Action bar - ifRoom option leaving too much space

Question

I have a problem on my Action bar, I tried to setup a search view on it in order to get a a search bar expandable.

This is woking well except the fact that I had to

Answer 1

Looks like its a design decision:

Jake Wharton Says:

When contained within the action bar there is a finite maximum of action items based on the device's density-independent width. The action items can also not cover more than half the width of the action bar.

From here.