Unresponsive menu button on several Android apps

Question

I have noticed on several apps there is a menu button/icon (three vertical dots) but it is unresponsive and I'm wondering if it's just me or the app. I initially assumed it was just the app, but I have noticed it in several apps now. The menu button responds to a tap, in that I hear the "tap" sound and the button highlights momentarily, but nothing happens - there is no menu?!

Three apps I have noticed today that have a "do nothing" menu button:

• Compass (called "Tiny Compass" in the Play store)
• BBC iPlayer
• Stack Remote

Is this really a "problem" in the app?

Answer 1

This menu button is a backwards compatibility feature. It's displayed on all apps that say they are designed for a version of Android from when Android devices had physical menu buttons. (That's Froyo or earlier.) The Android system can't tell whether such an app needs the menu button or not, so it has to display it to make sure the app is usable on newer devices without the hard button.

If the button annoys you, contact the author of the app and ask them to update their "target version". They can do this and still be compatible with older versions of Android.

Answer 2

I had the same problem. The menu wouldn't respond in Gallery, Setting, and some other applications.The restart didn't work. I tried closing all the application by double-tapping the home button and then reopen them again plus using 'clean master' app. This seems to work (sometimes) tho. Don't really know why, but for me it helps.