as normal.

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