Abstract base class for the SettingsActivtiy which implements and proxies the necessary calls to be used with AppCompat, and the Settings Activity that inflates a toolbar at runtime.

AppCompatPreferenceActivity.java

package com.example.activities;

import android.content.res.Configuration;
import android.os.Bundle;
import android.preference.PreferenceActivity;
import android.support.annotation.LayoutRes;
import android.support.annotation.Nullable;
import android.support.v7.app.ActionBar;
import android.support.v7.app.AppCompatDelegate;
import android.support.v7.widget.Toolbar;
import android.view.MenuInflater;
import android.view.View;
import android.view.ViewGroup;

/**
 * A {@link android.preference.PreferenceActivity} which implements and proxies the necessary calls
 * to be used with AppCompat.
 */
public abstract class AppCompatPreferenceActivity 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;
    }
}

SettingsActivity.java

package com.example.activities;


import android.annotation.TargetApi;
import android.content.Context;
import android.content.Intent;
import android.content.res.Configuration;
import android.media.Ringtone;
import android.media.RingtoneManager;
import android.net.Uri;
import android.os.Build;
import android.os.Bundle;
import android.preference.ListPreference;
import android.preference.Preference;
import android.preference.PreferenceActivity;
import android.support.v7.app.ActionBar;
import android.preference.PreferenceFragment;
import android.preference.PreferenceManager;
import android.preference.RingtonePreference;
import android.support.v7.widget.Toolbar;
import android.text.TextUtils;
import android.util.TypedValue;
import android.view.LayoutInflater;
import android.view.MenuItem;
import android.support.v4.app.NavUtils;
import android.view.ViewGroup;

import com.example.R;

import java.util.List;

/**
 * A {@link PreferenceActivity} that presents a set of application settings. On
 * handset devices, settings are presented as a single list. On tablets,
 * settings are split by category, with category headers shown to the left of
 * the list of settings.
 * <p/>
 * See <a href="http://developer.android.com/design/patterns/settings.html">
 * Android Design: Settings</a> for design guidelines and the <a
 * href="http://developer.android.com/guide/topics/ui/settings.html">Settings
 * API Guide</a> for more information on developing a Settings UI.
 */
public class SettingsActivity extends AppCompatPreferenceActivity {
    @Override
    protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
        super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
        setupActionBar();
        addPreferencesFromResource(R.xml.pref_settings);

        int horizontalMargin = (int) TypedValue.applyDimension(TypedValue.COMPLEX_UNIT_DIP,
                2, getResources().getDisplayMetrics());

        int verticalMargin = (int) TypedValue.applyDimension(TypedValue.COMPLEX_UNIT_DIP,
                2, getResources().getDisplayMetrics());

        int topMargin = (int) TypedValue.applyDimension(TypedValue.COMPLEX_UNIT_DIP,
                (int) getResources().getDimension(R.dimen.activity_vertical_margin) + 30,
                getResources().getDisplayMetrics());

        getListView().setPadding(horizontalMargin, topMargin, horizontalMargin, verticalMargin);
    }

    /**
     * Set up the {@link android.app.ActionBar}, if the API is available.
     */
    private void setupActionBar() {
        getLayoutInflater().inflate(R.layout.toolbar, (ViewGroup)findViewById(android.R.id.content));
        Toolbar toolbar = (Toolbar)findViewById(R.id.toolbar);
        setSupportActionBar(toolbar);
        ActionBar actionBar = getSupportActionBar();
        if (actionBar != null) {
            // Show the Up button in the action bar.
            actionBar.setDisplayHomeAsUpEnabled(true);
        }
    }

    @Override
    public boolean onMenuItemSelected(int featureId, MenuItem item) {
        int id = item.getItemId();
        if (id == android.R.id.home) {
            if (!super.onMenuItemSelected(featureId, item)) {
                NavUtils.navigateUpFromSameTask(this);
            }
            return true;
        }
        return super.onMenuItemSelected(featureId, item);
    }


    /**
     * {@inheritDoc}
     */
    @Override
    public boolean onIsMultiPane() {
        return isXLargeTablet(this);
    }

    /**
     * Helper method to determine if the device has an extra-large screen. For
     * example, 10" tablets are extra-large.
     */
    private static boolean isXLargeTablet(Context context) {
        return (context.getResources().getConfiguration().screenLayout
                & Configuration.SCREENLAYOUT_SIZE_MASK) >= Configuration.SCREENLAYOUT_SIZE_XLARGE;
    }

}

toolbar.xml

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<android.support.v7.widget.Toolbar xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
    xmlns:local="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res-auto"
    xmlns:tools="http://schemas.android.com/tools"
    android:id="@+id/toolbar"
    android:layout_width="match_parent"
    android:layout_height="wrap_content"
    android:minHeight="?attr/actionBarSize"
    android:background="?attr/colorPrimary"
    android:elevation="@dimen/appbar_elevation"
    android:theme="@style/ThemeOverlay.AppCompat.Dark.ActionBar"
    android:popupTheme="@style/ThemeOverlay.AppCompat.Light" />

Focused dashboard,!Fine-grained permissions..?Repositoryne..!

Hi, thanks for the tutorial! But the General and Data & Sync screens didn't change, their toolbars still overlap the interface. Can you help me how to fix it?

What is dimensions for activity_vertical_margin?

What is dimensions for activity_vertical_margin?

activity_vertical_margin should be generated by default

For me - gldraphael`s setupActionBar not work, but this

private void setupActionBar() {
        ViewGroup rootView = (ViewGroup)findViewById(R.id.action_bar_root);
        View view = getLayoutInflater().inflate(R.layout.app_bar_layout, rootView, false);
        rootView.addView(view, 0);

        Toolbar toolbar = (Toolbar)findViewById(R.id.toolbar);
        setSupportActionBar(toolbar);
        ActionBar actionBar = getSupportActionBar();
        if (actionBar != null) {
            // Show the Up button in the action bar.
            actionBar.setDisplayHomeAsUpEnabled(true);
        }
    }

work !

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<android.support.design.widget.AppBarLayout
    xmlns:app="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res-auto"
    xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
    xmlns:tools="http://schemas.android.com/tools"
    android:layout_width="match_parent"
    android:layout_height="wrap_content"
    android:theme="@style/AppTheme.AppBarOverlay">

    <android.support.v7.widget.Toolbar
        android:id="@+id/toolbar"
        android:layout_width="match_parent"
        android:layout_height="?attr/actionBarSize"
        android:background="?attr/colorPrimary"
        app:popupTheme="@style/AppTheme.PopupOverlay"/>

</android.support.design.widget.AppBarLayout>

Don`t work, no setting padding top in Lollipop