Correct user interface for ActionBar on phones with menu buttons?

Question

I have an application created for Android 2.2, so I do not use the built-in ActionBar 3.0+ class, but create my own implementation of ActionBar using the recommendation of an older user from Google, which was introduced a couple of years ago.

All my screens have from 1 to 3 actions that can be performed, so they all fit very well into the ActionBar interface (which Google recommends no more than three buttons). Now the problem is that none of my screens has the usual options menu and therefore does nothing when the user presses the equipment menu button.

In accordance with the guidelines of the Google interface, this is the correct behavior. If your activity does not have an option menu, then when you press the menu button, it should not do anything. However, during testing, I found that users are very perplexed when they press the "Menu", and nothing happens (and each user, as a rule, tried several times). They say that they appreciate the actions that are displayed on the screen through the ActionBar, but at the same time they want the menu button to do something.

I watched the first Google apps, and it looks like they always have enough features to be able to load the options menu with the material after the ActionBar completes. Google+ seems to use the Menu button in the traditional way for overflow options on phones that have one, and they show a drop-down menu in the ActionBar for phones that don't. This will work if I had more than three actions, but currently I do not.

It seems that the only way to satisfy my users' expectations is to add some junk e-mail options that don't matter in the Options menu, so something happens when they click the button. I really don't want to do this. Does anyone know a good way to deal with this problem? Should I just leave the menu button alone and expect people to understand that they are not doing anything?

Answer 1

I find it safe to assume that most users are not aware that a menu button exists, and it’s best to use all the items displayed on the screen. User testing from Google showed this, and that’s why they decided to exclude the menu and go with the integrated action bar, starting with Android 3.0 and culminating in release 4.0.

Something to think about, one “O” item will be added to the menu options menu / after 3.0. This can cause a pop-up window with simple information about the application (for example, version, licensing, website link, author, etc.). Thus, there is something that they should press the menu button, but this is not necessary in order to properly use each action in full.

I have an application created for Android 2.2, so I do not use the built-in ActionBar 3.0+ class, but create my own implementation of ActionBar using the recommendation of an older user from Google, which was introduced a couple of years ago.

As the author of the action bar library, this suggestion bothers me. It’s trivial to use a custom action bar over pre-3.0 and your own version of post-3.0. Take a look at the Action Bar sample.

... or, you know, you can also go with a library like ActionBarSherlock , which will do it for you! </shamelessPlug>