[ACCEPTED]-How to add a switch to android action bar?-android-layout

Create a layout for the switch switch_layout.xml. Custom 3 layouts for menu should always be RelativeLayout

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<RelativeLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
    android:layout_width="fill_parent"
    android:layout_height="match_parent"
    android:orientation="horizontal" >

    <Switch
        android:id="@+id/switchForActionBar"
        android:layout_width="wrap_content"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:text="" />

</RelativeLayout>

Then, in 2 your mainmenu.xml add the item as follows

<menu xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android" >
    <item
        android:id="@+id/myswitch"
        android:title=""
        android:showAsAction="always"
        android:actionLayout="@layout/switch_layout"
    />   
</menu>

And in your 1 activity, inflate the mainmenu.xml as you always do

getMenuInflater().inflate(R.menu.mainmenu, menu);
return true;

Finally figured out my problem: for those 7 that's using the new AppCompat, you should 6 be using android.support.v7.widget.SwitchCompat instead of Switch on the switch layout...otherwise, it 5 won't show on the ActionBar (assumed you're using 4 AppCompat ActionBar as well), well, the 3 actionLayout attribute doesn't work, it 2 has to be set in the code.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<RelativeLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
    android:id="@+id/switchView"
    android:layout_width="match_parent"
    android:layout_height="match_parent"
    android:orientation="horizontal">

    <android.support.v7.widget.SwitchCompat
        android:id="@+id/switchForActionBar"
        android:layout_width="match_parent"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:text="" />

</RelativeLayout>

Then set the layout 1 in the code:

@Override
public boolean onCreateOptionsMenu(Menu menu) {
    // Inflate the menu; this adds items to the action bar if it is present.
    getMenuInflater().inflate(R.menu.menu_main, menu);
    MenuItem item = menu.findItem(R.id.on_off_switch);
    item.setActionView(R.layout.on_off_switch);
    return true;
}

If the widget is not appearing in the action-bar 10 it is probably because you are using appCompat 9 for your action-bar. To solve this switch 8 "android:" to "app:" in front of "showAsAction" and 7 "actionLayout" in your menu.xml

Add item 6 to xml, with app: in place of android:

<menu xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android" >
            <item
                android:id="@+id/myswitch"
                android:title=""
                app:showAsAction="always"
                app:actionLayout="@layout/switch_layout"
            />   
        </menu>

Make 5 layout that you are using for your "app:actionLayout"
switch_layout

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<RelativeLayout
    xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
    android:layout_width="fill_parent"
    android:layout_height="match_parent"
    android:orientation="horizontal" >
    <Switch
        android:id="@+id/switchAB"
        android:layout_width="wrap_content"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:layout_centerHorizontal="true"
        android:layout_centerVertical="true"
        />
</RelativeLayout>

Inflate 4 the menu in your ActionBarActivity as you 3 would normally

   getMenuInflater().inflate(R.menu.mainmenu, menu);
    return true;

This should make the switch 2 appear in your action-bar, if it was not 1 appearing.

For those who want to add,

Checked change Listener to the same Switch

Kotlin

override fun onCreateOptionsMenu(menu: Menu?): Boolean {
    menuInflater.inflate(R.menu.menu_main, menu)
    val item = menu!!.findItem(R.id.my_switch_item)
    item.setActionView(R.layout.switch_layout)

    val mySwitch = item.actionView.findViewById(R.id.switch_id)
    mySwitch.setOnCheckedChangeListener(object : CompoundButton.OnCheckedChangeListener{
        override fun onCheckedChanged(p0: CompoundButton?, isChecked: Boolean) {
            // do what you want with isChecked
        }
    })

    return true
}

Java

@Override
public boolean onCreateOptionsMenu(Menu menu) {
    getMenuInflater().inflate(R.menu.menu_main, menu);
    MenuItem item = menu.findItem(R.id.my_switch_item);
    item.setActionView(R.layout.switch_layout);

    Switch mySwitch = item.getActionView().findViewById(R.id.switch_id);
    mySwitch.setOnCheckedChangeListener(new OnCheckedChangeListener() {
         @Override
         public void onCheckedChanged(CompoundButton buttonView, boolean isChecked) {
                  // do something based on isChecked
         }
    });
    return true;
}

P.S. You 1 can change reference to Switch or SwitchCompat

The solution given by Ezequiel is awesome 2 and works. Here goes another approach:

Define 1 your custom layout:

<RelativeLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android" >
    <Switch
        android:id="@+id/actionbar_switch"
        android:layout_width="wrap_content"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:text="" />
</RelativeLayout>

Inflate it programatically:

ActionBar actionBar = getSupportActionBar();
actionBar.setCustomView(R.layout.actionbar_top);
actionBar.setDisplayOptions(ActionBar.DISPLAY_SHOW_HOME | ActionBar.DISPLAY_SHOW_CUSTOM);
...
Switch button = (Switch) findViewById(R.id.actionbar_switch);