I have the same problem as posted many times [like here](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/27818294/android-studio-menu-not-showing-in-app) or [here](https://www.androidpit.com/forum/598727/please-help-i-can-not-get-icons-to-appear-in-action-bar). I define a menu item which shows up in the preview in `AndroidStudio`: 

[![enter image description here](https://i.stack.imgur.com/nsst0.png)](https://i.stack.imgur.com/nsst0.png)

But when I run the app on my phone the icon (a `png` image) is not visible, and there is a lot of space available. However, this 'Add' option shows up in the Options menu (to the very right; together with 'Srttings'). Here is my `menu.xml`:

```
<menu xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
    xmlns:app="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res-auto"
    xmlns:tools="http://schemas.android.com/tools"
    tools:context=".MainActivity">

    <item android:id="@+id/action_favourite"
        android:icon="@mipmap/ic_add"
        android:title="@string/menu_add"
        android:showAsAction="always"/>

    <item android:id="@+id/action_settings" android:title="@string/action_settings"
        android:orderInCategory="100" app:showAsAction="never" />

</menu>

```

I tried the suggestions I could find, but none of them solved my problem. My phone is a LG G3. How can I solve this problem?

Additional information: `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.menu_main, menu);
    return true;
}

```