EDIT: In appcompat-v7 22.1.0 Google added the AppCompatDelegate abstract class as a delegate you can use to extend AppCompat's support to any activity.

Use it like this:

...import android.support.v7.app.ActionBar;import android.support.v7.app.AppCompatDelegate;import android.support.v7.widget.Toolbar;...public class SettingsActivity extends PreferenceActivity {    private AppCompatDelegate mDelegate;    @Override    protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {        getDelegate().installViewFactory();        getDelegate().onCreate(savedInstanceState);        super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);    }    @Override    protected void onPostCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {        super.onPostCreate(savedInstanceState);        getDelegate().onPostCreate(savedInstanceState);    }    public ActionBar getSupportActionBar() {        return getDelegate().getSupportActionBar();    }    public void setSupportActionBar(@Nullable Toolbar toolbar) {        getDelegate().setSupportActionBar(toolbar);    }    @Override    public MenuInflater getMenuInflater() {        return getDelegate().getMenuInflater();    }    @Override    public void setContentView(@LayoutRes int layoutResID) {        getDelegate().setContentView(layoutResID);    }    @Override    public void setContentView(View view) {        getDelegate().setContentView(view);    }    @Override    public void setContentView(View view, ViewGroup.LayoutParams params) {        getDelegate().setContentView(view, params);    }    @Override    public void addContentView(View view, ViewGroup.LayoutParams params) {        getDelegate().addContentView(view, params);    }    @Override    protected void onPostResume() {        super.onPostResume();        getDelegate().onPostResume();    }    @Override    protected void onTitleChanged(CharSequence title, int color) {        super.onTitleChanged(title, color);        getDelegate().setTitle(title);    }    @Override    public void onConfigurationChanged(Configuration newConfig) {        super.onConfigurationChanged(newConfig);        getDelegate().onConfigurationChanged(newConfig);    }    @Override    protected void onStop() {        super.onStop();        getDelegate().onStop();    }    @Override    protected void onDestroy() {        super.onDestroy();        getDelegate().onDestroy();    }    public void invalidateOptionsMenu() {        getDelegate().invalidateOptionsMenu();    }    private AppCompatDelegate getDelegate() {        if (mDelegate == null) {            mDelegate = AppCompatDelegate.create(this, null);        }        return mDelegate;    }}

No more hacking. Code taken from AppCompatPreferenceActivity.java.

There is currently no way to achieve with AppCompat. I've opened a bug internally.

I have managed to create a workaround similar to what the Google Play Store uses. Link to Original Answer

Please find the GitHub Repo: Here

Very Similar to your own code but added xml to allow for set title:

Continuing to use PreferenceActivity:

settings_toolbar.xml :

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?><android.support.v7.widget.Toolbar    xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"    xmlns:app="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res-auto"    android:id="@+id/toolbar"    app:theme="@style/ThemeOverlay.AppCompat.Dark.ActionBar"    android:layout_width="match_parent"    android:layout_height="wrap_content"    android:minHeight="?attr/actionBarSize"    app:navigationContentDescription="@string/abc_action_bar_up_description"    android:background="?attr/colorPrimary"    app:navigationIcon="?attr/homeAsUpIndicator"    app:title="@string/action_settings"    />

SettingsActivity.java :

public class SettingsActivity extends PreferenceActivity {    @Override    protected void onPostCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {        super.onPostCreate(savedInstanceState);        LinearLayout root = (LinearLayout)findViewById(android.R.id.list).getParent().getParent().getParent();        Toolbar bar = (Toolbar) LayoutInflater.from(this).inflate(R.layout.settings_toolbar, root, false);        root.addView(bar, 0); // insert at top        bar.setNavigationOnClickListener(new View.OnClickListener() {            @Override            public void onClick(View v) {                finish();            }        });    }}

Result :

UPDATE (Gingerbread Compatibility) :

As pointed out here, Gingerbread Devices are returning NullPointerException on this line:

LinearLayout root = (LinearLayout)findViewById(android.R.id.list).getParent().getParent().getParent();

FIX:

SettingsActivity.java :

public class SettingsActivity extends PreferenceActivity {    @Override    protected void onPostCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {        super.onPostCreate(savedInstanceState);        Toolbar bar;        if (Build.VERSION.SDK_INT >= Build.VERSION_CODES.ICE_CREAM_SANDWICH) {            LinearLayout root = (LinearLayout) findViewById(android.R.id.list).getParent().getParent().getParent();            bar = (Toolbar) LayoutInflater.from(this).inflate(R.layout.settings_toolbar, root, false);            root.addView(bar, 0); // insert at top        } else {            ViewGroup root = (ViewGroup) findViewById(android.R.id.content);            ListView content = (ListView) root.getChildAt(0);            root.removeAllViews();            bar = (Toolbar) LayoutInflater.from(this).inflate(R.layout.settings_toolbar, root, false);                        int height;            TypedValue tv = new TypedValue();            if (getTheme().resolveAttribute(R.attr.actionBarSize, tv, true)) {                height = TypedValue.complexToDimensionPixelSize(tv.data, getResources().getDisplayMetrics());            }else{                height = bar.getHeight();            }            content.setPadding(0, height, 0, 0);            root.addView(content);            root.addView(bar);        }        bar.setNavigationOnClickListener(new View.OnClickListener() {            @Override            public void onClick(View v) {                finish();            }        });    }}

Any issues with the above let me know!

UPDATE 2: TINTING WORKAROUND

As pointed out in many dev notes PreferenceActivity does not support tinting of elements, however by utilising a few internal classes you CAN achieve this. That is until these classes are removed. (Works using appCompat support-v7 v21.0.3).

Add the following imports:

import android.support.v7.internal.widget.TintCheckBox;import android.support.v7.internal.widget.TintCheckedTextView;import android.support.v7.internal.widget.TintEditText;import android.support.v7.internal.widget.TintRadioButton;import android.support.v7.internal.widget.TintSpinner;

Then override the onCreateView method:

@Overridepublic View onCreateView(String name, Context context, AttributeSet attrs) {    // Allow super to try and create a view first    final View result = super.onCreateView(name, context, attrs);    if (result != null) {        return result;    }    if (Build.VERSION.SDK_INT < Build.VERSION_CODES.LOLLIPOP) {        // If we're running pre-L, we need to 'inject' our tint aware Views in place of the        // standard framework versions        switch (name) {            case "EditText":                return new TintEditText(this, attrs);            case "Spinner":                return new TintSpinner(this, attrs);            case "CheckBox":                return new TintCheckBox(this, attrs);            case "RadioButton":                return new TintRadioButton(this, attrs);            case "CheckedTextView":                return new TintCheckedTextView(this, attrs);        }    }    return null;}

Result:

AppCompat 22.1

AppCompat 22.1 introduced new tinted elements, meaning that there is no longer a need to utilise the internal classes to achieve the same effect as the last update. Instead follow this (still overriding onCreateView):

@Overridepublic View onCreateView(String name, Context context, AttributeSet attrs) {    // Allow super to try and create a view first    final View result = super.onCreateView(name, context, attrs);    if (result != null) {        return result;    }    if (Build.VERSION.SDK_INT < Build.VERSION_CODES.LOLLIPOP) {        // If we're running pre-L, we need to 'inject' our tint aware Views in place of the        // standard framework versions        switch (name) {            case "EditText":                return new AppCompatEditText(this, attrs);            case "Spinner":                return new AppCompatSpinner(this, attrs);            case "CheckBox":                return new AppCompatCheckBox(this, attrs);            case "RadioButton":                return new AppCompatRadioButton(this, attrs);            case "CheckedTextView":                return new AppCompatCheckedTextView(this, attrs);        }    }    return null;}

NESTED PREFERENCE SCREENS

A lot of people are experiencing issues with including the Toolbar in nested <PreferenceScreen />s however, I have found a solution!! - After a lot of trial and error!

Add the following to your SettingsActivity:

@SuppressWarnings("deprecation")@Overridepublic boolean onPreferenceTreeClick(PreferenceScreen preferenceScreen, Preference preference) {    super.onPreferenceTreeClick(preferenceScreen, preference);    // If the user has clicked on a preference screen, set up the screen    if (preference instanceof PreferenceScreen) {        setUpNestedScreen((PreferenceScreen) preference);    }    return false;}public void setUpNestedScreen(PreferenceScreen preferenceScreen) {    final Dialog dialog = preferenceScreen.getDialog();    Toolbar bar;    if (Build.VERSION.SDK_INT >= Build.VERSION_CODES.ICE_CREAM_SANDWICH) {        LinearLayout root = (LinearLayout) dialog.findViewById(android.R.id.list).getParent();        bar = (Toolbar) LayoutInflater.from(this).inflate(R.layout.settings_toolbar, root, false);        root.addView(bar, 0); // insert at top    } else {        ViewGroup root = (ViewGroup) dialog.findViewById(android.R.id.content);        ListView content = (ListView) root.getChildAt(0);        root.removeAllViews();        bar = (Toolbar) LayoutInflater.from(this).inflate(R.layout.settings_toolbar, root, false);        int height;        TypedValue tv = new TypedValue();        if (getTheme().resolveAttribute(R.attr.actionBarSize, tv, true)) {            height = TypedValue.complexToDimensionPixelSize(tv.data, getResources().getDisplayMetrics());        }else{            height = bar.getHeight();        }        content.setPadding(0, height, 0, 0);        root.addView(content);        root.addView(bar);    }    bar.setTitle(preferenceScreen.getTitle());    bar.setNavigationOnClickListener(new View.OnClickListener() {        @Override        public void onClick(View v) {            dialog.dismiss();        }    });}

The reason that PreferenceScreen's are such a pain is because they are based as a wrapper dialog, so we need to capture the dialog layout to add the toolbar to it.

Toolbar Shadow

By design importing the Toolbar does not allow for elevation and shadowing in pre-v21 devices, so if you would like to have elevation on your Toolbar you need to wrap it in a AppBarLayout:

`settings_toolbar.xml :

<android.support.design.widget.AppBarLayout    android:layout_width="match_parent"    android:layout_height="wrap_content">   <android.support.v7.widget.Toolbar       .../></android.support.design.widget.AppBarLayout>

Not forgetting to add the add the Design Support library as a dependency in build.gradle file:

compile 'com.android.support:support-v4:22.2.0'compile 'com.android.support:appcompat-v7:22.2.0'compile 'com.android.support:design:22.2.0'

Android 6.0

I have investigated the reported overlapping issue and I cannot reproduce the issue.

The full code in use as above produces the following:

If I am missing something please let me know via this repo and I will investigate.