Show option menu items with action bar tabs

Question

I have an Action Bar with two tabs like this:

private void setUpActionBarTabs() {
    actionBar = getSupportActionBar();

    // Creating ActionBar tabs.
    actionBar.setNavigationMode(ActionBar.NAVIGATION_MODE_TABS);

    mainTab = actionBar.newTab().setText("Distance");
    mapTap = actionBar.newTab().setText("Map");

    mainTab.setTabListener(new TabListener(new MainFragment()));
    mapTap.setTabListener(new TabListener(new MyMapFragment()));

    actionBar.addTab(mainTab);
    actionBar.addTab(mapTap);
}

and it's working good. MainActivity onCreateOptionsMenu():

@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_activity_menu, menu);
        //mainMenu = menu;
        return true;
    }

my option menu xml:

    <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<menu xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android">
    <item
        android:id="@+id/menu_gps_status"
        android:icon="@drawable/red"
        android:showAsAction="always"
        android:title="@string/gps_status"/>
    <item
        android:id="@+id/menu_share_app"
        android:icon="@drawable/ic_share_single"
        android:showAsAction="always"
        android:title="@string/share"/>
</menu>

i set the showAsAction = always but it's never shown in action bar, How i can get it work?

Answer 1

You have to use a custom Namespace for showAsAction.

1. Add something like xmlns:app="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res-auto" to menu
2. Use it: app:showAsAction="always"

See this Question for further information: Android 4.3 menu item showAsAction="always" ignored