Question

Google documentation says menu is replaced by ActionBar in 3.0 and the menu will become ActionBar itself. So I started the emulator of 3.0 and 4.0 but menu still appears as menu. Am I missing something ?

Edit :
I’m using minSdkVersion 4, so will it problem in 3.0 or higher devices ?

Answer 1

You need to build your application using the API level 15 or higher. To do so, in your manifest, use the following :

<uses-sdk
    android:minSdkVersion="8"
    android:targetSdkVersion="15" />

The minSdkVersion defines the lowest API compatible with your application, on which the menu will still appear as a Menu. On Android 3.0 or higher, the menu will appear with the overflow button on the action bar.

Additionaly, you can use the following to show a MenuItem as an action :

if (VERSION.SDK_INT >= 11){
    theMenuItem.setShowAsAction(SHOW_AS_ACTION_IF_ROOM);
}

or in xml

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<menu xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android">
    <item android:id="@+id/the_menu_item"
          android:title="@string/the_item"
          android:showAsAction="ifRoom"/>
</menu>

This code will only be executed on Honeycomb or higher.